Kerrygold Butter Vs. Countryside Creamery Irish Butter: Which Is Better?
Treating yourself to some Irish butter? If not, well, we think you should be! Real Simple explains that "Ireland's rich pasture and lush land have always had a helping hand in making the country's butter a valuable commodity. Since the 1700s, the southwest coast of Ireland has been known for producing rich and flavorful butter." Irish butter has a higher butterfat and lower water content than most American butter, making it especially rich (and delicious). Irish butter also comes in a beautifully vibrant yellow color, thanks to Ireland's moist climate, which causes the country's signature emerald green, beta carotene-rich grass. When Irish cows are fed with this ultra-green grass, the butter comes out a brighter hue than it does in your standard stick.
So you're officially sold on trying Irish butter, but not sure which brand to buy. Your local Aldi will likely carry their house brand Countryside Creamery Pure Irish Butter, while most other grocery stores probably sell Kerrygold. As with many Aldi items, if you're simply going by the price tag you may be better off with their brand, but (in this instance) when it comes to flavor you might want to consider choosing Kerrygold.
Comparing Kerrygold and Countryside Creamery Irish butters
According to Aldi Reviewer, Aldi started replacing Kerrygold brand Irish butter with their own Irish butter, Countryside Creamery, in 2018. "At the time of this post," Aldi Reviewer writes, "Aldi's Irish butter costs $2.49 for an 8-ounce package, or about 31 cents an ounce. Aldi previously sold the same-sized Kerrygold for $2.85 (36 cents an ounce) — roughly the same price Walmart currently sells it for." Both options, however, are more expensive than the American butter Aldi carries.
The Aldi Nerd compared the flavor of the two butters and felt that Kerrygold tasted noticeably better than Aldi's Countryside Creamery, their usual go-to butter. They wrote of the difference between the two, "I'm having a hard time putting it into words, though. It's a little creamier tasting... a little saltier... a little richer... everyone was right: You can't just explain it, it just tastes better." If you're making your decision based on nutritional content alone, it's basically a toss-up, with Aldi Reviewer stating that both butters have 100 calories per serving, 11 grams of fat, and 30 milligrams of cholesterol. While Aldi Irish butter has slightly less sodium than Kerrygold, the outlet didn't really notice much of a difference in flavor when it came to saltiness.
In the end, choosing between Kerrygold and Countryside Creamery Irish butters may come down to whether you're shopping based on price or flavor, or (given that the differences between the two are so minor) it may all just depend on which grocery store you happened to be shopping at that day. Either way, you can't go wrong with rich, creamy Irish butter.