By Sean Kelley
Updated: January 30, 2017

Wowbutter, a soy-based "nut" butter, touts itself as a peanut butter substitute with similar taste and texture but better nutrition. As peanut butter nuts (we eat through a good-sized jar every week), my daughter and I can attest to its similarity to peanut butter.

It's similar but not exact. The butter has a slightly smokey flavor—over nutty is probably a better description—and the viscosity reminded us of store-brand butters. We've been eating natural peanut butters for the last year, so the uniform smoothness of Wowbutter may have thrown us off.

As for the nutrition, Wowbutter has the same amount protein as peanut butter but twice the dietary fiber at 4 grams. That's not really much fiber—women need 25 grams and men, 38, every day. The soy butter also has omega-3 fatty acids, which peanut butter does not, but the fatty acids in soy are different from the omega-3 fatty acids in fish and may not have the same heart-healthy benefits.

There is one guaranteed benefit to Wowbutter: If your child goes to a peanut-free school or, like my daughter, goes to a school where the peanut butter eaters are grouped together at a single table, Wowbutter may be an acceptable substitute—provided your child can prove to the peanut monitor that they're eating soy butter.

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