Vegan Protein Powder

swinnie239
swinnie239 Posts: 423 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone know of a vegan protein powder that tastes good?

I recently switched to vegan after being vegetarian. The one thing that I'm having issues with is protein powder. I have tried the Bob's Red Mill one which tasted ok (not good, funky texture and chalky, but ok) but was kind of high in carbs for everyday use for me. The Vega ones tasted absolutely awful and I spit out after one sip. The Garden of Life Vanilla is what I'm using currently. The texture is terrible and it's clumpy and earthy, but I can choke it down (which is something I could not do with the Vega).

I do realize that it's never going to be as smooth as whey but does anyone have a recommendation that actually tastes good. This shopping around is starting to get expensive, especially since I have not found one product that I like.
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Replies

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited March 2017
    Does anyone know of a vegan protein powder that tastes good?]

    This statement is kind of an oxymoron :wink: I've tried a fair few samples of vegan protein powders, and they all tasted horrible and had a weird consistency. Could just be my taste preferences though, some folks love them..
  • HealthierRayne
    HealthierRayne Posts: 268 Member
    I really like the LeanFit Complete Green Protein in Vanilla Bean, I find the texture great and it blends easily - it's also sold at Costco in Canada so very affordable.

    I also think Vega is nasty.

    I bought Vegan Freak Chocolate last week but haven't tried it yet, it smells really good so I have my fingers crossed!
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    You could also try making a smoothie with added banana, spinach, avocado etc etc to try and mask the taste of your powder.
  • MomReborn
    MomReborn Posts: 145 Member
    I like the Nature's Way Alive pea and plant protein blends. The flavor I tried was a tropical mango. I used 240 ml of unsweetened vanilla almond milk and some frozen peach slices to bring out the mango flavor. One serving has 170 calories and 21 g of carbs. I'm sure you could reduce the carb count by reducing the peaches :p But I like peaches :D

    I've had some luck shopping around for supplements by purchasing sample packs from various vendors online. You might want to give that a try and see if any vendors will make up a sampler of vegan/vegetarian products. The sampler I recently purchased cost around $18.00 of various protein (no choice), so that could give you a baseline to go by.

    Best of luck to you!
  • aprildrake
    aprildrake Posts: 6 Member
    PhD Women Vanilla works for me... Dairy free and vegan friendly. Personally I prefer with almond milk or blended with water and a banana. X
  • CBD92
    CBD92 Posts: 72 Member
    edited March 2017
    I think almost ALL vegan protein powders are disgusting!!! I've tried so, so many. I always just end up choking down my smoothie, but I am okay with that because I know it's healthy and I don't need to enjoy every single meal I have. Then I tried the Vega Sport (vanilla) and I actually make a second smoothie every day because it tastes so good haha. I have my "gross" smoothie in the morning (just to make sure I focus on getting all my desired nutrients in rather than focusing on the taste of my meal) and then later after training, or as an evening snack, I make a smoothie with the Vega sport vanilla protein, original soy milk, peanut butter and a banana with some ice. I used to have that smoothie all the time while working at the gym because it tasted like a milk shake (except they used the tasty sugary whey and cows milk) and this actually tastes pretty damn close to the same thing. I would HIGHLY recommend it :D
  • HeliumIsNoble
    HeliumIsNoble Posts: 1,213 Member
    edited March 2017
    I just mix a tablespoonful in with food. Baked beans, mashed potato, spicy soup, mincemeat (for mince pies), soya yogurt, dairy-free ice cream, any sauce that needs flour to thicken it...

    No need for smoothies or suffering, surely? This one definitely works with food, but it can't be the only one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pulsin-Unflavoured-Protein-Powder-Natural/dp/B003LS8LKE
  • pomegranatecloud
    pomegranatecloud Posts: 812 Member
    Sunwarrior
  • clair0520
    clair0520 Posts: 1 Member
    I've just tried the Protein World Vegan Vanilla and I have found it great for my daily smoothies.
  • youngcaseyr
    youngcaseyr Posts: 293 Member
    Orgain vegan protein in chocolate and vanilla, and Naturade Vegansmart in chai. I mix my protein powder with coffee and soy milk every morning, and use half a serving at a time so it's not too thick
  • crooked_left_hook
    crooked_left_hook Posts: 364 Member
    edited March 2017
    Vega Essentials Chocolate. Blend it with almond milk, ice, and a banana...YUM! I'm admittedly a little addicted to my morning chocolate/banana shakes.
  • luluinca
    luluinca Posts: 2,899 Member
    I'm not a vegan but I use Nutribiotic Organic Brown Rice Protein. They sell it on Amazon and I like both the chocolate and vanilla. I add frozen blueberries, flax seed, spinach, coconut water and plain greek yogurt. I think it tastes great and sometimes I put a scoop of the chocolate into my oatmeal with some blueberries or cherries....yummy.
  • Aclaire88
    Aclaire88 Posts: 80 Member
    I agree with the earlier comment, try Vega! https://myvega.com

    Only downside (for me anyway) is the slight natural sweetener taste in some of the flavours, but if you mix it with banana or other ingredients the flavour is 9.9/10

    I buy it online from iHerb :smile:
  • Aclaire88
    Aclaire88 Posts: 80 Member
    Oh :blush: just read your post in full, sorry to hear you've had no luck with Vega!
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    Every single vegan protein powder i've tried has been terrible.

    I could tolerate a pure soy protein powder from the brand bodylab but still, i had to tolerate it. I couldn't eat it on it's own and had to blend it with lots of fruit to chug it down.
  • crooked_left_hook
    crooked_left_hook Posts: 364 Member
    ACHynson wrote: »
    Oh :blush: just read your post in full, sorry to hear you've had no luck with Vega!

    I just saw this comment too. I will say that the different versions of Vega taste different. Vega One was much more clumpy/chalky than Vega Essentials which blends in as well as other powders I've tried.
  • dudebro200
    dudebro200 Posts: 97 Member
    Orgain vanilla and chocolate taste great. They have artificial sweeteners, which I don't care about, but you might.

    I also use them to make protein pancakes and oatmeal, which also tastes great.

    Overall, none of the vegan protien powders taste as good as the dairy or soy based protien powders. You just need to except that better health means not enjoying better tasting food. A chicken fried steak tastes way better than kale, but I would rather eat the kale. Adjust your priorities
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    dudebro200 wrote: »
    Orgain vanilla and chocolate taste great. They have artificial sweeteners, which I don't care about, but you might.

    I also use them to make protein pancakes and oatmeal, which also tastes great.

    Overall, none of the vegan protien powders taste as good as the dairy or soy based protien powders. You just need to except that better health means not enjoying better tasting food. A chicken fried steak tastes way better than kale, but I would rather eat the kale. Adjust your priorities

    A soy-based protein powder would usually be vegan (assuming animal products hadn't been added to it).
  • Nutbutt24
    Nutbutt24 Posts: 34 Member
    orgain is the best. Vega is gross
  • swinnie239
    swinnie239 Posts: 423 Member
    edited March 2017
    The Vega ones that I've tried are the Vega Nutritional Shake in Vanilla Chai and the Vega Clean Protein in Vanilla. Both were so gross. I'll try and see if there are single serving packets of the Sport and Essential to try out and see if they are better. I think that I've also seen the Naturade around so I'll see if I can try. I'm looking around to see about smaller samples to try of the others, Orgain was mentioned a couple times, so I'll see about that one.

    @MomReborn Do you remember where you got the sample packs from?

    @dudebro200 I understand that none of them are going to match the dairy ones and I'm fine with that. In the same way that a protein shake doesn't taste as a good as a milkshake, but I still liked it so that was ok. It's a matter of genuinely hating something that I ingest on a regular basis. I'd just like to find something that even if I don't jump for joy about, I'm also don't go in thinking that I just need to get over with and plug my nose.
  • kitschnkarma1
    kitschnkarma1 Posts: 4 Member
    Have you tried huel? It's not delicious but is ok if you mix a flavour sachet and ice with it
  • caitlinj406
    caitlinj406 Posts: 35 Member
    I've been using the chocolate and vanilla orgain vegan protein powders recently. I get them both from Costco. I just tried the vanilla for the first time and love it. I think both flavors have stevia or a sweetener like it which I don't really care for, but I mostly mix them into banana berry smoothies or oatmeal so it's not a deal breaker. Before I found these I tried several different kinds that I didn't love, but I found that a lot of health food stores had smaller sample packets to try them out instead of buying a whole container. I'd also just email companies and see if they'd send me a sample and several did.
  • Michellelynn219
    Michellelynn219 Posts: 62 Member
    edited March 2017
    swinnie239 wrote: »
    Does anyone know of a vegan protein powder that tastes good?

    I recently switched to vegan after being vegetarian. The one thing that I'm having issues with is protein powder. I have tried the Bob's Red Mill one which tasted ok (not good, funky texture and chalky, but ok) but was kind of high in carbs for everyday use for me. The Vega ones tasted absolutely awful and I spit out after one sip. The Garden of Life Vanilla is what I'm using currently. The texture is terrible and it's clumpy and earthy, but I can choke it down (which is something I could not do with the Vega).

    I do realize that it's never going to be as smooth as whey but does anyone have a recommendation that actually tastes good. This shopping around is starting to get expensive, especially since I have not found one product that I like.

    I use Orgain Protein + Greens with one billion probiotics in Vanilla flavor. I love it with PBFIT powder added. The chocolate is not so tasty.
  • ssolda2014
    ssolda2014 Posts: 1 Member
    Interesting that you don't like Vega. I drink Vega Sport Vanilla and it's absolutely delicious.
  • VeganAmandaJ
    VeganAmandaJ Posts: 234 Member
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    You could also try making a smoothie with added banana, spinach, avocado etc etc to try and mask the taste of your powder.

    Yes, this works well!! This works with any protein powder, you can't really taste it with the fruits and veggies mixed in; you could also add some unsweetened cocoa powder/cacao powder.

    I have Vega One nutrition in Chocolate and I don't find it to taste bad when I shake it extremely well, and I like the taste. It's the same thing for Raw Protein and basically any other one that I've tried. I recently tried Raw Fit and I really like the vanilla, again, you need to shake really well. I also love Raw Protein and Greens Chocolate and again when I make a smoothie with water or almond milk with frozen fruits/fresh fruit/greens etc and lately unsweetened cocoa powder, it's so good.
  • hannys
    hannys Posts: 85 Member
    We use Orgain and love it.
    Even my kids like the vanilla being added to their carrot, kale, orange, banana smoothies.
  • MomReborn
    MomReborn Posts: 145 Member
    swinnie239 wrote: »

    @MomReborn Do you remember where you got the sample packs from?

    My two most recent purchases were from Netrition and Ebay. Neither offered a choice on what they sent. Amazon and Bodybuilding.com regularly offer different sampler pack varieties. Naked Nutrition (nkdnutrition.com) offers their sampler via their website and on Amazon. I like having samplers on hand to take with me when I'm out, and to have a decent variety :) Check out the manufacturer website of any of your favorites for a sampler pack page. A web search for "vegan (or vegetarian) protein powder sampler pack" will pull up some nice results from familiar brands and new stuff, if you're adventurous. Happy hunting!
  • cestabbey
    cestabbey Posts: 25 Member
    I'm having a hard time with the "all vegan protein shakes are disgusting" comments... What a blanket statement!

    I absolutely love Vega Sport (make sure it's "sport"!) as do my friends and my non-vegan sister. I haven't tried the other Vega options, but this one is great. Be sure to get chocolate, mocha, or vanilla, and not the berry one, though. Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/Vega-Protein-Powder-Vanilla-Servings/dp/B016D9IGRA/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1489022889&sr=8-1&keywords=vega+sport+protein

    If you aren't into Vega Sport, then you could also try "Skoop." Here's the link: https://healthyskoop.com/

    Happy protein shake-drinking!
  • JohnnyPenso
    JohnnyPenso Posts: 412 Member
    I do keep some pea protein on hand at all times. It's available in Canada at the Bulk Barn and it's 85% protein. I use it for baking and adding to protein shakes sometimes. Can't say I've ever really tasted it in anything I've ever made, it's always overwhelmed by the chocolate in baking or the fruits, berries and vegetables in the shakes.
  • swinnie239
    swinnie239 Posts: 423 Member
    Thanks for the help guys. I am currently shopping around for sample sized products. There is a Vega Sport sample on the way. Hopefully it's better than the other 2 I tried.

    I mixed with a banana and some strawberries and spinach and that made the protein surprisingly nice. I'm not sure that it's practical for post workout for me most of the time because I can't really carry a blender with me everywhere and I go from the gym to work. I guess I could bring a pre-blended one but then I'm scared of ruining cups and bottle from what happens when you leave protein out too long. It'll get me through the rest of the one I'm working on though, especially for weekends.

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