8 Best Recipes to Use Up a Jar of Natural Peanut Butter

Got peanut butter? We've got ideas for how to use it! From a zesty dip for spring rolls to no-bake peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, you'll be scraping the bottom of the jar in no time.

Claudia Cash
Claudia is the Community Manager for Simply Recipes and has contributed numerous articles focused on cooking on a budget, quick and easy meals, and kid-friendly foods.
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Claudia Cash
Published October 19, 2019
Claudia Cash

Peanut butter is a staple at our house. With five growing kids, it’s a budget-friendly source of protein and my kids love it with a variety of fruits or even with celery (whoever came up with Ants on a Log has my deepest devotion).

At any given moment I have at least 4 to 5 jars in my pantry. Yep, I told you we're a peanut butter loving family! However, in recent years I have been trying to switch to fewer processed foods and cutting down on sugar, and switching to natural peanut butter was an easy way for me to do that.

Recently, the Simply Recipes Team decided to taste test several different brands of natural peanut butter to see which one came out on top, and as you can imagine I was over the moon! I won’t go into all the details about what natural creamy peanut butter is, or how best to stir it. Instead, I’ve decided to round-up a few of our best recipes that would be great with natural peanut butter.

After all, I've got a ton of peanut butter in my fridge that needs to be used up from our taste test, and I’m not letting it go to waste!

  • No Bake Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookies

    Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies drizzled in peanut butter
    Cindy Rahe

    These are a classic cookie that use up peanut butter and they’re the easiest cookies in all the land. Get your kids involved in the kitchen and have them help you whip up a batch or two!

  • Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Energy Balls

    Peanut Butter Protein Balls
    Leela Cyd Ross

    My family goes crazy over these every single time I make them and trust me, we make these often! They have a handful of simple ingredients and you can easily add mix-ins if your heart desires!

  • Nut-Free "Peanut Butter" Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Sunflower Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
    Megan Gordon

    These cookies originally call for sunflower butter, but sub in that peanut butter! Just go for it! Added bonus: These cookies are gluten-free!

  • Oatmeal Almond Butter Breakfast Cookies

    Breakfast Cookies Recipe
    Marta Rivera

    Cookies for breakfast? Count me in. While these say to use almond butter, be a rebel and use natural peanut butter. I give you my permission because... COOKIES FOR BREAKFAST.

    Continue to 5 of 8 below.

  • Almond Butter Date Balls

    Date almond butter coconut balls
    Alison Conklin

    These little gems are the perfect traveling companion, and they’re so easy to make. All you need is a food processor and you’re good to go! As with a couple of other recipes in this round-up, even though these were made with almond butter at first, it’s perfectly acceptable to use natural peanut butter!

  • Shrimp Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

    Shrimp Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce
    Lisa Lin

    These spring rolls are so light and fresh and the peanut sauce compliments the flavors of the vegetables in a way that will have you swooning. You can definitely serve them as an appetizer or enjoy them as a light lunch.

  • African Chicken Peanut Stew

    African Chicken Peanut Stew
    Elise Bauer

    Peanut butter in stew? I’m all in. This is one of our more popular recipes and it’s not hard to see why! Peanut butter? Good. Chicken? Good. Yams? So good!

  • Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce

    How to Make a Thai Noodle Salad
    Jessica Gavin

    When you hear the phrase “Taste the rainbow” I’m pretty sure they're talking about this gorgeous salad. You won’t be able to get enough of the peanut dressing, so you might as well make a double batch!