Aldi Protein bars (Our honest review)
Protein bars are one of the most convenient and tasty ways to get your protein fix - even if you're not a gym bunny, it's a seriously convenient way of consuming protein on the go. Brands like Grenade are blowing up (excuse the pun) in the UK, becoming not just the biggest selling protein bar in the country but one of the biggest selling chocolate bars. It's clear that we love our protein bars, but the main issue with them tends to be the price. It's always been our belief that it makes much more financial sense to buy protein powder and use that instead (or just cans of tuna if you don't mind the taste).
Then, as they so often do, along comes Aldi to turn everything on its head. Since they launched their Harvest Morn protein bars, the internet has exploded with debate about how good they are, whether they taste good, and more. We wanted to throw our opinion into the mix, so here is our honest review of the Aldi protein bars:
What are the nutritional stats of the Aldi protein bars?
One of the remarkable things is that, despite the price, the nutritional stats of the Aldi protein bars are very very similar to those of the most popular protein bar products in the UK (the Grenade 'Carb Killa' bars). As you can see in the screenshot, each Aldi protein bar contains about 21 grams of protein (the Birthday Cake bar contains 0.1g more protein than the Cookie Dough flavour, if you want to get really specific!). This is impressive given that the Carb Killa bars from Grenade contain anywhere from 20g to 22g of protein per bar, putting the Aldi protein bar content right in the middle of the Grenade range.
The protein content of these bars is impressive, but what about everything else! What caught our attention is the 'Low Sugar' label on the packet. One of the great things about the Grenade bars is that they manage to taste great and have lots of protein without having more than 2g of sugar per bar, making the bars quite healthy. Aldi once again almost matches Grenade identically here, with 1.9g of sugar in the Cookie Dough flavour Aldi protein bar. Impressive!
What do the Aldi protein bars taste like?
We've only tried 2 of the flavours available from Aldi - Cookie Dough and Birthday Cake - so we can only comment on the taste of these. There was another flavour at the Aldi we visited, Salted Caramel, which we didn't really fancy but we did end up trying (we're committed to our craft).
The Cookie Dough bar tasted chocolatey but we wouldn't describe the taste as 'cookie'. It definitely wasn't unpleasant though. The Birthday Cake protein bar was much sweeter and maybe even a little too sweet for our tastes, but again definitely not unpleasant.
It seemed like the Birthday Cake protein bar was by far the most popular of the range at Aldi, as there was only one left when we looked. So although it might not be to our tastes, clearly it has fans.
How much do Aldi protein bars costs?
This is what really matters - how much cheaper are the Aldi protein bars compared to the other protein bars on the market? Well, we paid £1.29 per 60g protein bar that we bought (which is the price on the website). A 60g protein bar from Grenade, with the same amount of protein, would cost you more than twice as much from Holland & Barrett.
You must have at least one criticism?
If we're being really harsh, we do have a couple of criticisms (this is supposed to be an honest review after all). Firstly, the texture of these protein bars, particularly compared to the Grenade bars, is quite chewy. It wasn't until we tried to tear a bit off the bar that we realised this. Again, if chewy food isn't your thing then this is definitely a negative, but it didn't really bother us.
Another issue we had is that the Aldi protein bars aren't suitable for vegetarians - they're made with Beef collagen, which is a little confusing to us because we'd love if these were suitable for everyone.
Final thoughts
Overall, we are so impressed with what we've found here. Once again, Aldi has created a product which turns a market on its head - their protein bars taste good, are nutritionally sound, and are less than half of the price of the market leaders. We're definitely converted and won't be paying more than £1.50 for a protein bar ever again. Your move, Grenade.
But what do you think? Have you tried the Aldi protein bars? Let us know your thoughts below!
If you're looking for similar articles to read, check out our review of the Lidl protein bar, and read our article about why people are often obsessed with a 100kg bench press.
Finn H
Finn is the editor of You Well and has been writing about travel, health, and more for over 10 years.
5 Comments
Ben
I quite love these. They’re not cheap but quite tasty with a massive range of flavours.
I prefer the salted caramel flavour. These are a hidden gem!
alice dolan
The birthday cake and peanut butter is my favourite. Can never get them as they are so popular
Lisa Pettifer
I absolutely love these bars, but it seems like Aldi have stopped doing them now. That have little ‘Skinny’ rice bars now, which offer nothing in terms of the taste or protein content of the better bars.
Debbie G
These are fab and now they do a mint one which is excellent 👍
Margot Till
There are two new flavours mint and Jaffa cake. They are amazing. My favourites were Sslted Caramel and Peanut Butter. Now Mint as well. They are best kept in the fridge I think.
Absolutely amazing value.