I’ll admit it—I’m a creamy peanut butter loyalist. Have been for years. Team Smooth, ride or die. So imagine my sheer confusion when I opened a jar of and… didn’t immediately recoil. I kept eating it. Voluntarily. With a spoon. Like some crunchy turncoat.
First, let’s talk texture. This isn’t one of those gravel-in-a-jar situations where you feel like you’re chewing bark mulch. The peanut bits are shockingly civil—well-behaved, even. They crunch just enough to remind you they’re there, but not so much that you question your dental insurance coverage. The butter itself is smooth enough to spread without requiring a chainsaw, which is more than I can say for most “natural” peanut butters that double as upper body workouts.
Now, to the ingredients. It’s made with a minimal list of things that sound like they come from Earth: peanuts, palm oil, salt. That’s it. No added sugar, no mysterious preservatives, and nothing that sounds like it was developed in a lab for skincare before being repurposed as a food ingredient. It’s Non-GMO Project Verified, gluten-free, kosher, vegan, and—wait for it—pollinator-friendly. I didn’t even know that was a thing, but now my peanut butter and the bees are on speaking terms. Good for them.
Each two-tablespoon serving has 7 grams of plant-based protein and 220 calories. Which means I can justify standing in front of my open fridge, eating it off a spoon, and call it “fueling my body.”
The only real complaint I have—and I say this as someone who now hoards jars like a squirrel in autumn—is that the jar is too small for the emotional support it provides. I need a tub. Preferably one that comes with a tiny shovel.
So yes, Justin’s has managed the unthinkable: it converted a lifelong smooth-only snob into someone who now seeks out crunch. Justin’s Crunchy Classic Peanut Butter is a nutty little miracle in a jar, and I honestly don’t know whether to thank them or sue for emotional distress.