Pistachio has been having a moment that started way before than that cat-vom chocolate came about from somewhere in the Middle East, I dunno where. I jest. Dubai chocolate. I know you know that I know.

When I first heard of Dubai Chocolate my initial thought was that it referred to some depraved stunt popularised at their porta potty parties - something that belonged in Urban Dictionary. But I soon found out it was this delicious (sometimes - depends on the bar) stuffed chocolate. The stuffing? A mix of pistachio cream, kataifi pastry and tahini.

The pistachio cream is the KEY. It can make or break a bar of Dubai Chocolate, and anything it's stuffed into or spread on. Including our cakes.

Our best selling cakes are our pistachio cakes. And it has been for years. We've been making pistachio cakes for more than a decade so I'd like to think I'm in a highly qualified position to judge the best pistachio spreads available on the shelves in the UK. Well, other than the extensive professional chef training and experience...I also have taste buds.

I've gone around all the major stores to pick up their versions of Pistachio Creme, Pistachio Cream or Pistachio Spread - however they want to name it. These shops were Costco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Aldi and Lidl. I've taste tested them all and ranked them based on flavour, sweetness, texture and colour.

Which are the best pistachio spreads in the UK? At a glance:

Best Overall: Pisti

Best Premium: Black Milk

Best Budget: Lidl

Best for Cake Decorating: Pisti

Best for Layering: Tesco

Best Dairy Free Option: Rhythm 108

With so many spreads now on the market, which is worth going nuts for? Nothing worse than spending a chunk of your weekly budget on a tub of pistachio cream only to feel let down so I've taken one for the team and got them all lined up for a full taste test so you don't have to guess.

Pistachio Cream Spreads Ranked from Best to Worst:

1. Pisti Pistachio Cream - 5/5

At pole position is my professional and personal favourite - Pisti Pistachio Spread. Unsurprisingly, it's the one with the highest pistachio content at 45%. It has a beautifully rich and deep green hue. It's adaptable - be it filling doughnuts, spreading over pancakes or dripping on cakes. We get these spreads in large 600g jars from Costco where it sells from £6.49, which also makes it great value at £1.08 per 100g.  

2. Black Milk Pistachio Spread - 4/5

Black Milk's cafe in Manchester has got a cult following. And for those of us not blessed enough to be in their vicinity we can count ourselves lucky for being able to get our sticky mitts on their spreads in Tesco supermarkets nationwide. At £5.45 for a 230g jar, this spread is priced at the premium end but it is WORTH it. I expected it to taste half as good at Pisti since it has half the pistachio content at 20% but I enjoyed it by the spoonful. It has a beautiful green colour and a good runny texture - perfect for dripping and spreading. And the pistachio taste? It's up there with Pisti - I don't know how, but it's there.

3. Tesco Finest Pistachio Creme - 4/5

Tesco's Finest has DELIVERED. It's made it into my TOP 3! I'm shocked. Why? Because it's Tesco over M&S and over Waitrose. This spread contains a whopping 30% pistachio content, which is high and makes it great value at its £4 price tag for a 300g jar. The colour is a nice mid-tone muted green and the flavour was pleasingly pistachio-ey, if a bit "enhanced" which is down to the flavourings added. The texture is quite thick and dense so needed a bit more persuasion when spreading and I'm not sure about using it to drip on cakes but it would be great to layer in desserts like trifles, layer cakes etc. 

4. Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Pistachio Creme - 3/5

This was a funny one - Sainsbury's and Tesco's Pistachio spreads are nearly identical. I kid you not. Colour, texture, taste...even the JAR are the same. The only difference is that Sainsbury's version has a hint of an awkward chemically after-taste reminiscent of their monstrous Pistachio Tiramisu. Tesco's version doesn't have this taste and that might be due to them adding Hazelnut flavouring to theirs. Anyway, very very similar but Sainos more expensive for 300g at £4.75.

5. Marks & Spencer Collection Pistachio Creme - 3/5

I really wanted to love M&S's pistachio spread. But I couldn't. I'm not sure what's going on there because it has the same pistachio content as Black Milk at 20%. But if I closed my eyes, sure, it tasted nice enough. But I might not be able to tell it was pistachio. Even with my eyes opened I wouldn't be able to tell because it's not green in the slightest. It's beige. Now I know pistachios, when ground up or whatever, may not be bright green. But I'm not asking for bright green. I'm asking for a SMIDGEN of green. I eat with eyes first. And I want to eat GREEN pistachio spread. Just like how I want to eat GREEN Mint Choc Chip ice cream. Some things just are the way they are, they don't need to be explained or reasoned with. 220g for £4.75 tips it to premium but in that price range I'd choose one of my top 3.

6. Rhythm 108 Pistachio Spread - 3/5

I picked this up from Waitrose - £6.50 for 250g. I LOVE the packaging. It looks cool. But I didn't want to put this thing in my mouth. It had a brown pigeon poop type colour, and nothing pigeon poopy screams appetising to me. The texture was okay, but flavour-wise I wasn't getting much. It's ok. The best thing about it is that it's dairy free so great for those with specific dairy or milk allergies/intolerances.

7. Lidl Italiamo Pistachio Spread - 2/5

At 20% pistachio content this should've been singing. Except it wasn't. The texture looked like it was splitting. It had a pale pastel green colour, but the splitty texture wasn't helping aesthetics. It also tasted very, very sweet. But at £2.99 for 190g it does make it a good budget option. I just wouldn't eat this voluntarily.

8. Aldi Specially Selected Pistachio Creme - 1/5

I think the biggest scandal here is that Aldi calls this Specially Selected. By whom? Fish suffering from long Covid and limp tastebuds? The colour is pasty - almost pretty but a very pale, anaemic fake green. The texture is like wet cement and the taste is offensive. I couldn't tell what it was other than cloyingly sweet. Could've been Nutella. Could've been anything. Anything but pistachio. Which isn't all too surprising when you find out it's just 10% pistachio content. Even at a bargain £1.79 for 200g I wouldn't. 

Having done these taste tests thoroughly I feel really reassured that we chose the best for our customers' pistachio cakes - Pisti leads the pistachio parade. What did surprise me was the varying percentage content of pistachio in each spread and how there was a definitive link between the best and worst with the most and least percentages, but there wasn't really an obvious link for the ones in the middle.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments! And if there are any I've missed?

Pistachio lovin',

Reshmi xoxo