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8 Best Protein Powders of 2025
Whether you’re leveling up your strength training or looking for filling snack ideas, the best protein powders can help you meet your goals (and, yes, actually please your tastebuds). It’s fair if the first thing that comes to mind is a chalky, barely drinkable shake. But there are actually lots of great options out there, including plant- and animal-based protein blends, powders with additional ingredients like fruits and veggies, and more flavors than you’d find on Starbucks’ Secret Menu.
That’s why we spoke to registered dietitians with sports nutrition expertise to get the inside scoop (pun intended) on the different types of protein powder—and how to choose the right one for you and your wellness goals.
Our top picks
- Best Whey: Thorne Whey Protein Isolate, $65
- Best Texture, Whey: Klean Athlete Klean Isolate, $60
- Best Vegan: Garden of Life Sport Organic Vegan Protein Powder, $42
- Best Texture, Vegan: Sunwarrior Protein Classic Plus, $49
- Best Protein for Beginners: Orgain Protein Powder, $36
- Best Flavor Options, Whey: Ascent 100% Whey Protein Powder, $25
- Best Flavor Options, Vegan: Vega Sport Premium Vegan Protein Powder, $47
- Best for Cooking: Now Sports Nutrition Pea Protein, $95
In this article
Shop the best protein powders
The following protein powders were recommended to SELF by sports nutrition experts (some of them were also tested by staffers), and should make it easier and tastier to meet your protein intake requirements (more on that below!).
Best Whey: Thorne Whey Protein Isolate
Thorne’s whey blend checks essential boxes like a straightforward ingredient list and quick-dissolving texture, plus it’s NSF Certified for Sport, meaning it’s been evaluated for accuracy and quality. It’s little wonder why Angie Asche, MS, RD, CSSD, owner of Eleat Sports Nutrition and author of Fuel Your Body: How to Cook and Eat for Peak Performance, considers it one of her favorites.
The brand also thoroughly tests its products for efficacy in clinical trials and collaborates with the Mayo Clinic on nutritional research. One tester is an especially big fan of the chocolate flavor—she says it’s on the sweeter side (another great reason to experiment with various blend-ins), but not to the point that she minds it. Another SELF tester loved its slightly thick consistency and compared the vanilla flavor to a nostalgic milk drink she enjoyed as a kid. Nostalgia for the win.
Best Texture, Whey: Klean Athlete Klean Isolate
Klean Athlete
Klean Isolate
Asche and Kelly Jones, MS, RD, CSSD, a board-certified specialist in sports dietetics and owner of Kelly Jones Nutrition and Student Athlete Nutrition, point to the third-party-certified brand Klean Athlete as a high-quality choice for straightforward, muscle-building whey protein powders. With its smooth-blending isolate powder, the brand keeps things relatively simple—the ingredients list is short and the flavor options are classic.
For an additional performance boost, this gluten-free powder also contains a little sodium, “which is important for rehydration and recovery after training,” Jones explains. And, from a totally practical standpoint, we like that this powder comes in a resealable bag as opposed to a cumbersome tub, so it’s easy to pack up if you’re traveling or refueling at the gym.
Best Vegan: Garden of Life Sport Organic Vegan Protein Powder
Garden of Life
Sport Organic Vegan Protein Powder
Garden of Life is another brand that comes highly recommended by multiple experts, due to its reputable testing practices and third-party certifications, and it makes some of the best vegan protein powders you can try.
The brand’s Sport variety has a high protein content per serving (with peas and beans as its sources), and includes a number of ingredients that may aid nutrition and fitness goals: probiotics to support gut health, and a blend of antioxidant-rich fruits like tart cherries and blueberries, which can help with muscle recovery.
Plant-based | Key ingredients: Organic pea protein, organic sprouted navy bean, organic sprouted lentil bean, organic sprouted garbanzo bean, organic cranberry seed protein | Protein per serving: 30 grams | Flavors: Chocolate, vanilla
Best Texture, Vegan: Sunwarrior Protein Classic Plus
Sunwarrior
Protein Classic Plus
Sunwarrior isn’t NSF Certified, but Asche still likes it for people who are recreationally active (and probably aren’t as concerned about third-party testing). The brand’s Classic Plus line uses a combination of quinoa, brown rice, peas, amaranth, and chia seeds for its protein content, which amounts to a complete profile.
Plant-based | Key ingredients: Organic fermented brown rice, organic fermented pea protein, organic quinoa, organic chia seed, organic amaranth | Protein per serving: 17 grams | Flavors: Chocolate, unflavored, vanilla
Best Protein for Beginners: Orgain Protein Powders
Jones likes Orgain’s organic plant-based powder for its relative affordability and availability (you can stock up at retailers like Target, Costco, and Amazon) and its blend of protein sources. It contains peas, brown rice, and chia seeds, which provide a complete amino acid profile. This protein powder is also a good source of iron, which is a major plus in Jones’s book, especially for menstruating athletes who are at greater risk of developing an iron deficiency.
The brand’s whey powder is also widely available at a relatively beginner-friendly price point. It doesn’t contain as much iron as Orgain’s vegan protein powder, but it does have a little boost of calcium.
For those concerned about texture, our tester notes that Orgain’s powder makes a great smoothie. If she has one caveat, it’s how pronounced its “vanilla-ish” flavor can be: “The flavor is a little strong, so I try to balance it with other ingredients.” And if you need inspo for your blend-ins, we have some ideas.
Animal-based and plant-based | Key ingredients: Organic pea protein, organic brown rice protein, organic chia seed (for vegan blend); grass-fed whey protein (for animal-based blend) | Protein per serving: 21 grams | Flavors: Birthday cake, cookies and cream, creamy chocolate fudge, fruity cereal, horchata, iced coffee, peppermint hot cocoa, pumpkin spice, strawberries and cream, unsweetened, vanilla (for vegan blend—some flavors available here); creamy chocolate fudge, vanilla (for animal-based blend)
Best Flavor Options, Whey: Ascent 100% Whey Protein Powder
Ascent
100% Whey Protein Powder
Another preferred brand of Asche’s, Ascent makes both whey and plant-based protein powders, so you should be able to find one that fits your preferences. However, the former comes in more tasty flavors. It also features a unique combination of regular whey protein and native whey protein, which is less processed and may contain more of the milk’s protein.
Plus, if you’re short on pantry space: These protein blends come in a convenient bag that you can zip up and store without the hassle of a clunky tub.
Animal-based | Key ingredients: Native whey protein, whey protein | Protein per serving: 25 grams | Flavors: chocolate, chocolate peanut butter, cookies and cream, lemon, mint chip, mocha cold brew, strawberry, unflavored, vanilla
Best Flavor Options, Vegan: Vega Sport Premium Vegan Protein Powder
Vega
Performance Protein + Recovery
Asche recommends Vega Sport’s plant-based protein powders to the athletes she works with because they’re NSF Certified—and we think just about anyone should consider giving them a try, too, given their range of tasty flavors, great texture, and nutritional perks.
One of our testers, who prefers the brand’s vanilla flavor, can gladly speak to those first two benefits: “[Its] flavor is subtle with a touch of sweetness, and thankfully lacks the nasty chalkiness and aftertaste that accompanies some powders. I use it in my breakfast smoothie every day—it’s my favorite meal of the day!”
And from a nutritional standpoint, this vegan powder doesn’t just have a high protein content. It also contains a nice amount of calcium (15% of the recommended daily allowance, or RDA), iron (35% of the RDA), and ingredients that can help you recover from your workout, like tart cherry.
Plant-based | Key ingredients: Pea protein, pumpkin seed protein, organic sunflower seed protein, alfalfa protein | Protein per serving: 30 grams | Flavors: Berry, chocolate, mocha, peanut butter, vanilla
Best for Cooking: Now Sports Nutrition Pea Protein
Natalie Rizzo, MS, RD, founder of Greenletes and author of Planted Performance, likes Now Sports because it completes third-party testing on all its products. (Asche and Jones recommend this brand for the same reasons.) This pea protein powder has literally one ingredient, and the fact that it’s unflavored makes it especially versatile—it’d make a great addition to your next high-protein baking project. (If you actually want to taste your protein, Now’s Plant Protein Complex comes in delicious flavors like chocolate mocha.)
Plant-based | Key ingredients: Yellow pea protein | Protein per serving: 24 grams | Flavors: Unflavored
How we chose the best protein powders
In addition to our experts’ input and recommendations, here are some key features we took into consideration when making our picks.
Whether a powder uses an animal-based protein source (like whey) or one made from plants is a personal preference, but it should have a complete protein profile, meaning it contains all nine of the essential amino acids that your body needs to function.
Third party certification
This is another matter of personal preference, but some artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes can cause digestive issues, so we’ve highlighted where they’re used.
No one wants a gritty, sandy smoothie. So, we’ve sought out feedback from testers and online reviewers where possible to ensure we select powders that blend well.
Where an enormous tub of protein powder will always take up a ton of room, a resealable pouch can compress as you go through the product, which can be a perk if you’re short on storage space.
What to look for in a protein powder
When you start shopping for protein powders, you’ll first need to choose between animal-based powders or plant-based varieties. One isn’t necessarily better than the other, but there are a few key differences to consider.
Most registered dietitians consider whey—a component of milk—the “gold standard” for protein supplementation, Asche says. That’s partly because it is a complete protein, which, as we mentioned earlier, means it contains all nine of the essential amino acids that your body needs to function (in case you were wondering, those are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine). Whey is also generally easy to absorb and digest, provided you don’t have a dairy allergy or lactose intolerance, Asche says. (If you’re specifically concerned about lactose, look for powders made with “whey protein isolate” as opposed to “whey protein concentrate,” since, as SELF has previously reported, isolate forms contain next to no lactose.)
If you are vegan, dairy-intolerant, or prefer to eat fewer animal-derived foods, you can try plant-based protein powders instead. These options generally feature peas, beans, brown rice, and soy protein as the main ingredients, making them a great dairy- and lactose-free alternative to whey. Just keep in mind that certain plant protein sources are considered “incomplete,” says Asche. That’s why a lot of plant-based powders combine multiple protein sources, which can create a complete profile (think: peas and rice).
What to avoid in a protein powder
For the most part, what you skip comes down to your own preferences—this writer, for example, avoids most birthday cake-flavored protein powders because they always end up having an artificial flavor to me (regardless of what’s on their ingredient list). But there are a few things that experts suggest checking the label for before making your purchase.
Sugar alcohols, and other sweetener substitutes like stevia and monk fruit, are relatively common in protein powders because they don’t add many calories or cause blood sugar spikes like regular sugar. These ingredients, as well as thickeners like carrageenan, can potentially upset your stomach, causing side effects like gas, bloating, or diarrhea, Asche says. Not everyone will find these ingredients hard to digest, but it’s something to keep in mind. Plus, powders that contain real added sugar instead of artificial sweeteners (like sucralose) can be helpful in that they provide your body with a boost of protein and carbohydrates. And that combo of protein and carbs can be especially beneficial for post-workout recovery, sports dietitian Renee McGregor, RD, tells SELF.
For some peace of mind about the quality, look for protein powders that are NSF Certified for Sport or Informed Choice for Sport Certified, Jones says. These third-party tests confirm that a powder’s label accurately reflects its ingredients, and that it doesn’t contain contaminants like heavy metals, or dangerous or banned substances.
Frequently asked questions about protein powder
Do you really need protein powder?
Now that you know the best ones to try, let’s get into the potential benefits of protein powder. Protein is one of the three vital macronutrients (along with fats and carbohydrates) that we need in large amounts. It helps support our immune system and build and repair muscle, Jones says. So while you certainly need to consume enough of it, who needs protein powder, specifically?
“In a perfect world, we would obtain all of the nutrients we need each day, including protein, from whole foods alone,” Jones says. But in the real world, you might not always have time to shop for and prepare high-protein snack recipes, especially if you follow a vegetarian or vegan eating style. That’s where a protein powder can come into play—it’s a convenient way to get more of this crucial macronutrient in your daily diet.
If you’re not sure how much protein you actually need, the current RDA is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (or 0.36 grams per pound). Keep in mind, that amount of protein is the average minimum to prevent deficiency—if you’re an active person, you may want to shoot for closer to 1.4 to 2 grams per kilogram (or 0.64 to 0.91 grams per pound), Jones says.
Ample protein is particularly important if you exercise a lot, because it helps build strength, power, endurance, and muscle mass, Jones says. If you don’t get enough protein every day, your body will have a harder time increasing (and even maintaining) the size of your muscles. Protein also plays an important role in workout recovery, as it helps repair the micro tears in your muscles that occur after intense workouts.
If you do the math and realize you aren’t getting enough protein, adding a dietary supplement like a powder to your routine could help. You may also want to consult your doctor or a registered dietitian to get a clearer idea of your individual protein needs.
How should you incorporate protein powder into your diet?
The simplest way to use protein powder is to mix it with your liquid of choice and drink it—but you can get a bit more creative, too. Jones recommends blending it into smoothies, adding it to overnight oats, or even making your own protein bars. Asche adds pancakes and waffles to that list, too, and notes it can also boost already high-protein foods like yogurt. (We don’t see why you couldn’t add it to your favorite sweet treats like milkshakes, either.)
Is it okay to take protein powder every day?
The short answer is yes, but limit yourself to one serving per day. As SELF has previously reported, the average person simply doesn’t need to drink multiple protein shakes in a single day—and doing so could mean missing out on key nutrients you get from whole foods. It’s still important to make sure you’re getting enough fats, carbohydrates, fiber, and micronutrients like vitamins and minerals. So, while a shake can help you hit your protein goals, that’s about all it can do, so make sure to keep your diet well-rounded.
When’s the best time of day to have protein powder?
The best time to drink a protein shake is actually pretty subjective. Jones says it’s most beneficial when you don’t have bandwidth to whip up a whole food source of protein, whether that’s for breakfast or after your workout. Asche echoes this recommendation, saying you don’t have to overthink it: “It matters more about how much total protein you consume throughout your day as a whole, versus the timing.”
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