After lots of taste testing, bake testing, and smoothie testing, we’ve finally nailed down our list of the best protein powder –> whey and plant-based.
We wanted to create a completely unbiased protein powder review for you all to find the best-tasting protein powder when it comes to nutrition profile, baking, and smoothies. Why? Because we’ve been there when it comes to feeling completely lost finding the right protein powder for you.
Maybe you want to bake with your protein powder or maybe you need a gluten-free, plant-based protein powder specifically for smoothies. There are HUNDREDS (if not thousands) out there and we did the dirty work for you.
*This guide was updated on 2/10/2023 to reflect our current favorites.
The Protein Powder Test
First things first, we crowdsourced and turned to our community for protein powder recommendations. We reviewed 14 total protein powders because these 14 protein powders were repeated time and time again in our poll.
We know there are many different kinds of protein powder out there, but for this post, we specifically focused on vanilla-flavored whey and plant-based protein powders. We found that anything chocolate-flavored was sort of masked by the chocolate flavor itself and that with vanilla we could sense the true flavor and texture.
What we considered
When looking for the best protein powder, there is so much to consider. We put together a protein powder test so that we could rank each protein powder on a 5-star system based on a few qualities.
Nutrition Profile: We broke down all of the protein powders to see if they were gluten-free, soy-free, vegan, organic, non-GMO, grass-fed, etc. You know, the important stuff about the product!
Protein/serving: This is the number of grams of protein you actually get in 1 serving of the protein powder.
Calories/serving: This is the number of calories consumed in 1 serving of the protein powder.
Cost/serving: This is the cost of the protein powder in relation to serving. We used cost/serving so that we could compare the cost to all other protein powders in the market.
Sugar/sweetener content: We looked at both the number of grams of sugar in each protein powder as well as what kind of sweetener was used. Lots of people are sensitive to stevia, so we made a note if the protein powder included stevia as well as what sugar sources or sweeteners were in the ingredient list.
Smoothie taste test — what is the flavor, sweetness, and texture like when blended in a smoothie? We used a very basic smoothie recipe of frozen strawberries and almond milk so that we could really taste the protein powder.
Baking taste test — what is the flavor, sweetness, and texture like when baked into a muffin? We used our protein muffins (without chocolate chips) as our muffin recipe. We separated the batter into 12 muffins and then mixed in a teaspoon of each protein powder right into the individual muffin.
Recipe
Protein Muffins
Pack some extra protein into your day with these deliciously easy protein muffins! Made with mashed banana, protein powder, almond milk, and coconut oil, this easy snack is just as tasty as it is good for you!
Favorite Plant-Based Protein Powder
Hello, my plant-based protein powder lovers! Below you will find our 3 favorite plant-based, vegan protein powder recommendations. We love plant-based protein powder specifically baking. All three of these suggestions are organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, and vegan.
Garden of Life Raw Organic Vanilla Protein Powder – 5 stars
22G protein // 0g sugar // 110 calories // $1.56 per serving// vegan // gluten-free // soy-free // non-gmo // organic
Garden of Life Vanilla Protein Powder was our all-around winner for this entire test! We absolutely loved the true vanilla flavor, the price point (on the cheaper end of all of them!) and the nutrition profile.
There are 0 grams of sugar and 22 grams of protein in every serving AND being a plant-based protein powder, it doesn’t taste chalky or earthy at all! It was perfectly sweet in the smoothie and left the muffins moist and very fluffy. We HIGHLY recommend this product for sure and consider it the best-tasting protein powder on the market.
Buy now on Amazon (20 servings)
5 Stars
Garden of Life Raw Organic Protein Powder
22G protein // 0g sugar // 110 calories // $1.56 per serving// vegan // gluten-free // soy-free // non-gmo // organic
Sun Warrior Organic Protein Powder (Warrior Blend Vanilla) – 4 stars
18g protein // 0g sugar// 100 calories// $1.19 per serving // vegan // gluten free// non-GMO// no artificial flavor // organic
A close second was Sun Warrior (Warrior Blend) Organic Protein Powder. It has 4g less protein than GOL, but we love that the vanilla flavor wasn’t super overpowering. The price point of Sun Warrior is on point and it’s widely available everywhere. This product is vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, and organic. It tasted great in smoothies and baked really well.
Buy now on Amazon (30 servings)
4 Stars
Sunwarrior Protein Warrior Blend
18g protein // 0g sugar// 100 calories// $1.19 per serving // vegan // gluten free// non-GMO// no artificial flavor // organic
Aloha Organic Protein Powder- 3.5 stars
18g protein // 4g sugar// 140 calories//$1.87 per serving// organic// vegan// non GMO// gluten-free// dairy free// no stevia
I’ve been a longtime Aloha user and I’m so glad it scored in the top 3 of plant-based protein powders. While Aloha has 4g of sugar, it comes from coconut sugar because this product does NOT include stevia.
I know lots of you are sensitive to the flavor of stevia, so if that is you…Aloha is your girl! We love this plant-based protein powder in smoothies because it was relatively flavorless and had a great texture.
3.5 Stars
Aloha Organic Protein Powder
18g protein // 4g sugar// 140 calories//$1.87 per serving// organic// vegan// non GMO// gluten-free// dairy free// no stevia
Favorite Whey Protein Powder for Women
Whey girl wheyyy! When looking for the best whey protein powder we not only looked at flavor and price but how the animals were raised and fed.
Whey protein powder is great because it’s typically not chalky and has a great ice cream-like flavor. We also prefer the texture of whey protein powder vs. plant-based when it comes to baking (like in the muffins!).
Our top picks are made with few, naturally high-protein ingredients. Check out our favorite whey protein powder recommendations below!
Garden of Life Organic Whey Protein – 5 Stars
24g protein // 1g sugar// 130 calories// $1.66 per serving// gluten-free// non-GMO// no artificial flavors // grass-fed // all-natural
Is it that obvious that we’re big fans of Garden of Life? The Garden of Life Whey Protein Powder came in as our #1 choice when it comes to whey protein.
We love that the whey is grass-fed, that the product is organic and hormone-free, and the flavor is on point!
We’ve used this product in some of our most popular protein-powder recipes such as our peanut butter protein balls, protein ice cream, peanut butter protein bars, best protein shakes and it’s not chalky at all, plus the flavor is so delicious.
5 Stars
Garden of Life Whey Protein Powder
21g protein // 2g sugar// 120 calories// $2.50 per serving// gluten-free// non GMO // grass-fed // organic
Simply Tera’s Whey Protein powder (Bourbon Vanilla) – 4 stars
21g protein // 2g sugar// 110 calories// $1.24 per serving// gluten-free// non GMO // grass-fed // organic
Simply Tera’s Whey Protein Powder is such a great product for its price point. Out of our top 6 picks, it is the second cheapest at $1.24/serving. Tera’s Why has 21g of protein and is made with only 4 ingredients including grass-fed, organic cows. We loved the subtly sweet vanilla flavor and the fact that it wasn’t overly sweet!
4 Stars
Simply Tera’s Whey Protein Powder
21g protein // 2g sugar// 110 calories// $1.24 per serving// gluten-free// non GMO // grass-fed // organic
Designer Whey Protein Powder – 3.5 stars
20g protein // 2g sugar // 110 calories // $1.72 per serving // organic // non GMO // gluten-free // no artificial sweeteners
Designer Whey Protein was the first ever protein powder I ever tried and let me tell you, I’m still a huge fan.
Designer whey vanilla protein powder is delicious in flavor and made with no artificial sweeteners. We ranked this #3 because the ingredient list is definitely longer than the first 2, but it bakes well and doesn’t taste chalky in smoothies.
3.5 Stars
Designer Whey Protein Powder
20g protein // 2g sugar // 110 calories // $1.72 per serving // organic // non GMO // gluten-free // no artificial sweeteners
The Protein Powders We Reviewed
Before I let you go, I wanted to share our complete list of protein powders that we tested along with the 5-star rating we gave them and a few notes. Like I mentioned above, we got all of these recommendations straight from the Fit Foodie community. We know there are many that we did not test, but girl, we can’t test them all! This list is from 5-star (best) to 1-star worst.
- Garden of Life Raw Organic Vanilla – 1st place – 5 stars – see above for complete review
- Garden of Life Organic Whey Protein – 2nd place – 4.25 stars – see above for complete review
- Sun Warrior – 3rd place – 4 stars – see above for complete review
- Simply Tera’s – 3rd place – 4 stars – see above for complete review
- Designer Whey Protein – 4th place – 3.5 stars – see above for complete review
- Aloha – 4th place – 3.5 stars – see above for complete review
- Vega Sport – 5th place – 2.75 stars
- Amazing Grass – 6th place – 2.5 stars – While this one provides a lot of nutrition, it left both the smoothie and muffins very chalky and grainy.
- Tone It Up – 7th place – 2 stars – Tastes like fake vanilla and very very sweet. The monk fruit is overpowering and there is only 15g protein per serving.
- Trader Joe’s – 7th place – 2 stars – Flavor was good, but the ingredient list was not super clean and included cane sugar.
- Nuzest – 8th place – 1.5 stars – Metallicky aftertaste and overall bad flavor.
- Orgain – 8th place – 1.5 stars – Tangy/weird aftertaste, grainy, and left muffins dry and flakey.
- ON Gold Standard – 9th place – 1 star – Tasted like chemicals and fake vanilla. Would not recommend.
