The 10 Best Vegan Protein Powders Jeff's note:We're working on some big stuff here at The Plant Eater. First off, this is the most comprehensive in-depth review of vegan protein powders you can find - there are tons of options out there and it can get confusing, so we're going to clear it up for you. My good buddy Brian will walk you through the top proteins we tasted, taking into account taste, ingredients, protein amount, and price. That means the best protein powder ranked here wins when we averaged out all those categories - in other words, the best vegan protein bang for your buck. Whether you're an athlete, a busy professional looking for a healthy supplement to your whole foods plant-powered diet, or anything in between, you've come to the right place. Take it away Brian! If you're looking to find the best vegan protein powder, this article is exactly what you need. A year ago I made the choice to become a vegan and begin doing high intensity interval training five days a week. The results have been amazing and I've lost 70 pounds so far. Due to my high intensity training, I wanted to ensure I had adequate protein for recovery, and I often found it difficult to tell which vegan proteins were the best. I started with the "dartboard" approach at the local health food store and found that some vegan protein powders were good and others that were difficult to drink. Few of the reps at the stores had tried the vegan proteins which made it difficult to tell where to start. It was out of this frustration that I wanted to create an ultimate review of the top vegan protein powders so that others could learn where to start when looking into plant-based muscle builders. Here is how the review was set up. I contacted 38 companies that sell vegan protein powders, told them about the review and asked if they could send a few samples. I received 27 different vegan protein products and partnered with Jeff, founder of ThePlantEater to review each one based on taste, ingredients, protein per serving, calories per serving, fat per serving and price per serving. We combined all the ratings up to determine the top ten best protein powder winners. It took us a few days to taste, review and create this ultimate vegan protein review. If you find it helpful or have additional questions or suggestions, please leave your comments below. #1 - Vega Protein Smoothie Review (Vanilla)
Transcript
The 10 Best Vegan Protein Powders
Jeff's note:We're working on some big stuff here at The Plant Eater. First off, this is the mostcomprehensive in-depth review of vegan protein powders you can find - there are tons of options outthere and it can get confusing, so we're going to clear it up for you. My good buddy Brian will walkyou through the top proteins we tasted, taking into account taste, ingredients, protein amount, andprice. That means the best protein powder ranked here wins when we averaged out all thosecategories - in other words, the best vegan protein bang for your buck. Whether you're an athlete, abusy professional looking for a healthy supplement to your whole foods plant-powered diet, oranything in between, you've come to the right place. Take it away Brian!
If you're looking to find the best vegan protein powder, this article is exactly what you need. A yearago I made the choice to become a vegan and begin doing high intensity interval training five days aweek. The results have been amazing and I've lost 70 pounds so far. Due to my high intensitytraining, I wanted to ensure I had adequate protein for recovery, and I often found it difficult to tellwhich vegan proteins were the best. I started with the "dartboard" approach at the local health foodstore and found that some vegan protein powders were good and others that were difficult to drink.Few of the reps at the stores had tried the vegan proteins which made it difficult to tell where tostart. It was out of this frustration that I wanted to create an ultimate review of the top veganprotein powders so that others could learn where to start when looking into plant-based musclebuilders.
Here is how the review was set up. I contacted 38 companies that sell vegan protein powders, toldthem about the review and asked if they could send a few samples. I received 27 different veganprotein products and partnered with Jeff, founder of ThePlantEater to review each one based ontaste, ingredients, protein per serving, calories per serving, fat per serving and price per serving.We combined all the ratings up to determine the top ten best protein powder winners. It took us afew days to taste, review and create this ultimate vegan protein review. If you find it helpful or haveadditional questions or suggestions, please leave your comments below.
#1 - Vega Protein Smoothie Review (Vanilla)
Vega has created a winner with their Protein Smoothie line.The taste was the best of all the proteins we tried, including the other Vega products. Their proteincontains a mixture of pea protein, saviseed, hemp and brown rice. Â It also contains a solid mixtureof quality ingredients.
Pros:Â Great taste, Very clean and not chalky. Contains some greens and has no sugar.
Cons: It's missing the Omega 3's, antioxidants, and probiotics that are included in the Vega One, Allin One Shake, however, the overall cost more affordable. It contains 15g of protein, while most otherproducts had around 20g.
Awards: BEST VEGAN PROTEIN POWDER
Awards: BEST TASTING VEGAN PROTEIN POWDER
Bottom Line: Vega Protein Smoothie is the best vegan protein powder available and our top pick atThePlantEater.com.
Buy Now: $15.99 for 12 Servings on Amazon
#2 - Hammer Vegan Protein Review (Chocolate)
Before this review, I had never tried Hammer Vegan Proteinbefore, but man was I in for a surprise! Hammer Vegan Protein contains greens and does anexcellent job of masking the green flavor. Their protein mixture contains pea, brown rice, spirulina,chlorella, alfalfa and is all organic. We tested all three flavors of Hammer (Chocolate, Vanilla andStrawberry) and each of the three rated in our top 10 across the board. We decided to merge allthree products into the highest rating, which was their chocolate flavor that finished in an extremelyclose second place overall.
Pros: Hammer contains enzymes (papain), spirulina, alfalfa and chorella. Contained 20g of proteinper serving and had a http://www.besttastingproteinpowder.net solid rating for calories and fat perserving. It doesn't have any artificial colorings whatsoever.
Cons:Â The color might be a deterrent for some people, although it's actually a plus in our book.
Bottom Line: Hammer Vegan Protein is a solid product and will be permanently stocked in ourcupboards. If you want to try something other than Vega, Hammer should be next on your list.
Buy: $44.95 for 26 servings at Hammer Nutrition - 1st purchase is 15% off!
The Vega One, All in One Shake was another solid product bythe team at Vega. Its an excellent meal replacement and extremely easy to drink. It contains aprotein blend containing pea protein, saviseed, hemp protein and brown rice protein. A bigadvantage was that it contains vitamin B12, which many vegans need if they are not eating meat. Italso contains super greens like chlorella, essential Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and probiotics.
Pros: Extremely easy to drink. Tastes good. Loads of quality ingredients.
Cons: Vanilla has a green color, not white. While it contains quality ingredients, it's also one of themore expensive vegan proteins by serving.
Bottom Line: The Vega One, all in one shake is the best choice for a vegan meal replacement as itcontains a variety of quality ingredients, including B12.
Buy: $53.48 for 22 servings on Amazon
#4 - Vega Sport, Performance Protein Review (Vanilla)
Contains a protein blend of pea protein, saviseed (unique toVega), hemp protein, brown rice protein and alfalfa protein. Each serving contains 5000 mg ofBCAA's and L Glutamine which are great for muscle growth and recovery.
Pros: Contains the highest protein per serving (26g). Blends very well, easy to drink and tastes good.Only has 2g of fat per serving.
Cons: The Vega Sport has an aftertaste that the higher rated vegan protein powders do not have.
Bottom Line: The Vega Sport, Performance Protein is the best option for individuals or athleteslooking to increase their protein consumption while actively promoting muscle growth and recovery.
Awards: BEST PROTEIN PER SERVING VEGAN PROTEIN POWDER
The Genuine Health, Vegan Proteins+ is tasted better than most of the competitionm which made it
a stand out product. It contains a wonderful vegan proteinblend that includes Pea protein, Sprouted Brown Rice protein, Potato protein, Alfalfa protein andHemp protein.
Pros: Contains 20g of protein from a quality protein blend. The dark chocolate taste is strong andthere is no chalky taste as with many of the other vegan proteins. Ingredients seemed to blend verywell.
Cons:Â Taste wasn't as good as the others above, but still pretty solid.
Bottom Line: The Genuine Health, Vegan Proteins+ has an excellent blend of proteins and qualityingredients.
Buy: $37.10 for 30 servings on Amazon
#6 - SunWarrior, Warrior Blend - Raw Vegan Protein Review (Chocolate)
The SunWarrior, Raw Vegan Protein was one of our favorite chocolate tasting proteins.
The protein blend contains pea protein, cranberry protein and hemp
protein. Contains medium chain triglycerides which ensuresfat gets used as fuel rather than being stored.
Pros: Only 100 calories and 1g of fat per serving. solid chocolate taste. Lowest priced qualityprotein.
Cons: Product contains mostly protein, no greens. 17g of protein per serving rather than 20g likemost of the other top rated vegan proteins.
Bottom Line: The SunWarrior, Raw Vegan Protein is the best option for affordable vegan protein thattastes good.
Buy: $41.61 for 40 servings on Amazon
#7Â -Â Naturade, Vegan Smart Review (Vanilla)
The Naturade Vegan Smart protein rated extremely high on the taste test and contains somebeneficial ingredients such as chlorella, spinach, fiber and probiotics. It scored lower overall due tothe higher calorie and fat content per serving. The protein blend contains pea protein, hemp protein,chia protein and potato protein. Some
Pros: Protein was smooth, tasty, blended well and wasn't too thick.
It contains ingredients such as spinach and fiber.
Cons: 160 calories per serving was on the higher end of proteins we tasted. High fat per serving at45g. Contained sunflower oil and 5g of sugar (cane sugar).
Bottom Line: While the calorie, fat and sugar per serving were higher that some of the otherproteins, the Naturade Vegan Smart protein is a great tasting and affordable protein.
Buy $24.95 for 15 servings on Amazon
#8 - Shakeology, Vegan Protein Review (Chocolate)
Shakeology is a product of Beach Body, which is well known in the fitness industry for creatingquality fitness programs and supplements. Their protein was a mixture of brown rice protein andpea protein, but the real magic was in their massive list of quality ingredients which are packed witha variety of superfoods.
Pros: Packed with high-quality ingredients and superfoods. Great taste.
Cons: Highest price per serving of all vegan protein powders. Missing vitamin B-12. Can only bepurchased through a Beach Body coach.
Bottom Line: The Shakeology Vegan Protein is packed with quality ingredients and is probably thebest vegan proteins money can buy. In fact, its more of a whole food supplement along the lines ofVega One rather than a basic protein powder. If price is not an issue for you, this is the best producton the list, but we had to take into account the price in our overall ratings.
Awards: BEST INGREDIENTS VEGAN PROTEIN POWDER
Buy: $129.95 for 30 servings on Amazon
#9 - Nutrition53, Vegan1 Review (Vanilla)
In what surprisingly tasted a little like cake batter, theNutrition53 Vegan1 Protein made our list of top ten due to its protein blend of pea protein andpotato protein. Contains a variety of greens, taurine for increased energy, and cane sugar to give it asweeter taste, which might be a problem for those of you trying to stay away from added sugar.
Pros: Sweet taste.
Cons: Taste was a little gritty. Higher calories per serving than other proteins.
Bottom Line: Perfect for individuals with a sweet tooth that are looking for a vegan protein powderthat they will actually enjoy.
Buy: $27.95 for 15 servings on Amazon
#10 - Mct Lean, Vegan Protein Blend Review (Natural Cocoa)
The Mct Lean, Vegan Protein Blend had a rich chocolate flavor that rated extremely well with our
taste tests. The protein blend contains pea protein and riceprotein. Other unique ingredients included evaporated cane juice and L glutamine.
Pros: Rich chocolate taste.
Cons:Six grams of sugar in addition to stevia. Higher cost per serving.
Bottom Line: The Mct Lean Vegan Protein Blend is the perfect choice for vegan chocolate lovers.
Buy: $38.00 for 14 servings on Amazon
Bonus: NutriBiotic Rice Protein Reviews (Vanilla)
The NutriBiotic Rice Protein is designed to be a simple protein product without a lot of additives aswe have many customers with allergies and sensitivities. Its also ideal for vegan athletes looking toincrease their protein intake without spending loads of money.
Pros: Lowest cost per serving for vegan protein.
Cons: Difficult to drink alone but works well when blended with other ingredients.
Bottom Line: The NutriBiotic Rice Protein is the most affordable way for vegans to increase theirprotein consumption.
Buy: $28.49 for 90 servings on Amazon.
Other Vegan Proteins
While they were not listed in the top 10, there are a variety of other vegan protein productsavailable. Here is a list of all the brands we contacted in alphabetical order with links to theirwebsites. Feel free to research on your own and try them out.
We hope you enjoyed this vegan protein review. Please share this with your friends and leave yourcomments below.
