12 High Protein Bars, Ranked

Protein deservingly gets a lot of attention in the health world, especially among high-endurance athletes and bodybuilders. Protein is the key for muscle growth — maintaining muscle mass requires eating 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, and according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), gaining it can require over double that. This means that a person weighing 140 pounds would need around 50 grams of protein to maintain muscle. Gaining more could require needing to eat up to almost 130 grams. If an average meal provides about 10 to 20 grams of protein, 130 seems like an impossible number –- but that's where protein bars come in.

For most of us, protein bars serve as the on-the-go snack choice we usually reach for when we're hungry in between meals. Meant as an additional protein source rather than a replacement, most bars hover around a range of 5 to 10 grams, being just enough to keep us satiated until dinner. For anyone looking to gain muscle, a 20-gram boost may be more useful in reaching higher protein goals, especially when we don't have time to cook or blend tofu into smoothies. With dozens of options on the market today, it can be hard to choose which bar to reach for. I grabbed 12 high-protein brands and ranked them from worst to best, taking into consideration the protein, calories, texture, and flavor. If you're not so sure about protein bars –- like I was –- you may want to reconsider. They've come a long way since their dense, chewy inception.

I promise, I really do like vegan food and went into this with no expectations — good or bad — about what the vegan bars would taste like. The truth is, vegan substitutions can be challenging in some formats, protein bars being one of them. The protein itself isn't the issue — a simple blend of brown rice, the second-highest rice protein, and pea protein, the bar is packed with 20 grams of plant-based fuel. There are even real chocolate chips inside of the chocolate fudge brownie flavor, which certainly elevate the bar into candy status. The issue, however, is the texture.

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Protein bars get a lot of hate for being dense, dry, chewy, and flavorless. This is likely due to ingredients that bind together, like protein, fiber, and sugar –- if you've ever tried to bake with protein powder, you'll start to understand how this works. The No Cow unfortunately falls victim to the density attributed with protein bars. To make matters worse, it's almost sandy in texture, leaving a dry mouthfeel and unpleasant taste. It was the only bar I did not finish, and flavor aside, I had to rank it last.

If you're a fitness enthusiast, Quest is likely to be one of the most recognizable brands of the group — at least as far as protein bars go (I'd be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn't heard of Gatorade). Quest has been around for a while and boasts a collection of over 14 bar flavors, plus a variety of powders, cookies, and coffees. I reviewed their highest protein offering in bar form, the original bar, which has 20-21 grams of protein in each. The bar has a homemade feel to it, undoubtedly due to its origins as a hand-rolled treat made in the founder's kitchen at its conception in 2010. Soft and chewy, it epitomizes what we know about protein bars -– for better or for worse.

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At one time, Quest may have led the pack of high protein bars, being plenty flavorful despite the dense texture. Over a decade after its conception, though, new bars have entered the market. They offer lighter, crunchier textures than their original bar, which still have the same chewy quality early bars always have. You may not mind this, but if you are more of a crunchy person, Quest offers a slightly lower-protein (but still pretty high) bar with crunch in a few of its most interesting flavors.

The other name you're bound to recognize is Pure Protein, one of the original brands to hit the market in the 1990s when protein was just beginning to take shape as bars. Another brand with an army of flavors, Pure Protein is known for its high-protein and treat-like flavors, such as Cosmic Brownie (yes, as in the Little Debbie kind). It's a good bar for athletes and lifters who need whey protein specifically, which, according to Harvard Medical School, is known for being both high-quality and fast-absorbing.

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Pure Protein, like the Quest bar before it, is a dense and chewy bar. There's nothing wrong with a chewy bar –- in fact, some of the highest on my list are chewy, squishy bars. What puts Pure Protein at the bottom of the pack is that the chewiness isn't pleasant, but rather, grainy. This makes it feel like less of a treat and more of a chore. It's not as dry as the bottom two, but is far less interesting than the rich flavors and crunchy textures of the higher ranks.

Think! bars are where the list noticeably starts to jump in calorie, with the first few comfortably under 200 before increasing. A higher calorie count isn't necessarily a bad thing, though, and for some bars, it's necessary to serve their purpose. Another bar with whey protein, Think! high protein bars are similar to Pure Protein and Quest, with near-identical nutritional contents and similar ingredient lists. The biggest difference is the texture, which is also where the list begins to turn for the better.

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As you'll notice as we head towards the top of the list, crunchy protein bars are growing increasingly more popular. Think! seems to bridge the divide, offering a dense and chewy bar with a sprinkling of crunchy soy crisps. If you're not sure about crunchy texture or simply don't want your protein bar to act as a candy bar, Think! might be the bar for you, being that it retains all the chewy qualities of the originals with just a little bit of crunch. Plus, the flavors are spot on -– the Thin Mint is basically the protein equivalent of the iconic Girl Scout cookie.

Did anybody else grow up on Clif bars? The ultra-chewy, surprisingly delicious mounds of dense chocolate, oatmeal, and peanut butter were a constant in my pantry as a kid, admittedly fading away as I entered college and filled my pantry with rice and ramen instead. Since the Clif bar days (which are still very much a thing, by the way), the company has launched plenty of new products, one of which is its high-protein Builders bar. With equally as interesting packaging as the brand has always been known for, the bar stands out on the shelves, hefty for its small size. Behind the snazzy packaging is a bar full of surprising ingredients that ultimately support the Clif ethos of being almost entirely plant-based and athlete-focused.

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The Builder's bar is so good, you wouldn't guess that it's mostly vegan. It doesn't exactly call itself vegan because some bars contain traces of milk or they are made with chocolate, but it refers to the bars as "plant-based" instead — many are made with ingredients like high-protein soybeans and brown rice. It's a crunchy bar, and the first on the list with a better texture than flavor. While crunchy, the bars are either a little bland or a little artificial-tasting, causing a lingering aftertaste. Taste and texture aside, it's also a bar that prides itself on its low-glycemic index ingredients, which means it's more likely to keep you fuller, longer -– but of course, in a list like this, many of the bars offer similar benefits.

Founded in 1999, One bars are a rebranded version of OhYeah! Nutrition It's one of the early inventors of protein bars, alongside brands like Pure Protein. Similar to the other older brands, One falls lower on the list, but thanks to the perfected chewy texture, it lands closer to the middle of the rankings. It offers some unique flavors, such as blueberry cobbler and cinnamon roll, and also claims to have invented the very first birthday cake bar. 

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In this part of the list, the bars aren't terribly different from one another – all a little chewy, a little too dense, some flavors a little more intense and others less defined. I ranked One nearer to the middle of the list because it is a straightforward bar with low sugar and decent flavor, and a chewiness that is neither off putting nor remarkable. It's an average bar with interesting flavors, and a good choice if you prefer a classic chewy snack.

NuGo, short for "nutrition to go," is a bar I'll admit to having low expectations of. The brand markets itself as being free of palm oils, and if you're anything like me, this might prompt you to wonder what "palm oils" even are. While the health benefits (or lack thereof) have varying findings, palm oil is undoubtedly worth avoiding just for the environmental impact alone -– according to the World Wildlife Fund, palm oils are a major contributor to deforestation. One solution for saving the planet? Using NuGo as your midday fuel.

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Instead of palm oil, NuGo boasts using real chocolate, an advertising claim I was skeptical of until I tried it. This bar is by far the best tasting chocolate of the bunch, so much so that it lands in the middle of the list. Rich and real, like eating an actual dark chocolate bar, NuGo is a welcome relief in the world of dry, chewy, milky chocolate bars. Not only that, but the texture is light and crunchy, and all for only 180 calories. The only drawback is that the protein is a little less significant than the other bars on the list at only 16 grams. Even with the vegan bar tasting rich and airy, this is a bar worth getting.

This is where the list starts getting interesting. Built is a brand that hasn't been around long -– not compared to brands like Pure Protein, anyway. The brand offers a nougat-chewy bar and a popular, fluffy bar called the Puff. The Built Puff bar is making waves for a reason: it's the only bar on the market that replicates the texture of marshmallow fluff instead of the typical chewy nougat. This is precisely what lands it at number five on the list, too — marshmallow fluff isn't for everybody, and you'll either love this bar or hate it. Nutrition-wise, though, it's as interesting as it tastes.

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Built Puffs have a surprisingly small list of ingredients compared to the brands lower on the list, relying largely on protein, sugar, and oil to make up the bars. The proteins used are whey and, namely, collagen, notable for its benefits in improving skin elasticity. Further, the bars are made with gelatin, another source of collagen that contributes to the bar's total. The only other bars on the list to include collagen are Barebells and Pure Protein, which both use hydrolyzed collagen instead. That means if collagen is a priority in your diet, Built Puffs may be a good choice for you -– or, if you love the squishy, chewy texture of marshmallows, then this bar is definitely the one to get.

What can't Gatorade do? The world's most popular sports drink, the brand is known for its hydration products but also boasts some powerhouse snacking products, too. The protein bar is one such product, and I assumed it would be a dry and chewy bar coming from a megabrand known for a completely different product. Thankfully, the megabrand is mega for a reason, and has mastered protein bars just as much as electrolyte-infused waters. The long, hefty bars are crispy, airy, and light — much more so than you'd expect when grabbing it off of the shelf. The flavor is also great, being not too sweet nor too bland. The only reason it doesn't make the top three? The nutrition facts.

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The Gatorade bar comes close to being a meal replacement bar with a whopping 360 calories per bar. If you're a high endurance athlete, this likely won't matter to you, and it's also why the bar is marketed toward people who burn through calories at a ripping-fast pace. Besides the calorie count, the bar is also high in carbs, sugars, and fats, which can be good if the bar is being used alongside a heavy workout. My conclusion on the Gatorade bar: Delicious, satisfying, and definitely meant for athletes.

Met-Rx is basically the king of all bars, with an ingredient list that is a conglomeration of every other bar on the list. It's a powerhouse, but whether that is a good or a bad thing depends entirely on your diet and lifestyle. Met-Rx isn't a casual, candy-like bar that you eat regularly between meals -– it's a meal replacement bar that is high in calories, sugar, carbs, and (of course) protein, topping out at over 30 grams per serving. It includes 18 to 19 vitamins and minerals and plenty of fiber, so you'd essentially be getting the same benefits as you would if you ate a decent breakfast. This is ideal if you are a busy high performance athlete, but might not be the best choice if you're simply hungry and at work.

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The taste and texture, however, is how Met-Rx lands in the top three best high-protein bars. Taking into account that the bar is useful for specific dietary needs, it's impressively flavorful with a satisfyingly crunchy texture and smooth, creamy topping. It tastes like a candy bar, and though it has the sugar of one, it offers a lot of benefits for those who need super high protein super quickly –- whether for a labor-intensive job or for outdoor, adventurous sports (or even just a really good workout in the gym before work). My favorite? The super cookie crunch, which tastes a little like an Oreo pressed into a bar.

I've been a fan of Robert Irvine since his "Restaurant: Impossible" days and was excited to discover his brand of crunchy high-protein bars. I am often skeptical of celebrity-made items, even if I admire the star behind them, and I hesitantly bit into the bar. Turns out, the tough-but-lovable TV personality is also good at creating protein bars, managing to create one of the best ones I've ever tried.

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Like all of the other bars on the list, I considered the taste and texture of FitCrunch, which was the most prominent feature of the bar. The bar is essentially a Twix in texture, the wafer version also replicating a KitKat in airy crunchiness. Though they come in a few different flavors, the chocolate peanut butter is pretty spot on in replicating a Twix or Snickers, perfect for those who want a midday sweet treat. Better yet, the bar is also under 200 calories and relatively low in sugar, meaning it's a healthy replacement for candy bars and still far more satiating. This is the bar I'd recommend to anybody, athlete or not –- and it's also the bar I can't stop thinking about.

This is the brand that inspired the article and the bar that made me passionate about protein bars all over again. Barebells is new, especially inthe U.S., where it was only introduced in 2020. Sold in stores like protein-friendly Trader Joe's, the bar has catchy packaging with flavors that draw you in without being over-the-top. For example, the flavor that made me a Barebells superfan (and coincidentally the one I tried first, while grocery shopping on an empty stomach), was the Creamy Crisp, a caramel-filled chocolate bar topped with puffy crisps. Not all bars are the same, some more chewy while others more crunchy, and each contains a different set of ingredients worth looking into if you have dietary restrictions.

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It's not uncommon to hear someone say that Barebells is the best protein bar they've ever had — it was actually what I thought when I bit into that first Creamy Crisp bar, and continues to be even after trying 11 others, too. It sits squarely at 200 calories and with relatively average macronutrients serves as a good treat after the gym or in between meetings at work. This is to say, it's a bar anyone can use without needing to rearrange their diet or lifestyle to make it healthy. Though FitCrunch is nearly perfect, I had to give the number one spot to the brand that impressed me instantly –- and continues to do so with every flavor I try.

Protein being naturally satiating, it's not easy to eat 12 different protein bars with many different flavors each. I made an effort to eat the whole bar when possible: First, to properly test its longevity (in other words, how long it kept me full for), as well as whether the bar was good enough to finish, some bars being deceivingly decent for a primary bite or two only. Texture matters a lot in the world of protein bars, which tend to get a bad rap for being dense and chewy. That being said, I ranked them initially on texture, flavor, and then arranged them by nutritional benefit (or lack thereof). Though the ranking is relatively subjective to my own opinion, I made every effort to objectively rank based on dryness, crunchiness, chewiness, and overall flavor, regardless of my own preferences.