Vegan Energy and Protein Bars

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Energy and Protein bars are a great addition to a vegan diet, especially for those transitioning. They offer decent nutrition for the price and offer easy sources of fiber and protein, which can help stave off cravings.

Luckily, many of these bars are vegan (whether accidentally or not) and are easily accessible and affordable at supermarkets and shops. However, it's still a good idea to double-check the ingredient lists just in case there are some ingredients of animal products such as milk powder or whey. It would also be better to avoid palm oil or variants of it (such as Palm Fruit Oil, etc.), an ingredient often used in energy bars.

Classification of the bars

You will find the cost per bar and the cost per protein in every section for the bars, including a description of what the taste is like, while here you can find a sorting table to classify the bars according to the proteins amount, fibers amount, saturated fats amount, calories amount, and finally the Final usefulness value of the bar with all of the former nutritional values taken in consideration and summed together.
In the second table below, instead, you can find a sorting table classifying the bars according to density of protein per cost.

Bars nutrient density/usefulness

The formula used to arrive at the Final usefulness value is FUV = (protein*3) + fibers - (saturated fats*2) - (calories/20)
That is because proteins are usually the most sought after nutrient when it comes to protein bars, with fibers being a positive but nothing too important, and saturated fats being the main drawback next to calories (/20 to bring them to a comparable level, while still keeping the value magnitude high enough because calories are the main counterweight to look at when considering how nutritionally efficient something is).
If you are only interested in one variable, or if what you want makes you have different value magnitudes assigned to the variables, feel free to sort by what variable you are interested/most interested in.

Name Final usefulness value for the energy bar Proteins (grams) Fibers (grams) Saturated fats (grams) Calories (kcal)
Chocolate Brownie (Clif) 18.5 9 7 1.5 250
Chocolate Chip (Clif) 18.5 9 7 1.5 250
Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch (Clif) 21 10 7 1.5 260
Crunchy Peanut Butter (Clif) 25 11 7 1 260
Peanut Butter Banana (Clif) 20 10 7 2 260
Peanut Toffee Buzz (Clif) 21 10 7 1.5 260
Chocolate Almond (NuGo) 20 12 2 4 200
Chocolate Chip (NuGo) 15 10 1 3 200
Chocolate Coconut (NuGo) 14 10 2 4 200
Chocolate Pretzel (NuGo) 21 12 2 3.5 200
Dark Chocolate Crunch (NuGo) 15.5 9 5 1.5 170
Mocha Chocolate (NuGo) 16 10 2 3 200
Peanut Butter Cup (NuGo) 21 12 2 3.5 200
Almond Butter Chocolate Brownie (Lärabar) 23 11 4 1.5 220
Apple Cobbler (Lärabar) 25.5 11 4 0.5 210
Chocolate Cashew Brownie (Lärabar) 21 11 3 2.5 200
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup (Lärabar) 20.5 11 4 2.5 230
Lemon Blueberry Muffin (Lärabar) 25 11 4 0.5 220
Key Lime Coconut Pie (Lärabar) 22 11 5 2 220
Almond Butter Chip (IQ) 32.5 12 8 2 150
Banana Nut (IQ) 31 12 6 1.5 160
Chocolate Sea Salt (IQ) 30.5 12 6 2 150
Lemon Blueberry (IQ) 31 12 6 1.5 160
Matcha Chai (IQ) 32.5 12 7 1.5 150
Peanut Butter Chip (IQ) 32 12 8 2 160
Wild Blueberry (IQ) 31 12 6 1.5 160

Bars cost per gram of protein/amount of protein per dollar

This is a useful table to know which bars are the most efficient cost/protein amount (the lower, the cheaper per protein and the better - first column).
You can also sort them for protein amount/cost, showing how much protein you get per 1$ dollar (the higher, the more protein per dollar and the better - second column).

Name Cost per gram of protein (cost/protein, the lower the better) Amount of protein per dollar (protein/cost, the higher the better)
Chocolate Brownie (Clif) $0.15/g 6.65g
Chocolate Chip (Clif) $0.15/g 6.65g
Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch (Clif) $0.135/g 7.4g
Crunchy Peanut Butter (Clif) $0.125/g 8.0g
Peanut Butter Banana (Clif) $0.135/g 7.4g
Peanut Toffee Buzz (Clif) $0.135/g 7.41g
Chocolate Almond (NuGo) $0.13/g 7.7g
Chocolate Chip (NuGo) $0.16/g 6.25g
Chocolate Coconut (NuGo) $0.16/g 6.25g
Chocolate Pretzel (NuGo) $0.13/g 7.7g
Dark Chocolate Crunch (NuGo) $0.175/g 5.7g
Mocha Chocolate (NuGo) $0.16/g 6.25g
Peanut Butter Cup (NuGo) $0.13/g 7.7g
Almond Butter Chocolate Brownie (Lärabar) $0.155/g 6.45g
Apple Cobbler (Lärabar) $0.175/g 5.7g
Chocolate Cashew Brownie (Lärabar) $0.16/g 6.25g
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup (Lärabar) $0.12/g 8.35g
Lemon Blueberry Muffin (Lärabar) $0.14/g 7.15g
Key Lime Coconut Pie (Lärabar) $0.12/g 8.35g
Almond Butter Chip (IQ) $0.175/g 5.7g
Banana Nut (IQ) $0.175/g 5.7g
Chocolate Sea Salt (IQ) $0.175/g 5.7g
Lemon Blueberry (IQ) $0.175/g 5.7g
Matcha Chai (IQ) $0.175/g 5.7g
Peanut Butter Chip (IQ) $0.175/g 5.7g
Wild Blueberry (IQ) $0.175/g 5.7g

Clif Bars

Most Clif Bars are vegan, however, the Builders Bar contains Palm Kernel Oil. There are 20 standard Clif Bars available. The prices listed are per bar for the purchase of a box of 12 bars.

Peanut Toffee Buzz

Taste: Nice peanut buttery, pastry taste.

Cost: $1.35

Cost per gram of protein: $0.135/g

Chocolate Brownie

Taste: Chocolatey, and not very dark. Microwave for best flavor.

Cost: $1.35

Cost per gram of protein: $0.15/g

Chocolate Chip

Taste: Tastes mostly like a chocolate chip cookie, with a few nutty tones.

Cost: $1.35

Cost per gram of protein: $0.15/g

Crunchy Peanut Butter

Taste: Pretty much a nice peanut-buttery taste, crunchy while retaining soft texture.

Cost: $1.35

Cost per gram of protein: $0.125/g

Peanut Butter Banana

Taste: Nice fusion of both peanut butter and banana.

Cost: $1.35

Cost per gram of protein: $0.135/g

Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch

Taste: Pretty much tastes like peanut butter with some chocolate mixed in.

Cost: $1.35

Cost per gram of protein: $0.135/g

Nugo Bars

The prices listed are per bar for the purchase of a box of 12 bars.

Chocolate Almond

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $1.58

Cost per gram of protein: $0.13/g

Chocolate Chip

Taste: Tastes like a chocolate wafer candy bar (but healthier)

Cost: $1.58

Cost per gram of protein: $0.16/g

Chocolate Coconut

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $1.58

Cost per gram of protein: $0.16/g

Chocolate Pretzel

Taste: Pretty much like chocolate chip, with a more pretzel taste and texture.

Cost: $1.58

Cost per gram of protein: $0.13/g

Dark Chocolate Crunch

Taste: Like chocolate chip bar, with richer chocolate, and more filling.

Cost: $1.58

Cost per gram of protein: $0.175/g

Mocha Chocolate

Taste: Rich chocolate taste with a hint of coffee.

Cost: $1.58

Cost per gram of protein: $0.16/g

Peanut Butter Cup

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $1.58

Cost per gram of protein: $0.13/g

Lärabars

The prices listed are per bar, though the prices may change as the bars are not sold directly by the company but through third-party websites like Amazon.

Apple Cobbler

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $1.95 (pack of 12)

Cost per gram of protein: $0.175/g

Almond Butter Chocolate Brownie

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $1.68 (4 packs of 8)

Cost per gram of protein: $0.155/g

Chocolate Cashew Brownie

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $1.75 (pack of 12)

Cost per gram of protein: $0.16/g

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

Taste: Fairly rich, dates in bar mix well with the chocolate chips and peanut butter.

Cost: $1.32 (4 packs of 8)

Cost per gram of protein: $0.12/g

Key Lime Coconut Pie

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $1.53 (pack of 16)

Cost per gram of protein: $0.14/g

Lemon Blueberry Muffin

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $1.32 (4 packs of 8)

Cost per gram of protein: $0.12/g

IQ Bars

Almond Butter Chip

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $2.08

Cost per gram of protein: $0.175/g

Banana Nut

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $2.08

Cost per gram of protein: $0.175/g

Chocolate Sea Salt

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $2.08

Cost per gram of protein: $0.175/g

Lemon Blueberry

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $2.08

Cost per gram of protein: $0.175/g

Matcha Chai

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $2.08

Cost per gram of protein: $0.175/g

Peanut Butter Chip

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $2.08

Cost per gram of protein: $0.175/g

Wild Blueberry

Taste: (not tried yet)

Cost: $2.08

Cost per gram of protein: $0.175/g