Zing Bar Vegan Protein Bar Review [Taste Test Results]

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zing bar wrapper

Where to buy: Walmart

Zing makes a variety of bars, most of which (not all) are vegan.

They claim to make “the healthiest nutrition bar” on their website, so I wanted to put the bars to the test.

There’s 3 things that I look for in a protein bar: high amount of protein, good taste, and low cost.

I’ve reviewed several bars at this point and rate them out of 10 for each of those things (objectively where possible).

How Much Protein is in Zing Bars?

Zing bars have fewer calories than many other bars I’ve tried, but also less protein.

Here’s what’s in a typical Zing bar (varies by flavor):

  • 210 calories
  • 10 grams of protein (40 calories)
  • 22 grams of carbohydrates
  • 9 grams of sugar
  • 8 grams of fiber

With only 40 calories (out of 210) coming from protein, that’s a protein content of 19%.

That’s not terrible, but it’s not very good for a protein bar. It’s lower than most of the other bars I’ve tried.

I have a simple formula that translates protein content to a score out of 10, and Zing Bars score 5 out of 10 here.

This probably should be expected considering Zing officially brands the bars as “nutrition” bars, and not protein bars.

Ingredients

So while I don’t score bars based on nutrition, let’s take a look at what’s inside:

Protein Blend (Rice Protein Concentrate, Pea Protein Crisps [Pea Protein Isolate, Pea Starch, Rice Flour, Calcium Carbonate]), Dark Chocolate (Organic Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Powder [Dutch Alkalized], Sunflower Lecithin), Prebiotic Tapioca Fiber, Almonds, Organic Tapioca Syrup, Hazelnuts, Rice Bran, Unsweetened Coconut, Organic Agave Syrup, Natural Hazelnut Flavor, Sea Salt, Vanilla Extract, Mixed Tocopherol

In terms of vitamins and minerals, there’s very little. There’s 8% of the daily value of iron, and 4% of calcium, nothing special.

I suppose the “nutrition” they’re referring to is the “prebiotic tapioca fiber”, which could help digestion. Honestly I don’t see what makes them the “healthiest nutrition bar.”

How Do Zing Bars Taste?

Moving on, the next most important thing to me is taste.

This is of course going to be subjective, but should give you a decent idea of whether or not you might like the taste.

Let’s take a look at the bar before getting to the taste test results:

zing bar inside whole

From the outside, it looks like a standard dark chocolate coated bar.

Here’s what it looks like when we open it up:

zing bar inside split

You may disagree, but I think it looks pretty good, almost like a candy bar.

Overall I really liked the taste and gave it an 8 out of 10.

Here were my main notes:

  • Good texture, on the firm side.
  • Pretty good flavor, sweetness is good level.
  • Somewhat chalky, but not too bad.

I took off points for the chalkiness and because the flavor wasn’t quite perfect.

Full Flavor List

Note that I tested the dark chocolate hazelnut bar. Zing bars also come in:

  • Dark Chocolate Coconut
  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
  • Dark Chocolate Mint
  • Dark Chocolate Mocha
  • Dark Chocolate Hazelnut
  • Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
  • Coconut Cashew Crisp
  • Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond
  • Double Nut Brownie Vitality Bar

A word of caution: I actually ordered 2 flavors that were available. Like an idiot, I assumed that Zing only made vegan bars for some reason. Well, one of them was not vegan and was made with whey protein. Stick to the flavors above which are all vegan so you do not repeat my mistake.

Are Zing Bars Expensive? (Relatively)

The last thing I look at is the cost per bar when buying a box.

Obviously prices fluctuate and you might have coupons, but I take the typical price per 10 grams of protein and compare it with other bars.

With Zing bars, you’ll pay about $2.3 per bar, and that gets you 10 grams of protein (which is very low).

So when you look at how much you’re paying for the “protein” part of the bar, it works out to a cost score of 5/10, which is more expensive than average (higher scores are better here).

Are Zing Bars Better Than Alternatives?

The average score for all the bars I’ve looked at is right about 21 out of 30. Here’s my full page of the best plant-based protein bars.

If you add up those individual scores from above, Zing bars have an overall score of 18 out of 30.

They’re not the worst bars, but below average.

The taste and cost (per bar) do stand out a bit, but the protein content is quite low. It’s fine for a general snack bar, but if you’re an athlete there are better bars to hit your protein target with.

Alternatives to Zing Bars

If you’re looking for a bar with a higher protein content that also tastes good, consider some other bars that I rate higher:

  • Simply Bars – These bars have whole ingredients and I’d consider them “healthy”. They taste good and have a solid protein content. See my Simply bar review for my full thoughts.
  • No Cow Bars – No Cow Bars come in several flavors and taste pretty good. They are also affordable and have a great level of protein for a vegan protein bar. Check out my No Cow bar review for a complete breakdown.

About the author

Dale Cudmore

Your friendly neighborhood vegan from Toronto. I've spent over 6 years as a freelance nutrition writer and researcher. During this time, I've tested over 50 vegan protein powders, and over 100 other types of vegan supplements.