Protein bars are a perfect snack when you're on the go or need a post-workout pick-me-up. With health and fitness influencers promoting different brands of popular protein bars, it can be difficult to know which ones are actually good.
To settle the matter once and for all, I decided to buy seven different brands of popular protein bars and try a different one everyday for a week. I bought my bars from Trader Joe's, and each one was around $2. I rated them based on two categories: taste and nutrition. Here is how it went.
Perfect Bar - Dark Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter
Taste: 10/10
Nutrition: 7/10
With the main ingredient being peanut butter, it is no surprise how delicious the Perfect Bar was. The texture was reminiscent of cookie dough, and definitely was a satisfying treat. Perfect Bar markets themself as the "Original Refrigerated Protein Bar." Although they are refrigerated, they are able to be left out for up to a week. I allowed mine to reach room temperature for optimum taste.
Although the Perfect Bar is quite tasty, it is has more calories than most protein bars, at 330 calories for the Dark Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter flavor. Additionally, there was 18 grams of sugar, which is also relatively high for a protein bar. This is because the main ingredients were peanut butter and honey. However, you have to give Perfect Bar credit for having completely natural ingredients and no preservatives. It has 15 grams of protein, which is a pretty high amount, so that was also a positive.
RXBAR - Peanut Butter Chocolate
Taste: 7/10
Nutrition: 9/10
RXBAR has a lot of hype, but I honestly don't see the appeal. I thought these tasted mediocre as it was extremely dense and chewy. I also could not taste strong hints of peanut butter or chocolate. While not the worst option, these definitely were not the best tasting out of the lot.
When it comes to protein, RXBAR has a solid amount with 12 grams. They only have natural ingredients which are boldly displayed on their packaging. There are 220 calories, which is pretty decent for a protein bar, and 14 grams of sugar. However, there is no added sugar which is great to see.
Quest Protein Bar - Cookies & Cream
Taste: 6/10
Nutrition: 6/10
I was unsure about how this one would taste as I had seen some really hot and cold reviews about Quest. I ate this bar after seeing on Quest's Instagram that it was the seventh birthday of their cookies and cream flavor protein bar. Sadly, the taste was nothing to celebrate. I read that microwaving this bar makes it taste better, and I will say the texture did improve after popping it in the microwave for about 20 seconds. However, I thought the taste was too artificial for my liking. It definitely resembled a candy bar more than the others.
At 200 calories, 21 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar, you would think Quest checks off all the boxes for nutrition. Yet their packaging is deceiving because they actually use sugar alcohols to give their bars a sweet flavor. Personally, I would rather have a higher content of natural sugar than consume a product with sugar alcohols.
GoMacro - Double Chocolate + Peanut Butter Chips
Taste: 9.5/10
Nutrition: 9/10
I was most eager to try the GoMacro bars after seeing a lot of positive reviews about them on Tiktok. And they did not disappoint. These bars were not too chewy, and I really enjoyed the peanut butter chips and chocolate chips inside. There was a pleasant amount of chocolatey flavor, and it did not taste artificial whatsoever.
I love that this company is organic, vegan, gluten-free, and the list goes on as you can see on their website. These bars sit at 280 calories, which is decent. However, the bars have 14 grams of sugar. This flavor also contains 11 grams of protein, which is better than a lot of protein bars, but not the highest compared to other brands, such as Quest.
ONE Bar - Birthday Cake
Taste: 8/10
Nutrition: 7/10
I really enjoyed the texture of this bar - it was very soft and not dense at all. There was a frosting-like coating all around the bars and fun little sprinkles too. If you are into birthday cake flavored products, then you will enjoy this protein bar. Personally, I think I prefer chocolate/peanut butter flavors, but this ONE wasn't too bad (pun intended).
In terms of nutrition, the numbers seem ideal with 220 calories, 20 grams of protein, and 1 gram of sugar. But like Quest Bars, the ONE Bar contains sugar alcohols. Some might not mind them, but if you prefer natural ingredients, then I would not recommend this brand.
Lärabar Protein - Almond Butter Chocolate Brownie
Taste: 6.5/10
Nutrition: 7/10
I was very intrigued by this flavor as it sounded super delicious. While the flavor was decent, the bar itself was very dense and hard like a brick. Even after biting into it, the texture was almost chalky. In terms of texture, this bar was my least favorite.
Lärabar prides itself on having only six ingredients and being plant-based. There are 220 calories and 11 grams of protein, which is also pretty appealing. Yet, the 18 grams of sugar makes this protein bar akin to a candy bar. With this high level of sugar and dense texture, I would not recommend it to others.
Power Crunch - Triple Chocolate
Taste: 9.5/10
Nutrition: 9/10
This was the last protein bar of my week-long experiment. In contrast to the Lärabar, the Power Crunch bar was very light. This protein bar was more like a wafer cookie, which tasted like a treat. If you are looking for a bar to fill you up, however, this might not be for you. I was worried that it would taste like cardboard as previous reviews had indicated, but I did not think it had that taste at all. Ultimately, I enjoyed this one as a chocolatey treat.
This protein bar does a good job of keeping its calories low at 220 and only 5 grams of sugar. 13 grams of protein is relatively high, but obviously is not on par with ONE Bars or Quest. There are no sugar alcohols that I could see in the Power Crunch, although I will say the ingredients are not as "clean" as some of the other brands, such as RX.
The Bottom Line
It is pretty crazy how different each brand of protein bar can taste when they seem to be advertised all the same. Ultimately, some people might prioritize taste, while others care more about the ingredients, etc. Hopefully this article helps in figuring out which brand of protein bar is right for you. In completing this experiment, I can definitely say that I prefer the chocolate and peanut butter flavored bars, and my top choices would be the Perfect Bar or GoMacro Bars. But in the end, to each their own.