12 Bonne Maman Flavors, Ranked Worst To Best

With a name like Bonne Maman — literally translated as "Good Mom" — it's fair to assume that these store-bought jams are the next best thing to homemade. The company was founded in France with a focus on crafting products made with simple ingredients and family recipes and that remains true today. It's also one of the French food brands you can currently find in the U.S. Unlike other brands of jam and preserves that can load up the ingredients list with things like "natural flavors" and thickeners, stabilizers, and additives, Bonne Maman continues to craft products with natural ingredients you would find in your own home.

Being familiar with the jam-making process and a fan of some of the brand's flavors to begin with, I sought to determine which of Bonne Maman's jams and spreads were the best from the ones that were readily available to me. Read on to see how to spread the love when it comes to your next shopping excursion down the jam aisle (as well as which ones to avoid).

Unlike the classic raspberry jam, Bonne Maman bills this raspberry spread as containing more fruit and less sugar. Unfortunately, that's to this spread's detriment. While there's a prominent raspberry smell when spooned from the jar or smeared across a piece of bread (or baguette, as in the case of this tasting), the flavor didn't echo the scent. There was a tartness, but not much juiciness or natural sweetness that we tend to expect with raspberry-flavored things.

While the taste of this raspberry spread wasn't great, it wasn't all bad. The tartness was a nice contrast to some of the sweeter flavors in this ranking. It was the texture that was really the downfall of this jar. Although there was no added water in the list of ingredients, this spread had a very loose, watery texture. It led to an unpleasant mushy mouthfeel, even when slathered on a sturdy baguette round. Combined with the prominent seeds from the raspberries themselves and this spread is best left on the shelf.

Blueberries are a wonderful fruit to enjoy in summer, when they reach their peak and can be picked up in baskets from roadside stands or plucked from bushes if you happen to live in a blueberry-producing state. Sweet, tart, and juicy, there's a lot of flavor packed into these tiny berries.

Unfortunately, Bonne Maman's blueberry jam loses all that natural blueberry goodness in favor of way too much sugar. Upon first unscrewing the lid of the jar, I was hit with a strong blueberry scent that had subtle notes of wine in it. When I tasted it, I got some initial blueberry flavor, but that was soon eclipsed by sugar. The saccharine sweetness of this jam was overwhelming. While concentrated lemon juice is used in this jar, it also contains two kinds of sugar, which feels unnecessary. The result is an almost bland flavor from so much cloying sweetness. I did like that there were actual pieces of wild blueberries to be found in this jam, but the overall vibe was more blueberry pie filling than blueberry jam.

The second lower sugar, more fruit jar on this list is Bonne Maman's apricot spread. Like the raspberry flavor, this spread was quite tart. In fact, it was the second tartest jar I tasted of the whole dozen. When I opened this jar, there was also a strange floral scent. While not unappetizing, it was weird and put us more in mind of field-fresh flowers than orchard-fresh apricots.

Scooping some of this spread brought us face to face with the same textural issue as its raspberry counterpart: this spread was watery. It had an almost applesauce-like texture that didn't feel appropriate for a piece of toast. Rather, it soaked more into the bread than I would've liked. Instead, I suggest swirling this spread into some yogurt for a burst of fruitiness without too much sugar (a vanilla yogurt would be our recommendation, as a plain variety might be too sour). I noticed a slight bitterness at the end of our tasting, likely because of the lower sugar content to balance out the natural tartness of real apricots.

You know the phrase, "Too many cooks in a kitchen"? There should be another one for too many berries in a jam. Such was the case for Bonne Maman's mixed berry flavor, which contains blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Instead of harmonizing together, the berries seemed to cancel each other out, each one fighting for supremacy and none of them succeeding. The result was a jam that was strangely muted in its taste, with too much sugariness to really bring the berries to the forefront.

Initially, the jam smelled like blackberries but tasted like blueberries. Both were quite mild, and the raspberries were pretty much nowhere to be found. I tried this jam on its own and with bread, and I found it better when it had a vehicle with which to eat it. On its own, this jam was way too seedy and way too sweet. Both those textural and taste issues were softened when smeared over a slice of baguette, but it still didn't raise this flavor up from the mid-bottom tier.

Since Nutella has achieved peak status as the chocolate hazelnut spread everyone loves, there have been many imitators. From Trader Joe's Cocoa Almond Spread (an iconic TJ's snack) to Bonne Maman's Hazelnut and Cocoa Spread, many have tried to rise above the Italian creation. Unfortunately, they don't always quite succeed.

This is a nice spread, but it's not the best. I can't help but compare it to Nutella, since that's clearly what this spread is trying to mimic. It's drippier, with stronger hazelnut notes versus chocolate. When you open the jar, there's a slight oiliness that settles on top, but goes away once it's properly mixed (the oils in question are sunflower and rapeseed oils). Once this spread is thoroughly blended, it bears a strong resemblance to chocolate pudding, which is appealing. The appeal carries over into the mouthfeel too, which is creamy, rich, and nicely coats the mouth. When considering these spreads, I thought of versatility as one of the components in my ranking. While this would be delicious drizzled over pancakes (I don't even think you'd have to melt it), I wouldn't use it every day. It earns a comfortable middle ranking.

Unless you're Paddington Bear, you may not be as familiar with marmalade as you are with jam. Unlike jam, which uses crushed fruit, marmalade uses citrus peel for its flavor. In the case of this Bonne Maman version, it's oranges that flavor this jar. However, since it's largely peel used in marmalade, the result is quite bitter. In fact, this flavor was the most bitter of the ones we sampled. While there was a notable sweetness in this marmalade, my fellow taste testers and I found that the bitterness lingered (some tasters liked this, while others did not).

The smell of this jar was very orange-forward. It was fresh, delightful, and very reminiscent of orange groves which, according to Bonne Maman's website, is exactly what they sought to evoke. There was a clean orange taste, but I found it was slightly undercut by the bitterness. The jar was good for a marmalade but, if you're more drawn to sweet jams, we suggest skipping this one, or using it in sweet applications, like chocolate desserts.

Following the citrus-forward orange marmalade, there is the equally citrus-forward lemon curd. That's about where the similarities between these two spreads ends, however. When I first opened this jar, I was a bit underwhelmed by the color. When I think of lemon curd, I picture bright, sunshine-yellow lemon bars. This curd was instead a more muted, dark golden color. Perhaps that's owing to its shelf-stable nature (although you are to refrigerate after opening), but it had me slightly unimpressed.

Fortunately, when it came to taste, this curd is better than it looks. It has a bright, tart, lemony flavor and a creamy, smooth feel on the palate. Made with eggs, lemon juice, butter, and sugar (plus lemon oil and tapioca starch), it's about as close to a homemade curd as you can get. There was a slight metallic aftertaste, likely owing to sugar being the first ingredient, but that dissipated after being spread on a slice of baguette. This flavor only lost points due to versatility, as I can't see it being used much outside of dessert.

Confession: Raspberry jam is this writer's favorite. I went into this tasting expecting Bonne Maman's raspberry jam to be the best of the best, the jewel in the French brand's proverbial crown. It's the flavor I've purchased multiple times before, because I love the sweet-tart taste of raspberries and this jam highlights them in all their fruity glory.

To say I was surprised that this jam didn't take the top spot is an understatement, but that doesn't mean it was disappointing. Indeed, Bonne Maman's raspberry jam hits all the senses in the best way. First, the smell: Like real fresh raspberries, there was a beautiful rosy note to the aroma of this jam, almost as if they'd been just picked off the bush. Then, the texture: raspberry seeds are small but still definitely present. Unlike the seeds in the mixed berry flavor or the raspberry spread, these seeds weren't prominent, but offered a nice slight crunch in each bite. The texture wasn't too loose or too firm, just thick enough for generous spreading. Finally, the taste: While this jam was sweet, there was a natural tartness from the raspberries and lemon juice. Sweeter on its own than when paired with a bread, this was a balanced jam. I still love it, but there are others I actually love more.

Really, both the strawberry and raspberry jams from Bonne Maman could swap places in this ranking and I wouldn't be upset. The strawberry jam is a crowd-pleasing flavor that is ranked just a smidge higher because it's likely the more preferred berry for jam by the majority of people.

This jam tastes homemade, and a lot like summer. I could see this jam being just as at home in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as atop a scone with clotted cream. It has a lovely, fresh strawberry smell with chunks of real strawberries throughout. It is sweet — like the blueberry jam, this jam uses two kinds of sugar — but strawberries are rarely a tart fruit, so it works with them rather than against them. There's a slight crunch from the strawberry seeds, but nothing so distracting that those who prefer jellies to jams would be turned off. This is a simple, uncomplicated jam, which is why I like it so much, but also why it didn't snag the top spot.

Unlike the apricot spread, which boasted less sugar and more fruit but was more tart than anything else, this apricot jam is near perfect. It has a nice, fresh, subtle smell that's not as detectable in the jar as it is on the spoon, and visible large chunks of fruit. This jam almost toes the line between being a preserve, the fruit chunks are so prevalent. Fortunately, that's a good thing, as this is a jam that really respects the apricot.

The first word that came to mind when tasting this flavor was "juicy." The sweet-tart profile of the apricot is highlighted and is handled well by simple ingredients like sugar and lemon juice. For those who are shy of tartness, this jam doesn't verge into sour territory, and any tartness becomes a bit muted when paired with bread, allowing the flavor of the apricot to shine. Apricot jam doesn't feel as common as any of the berry jams so this flavor, combined with its gorgeous orange color, makes this jar feel a bit fancier than most. It definitely earns its spot in the top three.

Don't be put off by the word "spread" in the name of this jam. Unlike the raspberry and apricot spread, this flavor isn't made with less sugar to the detriment of its overall composition. Here, Bonne Maman pairs two strong flavors — peach and mango — in a way that blends both beautifully. While you might think these two fruits would cancel each other out, the opposite is true. Upon opening the jar, there's a strong whiff of peach, which is to be expected since the stone fruit has such a powerful scent. At first bite, the peach comes forth before the mango sneaks in behind it.

Like most of Bonne Maman's jams, this spread boasts chunks of real fruit. However, it doesn't make the flavor too chunky or difficult to spread. It still spreads nicely across a slice of bread, with some chunks throughout to keep things interesting.

This jam isn't too sweet and instead allows the fruits to take center stage. It's juicy and ripe in flavor, the perfect choice for smoothies, yogurt, scones, and more. A unique flavor that's not seen across many other jam brands, this spread earned a very respectable silver medal.

Cherry flavors can get a bad rap and they're often loved or hated with no in-between. Too often, cherry can come across as artificial with a cough syrup-esque taste. That is not the case for Bonne Maman's cherry jam.

This is a gorgeous flavor. It starts subtly at first, without much smell when I unscrewed the lid. However, the taste is where this jam really shines. Nice chunks of actual cherries are detectable in both appearance and when eating. They're juicy, sweet, and with just enough chew to make you realize, "Yep, that's the real deal." The jam is sweet but has a tartness that's evident and stays with you in a pleasant way, with a tart-bordering-on-sour taste after swallowing. Raspberry and strawberry can be found from multiple brands around the world, but cherry jam feels like something special. Decadent, juicy, fruity — this jam ticks all the boxes for us. Smeared on a baguette or atop a buttery croissant, we've dipped into this jar more than a few times since our initial tasting — it really is that good.

For this ranking, I shopped flavors of Bonne Maman spreads and jams that were available at grocery stores near me. I took into account texture and flavor at the forefront in this tasting, but also paid attention to the fruitiness of the spread (if fruit was involved), or how well they highlighted the ingredients that were in their name, as in the case of the hazelnut and cocoa spread.

Versatility was also a factor in this ranking, and some flavors lost points if they weren't easy to incorporate across a multitude of dishes or recipes. While this ranking is based on the perceptions of myself and my tasters, I also considered overall popularity of flavor in my ranking, although this was weighted with slightly less importance than the previous factors.