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Is Nutella kosher?

Yes, in the US. OU's own product search lists Nutella hazelnut spread as OU-D, meaning it is certified kosher and dairy. What it is not is kosher for Passover, because the soy lecithin in the recipe is kitniyot. Ferrero does make a Kitniyot-labeled Passover version for those who eat kitniyot during the holiday. Here is exactly what OU's database shows and what it means for your jar.

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CertifiedNutella hazelnut spread, US 13 oz jar (Ferrero USA)

Yes, Nutella sold in the US is kosher: OU lists it OU-D, dairy, though the standard jar is not kosher for Passover.

  • OU's live product database lists Nutella hazelnut spread, Nutella B-Ready, Nutella Biscuits and the Nutella & Go line as OU-D, dairy, with the OU symbol required on the package.
  • The standard jar is marked Not Kosher for Passover in OU's own listing, because soy lecithin is kitniyot.
  • A separate SKU, listed by OU as NUTELLA (KITNIYOT) Passover, carries the OU Kitniyot symbol and is acceptable for Passover to those who eat kitniyot.

Data checked on 2026-09-13. Formulations change; verify your package.

The evidence: what OU's own database shows

OU's product search is rendered client-side, so a plain page fetch can come back empty even when listings exist. Searching it directly in a browser on 2026-09-13 returned 15 results for "Nutella," covering the everyday jar and every packaged spinoff Ferrero sells under the name. Every row showed a dairy status and a note that the OU symbol is required on the package for that listing to apply to the unit in your hand.

Nutella family, OU product search, checked 2026-09-13
ProductTypeSymbolStatus
Nutella (hazelnut spread with skim milk & cocoa)DairyOU-DSymbol required. Not kosher for Passover.
Nutella B-ReadyDairyOU-DSymbol required. Not kosher for Passover.
Nutella BiscuitsDairyOU-DSymbol required. Not kosher for Passover.
Nutella & Go (breadstick, pretzel, multigrain)DairyOU-DSymbol required. Not kosher for Passover.
Nutella Peanut Spread with CocoaPareveOUSymbol required. Not kosher for Passover.
Nutella (Kitniyot) Passover SpreadDairyOU-D KitnyotSymbol required. Acceptable for Passover to kitniyot users.

The everyday jar and the Passover jar are different products with different certifications. A regular jar bought in July does not become Passover-acceptable just because the holiday is close, and a Kitniyot Passover jar is only meant for households that follow the Sephardic custom of eating kitniyot during Passover.

What OU-D means for your kitchen

The letter after OU tells you the category. A plain OU means pareve, safe with either meat or dairy. OU-D means dairy, and Nutella earns that letter honestly: skim milk is a real ingredient, not a trace. That means Nutella cannot be served at a meat meal under most kosher practice, and many people who keep kosher wait a set period after eating dairy before eating meat. If you are cooking for a household that keeps kosher, treat a Nutella-topped dessert the same way you would treat any other dairy item on the table.

Ferrero's own foodservice FAQ backs this up in general terms, stating plainly "Nutella is kosher" and pointing readers to their local Kashrut authority rather than naming one. That statement is consistent with the OU-D listing we found, but it is the OU database entry, not the company statement, that PlatePal treats as the certifier evidence behind this page.

The Passover question, answered

Kitniyot is the word that decides this. It refers to legumes, rice, corn and certain seeds that many Ashkenazi Jews avoid during Passover by longstanding custom, separate from the biblical ban on chametz, which covers wheat, barley, oats, spelt and rye. Nutella's US recipe has no wheat or other chametz grain, but it does use soy lecithin as its emulsifier, and soy falls under kitniyot. That single ingredient is why OU marks the standard jar not kosher for Passover.

Sephardic custom generally permits kitniyot during Passover, which is why a Kitniyot-certified product can exist at all. OU's own 2026 Passover update states that Ferrero will have an OU Kitniyot Nutella Spread that year, matching the Kitniyot listing in the live product search above. If your household observes kitniyot restrictions strictly, the everyday jar is not the one to reach for during Passover regardless of what the label says the rest of the year.

See is Nutella halal for how the same US jar reads against a halal profile, and the kosher food scanner for scanning your own barcode against dietary law before you buy.

Stacked verdict: halal, kosher, vegetarian, vegan and allergens

A jar can be certified for one requirement and only likely OK for another. Nutella's US jar is a clean example: OU-D certified kosher, likely OK for halal because nothing in the recipe is haram, and out for vegan because of the dairy. PlatePal checks all of these on one scan.

Nutella, US 13 oz jar, checked 2026-09-13
ProfileVerdictWhy
HalalLikely OKNo pork, gelatin, animal rennet or alcohol in the US ingredient list. The US jar carries no halal mark, so this is likely OK rather than certified. See is Nutella halal for the full breakdown.
KosherCertifiedOU's own product database lists Nutella hazelnut spread as OU-D, dairy, with the symbol required on the package. Check the jar in your hand for the printed OU-D mark.
VegetarianLikely OKNo meat, gelatin or animal rennet. Skim milk is dairy, which fits a lacto-vegetarian diet.
VeganConcernsSkim milk is dairy. Not suitable for a vegan diet.
AllergensConcernsContains milk, hazelnuts (a tree nut) and soy. Ferrero states there are no peanuts in Nutella spreads. See the full allergen breakdown.

Frequently asked questions

Is Nutella kosher?

Yes. The Orthodox Union's own product search lists Nutella hazelnut spread, along with Nutella B-Ready, Nutella Biscuits and the Nutella & Go line, as OU-D, meaning dairy, with the OU symbol required on the package. PlatePal calls this certified because we checked a live entry in OU's own database, not just a general company statement. Look for the printed OU-D symbol on the jar in your hand to confirm your exact unit.

Is Nutella kosher for Passover?

The standard jar is not. OU's product listing marks regular Nutella "Not Kosher for Passover," because soy lecithin is kitniyot, a category of legumes and seeds that Ashkenazi custom avoids during Passover even though it is not chametz. Ferrero does make a separate Passover product, listed by OU as NUTELLA (KITNIYOT), certified OU-D Kitnyot and described as acceptable for Passover to those who follow the Sephardic custom of eating kitniyot. OU's own 2026 Passover update confirms Ferrero will have an OU Kitniyot Nutella Spread that year. The everyday jar on a regular shelf is not that product.

What does OU-D mean on a Nutella jar?

OU is the certifying symbol of the Orthodox Union, and the D marks the product as dairy. Skim milk is a real dairy ingredient here, not a trace amount, so Nutella cannot be eaten at a meal with meat under most kosher practice, and many who keep kosher wait a set period after dairy before eating meat. Pareve products, by contrast, carry a plain OU with no letter and can be eaten with either.

Is Nutella OU kosher certified in the US?

Yes, based on a live search of OU's product database on 2026-09-13, which returned 15 Nutella-family listings, all showing OU-D or OU-D Kitnyot, with a note that the symbol is required on the package. Ferrero's own foodservice FAQ separately states "Nutella is kosher" and points to the local Kashrut authority without naming one, which is consistent with, but less specific than, the OU listing we found.

Does Nutella contain kitniyot?

Yes. Soy lecithin, used as the emulsifier in the US recipe, falls into the kitniyot category. Kitniyot is not forbidden by Jewish law generally, it is a customary Passover restriction that many Ashkenazi Jews follow and many Sephardic Jews do not. That is exactly why the standard jar is marked not kosher for Passover while a separate Kitniyot-labeled Passover version exists for those who do eat kitniyot during the holiday.

Is Nutella kosher outside the US?

We only verified the US OU-D listing for this page. Ferrero's foodservice FAQ makes a general "Nutella is kosher" statement without naming a market or certifier, and kosher supervision is assigned country by country and plant by plant. Do not assume a UK, EU or other jar carries the same OU-D mark. Check the specific jar in front of you for a printed kosher symbol.

What this page is not

Allergens. PlatePal screens ingredient data, so this page is information and not medical advice. A recipe can change before the data does, and shared equipment never appears in an ingredient list. Always read the label on the package in your hand, and follow your allergist or doctor over any app.

Religious status. A screening result is not a religious ruling. Certifiers and schools of thought differ, and PlatePal does not rank them. For anything you hold yourself strictly to, ask a qualified authority or the certifier you already follow.

Related reading: is Nutella halal for the full ingredient-by-ingredient halal read, Nutella allergens for the milk, hazelnut and soy declaration, and the kosher candy list for more US treats checked against a certifier the same way. For your own barcode, use the kosher food scanner.

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