Need some new good hiking food and looking to branch out from your boring old "energy" bars? (Looking at you here, Clif). I’ve got you covered. I like to snack while I hike, and protein bars are usually the quickest and easiest option.
Not all bars are created equal, though, and I’m always on the lookout for better ones. I take every opportunity to try new bars (I might go to Grocery Outlet a little too often), and over the years I’ve tried a ton of them. In this list I’ve put together my favorites (in order) to help you pick the best protein bars for your next trip.
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Review Criteria
Before I get into my favorites, I want to go over why I picked the ones I did. Here are all the things I look for in my protein bars.
Taste
No matter how nutritious it is, if it doesn’t taste good, I’m not going to eat it. I’m mostly looking for bars with edible consistency (not too chewy, dry, or chalky) and with just the right amount of sweetness. I also like the flavor to be pretty close to how it’s described on the label (although whether or not it tastes good is more important than if it tastes right).
Protein
It’s no secret that a protein bar should have protein in it. For anything more intense than a very casual day-hike, I think getting that extra protein is important. My lower limit for considering a bar is 8 grams, but I like it to be higher if possible. It also should come from a high-quality source.
Sugar Content
Carbohydrates are important for accessible energy, but too much sugar can definitely be a bad thing. Eating a lot of sugar at once causes blood sugar and insulin to spike, followed quickly by a crash and brain-fog. For smoother energy levels I like bars with less than 15 grams of sugar (and ideally less than 10).
Fiber
Fiber is the antidote to sugar. Fiber slows the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, so the higher the amount of fiber the better. It also helps regulate digestion in general, which is important when all you're eating is backpacking food. More than 5 grams of fiber is good, anything above 10 grams is amazing.
fats
I don’t look too closely at fats because bad fats usually aren’t an issue in protein bars. But I do like to see decent amounts of unsaturated fats (7-10 grams). And if a bar is really high in saturated fat for some reason, that’s generally a bad thing.
Caloric density (Calories per Ounce)
The less calorically dense a bar is, the more it weighs for the same amount of calories. Caloric density isn’t something you usually have to worry about with protein bars, but I still consider it anyway. More than 125 calories per ounce is a really good number, and less than 100 calories per ounce is poor.
Other Nutrition Bonuses
All bars are different in what they do well, so this is a broad category. That said, I love it when a bar is high in Omega-3 fatty acids (for the anti-inflammatory and brain-boosting effects) and/or vitamin B12 (because it’s an essential nutrient that causes fatigue if you’re deficient). Those are the big ones, but things like Vitamin C, Potassium, Iron, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), and Biotin (Vitamin B7) are all bonuses as well.
That’s what I’m looking for in a good protein bar. No bar is perfect, but some stand way above the rest. Without further ado, here are my favorites.
My Favorite Protein Bars
When I discovered these at my local Grocery Outlet, I was blown away that I’d never heard of them before. They’re very low sugar, very high protein, and have a ton of Omega-3’s. They’re fairly dense at 113 calories/oz, and to top it off, the flavor is as good as it gets for something with this kind of nutrition profile. No chalkiness, not too sweet, and just moist enough. This is the Goldilocks of protein bars.
See also: Chocolate Coconut or Blueberry
Yep, you read that right: cricket protein. You can read my full review here, but it turns out that cricket protein is often more nutritious than more standard protein sources. It’s a hell of a lot more environmentally friendly too, and for that I’m a huge fan. These bars are high in B12 and Omega-3’s, boast 16 grams of both fiber and protein, and somehow keep sugar to minimum. And the flavor is, well, awesome. They’re neck and neck with Oatmega3, and stand head and shoulders above most bars in terms of flavor and nutrition. I highly recommend them.
See also: Chocolate Fudge Brownie or Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
RXBar is widely considered to be one of the healthiest options that actually taste good, and I’m inclined to agree. They state their ingredients right on the front so you know what you’re getting, which is a big plus. 14 grams of sugar is a little more than I like to see, but aside from that the nutrition profile is solid. And I love the Maple Sea Salt flavor.
See also: Chocolate Sea Salt or Peanut Butter
First off these bars taste really, really good. They’re also all organic, vegan, and gluten, dairy, and soy-free; if any of those are a requirement for you, these are your bars. And somehow they manage to make all that flavor happen with only 4 grams of sugar, which is unusual for plant-based bars. They also have a lot of both protein and fiber, and the protein comes from a variety of plant sources so you get a complete amino acid profile.
See also: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (also amazing) or Vanilla Almond Crunch
These bars are my number 5 partially because I love anything pomegranate, and they do the flavor extremely well. They have a perfect cookie-like texture and they hardly feel like a protein bar at all. But they also have a respectable 10 grams of both fiber and protein, low sugar, and a lot of Omega-3’s from chia seeds. They’re nutritious and delicious, and made of a ton of whole food ingredients to top it off.
See also: Coconut Almond Chia
At first the “meat based-bar” idea was an odd concept to me. But I liked that their meat was ethically sourced (read through their meat-supply chain here), so I gave them a try and was thoroughly impressed. They have a ton of flavor options and they were all unique and delicious. The nutrition profile is totally different from a typical protein bar (and varies a lot between flavors), but these still hit 13 grams of protein with almost no sugar, so they belong on this list.
See also: Bison Bacon Cranberry or Venison Sea Salt and Pepper
GoMacro bars are an awesome organic, vegan, and whole-foods option (not to mention soy, dairy, and gluten free). They taste great, have 11 grams of protein, and you can pronounce everything on the ingredients list. Their protein blend is also made up of a wide variety of sources, so it has a complete amino acid profile. Sugar is relatively high at 12 grams, but aside from that these bars check all the boxes.
See also: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip or Blueberry + Cashew Butter
That's it! You’ll notice that I picked a couple of my favorite flavors for each, but all of these companies are fairly consistent with their nutrition profiles (except for EPIC, understandably). They also all have way more flavor options than what I listed (and I have yet to try a bad flavor from any of them), so switch up the flavors as you see fit. Let me know what you think in the comments, and if you have a favorite I should know about I'd love to hear about it!
Big fan of Epic and their products. I’ve been trying to move away from soy-heavy Clif bars so I’m excited to try the Oatmega and Cricket bars! Great review.
Yeah I definitely try to stay away from soy as a protein source if I can avoid it. The crickets seemed weird at first but the bars are awesome, and as far as I can tell crickets are a great source of protein, so I’m pretty stoked about those.