Where to buy: Amazon
I’m a big fan of Vega Sport’s protein powder, so naturally I was excited to try the Vega Sport bar as well.
I included it as one of the 20 or so bars to test to try and find the best vegan protein bar.
Each one is tested for the 3 most important areas of a protein bar: protein content, taste, and cost.
You’ll find all my testing results in this review.
Table of Contents
Vega Sport Bar Nutrition and Protein Content
In each Vega Sport bar, you’ll find:
- 300 calories
- 20g protein
- 26g carbohydrates
- 14g sugar
- 3g fiber
The most important aspect of nutrition for a protein bar in my opinion is the protein content. That’s the ratio of protein to total calories.
In this case (with 80 calories from protein), that works out to a protein content of 26.7%.
That’s not great compared to the other bars I tested.
When translated to a score out of ten, the bar gets a 6/10 for nutrition.
Ingredients – One Potential Issue for Vegans
Let’s take a quick look at the ingredients in each bar:
Brown rice protein, pea protein, tapioca syrup, organic agave syrup, organic sugar, vegetable glycerin, sunflower seed butter, palm kernel oil, chocolate liquor, sunflower oil, rice starch, natural flavors, cocoa powder, cocoa powder (processed with alkali), inulin (from chicory root), tart cherry powder, sea salt, sunflower lecithin, peppermint oil.
Palm products are quite controversial in the vegan community, and you’ll get different answers when you ask if palm oil is vegan. This may rule the bar out for you all together.
Taste Test Results
The Vega Sport bar comes in just 2 flavors:
- Crunchy Peanut Butter
- Crispy Mint Chocolate
I went with the crunchy peanut butter bar for the taste test.
Here’s what the bar looks like:
Chocolate covered, just like most of Vega’s other bars.
And here’s what the inside filling looks like:
It’s some sort of doughy mixture with no real distinct features.
But in terms of taste, I could barely tell it apart from Vega’s 20g protein bar (but yes, they are different product lines with different ingredients).
That’s a good thing, as they both taste great.
The flavor is great, and there’s a nice bit of crunch to improve the texture. It does stick on your teeth a little bit, but I didn’t take any points off for that since it seemed pretty insignificant.
So, I gave the bar a 10/10 for taste, just like Vega’s other bars.
The Most Expensive Vegan Protein Bar?
When you look at the price per bar (when you buy a box), the Vega Sport bar is tied for the most expensive vegan protein bar with Vega’s 20g bar. They both cost around $3.7 per bar usually.
But the way I evaluate price is based on cost per 10 grams of protein.
So even though the bars are expensive, they also come with a lot of protein.
The Vega Sport bar gets a cost score of 7/10, which is about average.
Comparing the Vega Sport Bar to Other Vegan Protein Bars
The taste is easily the best part of this bar, and 20 grams of protein isn’t bad (although a lot of calories come with that).
If we add up the 3 individual scores we get an overall score of 23/30.
That puts it right around the middle of the 20 or so bars I’ve tested (a tiny bit above average). It’s not at the top of my list, but it might be a good option in a pinch since it’s so easy to find in stores.
Alternatives to the Vega Sport Bar
There are a decent number of vegan protein bars that I rate above this one. You might want to consider:
- Vega 20g bar – If you’re specifically looking for a Vega protein bar, the 20g plant protein bar is the best one overall in my opinion. It has a similar taste and cost score, but has a bit more protein per calorie. See my Vega 20g plant protein bar review for more details.
- Clif Builder’s Bar – This protein bar by Clif tastes just as good as Vega’s bars and has a similar protein content, but is much cheaper per unit of protein. I’ve broken down its scores in my Clif protein bar review.
- Simply Bar – A much healthier alternative that is my #1 overall vegan protein bar recommendation. It tastes a bit worse, but is much cheaper and has a better protein content. See why I recommend it in my Simply Bar vegan protein bar review.
