What Snack Bars Have The Best Taste, Calories, Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat?
SNACKBAR SHOWDOWN
Which bars taste the best? Which have too many calories? Which have the best macros (and which have the worst!)?
Written by Jonathan Fletcher
You know grabbing a candy bar isn’t the right option, so you head to the snack bar aisle in the store.
There you stand, under the bright LED lights completely overwhelmed by the sea of choices.
Should you get the plant based protein bar?
Is the paleo one healthy?
Maybe it’s like wine and you just pick one with a cool looking label?
Well, the fact is, some of them taste like dirt, some have a ton of calories and some of them are trying to trick you into thinking you’re eating less calories than you really are.
We pulled 10 different snack bars off the shelf, and we’re tasting them, looking at the labels, and giving you our opinion of which are “best” and which ones to avoid.
Caveman Protein Chocolate Salted Caramel Protein Bar
190 Calories
10g Protein
17g Carbohydrates
10g Fat
Fairly low in calories compared to others but also fairly low in protein and carbs.
Blakley: SCORE 2 - Hard to chew, too much caramel
Jonathan: SCORE 2 - Too hard to chew, taste like cheap halloween candy, hard to swallow
Primal Kitchen Peanut Butter Protein Bar
200 Calories
9g Protein
9g Carbohydrates
16g Fat
If paleo and low carb are your jam this is a pretty low carb option. 16g is a lot of fat for a snack though. Calories are on the low/average side for most snack bars so that’s a positive.
Blakley: SCORE 1 - Looks weird, pretty dry, no flavor
Jonathan: SCORE 2.75 - Dissolved in mouth, flavor not terrible, taste like peanut butter
GO MACRO MACROBAR PROTEIN REPLENISHMENT PEANUT BUTTER
270 Calories
12g Protein
34g Carbohydrates
10g Fat
This sucker packs a big punch with calories. Mainly because of how many carbs that it has. It has as much carbs as a whole bowl of oatmeal. Probably not a good idea for most general population people.
Blakley: SCORE 1 - It’s large, looks homemade, no flavor, “Is this expired?”
Jonathan: SCORE 1 - Taste like dirt, Hard to bite into, not good
NO COW - PROTEIN BAR - CHUNKY PEANUT BUTTER
190 Calories
21g Protein
23g Carbs
3.5g Fat
If you’re vegetarian this one has no dairy. It’s also very low in fat compared to most protein bars. HOWEVER… there is trickery in the calorie count on this bar. They’ve subtracted out the fiber and sugar alcohol (sweetener) before calculating the calories. This bar has closer to 220 calories. BUT, at 21g of protein for 220 calories it’s not a bad option.
Blakley - SCORE 1 - It’s like melted taffy. It’s like a melted tootsie roll. I don’t like it.
Jonathan - SCORE 1.5 - It looks like what comes out of a cow. It’s like a laffy taffy texture. Taste like medicine/chemicals.
RX BAR LAYERS - LAYERED PROTEIN BAR - CHOCOLATE ALMOND
250 Calories
14g Protein
21g Carbohydrates
13g Fat
At 250 calories this thing is NOT a light snack. The ingredients are simple which is a bonus in our book, but if you’re keeping an eye on your calories, this is a high calorie snack with not a ton of protein.
Blakley: Score 3.5 - Taste like a regular RX Bar with more cookie taste, probably wouldn’t buy
Jonathan: Score 3.5 - Good flavor, melty chocolate, burn a lot of calories chewing it, not good for dentures
DANG BAR - MINT CHOCOLATE
210 CALORIES
10g Protein
10g Carbohydrates
16g Fat
Not a very high protein snack at only 10g for 210 calories. But since it uses peas as it’s protein source it’s a decent option for vegetarians. It’s a high fat food so if you’re on a ketogenic diet this might be the one for you.
Blakley: SCORE 4 - Likes the looks of it, likes the light texture, pretty good taste
Jonathan: SCORE 2 - Pretty crumbly, taste like a krackle bar, don’t taste the chocolate
OATMEGA 3 - CHOCOLATE PEANUT PROTEIN BAR
200 Calories
14g Protein
22g Carbohydrates
7g Fat
If you don’t eat much fatty fish, they’ve added fish oil to this bar which gets you some bonus Omega 3 fatty acids. This bar also is pretty balanced as far as protein, carb, fat and fiber. It has 7g of fiber which is pretty solid for a snack.
Blakley: Score 4 - It’s big, pretty crunchy, taste like oats, not a ton of flavor but satisfying.
Jonathan: Score 4 - Good texture, dense, pretty good flavor
THUNDERBIRD CHOCOLATE ALMOND SEA SALT REAL FOOD BAR
220 Calories
6g Protein
22g Carbohydrates
13g Fat
Another paleo and vegetarian friendly option. But don’t look to this bar for your protein. It’s pretty wimpy at just 6g and has plenty of calories.
Blakley: Score 1.5 - Chock full of nuts, looks gooey, like an uncooked cookie, falls apart in mouth, don’t like it.
Jonathan: Score 2.5 - Tastes a lot like dates, taste isn’t offensive, too salty, not that chewy though.
LARA PROTEIN - CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUP
230 Calories
11g Protein
24g Carbohydrates
10g Fat
Another option for you non-meat eaters. This puppy comes in hot at 230 calories for only 11g of protein. Not a lot of volume for the number of calories. Pretty average amount of protein.
Blakley - Score 4.5 - Good texture, like these a lot
Jonathan - Score 4 - Kinda crumbly and gooey all at once, very dense, good flavor
RX BAR - CHOCOLATE SEA SALT
210 Calories
12g Protein
23g Carbohydrates
9g Fat
Minimal ingredients on these, eggs are the source of protein and average/slightly above average protein content for the number of calories.
Blakley - Score 4 - Salt, chocolate, what’s not to love. Hard to eat, sticks in your teeth a lot, don’t eat before a date
Jonathan - Score 4 - Taste like a brownie, sticks to the teeth HARD
SUMMARY!
Snack bars like these are convenient when you’re on the go. They’re certainly a better option than stopping for fast food.
Get as many of your calories from whole, real foods as you can and then fill in the gaps with bars like these.
But just because you see buzzwords like “non-gmo”, “vegan”, “paleo” or “net carbs” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a smart choice.
Here’s how to analyze any of these bars.
Step 1: Look at the total calories and make sure the bar is only 1 serving. Most bars are right around 200 calories so if the one you’re looking at is much more than that, steer clear unless you’re making it a meal.
Step 2: Look at how much protein it has. A snack bar should have more than 10g of protein and really should have closer to 15-20g if it’s going to be considered a “high protein” snack.
Step 3: Look for trickery on the label. Multiply the grams of protein and carbs by 4 (4 calories per gram), and multiply the grams of fat by 9 (9 calories per gram). Add those numbers up and that should be very close to the number of calories on the package. Some companies subtract out the calories from fiber and sweeteners like sugar alcohol. We don’t recommend you do that.
But what about the ones we tried?
Out of the 10 bars we tried…
Jonathan - I was really surprised by the Oatmega 3 bar. The total calories were good (200) and it had 14g of protein. The taste was good and I liked that it had added fish oil since I don’t eat much fatty fish. I’ll be buying these again. My second favorite and one I eat quite often is the RX Chocolate Sea Salt. I wish that it had a few more grams of protein, but for the taste and the 210 calories it’s pretty solid.
Blakley - My favorite was the Lara Protein bar. The taste and texture are solid and it’s not super sweet like a candy bar. If it had around 15g of protein it would be perfect. My second favorite was the RX Chocolate Sea Salt. I like some of the other RX bar flavors better (Maple sea salt). They’re tasty and I like that they have a short list of ingredients that are real food.
So there you have it!
Maybe we’ll pick up a sponsorship from this article!
If you’re struggling to reach your nutrition goals or just don’t know where to start, we can help.
Reach out HERE!
- Jonathan & Blakley
