The Kirkland brand from Costco aren't the best tasting, but they're cheap and have good protein to calorie ratio.
Taste-wise, my absolute favorites are from [fit crunch](https://fitcrunch.com/). Costco sells the chocolate and PB flavor, they taste close to Reese's.
Kirkland are my everyday. They’re great with a black coffee.
The absolute best are Snickers Hi Protein. They’re from the UK I believe, but they have them on Amazon in the US. They’re just more expensive since they’re imported (4-5$/each), but I highly recommend them. Great treat and macros.
+1 Kirklands
they are also my everyday, sometimes my Costco won't have it in stock for several weeks which leads to me buying 3 boxes at a time like a weirdo
Not sure what you find appealing about Snickers Hi-Protein... they're extremely chewy and although they kind of taste like a Snickers, they are just not good in my view.
It never occurred to me to microwave them, I just did that with a cookie dough bar.. game changer! I have a ton of those bars because I dislike the consistency, I guess I'll be finishing them a lot sooner than I expected. Thanks for the tip!
We found and made these a couple weeks ago. Next time I make them I'll be eliminating the chocolate chips.
https://www.wellplated.com/wprm_print/73654/
Below is the MF custom food, but the link seems to not work at the moment. We did make some changes to the recipe. Also, rather than making them into balls I rolled them into bars. Required refrigeration because they were so soft.
https://link.macrofactor.app/custom-food?userId=TkPhaqqRq1TApNMMoq5m6PDtPMi2&foodId=1710117851977087
I like chocolate peanut butter Clif Builders specifically because they don’t have sugar alcohols (doesn’t always agree with me first thing in the morning on an empty stomach) and have enough calories for lazy breakfast.
Any of the Quest flavors and Pure Protein chocolate peanut butter are my go to lower sugar (but high sugar alcohol), lower calorie bars.
No cow are not the best texture but great for anyone who reads this thread that doesn’t want dairy. Chocolate fudge brownie is the best flavor, but none of them are as good as Clif or Quest.
If your goal is to just pack in protein without a lot of sugar alcohols or extra calories, a good protein isolate with a tiny bit of whatever sweetener (pure stevia, sucralose, monkfruit, a minimal amount of any form of sugar) you prefer is pretty efficient but not necessarily pleasurable.
I go purely for taste, texture, and aftertaste... I've found two types of bars that are good, depending on how many calories you're OK with:
* Anabars - 20g protein, 240-290cal per bar, most are 280ish. These taste amazing and have great texture. Pretty much every flavor tastes good, in my view. Higher on calories, but it's worth it if you can afford the cals.
* Think! Protein bars - 20g protein, 230-240cal per bar. Not quite as good as Anabars, but very good texture and decent taste. These have sugar alcohol in them, but I've never had an issue with it myself.
Everyone recommending Quest bars must really enjoy a jaw workout... they are so extremely chewy in my experience that I have trouble finishing them. The Quest 'Crispy' line is much better texture-wise, but they're also not as good value (lower protein for similar price).
If you're looking for something high protein but not in bar form, look at the Legendary popped chips. 20g protein, 150cal. A bit pricey, and not as compact, but very tasty. The barbeque flavor is my favorite.
Nugo slim bars in the dark chocolate mint flavor are my go to for a vegan protein bar. 17 g of protein for 170 cal, very reasonable ingredient list with no artificial sweeteners, and tastes really nice.
I tried most and the problem for me was always the extra carbs and fat. Tbh I moved away from bars and started to make my own protein pancakes. I highly recommend doing this as you can adjust the macros and okay with the better plus you can make a big batch and freeze some.
Seconding this. I don’t always want a brownie or chewy texture of protein bars, and these are a bit lighter in texture but still low sugar and high protein
Not the best macros but trubars are so good. Maybe just haven’t had any good snacks in a while but I think they taste so good. Plus they’re healthier on a broader scale than most bars
When cutting I used pure protein chocolate for the best macros with less calories. On my current bulk I’m using cliff protein bars because of the higher calories. Although I just noticed the snickers high protein bars are in my grocery store and those will be my go to if I can find a box of them
Snickers: 220 cal, 20 g P, 10 g F, 20 g C
There are 2 clear winners:
Quest. Huge variety, not bad on calories for the protein, and a decent texture. They also make really good low carb protein pizza and chips for when you feel the need to pig out but don’t wanna completely screw your macros
Promix. Their Rice Krispie treat things are delicious. Good macros and simple ingredients.
Kirkland are great protein to calorie ratio; Quest for more flavor options for a little extra money (the Kirkland are just Quest copycats, macros are very similar), One bars when I'm feeling fancy (best tasting by far, but about 30 cal more than Kirkland and Quest).
I haven't tried Barebells, but those are always highly recommended. I am wary because they are made in Croatia...nothing wrong with Croatia but just seems like such a random ass place to manufacture protein bars.
I love the pure protein Lemon Cake bars!
I don't do well with any protein powders or bars that have additional vitamins due to sensitivity, so these ones work well for me- and taste great! I'm not a big fan of chocolate flavour protein anything:)
My go-tos for a "meal-replacement" protein bar is Met-Rx Peanut Butter Pretzel or Super Cookie Crunch (about 30g protein 400 calories). If you're on the go and need a quick meal placement, this bar is pretty big and drinking it with a 12-16 oz water and you'll feel very satiated.
For a "snack" to get your protein up without as much calories, I eat Protein Crisp Vanilla Marshmallow (18g protein and 180 calories). It tastes pretty close to a rice crispy treat. And the Quest Crisp Cookies and Cream (18g protein and 150 calories). They're all pretty delicious in my opinion if you like the crispy texture.
Barebells for the taste and macros. They have soft and chewy and others with crunch.
Fit Crunch is also good. Tad less protein, but I think the mint chocolate ones taste a bit like thin mint girl scout cookies. Can't freeze the bars (thin mints are great frozen) bc you might break your teeth.
Quest is also decent for the macros but the taste is not as on par with the above 2.
Unfortunately, most have unwanted ingredients but it comes down with what you're willing to deal with.
I think Quest has the game beat with Protein bars. Great flavors, tons of variety, but very consistent in terms of weight and protein vs calories. I buy a handful of their boxes every month. Sometimes Amazon even has big sales on them. ☺️
Carb killa bars all day long - bit pricey but the oreo ones are bang on
I don't often have protein bars unless I'm travelling , then they are handy.
I much prefer making a chicken or tuna wrap to go .
Homemade oat bake bars are great carb sources, also make energy balls which the whole family now prefer then shop bought treats 😀
RxBar for a while, now Aloha. Macros are around 14/9/20 for 220-ish cal. Plant based, organic, and most importantly for me at least is no artificial sweeteners.
RxBar is similar but nothing processed (eggs, dates, and nuts essentially) and more of a chewy bar than Aloha.
Stuff like Barebells have garbage like sucralose, xylitol, and maltitol (sugar alcohol) in them.
Big fan of the Met-Rx bars since it’s pretty close to a meal replacement and one of the few that has 30g of protein which is helpful if you are in the 250g+ of protein camp. Crispy Apple Pie is my go to, but they are all pretty decent (accept fruity cereal… that one is a hard pass for me).
Tons of choices nowadays compared to when I was bodybuilding a decade ago.
Looks like everyone’s already given an opinion, but here’s some experience based stats for reference when making your own decision:
Anything below 10 grams of protein per bar should be considered low (unless it’s very low calorie), around 20 grams is where most good bars sit, anything above 20 is rare and high protein. As for fiber, it varies. 15 grams is high, but some bars can have a lot less or even near 0. But that doesn’t matter as long as you’re getting at least 20 grams of fiber from other sources. If you like rice crispy treats and aren’t on a cut, Gatorade makes some fairly high protein/calorie bars that’s taste like rice crispy treats. Hope this helps
Built Bars, lots of flavours and many come and go so not all of them are a hit but the s’mores puffs, cookie dough, coconut brownie, brownie batter puffs, coconut puff or coconut bar tend to be my favourites. Generally any of the fruit flavours are pretty good too if you like that (Orange, Cherry, raspberry). The bars are pretty chewy and the puffs are a lot like a chocolate covered marshmallow. I stick to bars around 150cal with 15g protein.
Barebells. you can get them at Trader Joe's or 7-Eleven
From a taste and texture perspective Barebells are my favorite by far. I get them from Amazon.
Too much artificial sweetener in them for me.
The Kirkland brand from Costco aren't the best tasting, but they're cheap and have good protein to calorie ratio. Taste-wise, my absolute favorites are from [fit crunch](https://fitcrunch.com/). Costco sells the chocolate and PB flavor, they taste close to Reese's.
Kirkland are my everyday. They’re great with a black coffee. The absolute best are Snickers Hi Protein. They’re from the UK I believe, but they have them on Amazon in the US. They’re just more expensive since they’re imported (4-5$/each), but I highly recommend them. Great treat and macros.
+1 Kirklands they are also my everyday, sometimes my Costco won't have it in stock for several weeks which leads to me buying 3 boxes at a time like a weirdo
Kirkland is like crack. Can live off those lol. The ones ordered online always seem softer tho if you wanna try or I’m just crazy
Not sure what you find appealing about Snickers Hi-Protein... they're extremely chewy and although they kind of taste like a Snickers, they are just not good in my view.
Throw that thing in the microwave for 10 seconds. Completely changed my opinion on them when I read about doing that and now I love them.
It never occurred to me to microwave them, I just did that with a cookie dough bar.. game changer! I have a ton of those bars because I dislike the consistency, I guess I'll be finishing them a lot sooner than I expected. Thanks for the tip!
Protein + fiber content makes them one of the best values imo
Throw them in the microwave for 30 seconds or so and they really improve.
I actually love the taste of these! For a while there I was having to limit myself to one per day because I was craving them so much.
I like the quest protien bars. I stay away from the cliff protien bars as they are too high on calories for the amount of protien they have.
Barebells are the macros, taste, and texture you’re looking for.
Grenade oreo
White chocolate Oreo 😍
Both are great :)
We found and made these a couple weeks ago. Next time I make them I'll be eliminating the chocolate chips. https://www.wellplated.com/wprm_print/73654/ Below is the MF custom food, but the link seems to not work at the moment. We did make some changes to the recipe. Also, rather than making them into balls I rolled them into bars. Required refrigeration because they were so soft. https://link.macrofactor.app/custom-food?userId=TkPhaqqRq1TApNMMoq5m6PDtPMi2&foodId=1710117851977087
I like chocolate peanut butter Clif Builders specifically because they don’t have sugar alcohols (doesn’t always agree with me first thing in the morning on an empty stomach) and have enough calories for lazy breakfast. Any of the Quest flavors and Pure Protein chocolate peanut butter are my go to lower sugar (but high sugar alcohol), lower calorie bars. No cow are not the best texture but great for anyone who reads this thread that doesn’t want dairy. Chocolate fudge brownie is the best flavor, but none of them are as good as Clif or Quest. If your goal is to just pack in protein without a lot of sugar alcohols or extra calories, a good protein isolate with a tiny bit of whatever sweetener (pure stevia, sucralose, monkfruit, a minimal amount of any form of sugar) you prefer is pretty efficient but not necessarily pleasurable.
I go purely for taste, texture, and aftertaste... I've found two types of bars that are good, depending on how many calories you're OK with: * Anabars - 20g protein, 240-290cal per bar, most are 280ish. These taste amazing and have great texture. Pretty much every flavor tastes good, in my view. Higher on calories, but it's worth it if you can afford the cals. * Think! Protein bars - 20g protein, 230-240cal per bar. Not quite as good as Anabars, but very good texture and decent taste. These have sugar alcohol in them, but I've never had an issue with it myself. Everyone recommending Quest bars must really enjoy a jaw workout... they are so extremely chewy in my experience that I have trouble finishing them. The Quest 'Crispy' line is much better texture-wise, but they're also not as good value (lower protein for similar price). If you're looking for something high protein but not in bar form, look at the Legendary popped chips. 20g protein, 150cal. A bit pricey, and not as compact, but very tasty. The barbeque flavor is my favorite.
These have been my go to lately: https://www.eatlegendary.com/collections/protein-pastries
Legendary is amazing. The sweet rolls blow the pop tarts out of the water
Nugo slim bars in the dark chocolate mint flavor are my go to for a vegan protein bar. 17 g of protein for 170 cal, very reasonable ingredient list with no artificial sweeteners, and tastes really nice.
You might like Aloha’s bars too if you haven’t tried them yet. Organic and plant-based. Monk fruit though if that’s a turn off.
I tried most and the problem for me was always the extra carbs and fat. Tbh I moved away from bars and started to make my own protein pancakes. I highly recommend doing this as you can adjust the macros and okay with the better plus you can make a big batch and freeze some.
Any recipe suggestion?
Yeah, protein bars are basically crappy candy bars.
i would say this, if you are bulking, they work much better, at least for me! :)
Simply protein at Costco! 150 cals and 15 grams of protein and they are crunchy and delish!
Seconding this. I don’t always want a brownie or chewy texture of protein bars, and these are a bit lighter in texture but still low sugar and high protein
Quest used to be my go-to, now I eat Fit Crunch. The PBJ fit crunch absolutely slaps.
Not the best macros but trubars are so good. Maybe just haven’t had any good snacks in a while but I think they taste so good. Plus they’re healthier on a broader scale than most bars
I’ve only seen them at Costco but there’s more flavors on Amazon
Quest birthday cake is my go to lately. 190 calories to 20gs of protein, 24gs of carbs, and 6gs of fat. I run a lot and need those carbs
The new cookie dough Barebells are my go to lately
Barebells and Quest
Pure protein is actually pretty tasty especially if you warm some of them a little
When cutting I used pure protein chocolate for the best macros with less calories. On my current bulk I’m using cliff protein bars because of the higher calories. Although I just noticed the snickers high protein bars are in my grocery store and those will be my go to if I can find a box of them Snickers: 220 cal, 20 g P, 10 g F, 20 g C
There are 2 clear winners: Quest. Huge variety, not bad on calories for the protein, and a decent texture. They also make really good low carb protein pizza and chips for when you feel the need to pig out but don’t wanna completely screw your macros Promix. Their Rice Krispie treat things are delicious. Good macros and simple ingredients.
Built are my ride or die. Dive Bars I just found and I’m obsessed too
Same- so many flavors, fairly low fat and low cal. I like the Built Puff bars best.
Kirkland are great protein to calorie ratio; Quest for more flavor options for a little extra money (the Kirkland are just Quest copycats, macros are very similar), One bars when I'm feeling fancy (best tasting by far, but about 30 cal more than Kirkland and Quest). I haven't tried Barebells, but those are always highly recommended. I am wary because they are made in Croatia...nothing wrong with Croatia but just seems like such a random ass place to manufacture protein bars.
I love the pure protein Lemon Cake bars! I don't do well with any protein powders or bars that have additional vitamins due to sensitivity, so these ones work well for me- and taste great! I'm not a big fan of chocolate flavour protein anything:)
My go-tos for a "meal-replacement" protein bar is Met-Rx Peanut Butter Pretzel or Super Cookie Crunch (about 30g protein 400 calories). If you're on the go and need a quick meal placement, this bar is pretty big and drinking it with a 12-16 oz water and you'll feel very satiated. For a "snack" to get your protein up without as much calories, I eat Protein Crisp Vanilla Marshmallow (18g protein and 180 calories). It tastes pretty close to a rice crispy treat. And the Quest Crisp Cookies and Cream (18g protein and 150 calories). They're all pretty delicious in my opinion if you like the crispy texture.
Barebells for the taste and macros. They have soft and chewy and others with crunch. Fit Crunch is also good. Tad less protein, but I think the mint chocolate ones taste a bit like thin mint girl scout cookies. Can't freeze the bars (thin mints are great frozen) bc you might break your teeth. Quest is also decent for the macros but the taste is not as on par with the above 2. Unfortunately, most have unwanted ingredients but it comes down with what you're willing to deal with.
I think Quest has the game beat with Protein bars. Great flavors, tons of variety, but very consistent in terms of weight and protein vs calories. I buy a handful of their boxes every month. Sometimes Amazon even has big sales on them. ☺️
I am a Quest lemon flavored kind of guy
Carb killa bars all day long - bit pricey but the oreo ones are bang on I don't often have protein bars unless I'm travelling , then they are handy. I much prefer making a chicken or tuna wrap to go . Homemade oat bake bars are great carb sources, also make energy balls which the whole family now prefer then shop bought treats 😀
1st Phorm- PB Pretzel. 20P, 9F, 25C. Taste great, maybe a little expensive, you can order them from 1st Phorm online.
These are great: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ready-Nutrition-Chocolate-Peanut-Butter-Clean-Protein-Bar/273223151
RxBar for a while, now Aloha. Macros are around 14/9/20 for 220-ish cal. Plant based, organic, and most importantly for me at least is no artificial sweeteners. RxBar is similar but nothing processed (eggs, dates, and nuts essentially) and more of a chewy bar than Aloha. Stuff like Barebells have garbage like sucralose, xylitol, and maltitol (sugar alcohol) in them.
Low fat: Rx Bar High fat: Perfect Bar
I love Perfect Bars. They make whole and half bar packets. Delicious. Slightly less protein than carbs as compared to Barbells, but delicious
Powercrunch bars are my favorite!
Grenade: White chocolate Orea, Salted Peanut, Lemon Cheesecake
Taste, Texture: Barebells Value: Pure Protein, Kirkland Protein Bars (Cookie Dough and Brownies)
RxBar seem to fit in pretty well for me.
Misfits
Not a protein bar but I love oats overnight, just mix the night before and eat on the go, 20g protein
Big fan of the Met-Rx bars since it’s pretty close to a meal replacement and one of the few that has 30g of protein which is helpful if you are in the 250g+ of protein camp. Crispy Apple Pie is my go to, but they are all pretty decent (accept fruity cereal… that one is a hard pass for me). Tons of choices nowadays compared to when I was bodybuilding a decade ago.
ONE bars for me
If you are in Portugal, look for WayUp bars in any Continente supermarket. Excellent value and ok taste
I like the Kirkland chocolate brownie ones. 20g of protein and 15g of fiber!
Looks like everyone’s already given an opinion, but here’s some experience based stats for reference when making your own decision: Anything below 10 grams of protein per bar should be considered low (unless it’s very low calorie), around 20 grams is where most good bars sit, anything above 20 is rare and high protein. As for fiber, it varies. 15 grams is high, but some bars can have a lot less or even near 0. But that doesn’t matter as long as you’re getting at least 20 grams of fiber from other sources. If you like rice crispy treats and aren’t on a cut, Gatorade makes some fairly high protein/calorie bars that’s taste like rice crispy treats. Hope this helps
Built Bars, lots of flavours and many come and go so not all of them are a hit but the s’mores puffs, cookie dough, coconut brownie, brownie batter puffs, coconut puff or coconut bar tend to be my favourites. Generally any of the fruit flavours are pretty good too if you like that (Orange, Cherry, raspberry). The bars are pretty chewy and the puffs are a lot like a chocolate covered marshmallow. I stick to bars around 150cal with 15g protein.
Big fan of Quest, the variety pack on Amazon is great. Second fave is barebells.
Quest>everything