The 10 Best Organic Almonds
Special Honors
MaraNatha Foods Almond Butters MaraNatha specializes in a variety of creamy nut butters that use pure ingredients with no trans fats, hydrogenated oils, or preservatives. They offer a range of almond butters that include USDA certified and non-GMO selections in flavors like dark chocolate, maple, and caramel in no-stir, crunchy, smooth, light, and dark roasted variations. maranathafoods.com
Heron Fox Farm Heron Fox Farm is a small family operation located in Chico, California. They practice organic, bee-friendly, and water-conscious techniques to produce raw almonds on their orchard. They use three of the sweetest-tasting heirloom varieties — nonpareil, sonora, and butte — which are sproutable and never pasteurized, sprayed with PPO or glyphosate, or treated in any way. They also offer almond butter and walnuts. heronfoxfarm.com
Editor's Notes
September 28, 2020:
As the demand for organic increases, many companies are rising to the challenge, which enabled us to beef this list up substantially since our last update. You'll find five new additions to our selection, and like our previous editor noted, kept our choices certified organic with one exception. We added fan-favorite Wild Soil Distinct despite a lack of the formal credentials, which they claim to do on purpose, as the company's farm goes to great lengths to raise pesticide and herbicide-free almonds down to the way they fertilize and restore their soil. They offer a wealth of insight into their proprietary cultivation practices for those curious as to the ins and outs. But for anyone who wants to skip the leg work and just go straight organic, we've got you covered with our other nine choices.
Most of our selections hail from California, and those that are imported from abroad generally come from Spain. Something important to note is that European almonds are raised in a way that produces a higher amount of nuts with a strong bitterness to them. Most farmers prune these away as best they can and facilities have protocols in place to detect them, but some can sneak through and mix in with the sweeter almonds. Bitter almonds naturally contain a toxin that your body breaks down into cyanide, so they are unfit for consumption and should be thrown away. You'll want to bear this in mind when looking at Terrasoul Superfoods Sproutable and Food to Live.
Today we added to our small-batch, family farm-run options by bringing on True California Nonpareil, while we felt the thinly-sliced Yupik Nuts Natural were essential for recipes that call for almonds or anyone who wants something a bit easier to grind into almond flour. We also brought on 365 Everyday Value as an alternative to dry-roasted varieties, as these are roasted in canola oil. This adds a nice depth of flavor but also packs in a few more calories.
March 28, 2019:
While there are some trendy brands out there that purport to be better than organic, we chose to stick with products that are certified organic for buyer peace of mind.
We dropped the Organic Traditions variety off the list due to the high proportion of bitter almonds and they don't retain their freshness as long as other brands. The Terrasoul Superfoods took a top spot because many consumers prefer imported almonds that are truly raw and can even be sprouted.