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Protein bars are the ultimate snacktime savior: They’re portable, easy to eat, and can help you get more protein in between meals. “Protein has many health benefits, including improved recovery after exercise, building lean muscle, helping maintain a healthy weight and maintaining fitness levels as we age,” says Courtney Pelitera, M.S., RD, CNSC, a dietitian specializing in sports nutrition with Top Nutrition Coaching.
Taste-wise, though, protein bars can be hit or miss. Many bars come in dessert-inspired flavors that rival your favorite candy bar, while others, well, not so much. To find both a tasty and healthy protein bar, we tried 120 different protein bars and evaluated them based on flavor (and aftertaste), texture, nutrition and value. Here are the best protein bars you’ll actually look forward to unwrapping.
Barebells Protein Bar
Protein source: whey, milk
Nutrition info: 200 cal, 20 g protein, 7 g fat, 20 g total carb
Ingredients: A milk protein blend made with calcium caseinate, whey protein concentrate, and whey protein isolate; glycerin; maltitol; bovine collagen hydrolysate; polydextrose; cocoa butter; water; soy protein isolate; dry whole milk; sunflower oil; unsweetened chocolate; tapioca starch; natural and artificial flavors; cocoa processed with alkali; sunflower lecithin; sucralose
Commerce producer Alaina Chou loves the texture of Barebells. While the interior’s chewy like most other high protein bars, it’s got a crunchy coating covered in a delectable layer of milk chocolate. “My go-to bar is the Cookies and Cream, which is coated in ‘crunchy cookie crispies’ that remind me of the chocolate crunchies I’d get on my ice cream truck soft serve growing up,” Chou says. It’s worth noting some of that sweetness is courtesy of sugar alcohols.
Quest Protein Bar
Protein source: Whey
Nutrition info: 180 cal, 20 g protein, 7 g fat, 24 g total carb
Ingredients: A protein blend made of milk and whey protein isolates; polydextrose (prebiotic fiber); almonds; water; erythritol; unsweetened chocolate; cocoa processed using alkali; glycerin; and cocoa butter; natural flavors; sodium caseinate; sea salt; lecithin (sunflower and/or soy lecithin); stevia sweetener
Quest Bars will remind you of the three-course chewing gum from Willy Wonka, because they taste freakishly like whatever food they’re trying to imitate. I have sampled almost every Quest Bar flavor, and though I’ve had brief obsessions with the chocolate sprinkled doughnut and mint chocolate chunk varieties, I find the double chocolate chunk the most reliable.
Because they’re both high protein and pretty ubiquitous—you’d be hard-pressed not to find at least one flavor of Quest Bar at a grocery or convenience store—they’re also the best option for when you’re at the airport and want a snack that has a bit more substance than a bag of Cheez-Its. They have more protein per serving than almost any bar on this list, and because more than half of the total carbs are from fiber, they’ll keep you full for a long time. They don’t have the purest ingredients (they do contain 2–8 grams of sugar alcohols), but if your vice of choice is artificial sweeteners, then there’s a lot to love here.
Kind Protein
Protein source: Soy
Nutrition info: 250 cal, 12 g protein, 18 g fat, 17 g total carb
Ingredients: Peanuts, chicory root, soy protein isolate (or soybeans that have been dehulled, defatted, and processed into an isolate), honey, glucose syrup, palm kernel oil, sugar, peanut flour, peanut butter (including peanuts and sea salt), nonfat milk powder, sea salt, soy lecithin, and peanut oil
Most protein bars resemble a large eraser made up of thick, uniform paste. Gluten-free Kind Protein Bars, on the other hand, have actual texture and crunch. They’re quite similar to the original Kind bars in taste and appearance—they’re packed full of almonds and peanuts, but they have double the amount of protein and keep you full longer thanks to 5 grams of fiber from chicory roots. The main protein supplement here is soy protein isolate, so if you have any soy sensitivities, these should be avoided
Aloha
Protein source: Brown rice, pumpkin seed
Nutrition info: 230 cal, 14 g protein, 10 g fat, 26 g total carb
Ingredients: peanuts; tapioca fiber; a protein blend made of brown rice and pumpkin seed protein; dark chocolate made with chocolate, cane sugar, and cocoa butter; tapioca syrup; vegetable glycerin; sea salt; monk fruit; sunflower lecithin
Truthfully, it’d be hard to pick an unwrapped peanut butter dark chocolate chip Aloha Bar from a lineup of other similarly flavored protein snack bars: It has a thick and chewy texture and smells faintly artificial. But it is the sole bar on our list that gets its protein source from pumpkin seeds, which are packed full of healthy fats and minerals like magnesium, manganese, iron, zinc, and copper. It’s also organic, non-GMO, and low sugar, sweetened with tapioca syrup and monk fruit instead of stevia or erythritol. If you like RxBars for their natural ingredients but are trying to stick to a vegan diet, Aloha Bars are a solid alternative (and have a few more grams of protein).