“What are some easy on-the-go snacks that are healthy?”
“What are the best snack bars out there?”
I hear these questions every week! Many people head to the cereal bar section and pick up the Special K bars, Fiber One, or Chewy Oatmeal bars. The problem with many of these bars is that they are high in simple carbs, low on quality protein, low in nutrients and most of all, don’t resemble real food.
The bars I’ve rated here were bought in a quest to find something good that my clients and I can grab on the go.
For a quick snack, I look for a bar with 150 calories or less, at least 2 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein. As always, I’m looking for the least processed, most natural ingredients possible.
For a bar with more than 150 calories to serve as a more substantial snack, check out my post The Best Protein Bars.
Here are the best snack bars under 150 calories that I’ve found based on taste, nutrient content, ingredients and price:
3 simple ingredients– you can’t get much better than that. The Almond Honey bars have almonds, honey, and whey protein. They’ve got 8 grams of protein and 120 calories. They also have Mint Chip, Snicker Doodle, Chocolate Coconut, and Lemon Cashew, all with no artificial sweeteners or flavoring.
All 100 calories or less, all gluten free (if that’s your thing), and 3 grams of sugar or less.
Looking for something savory? For an entirely different type of bar, try Epic jerky style bars. Their meat comes from animals raised sustainably on open pasture.
Just like the adult version but a little smaller with different flavors. RXBARs are no nonsense, simple, 4 ingredient bars. They are date based and get protein from egg whites so the texture is a different from other bars you may have had (chewy).
Unfortunately there are more bars to steer clear of than ones to grab. Skip the fig bars, the Weight Watchers bars, and Nugo bars. They either have sketchy ingredients, loads of sugar, syrups, or sucralose or they just taste like crap. Don’t get caught up in counting calories. If you have a long way to go between meals, feel free to power up with something that’s more than 150 calories (there’s a lot more options!) Make sure any snack has a good balance of protein, fat, and complex carbs to keep you from getting hungry again in an hour!
About the author: Megan Poczekaj, RDN, LD, is a registered dietitian nutritionist in Orlando, FL. She owns the private practice, Nutrition Awareness, where she teaches other entrepreneurs how to maximize their productivity and performance with nutrition. She is the author of the book The Optimized Life: A Nutrition Guide for Entrepreneurs and co-host of the Nutrition Awareness Podcast.