As a teen in the ’90s, I remember hitting the weight room hard to bulk up for football season. To get the most gains, I…
As a teen in the ’90s, I remember hitting the weight room hard to bulk up for football season. To get the most gains, I was told, I needed a steady diet of protein. Could I have consumed more chicken? Absolutely. Instead, I decided to choke down these bulky, gold foil-wrapped protein bars. It was a chore.
There wasn’t a single thing great about these bars, either. The texture was reminiscent of old gum and it took some serious concentration to get through even a few bites at a time. Forget about good taste, too — eating them was a workout in itself.
Thankfully, protein bars have come a long way in the last 25 years. You no longer have to settle for inedible junk. Today’s options taste so good and go down so easy you’ll crave them even when you aren’t trying to make the most of your workouts.
Whether you’re looking for a meal replacement, to build muscle, or just want to up your protein intake, finding the right protein bar for your needs takes some experimentation. Fortunately, there are options available no matter what your dietary needs are.
If you’re vegan, look for dairy-free alternatives that rely on plant-based proteins. If you’re like me and can’t handle artificial sweeteners, read the ingredients and steer clear of sucralose, a popular added sweetener.
To calculate your recommended daily allowance of protein, take your weight in pounds and divide by three. Your answer is the number of grams of protein you should take in. For instance, you’d want 55 grams of protein per day if you weigh 165 pounds. However, you can still experience benefits taking up to twice that amount.
Before you boost your protein intake, though, check with your healthcare professional since, for example, people with low blood pressure, calcium deficiencies, and other specific ailments could potentially have adverse reactions to whey protein.
We recommend getting your protein bars through Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program if possible. This saves you up to 15% off the regular price and you’re able to cancel your subscription at any time. The service automatically replaces items you use regularly, so if you always eat a protein bar after your workouts, and you work out six days a week (about 24 days a month), you might choose to have 2 boxes of 12 bars arrive every month.
Each price quoted in this guide is based on the current non-subscription price for the most popular flavor of the bar. Prices are subject to change, and you can usually save a few dollars by subscribing.
You can also figure out the cost per bar yourself by taking the product’s price and dividing it by the number of bars per box. It’s useful to calculate the cost per gram of protein, too, since the protein per serving varies from brand to brand. You get this number by dividing the cost per bar (as calculated above) by the number of grams of protein per bar.
The following guide features bars that have a track record of consistent quality, are available in several delicious flavors, and are convenient to have on-hand. We taste-tested bars from more than 15 brands and narrowed down the field to the five best.
Updated on 5/12/2020 by Rick Stella: Added in the RSP Whole Bar as the best keto-friendly option, removed our recommendation for the best protein brownies from RSP, which has been discontinued, checked the availability of each protein bar, and updated the prices, formatting, and links.
Full disclosure: I love the Optimum Nutrition High Protein Wafer Bars. After intense workouts, I have trouble stomaching protein shakes. I’d rather just have water. Unfortunately, it’s 2020, and water still isn’t packed with protein. These wafers, however, are the perfect light snack. They taste great, go down easily, and don’t have an awful aftertaste.
I’ve toured Optimum Nutrition’s production facilities outside of Chicago and was impressed with the amount of detail they put into making sure their products are free from contaminants. They go the extra mile keeping ingredients in quarantine before testing and clearing them and regularly cleaning the entire facility between projects.
There are four wafer flavors: vanilla, mocha, chocolate raspberry, and chocolate.
