What Really Makes Uncrustables So Popular?

What's better than a good old fashioned peanut butter and jelly sandwich? This sweet delight has been America's sweetheart since the turn of the 20th century, when the peanut butter and jelly combo was created by Julia Davis Chandler,  a writer for the Boston Cooking School Magazine. With the invention of sliced bread, the popularity of the PB&J took off. At the time, a simpler way to acquire sustenance was virtually inconceivable. Who could have imagined that a century later, folks would be champing at the bit for a more convenient option?

Uncrustables emerged and solved a problem no one knew we had. But why has something so simple for people to make become such a sensation? The no-prep aspect has an obvious appeal in a society that values productivity as much as ours. The fact that they can be stored in the freezer for an extended shelf life doesn't hurt either. Some  suggest that they taste better than any PB&J we can make for ourselves (though that could be influenced by the convenience factor). There's also their appeal to pro athletes. These jocks can't seem to keep their mitts off of them! Combine that with the fact that Uncrustables helped pioneer the crustless sandwich, and you have a recipe for success no one saw coming... except perhaps The J.M. Smucker's Company.

Maybe it seems silly that we spent $800 million on premade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in 2024, but as evidenced by nearly a billion dollars in sales, convenience truly is king. In the midst of life, work, kids, and all of our other obligations, some days, finding the time to simply smear a few ingredients across a couple slices of bread can feel like an insurmountable challenge. In walks Uncrustables — a perfectly prepped hand-held snack.

Because of their convenience, Uncrustables have become an increasingly popular choice for parents looking to feed their hungry children between school, practice, and playdates. Not only are they ready-made for those tricky days when you forget to make lunch, but the predictability and consistency of flavor and texture appeals to children's sensibilities.

Then, there's the sandwiches' unmatched holdability, making them an easy snack to take on the go. In large part, that's a credit to the sealed-sandwich technology that keeps it from messing up your fingers. They aren't just for kids either. All the reasons that Uncrustables are a great for kids also apply to professional people who clock long hours, hikers, campers, and anyone who needs a satisfying sandwich but doesn't the time to make one.

The grab-and-go convenience of Uncrustables isn't the only thing that makes them appealing to people with busy lives. The premade sandwiches also boast a long shelf life. According to The J. M. Smuckers Company, the sandwiches can be stored in the freezer for up to a month after purchasing. Of course, if you've been paying attention, you know now that everything you thought you knew about expiration dates is wrong. The best by date is merely an indicator for when the food will be at its peak freshness, not a marker of when the food is no longer edible. If homemade sealed sammies can last up to three months frozen, surely the processed and packaged version can do at least that!

That Uncrustables can be stored in the ice box makes them an eternally low-pressure purchase. Even if you toss them in the freezer and forget about them until you're in a pinch, they are easy to keep on hand without feeling like you need to get through them quickly. For those who do go through a considerable number of them, having several flavors stocked in the freezer allows you to have a rotation of ready-made sandwiches. (If you're looking for a new candidate for your Top 5 Uncrustables line-up, we ranked every flavor from worst to best.)

Once thawed, Uncrustables fans say the pillowy soft bread is something to write home about. The J.M. Smuckers Company credits a proprietary bread-making process for that.  While the company isn't too enthusiastic about providing details, we do know the bread is made fresh daily before it's immediately frozen, preserving that fresh-out-of-the-oven texture. As for the PB to J ratio, folks say it can't be beat. Although it's widely known that the classic PB&J has one layer of jelly between two layers of peanut butter (perhaps the secret to making the perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich?), for some reason, people on the internet don't believe they can strike the right balance on their own.

The proprietary peanut butter and jelly also play a part. However, some commenters on social media have theories that The J.M. Smuckers Company adds a touch of this and a touch of that to make Uncrustables extra irresistible. Extra salt, sugar, and illicit drugs have all been offered as possible explanations. Then, of course, there are the true food detectives. "I've found that refrigerating your [regular PB&J] sandwiches for a bit before eating makes them taste way better," one person writes in a Reddit thread dedicated to the subject. "I think that's a big reason Uncrustables are so good."

Uncrustables have become a major hit with some of the world's most beloved professional athletes. "I eat an Uncrustable more than I eat probably anything else in the world," Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs (and Taylor Swift's beau) admitted to his brother, Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles, during their podcast, "New Heights." This led to The J.M. Smuckers Company sponsoring a few episodes and launching Uncrustables' first ever TV commercial, which aired during "Monday Night Football."

The Kelces aren't the first to reveal that PB&Js are integral to a pro athlete's diet. Former Boston Celtic Kevin Garnett apparently ate one before a killer game in the early 2000s, sparking a league-wide obsession with the sandwich. Uncrustables found their way into NBA locker rooms around that time, as athletes were figuring out that there are lots of insanely delicious things like bananas and nuts you can put on your PB&J, and the packaged variety was touted as an inferior version best suited for rival teams. Still, the magic of the  convenient handheld sandwich — which athletes love for the fast carbs, fat, and sugar — was not to be denied. Soon, Uncrustables were publicly embraced by baseball superstars and sports announcers alike. "One of the greatest things ever invented," Charles Barkley, former NBA player and TV analyst, said of the snack on CBS Sports in 2023. That same year, it was revealed that some NFL teams were consuming upwards of 4,000 Uncrustables a week!

Though J. M. Smuckers isn't responsible for inventing them, the company is widely perceived as the originator of the sealed crustless sandwich. That was undoubtedly Smuckers' intention when it filed a trademark for the idea in 1999. The patent was revoked in 2005 after an appeals court decided that crustless and sealed sandwiches were enjoyed long before Smuckers started marketing them, but by that time, the ball was rolling. Folks were smitten with the prepackaged PB&Js that tasted just like mom's but came out of the freezer in a plastic wrapper.

Perhaps it's the cute, crimped edges that make Uncrustables stand out. (It's those edges that actually wound up getting patented.) The sturdy seal has certainly had an impact on its appeal as a portable snack. It has also sparked the great debate over whether an Uncrustables is more of a dumpling, donut, or empanada than a sandwich. As a matter of fact, an entire industry of crustless sealed sandwich making gadgets that will save you money on Uncrustables has spring up surrounding people's dedicated love of them. 

Now that others aren't barred from doing so, several companies have taken a jab at the crustless sealed sandwich. We put Walmart's No Crust sandwich up against Uncrustables for the ultimate taste test and actually found the Great Value version to be tastier. Regardless, Uncrustables remain the paradigm for the crustless sandwich.