The best butter comes from cows who roam outdoors and feed on fresh grass. There are a great many butters out there but I thought it best to keep things simple and focus on a few that people might want to switch to which are likely to be available at a local grocery store. Finding a good locally-sourced high quality butter would be nice, but not everyone has the time to find one, and even those that try may not be successful.
Butters to try:
- Kerrygold
- From Ireland, available at Trader Joe’s and many other markets
- This will probably be one of the easiest to find pastured butter available to most people.
- Some people have expressed concerns that the cows are fed grains during the winter and that these grains cannot be guaranteed to be GM free, which means that they are likely not-GM free.
- Organic Valley Pasture Butter
- From United States, available at markets and co-ops
- The cows may be fed grains part of the year but the grains are certified organic (thus GMO-free).
- Can sometimes be ordered in bulk from Azure Standard.
- Not always available year-round.
- Other Organic Valley Butters
- the USDA requires that all dairy labeled organic come from cows that graze pasture at least 120 days out of the year so while not explicitly “pasture raised” these butters have a higher availability than the Pasture Butter.
- Smjor
- From Iceland, historically available only at Whole Foods but currently not available in the Portland area.
More Information:
- Butter Tasting – Kerrygold, Organic Valley, Lurpak and Smjor
- Butter Tasting: Cows Creamery, Président, Kerrygold, Delitia, Rodolphe Le Meunier, and Sierra Nevada
- Grassfed vs. Organic Butter, And Which One Will Kill You Faster
- Grass Fed Butter – Choosing a Better Butter | Mark’s Daily Apple
- Why I Stopped Buying Kerrygold Butter « hopecentric
- Grass-Fed Butter – Grass-Fed Traditions – Can order Natural by Nature (PA, US) and Kalona (IA, US) pastured butters.
- The Delicious Truth: Grass-Fed Cows = Real Butter = Anchor Butter
- The Delicious Truth: Smjör Butter from Iceland – A Great Find
- Where to Find Grass-Fed Butter | Food Renegade
- Amazon.com: Anchor Butter: Grocery & Gourmet Food – New Zealand pastured butter sold through US distributor Columbus Washboard available on Amazon.com but pricey.
- The Cornucopia Institute – Organic Dairy Report/Ratings
- USDA Issues Final Rule on Organic Access to Pasture | USDA Newsroom