Where to buy: Amazon,
Key takeaways:
- Of all the vegan protein bars I’ve tested, this was one of the best tasting.
- It’s quite high in sugar.
- All ingredients are organic, so if that’s important to you, I’d recommend at least considering trying this bar.
I looked for as many highly rated vegan protein bars as I could find to test.
Of the 20+ bars I’ve reviewed, Square Organics made the cut, and this review has all the results of my testing.
I’ll break down how the Square Organics vegan protein bar stacks up to other bars in 3 areas: Protein content, taste, and cost.
Table of Contents
Protein Content in Square Organics Bars
This is the weakest area of the bar by far.
The protein content is quite low compared to most other bars. Here’s what’s in each one:
- 230 calories
- 13 grams protein (52 calories)
- 21 grams carbs
- 12 grams sugar
- 3 grams fiber
If you divide the protein calories by total calories we see that 22.6% of all calories come from protein.
That’s not horrendous, but is less than average for the bars I’ve tested. The sugar is about average as well (although still as much as typical granola bars).
In fact, when you translate that to a score (think of it like a school grade) out of 10, it comes to a 5/10.
Ingredients
While I don’t score it, it’s always good to take a quick look at the ingredients in a bar you’re considering.
Here’s what in a Square Organics bar:
Organic coconut nectar, organic peanuts, organic whole grain brown rice protein, organic dark chocolate (organic cocoa liquor, organic dried cane syrup, organic cocoa butter), organic oats, organic cocoa liquor, sea salt, sunflower lecithin, organic almonds.
A very simple ingredients list, you could make it at home if you had the recipe.
There’s no pea or brown rice protein powder (also soy free), which is why the protein content overall is on the low side. You’ll typically find either pea or brown rice protein in most other bars.
All the ingredients are organic and simple, and overall seem pretty healthy. The only big issue is that the main ingredient is organic coconut nectar, which is just sugar. If you’re looking for a healthier protein bar with less sugar, look for one with sugar alcohols instead.
The Taste of Square Organics Bars
To help you get a sense of what a bar tastes like, I always take a few pictures.
Here’s what the unwrapped bar looks like:
It’s a rather small little chocolate coated square that looks like a snack bar.
Let’s break it open and have a closer look.
You can see a soft, peanut-buttery texture inside the chocolate, with a few of what appears to be nut pieces added in for some crunch.
This bar was fairly easy to rate for taste because it’s excellent:
- It’s firm, but not too chewy.
- Flavor is great.
- Good sweetness (a little too sweet if anything).
If someone told you this was a candy bar, you’d probably believe them. That’s basically my criteria for giving out a perfect 10/10 score.
Flavor Options
The above taste test is based on the chocolate coated peanut butter flavor, I haven’t tried any other flavor, but you can also get Square Organics in:
- Dark Chocolate Chip Crispy
- Vanilla Crunch Crispy
- Chocolate Coated Peanut Butter
- Toasted Coconut Crispy
- Chocolate Coated Nuts & Sea Sale
- Chocolate Coated Mint
- Chocolate Coated Crunch
- Chocolate Coated Cherry Coconut
I hope you like chocolate! If you don’t, coconut and vanilla are your only other options. Other bars have a wider variety of flavors, but this isn’t something I scored.
A Little Bit Cheaper Than Alternatives
The last thing that I score bars on is cost.
Most vegan bars range from $2-4 per bar when you buy a box of 12 or so.
Square Organics works out to about $2.3 on most days (prices do fluctuate), and it depends on where you buy it as well.
An expensive snack, but that’s actually relatively cheap for a vegan protein bar, but keep in mind that you only get 13 grams of protein per bar.
Based on the simple formula I made, that works out to a price score of 7/10 (where higher is better).
Summary: Square Organics is a Bit Above Average
If you add those 3 scores up, you get an overall score of 22/30.
The average for all bars comes out to around 21/30, so this score puts Square Organics right near the middle.
That being said, it’s the best overall organic vegan protein bar that I tried. Most other organic bars were not good.
If you’re looking for the healthiest protein bars, or a bar to help hit high protein targets, this probably isn’t the option for you. There are other bars that taste good still and have more protein. See my comparison of the best vegan protein bars for alternative options.
However, if you’re just looking for a bar that tastes really good and has a decent amount of protein, Square Organics is a good, affordable choice. Other than the sugar, it does have healthy fats and natural ingredients.
The Best Alternatives to Square Organics Bars
While I encourage you to check out that page linked above (I tested 20+ dairy free, vegan bars), here are the top 3 alternatives I’d recommend to take a look at:
- Orgain Organic Protein Bar – Average in the 3 main categories that I scored. They taste pretty good with a combination of brown rice protein and pea protein. Here’s my Orgain protein bar review.
- Clif Builder’s Protein Bar – Just like Square Organics, these bars have a chocolate coating and taste like an actual chocolate bar. The difference is that Clif Builder’s protein bars have a lot more protein and are cheaper. Note that they contain palm oil, and are also not organic. Here’s my full Clif Builder’s bar review.
- PROBAR Base Bar – This is another chocolate coated bar that tastes like a snack bar. It’s relatively cheap and has a lot of protein. The ingredients are mostly organic, although it’s not a fully organic bar. Here’s my PROBAR review.
There are more good vegan protein bars out there than you might think, so don’t be afraid to try a few out.
