12 Protein Bars You’ll Actually Want to Eat
12 Protein Bars You’ll Actually Want to Eat
The Bar With the Simplest Ingredients: RxBar
Founded in 2012, RxBar revolutionized the protein bar industry with its emphasis on simple ingredients and packaging. Every bar has the same base of whole foods: egg whites for protein; dates for sweetness; peanuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, or walnuts; and a touch of sea salt. These dairy-free bars are slightly chewier than the Quest Bars detailed below—about 90% of each bite will get stuck in your teeth—but they taste pleasantly nutty and much more natural. They're a longtime favorite because they taste like real, whole foods and lack any weird aftertaste. Rx also makes a version of their bars with nut butter and oats in place of the dates, which Chou likes too. Those are worth a try if you're into the idea of the brand's simple ingredient lists but prefer a less sticky texture.
Protein source: Egg white
Nutrition info: 200 cal, 12 g protein, 7 g fat, 25 g total carb
Ingredients:
Peanut butter flavor: Dates, Peanuts, Egg Whites, Peanut Flour, Natural
Flavors, Sea Salt; Honey cinnamon peanut butter flavor: Oats, Honey,
Peanut Butter, Egg Whites, Peanuts, Pumpkin Seeds, Brown Rice, Avocado
and/or High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Coconut Sugar, Oat Fiber, Sea Salt,
Cinnamon, Natural Flavors
The Bar With the Most Protein: David
These bars from the founder of RxBar took the internet by storm when they launched in 2024 because they promised to do the impossible: deliver a whopping 28 grams of protein in a 150 calorie package that actually tastes good. As a frequent weightlifter for whom consuming an adequate amount of protein every day has become a priority, we were immediately intrigued. They have a pleasant texture—sort of doughy and far less chewy than an Rx or Quest Bar, with chunks of chocolate and crispy bits strewn throughout (depending on the flavor). The taste itself might not convert anyone who's typically averse to classic protein bars, but as a protein bar enjoyer who doesn't mind the use of sweeteners, we quite liked all four flavors we tried of the David bars. At the end of the day, though, she sees this primarily as a utilitarian pick for people looking to maximize their protein intake in an easy and relatively enjoyable way.
Protein source: Milk Protein Isolate, Collagen, Whey Protein Concentrate, Egg White
Nutrition info: 150 cal, 28 g protein, 1.5–2.5 g fat, 13–14 g total carb
Ingredients:
Protein System: Milk Protein Isolate, Collagen, Whey Protein
Concentrate, Egg White; Binding System: Maltitol, Glycerin, Allulose,
Tapioca Starch, Soy Lecithin; Fat System: Modified Plant Fat (Epg),
Coconut Oil; Flavor System: Unsweetened Chocolate, Natural Flavor, Salt,
Cocoa Powder (Processed With Alkali), Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium.
The Most Filling Protein Bar: Quest Protein Bar
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. Contributor Elaheh Nozari has sampled almost every Quest Bar flavor, and though she's had brief obsessions with the chocolate sprinkled doughnut and mint chocolate chunk varieties, she finds 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 at 20 grams, 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.
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
The Bar for Trail Mix Lovers: Kind Protein
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.
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
The Bar With a Sustainable Protein Source: Exo
The foundation of Exo’s bars is acheta, otherwise known as cricket, a good-for-you and good-for-the-planet source of protein. According to the brand’s website, acheta powder has 40% more potassium than whey protein, the protein source found in many other bars, as well as three times the amount of iron as spinach. Exo’s bars have a soft and chewy texture, and though the chocolate fudge brownie flavor gives off some faux dessert vibes, with only two grams of added sugar (and no sugar alcohols!) they don’t taste overly sweet.
Protein source: Cricket
Nutrition info: 160 cal, 14 g protein, 7 g fat, 22 g total carb
Ingredients:
Prebiotic tapioca concentrate; sunflower butter; an acheta protein
blend made of pea protein and acheta domesticus (a.k.a. cricket),
allulose; egg whites; pea crisps made using pea protein isolates, pea
starch, and rice flour; semi-sweet chocolate chips made with sugar,
unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and vanilla extract;
cocoa processed with alkali, natural flavor, salt, and monk fruit
extract
The Best Vegan Protein Bar: Aloha
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 gets its protein 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. There are plenty of vegan bars out there (including on this list), but they have a particularly high protein content and we like their natural ingredients.
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
The Best Low-Carb Protein Bar: IQBar
If you’re looking for the best low-carb (you can call them keto if you want) protein bar, IQBars are worth trying. Made with pea protein, these bars are vegan and paleo-friendly. They have a slight crumble to them—a much more appetizing consistency than the stereotypical protein bar—and the matcha chai flavor has strong almond, coconut, and cinnamon flavors that might trick you into thinking you’re eating cookie dough—very lightly sweetened sweet cookie dough, that is. This bar only has 1 gram of sugar, and it’s noticeable when you bite into it. If you’re a sucker for power foods, you’ll appreciate that curcumin (of turmeric fame) and brain-boosting lion’s mane mushroom are on the ingredient list.
Protein source: Pea
Nutrition info: 180 cal, 12 g protein, 15 g fat, 10 g total carb
Ingredients:
almonds; tapioca fiber; plant-based protein crisps including pea
protein and tapioca starch; flaxseeds; natural flavors; pea protein;
coconut oil; water; sunflower lecithin; vanilla extract; matcha; sea
salt; cinnamon; ginger; cardamom; clove; curcumin; non-GMO steviol
glycosides; lion’s mane mushroom; Vitamin E allergens including almonds
and coconut
The Best High-Carb Protein Bar: GoMacro MacroBar
Elaheh tasted very little difference between the GoMacro and Aloha peanut butter cup bars, and indeed, they are both vegan and have brown rice protein as the third ingredient. If anything, GoMacro’s bar tastes a bit sweeter, which we'd expect given it has more than double the added sugar. Its overall carb content is quite high, which actually makes this a great bar for runners or other endurance athletes looking for a snack or meal replacement that will keep them full and energized. If you can’t eat your usual pre-run bread-and-peanut-butter, this is a sound alternative.
Protein source: Brown rice, pea
Nutrition info: 280 cal, 11 g protein, 10 g fat, 36 g total carb
Ingredients:
Brown rice syrup; peanut butter; peanut butter chips made of peanut
flour, coconut sugar, cocoa butter, and salt; a protein blend that uses
sprouted brown rice protein and pea protein; puffed brown rice; cacao
powder; fair-trade chocolate chips that include coconut sugar, cocoa,
and cocoa butter; coconut sugar; natural flavor; sunflower oil; sea salt
The Best High-Sugar Bar: Gatorade Protein Bars
This is what BA contributor Matt Buchanan has to say about Gatorade’s Recovery Chocolate Caramel: “Why eat a small brick of protein with the texture of nearly hardened cement and the vague, chemical approximation of chocolate or caramel when you can just eat a candy bar with whey protein injected in it?” That sweetness comes from various types of sugar as opposed to the sugar alternatives and sweeteners other bars sometimes favor. In fact, the Gatorade bars use 40% more sugar than protein. “If you’re on the go after a heavy lifting session and can’t exactly whip a smoothie, however, all that sugar might be exactly what you might need,” Buchanan says.
Protein source: whey, milk
Nutrition info: 340–360 cal, 20 g protein, 10 g fat, 39–42 g total carb
Ingredients:
Whey protein crisp made of whey protein concentrate, corn starch, and
calcium carbonate; caramel with glucose syrup, sugar, palm oil, nonfat
milk, glycerin, butter (cream salt), dry whey, corn starch, salt, mono
and diglycerides, natural flavor, and soy lecithin in it;
chocolate-flavored coating made with sugar, vegetable oil (palm kernel
and palm oil), whey protein isolate, cocoa processed with alkali, soy
lecithin, and natural flavor; corn syrup; brown sugar; glycerin; milk
protein concentrate; invert sugar; vegetable shortening with palm kernel
oil, palm oil, and citric acid; water; salt; natural flavor; mixed
tocopherols (or preservatives); citric acid
The Sweetest Bar: The Perfect Bar Dark Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter
According to contributor Nicki Campo in her 2021 review, the Perfect Bar completely lives up to its name. Made by Perfect Snacks, it vaguely resembles a chewy candy bar and also kind of tastes like one. With a powdered blend of 20 superfoods that include things like tomato and carrot, the bar keeps things healthy with lots of vitamins and minerals that’s balanced with an addictively sweet taste reminiscent of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup courtesy of some freshly ground nut butter—which Campo also calls one of the brand’s secrets to “perfect texture.”
Protein source: egg, rice
Nutrition info: 330 cal, 15 g protein, 20 g fat, 24 g total carb
Ingredients:
Peanut butter; honey; nonfat dry milk; dark chocolate made of
chocolate, cane sugar, and cocoa butter; dried whole egg powder; rice
protein; sea salt; dried whole food powders like kale, flaxseed, rose
hip, orange, lemon, papaya, tomato, apple, alfalfa, celery, kelp, dulse,
carrot, and spinach; flaxseed oil; sesame seed oil; olive oil; pumpkin
seed oil
For Those Seeking a Superfood Kick: Send
Send’s superfood protein bars have earned their place as a steady staple in my office desk drawer. They’re gluten- and dairy-free, sweetened with dates, and have real ingredients that you could find in your pantry: nuts like almonds and cashews, seeds like hemp and chia, and spices like Ceylon cinnamon and turmeric. The bars have 8–10 grams of protein (thanks to pea protein), so they actually provide me sustenance for a mid-afternoon hunger pang. Plus, I love how the brand adds in functional mushrooms like reishi and cordyceps and an added dose of nutrients from ingredients like cacao and spinach (which makes the bar taste more savory). You can't go wrong with any of the flavors, but my go-to is a tie between the banana bread and peanut cacao crunch. —Kate Kassin, editorial operations manager.
Protein source: pea protein
Nutrition info: 230–240 cal, 8–10 g protein, 9–12 g fat, 26–30 g total carb
Ingredients (banana bread flavor):
Zahidi Dates, Cashews, Bananas, Pea Protein , Hemp Seeds, Walnuts,
Cacao Nibs (Cacao, Coconut Sugar), Ceylon Cinnamon, Spinach, Coconut,
Sunflower Lecithin, Organic Reishi Mushroom Powder, Cordyceps, Kosher
Salt, Turmeric
Best Texture: Barebells Protein Bar
We love the texture of Barebells. While the interior is chewy like most other high protein bars, it’s got a crunchy coating covered in a delectable layer of milk chocolate. The Cookies and Cream is particularly good, coated in ‘crunchy cookie crispies’ reminiscent of the chocolate crunchies you might have gotten on ice cream truck soft serve growing up. It’s worth noting some of that sweetness is courtesy of sugar alcohols.
Protein source: whey, milk
Nutrition info: 200 cal, 20 g protein, 7 g fat, 20 g total carb
Ingredients (cookies and cream flavor):
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
The Best Snack Bar That Happens to Have Protein: Truvani The Only Bar
Truvani brands The Only Bar as a snack bar rather than a protein bar. That’s because they choose to forego adding protein powder (which the brand also sells a few plant-based varieties of) to their bars and instead focus on organic nuts like almonds and cashews plus dates as the bar's main ingredients. The result is a softer, smoother texture and a product that can be easier to digest for those who tend to have trouble with protein powder. That being said, the bars still boast six to eight grams of protein while also fulfilling a mid-afternoon craving for a sweet treat. They're sweetened with organic dates and maple syrup, but the addition of sea salt creates a well-balanced flavor. The brand offers a tasting collection to try all 12 flavors, but I like to go all in on the chocolate brownie, mint chocolate, and peanut butter chocolate chip. — K.K.
Protein source: Nuts
Nutrition info: 210–240 cal, 5–8 g protein, 11–15 g fat, 21–24 g total carb
Ingredients (chocolate brownie flavor): almonds, dates, maple syrup, cocoa, cacao nibs, coconut
The Bar for Overnight Oats Lovers: Mush
You may know Mush from their single serving overnight oats, available in flavors like Blueberry, Apple Cinnamon, and Vanilla Bean. The brand recently launched a line of protein bars that has a similarly simple, whole foods-focused ingredient list made up primarily of rolled oats. The bars are bound with nuts, coconut oil, honey, and dates—no artificial sweeteners in sight. The protein comes from a milk protein concentrate, and clocks in at a very solid 15 grams. We thoroughly enjoyed the taste and texture of these, though it is worth noting that like the brand's other products, they need to be refrigerated. They come in three flavors: peanut butter chocolate chip, double chocolate chip, and maple cinnamon.
Protein source: Milk protein concentrate
Nutrition info: 270–290 cal, 15 g protein, 15 g fat, 15–27g total carb
Ingredients (peanut butter chocolate chip flavor):
Organic Rolled Oats, Peanuts, Milk Protein Concentrate, Coconut Oil,
Honey, Dates, Chocolate Chips (Chocolate Liquor, Coconut Sugar, Cocoa
Butter), Vanilla Extract, Almonds, Salt
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