OU Daily Living

Weekly Questions

What bracha is recited on peanut butter (a spoonful of peanut butter eaten plain)?

There are
two opinions regarding the bracha on peanut butter. Here,
we will discuss the opinion that holds that the bracha on peanut butter is Shehakol.

Shulchan
Aruch (OC 208:8) writes that one recites Ha’adama on cooked beans. The Rama adds that if the beans completely
disintegrate, one recites Shehakol. Therefore, it should
follow that the bracha on peanut butter would be Shehakol, since the peanuts completely lose their identity. However, the
Magen Avrohom 208:13 explains that the bracha on disintegrated beans is
downgraded to Shehakol because this is not the
normal way this food is eaten—cooked beans are normally eaten when they are
still identifiable as beans. If so, since most peanuts today are processed into
peanut butter, should we recite Ha’adama on peanut butter? Rav Shlomo
Zalman Auerbach, zt”l said that even today one
should recite Shehakol on peanut butter, because
whole peanuts taste better than ground peanuts, and peanuts are not ground to
improve their taste. Therefore, once the peanuts lose their form, the bracha is downgraded to Shehakol (see Rabbi Bodner’s
Halachos of Brachos, p. 410).

Store-bought
chunky peanut butter is also Shehakol, since it is made of smooth
peanut butter, with peanut chunks added afterwards.