My Go-To Bars

The protein bars you can find in my bag and in my belly!

Hi there little ladies (and gents 😉) Today I thought I’d share my favorite bars with ya’ll. I have a bar probably 4 out of the 7 days of the week. For a while, I tried to cut them out, but they are just so dang convenient and tasty. It’s hard to give them up!

When I started buying my own groceries, bars were one of the first things I cut back on. I couldn’t believe how much they increased my weekly grocery bill. It was ridiculous. Nick was eating 2 a day and I put a stop to that reeealll quick! We started to limit our bar consumption to 2-3 a week (although it’s slowly increased 😏). I started buying bulk on Amazon which helped. I also became quite savvy at figuring out where to buy each type of bar. I only buy RX Bars online when they’re on sale. I buy ThinkThin bars by the box on Amazon (it saves us like $0.50 a bar!) I buy Quest Bars one off at Hy-Vee. They seem to be the same price everywhere, but if you have any tips, lemme know!

Even though they are expensive they help me stay on track. I take them with me on every trip and pack one for afternoon snack about every other day. Plus they help me up my protein game, which is a constant struggle (I’m a carb queen!) Anywhoooo, shall we dive in?

I tried ranking the bars based on a few categories and not just taste, although that is one of the most important!

Judging Criteria

• taste/texture
• ingredient list
• nutrition
• cost

I’ll break down the list and give you the pros and cons of each!

Detour’s Smart Bar – multiple flavors / gluten free / made with organic whole oats

• taste/texture: oatmeal base with a sweet drizzle on top
• ingredient list: all organic / sweetened by stevia
• nutrition: 130 calories / 2.5g fat / 18g carbs / 10g protein
• cost: $1.79 at Hy-Vee / $1.65 at detourbar.com / $1.37 at Amazon
• favorite flavor: apple cinnamon

LARABAR – multiple flavors / gluten free / natural ingredients & minimally processed

• taste/texture: sweet, soft and chewy. flavor based on bar – chocolate or fruit based
• ingredient list: dates, peanuts, chocolate chips, sea salt (that ingredient list thoo 💯)
• nutrition: 220 calories / 11g fat / 26g carbs / 6g protein
• Cost: $1.69 at Hy-Vee / $1.69 at LARAbar.com / $0.93 at Amazon
• favorite flavor: peanut butter chocolate chip.
• misc: these bars a little higher in macros then I typically like, but the ingredients are killer, so for me it evens out!

GoMarco Bar – organic / gluten free / pure ingredients

• taste/texture: soft, chewy butttah based bar
• ingredient list: organic everything, nut butter, fair trade chocolate
• nutrition: 260 calories / 8g fat / 38g carbs / 10g protein
• cost: $2.89 at GoMacro.com / $2.31 at Amazon
• favorite flavor: sunflower butter chocolate
• misc: I’ve only had the one flavor and it’s decent, not my favorite bar based on texture and flavor 😕 but great ingredients!

Luna Protein Bar – semi organic / gluten free / protein based bar

• taste/texture: chocolate covered decadent protein bar (tastes like a candy bar!)
• ingredient list: some organic, some not, longer list of ingredients
• Nutrition: 170-190 calories / 6g fat / 21g carbs / 12g protein
• cost: $1.00 at Hy-Vee / $1.79 at clifbar.com / $0.83 at Amazon
• favorite flavor: chocolate chip cookie dough and mint chocolate chip
• misc: they are almost too good to be true!

KIND Bar – real ingredients / gluten free / nut and fruit based bar

• taste/texture: crunchy, nut based bar sweetened by natural fruits (and sometimes by chocolate!)
• ingredient list: not organic, but ingredients you can pronounce
• nutrition: 200 calories / 15g fat / 16g carbs / 6g protein
• cost: $1.78 at Hy-Vee / $1.66 at kindsnacks.com / $1.18 at Amazon
• favorite flavor: dark chocolate nuts and sea salt

ThinkThin Bar – multiple flavors / gluten free / chocolate protein based bar

• taste/texture: fluffy, thick and chocolate covered protein bar
• ingredient list: not organic, longer ingredients list
• nutrition: 240 calories / 9g fat / 22g carbs / 20g protein
• cost: $1.89 at Hy-Vee / $1.99 at ThinkProducts.com / $1.49 at Amazon
• favorite flavor: creamy peanut butter

Quest Bar – multiple flavors / gluten free / protein based bar

• taste/texture: dense, dessert flavored protein bar (a bit chalky)
• ingredient list: not organic, longer ingredients list, sweetened by stevia
• nutrition: 180 calories / 8g fat / 23g carbs / 20g protein
• Cost: $2.59 at Hy-Vee / $2.39 at QuestNutrition.com / $2.02 at Amazon
• favorite flavor: chocolate brownie and double chocolate chunk

RXBAR – real ingredients / gluten free / date and nut based bar

• taste/texture: chewy, soft and flavorful protein bar
• ingredient list: REAL INGREDIENTS: eggwhites, nuts and dates (it’s the real deal :))
• nutrition: 210 calories / 9g fat / 22g carbs / 12g protein
• cost: $2.99 at Hy-Vee / $2.16 at RXBAR.com / $2.16 at Amazon
• favorite flavor: maple syrup and peanut butter

So, if I had to rank my favorite it would go in this order:

1. RXBar
2. LARABAR
3. Quest bar
4. Smart bar
5. Luna bar
6. ThinkThin bar
7. KIND bar
8. GoMacro bar

What are your go-to bars? Seriously, I want to know. I’m always down to try something new 🙂