12 Aldi Protein-Packed Drinks And Snacks, Ranked Worst To Best

We'll call it the "Aldi appeal." The small-format German grocer is adored by many for a variety of different reasons. There's a clear explanation as to why it's currently the nation's fastest-growing supermarket chain and why it brings in nearly one billion annual visitors. No-frills shoppers, discount hunters, and eco-friendly consumers all unite within the store's walls, throwing up their cart quarter salute. And, we can't forget about the health-conscious, gym buff, macro-counting clientele. They, too, find just what they're looking for at the value-focused market.

Protein-packed picks are abundant at Aldi, and we're not just talking the products you find in the meat and dairy sections. Aldi also sells a surprisingly large number of protein snacks and drinks, considering the store's notoriously limited inventory. These items offer clever ways for shoppers to add more bulk to their diets.

Wondering if Aldi's designated protein products are actually worthy of your next gym sesh? I scooped up 12 of them (thanks to Aldi's curbside pickup service) to try so you don't have to. In a rare instance of me actually hitting my recommended daily protein intake, I sampled shakes, bars, and snacks while taking note of the nutritional numbers: not just grams of protein, but also sugar, sodium, calories, and bonus vitamins and minerals. Of course, I also paid attention to taste — because if it doesn't taste good, what's the point? A dry scoop of pre-workout powder could serve the same purpose, but nobody's craving that.

Elevation is Aldi's health food hub. The store's private label brand houses a "powerhouse of protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals" (Aldi's words, not mine), not to mention some low-cost protein dupes like these RXBAR lookalikes. I mean, come on, the packaging is even the same with each bar's attributes listed on the left-hand side. The Maxx bars also mimic RX's 12 grams of protein and follow a similar formula of egg whites, nuts, and fruit.

The blueberry Maxx bar, in particular, includes blueberries (duh), dates, egg whites, almonds, cashew butter, and peanut butter. It smells just like a Fig Newton, but looks like a compacted fruit cake — and it doesn't taste much better. The dense block is as sticky as can be, immediately suctioning to every single one of your teeth. It hits you first with the aggressive taste of blueberry natural flavor, then you start to detect some subtle hints of nut butters. The almonds and dehydrated blueberries embedded into the sides are a nice touch, providing a welcome change in texture. But, for me, it wasn't enough to make a difference. I will be upfront that I'm not a huge RXBAR stan. But I still prefer them to these. I suppose not all Aldi dupes can be winners.

These may look like you're average cheese puffs (albeit a mini version), but there are some surprises hiding within these snackable spheres, namely, an elevated nutritional content. Just one cup of the Kix cereal-sized puffs adds up to 21 grams of protein for just 120 calories — a serious macros win. Soy-free, potato-free, and nut-free, they're also safe for lots of stomachs. Now, if only they were friendly to taste buds.

Formed using a combination of milk protein isolate, sunflower oil, skim milk, and whey protein concentrate, it's no wonder they come out tasting just like cardboard covered with a dusting of cheese and flavorings. The crunch is satisfying, I'll give them that, but the puffs themselves are mostly air. The taste of cheddar is light, but the jalapeño sure isn't. The pepper is strong out of the gate, lighting up your mouth with a respectable spice — one that builds with each puff.

Between the dietary benefits and the piquant seasoning, there are some things this snack got right — and I still somehow like it better than other protein puffs I've had the misfortune of tasting. But I probably wouldn't return to this particular protein-packed munchie.

This is not what I think of when I think of a protein drink. I can't be alone when I say that my mind immediately wanders to a creamy protein shake. So, this juice-like beverage caught me off guard. The Protein20 quenchers are like a cross between an electrolyte-filled sports drink and an after-exercise protein blend, equipped with 15 grams of the essential nutrient. I guess that means it's meant to be consumed during or post-workout. But, personally, I couldn't help but think that it would make for the ultimate hangover cure.

However you plan to use it, you should be aware of the flavor you're in for. This isn't a La Croix situation. The taste of cherry is strong. It's similar to the taste of cherry yogurt — reminiscent of the fruit but a bit phony at the same time. The liquid also has some syrupy and salty undertones, similar to a bottle of Pedialyte. Then it leaves you with that hard-to-miss Stevia flavor, compliments of Reb A.

I'm normally a fan of cherry — always reaching for the red Starbursts and Jolly Ranchers first. But this wild cherry drink doesn't quite hit the mark. I'm curious if the other flavors, peach mango or dragon fruit blackberry, fare any better.

The Millville line is another Aldi specialty. Its claim to fame is without a doubt its wide selection of breakfast cereals (believed by some fans to be made by the big-name brand Malt-O-Meal). But it also provides discount shoppers with products like Pop-Tart doppelgangers, granola, and protein-packed chewy bars.

The brand's cereal focus immediately makes sense when you tear open this wrapper. It smells just like a bowlful of fruity flakes or puffs. Its makeup, however, is more like a trail mix in bar form. Crunchy bits pair with almonds and peanuts to form the base. A creamy and sweet layer of Greek yogurt coats the bottom, adding to each bar's 10 grams of protein. The strangest part, though, is that the fruit bits you see packed in with the rest are not strawberries. They're actually strawberry-flavored cranberries. Seems a bit like false advertising to me. If it's cranberries, just call it a cranberry bar.

Even with this confusion aside, the Millville bars still strike me as discombobulated. I think it would have been fine with just the fake strawberry flavor paired with Greek yogurt. Or, with just the nuts and the tangy yogurt coating. But everything together is too much going on, meaning your taste buds don't know what to focus on.

A meal bar? Sounds like an oxymoron. I struggle to understand how a 170-calorie fusion of crispy rice, peanut butter, soy protein, and corn syrup could replace a meal — especially when it's swathed in a layer of dark chocolate. But I digress.

I would say the Elevation bar fits the bill for a standard protein bar, however. It's actually painfully average. It hops on the chocolate peanut butter bandwagon — an overdone protein bar flavor (seriously, I think the first protein bar ever made delivered tastes of both chocolate and peanut butter). What's worse is that it tricks you into thinking it's a sweet candy bar with its chocolate blanket. Then, it can only let you down with a dry and unsugared mix of crispies and peanut butter inside.

Is it bad? No. Is it remarkably tasty? No. It just feels boring and a bit been-there-done-that — a very lackluster way to up your daily protein count by 12 grams. I fear the other flavors of double chocolate and strawberry may follow the same pattern — especially since the strawberry bars once again use strawberry-flavored cranberries instead of actual strawberries. Seriously, what's up with that?

In terms of total protein count, the Elevation ready-to-drink protein shakes take the cake with a whopping 30 grams per container. That's equivalent to about five large eggs, so a hearty amount indeed. It comes in flavors of chocolate and caramel as well, but I decided to give the plain vanilla a try.

It looks like milk in the glass, but it drinks a bit thicker. The consistency isn't quite creamy, but not watery either. At the same time, the taste is somewhere between a vanilla milkshake and a milk alternative like almond milk or soy milk. There is no chalkiness from the whey protein, like you sometimes experience when you mix the powder yourself at home. What you do get, though, is a rush of sweetness, not from sugar (there's only 1 gram of sugar in the carton) but from sucralose instead. So, it has an artificial edge to it.

Overall, it's a decent protein shake option. I've had better and I've had worse. I don't think I would ever just drink one for pleasure — they're not craveable enough for that. But I would certainly grab another pack for performance purposes (I mean, those 30 grams of protein speak for themselves).

I thought these were edible cookie dough bites at first, based on the image on the box, and I was a little bummed that they weren't. But once I got over my disappointment, I realized they are actually quite tasty — even if they are in bar form.

This energy bar is also cloaked in chocolate, like Elevation's earlier meal bar. But it steps up with a more flavorful filling. Once you break through the chocolate crust, the entire thing is very bouncy, and the substance at the center really does look and feel like real cookie dough (something that is sadly very hard to find in a protein bar). Tiny chocolate cookie pieces are abundant, it's sweet yet not too sweet, and my favorite part about it is the unique tangy flavor that reminds me of chocolate chip cheesecake.

Each bar comes equipped with 15 grams of protein, yet manages to avoid that mealy or gritty texture. The brand is also not shy about advertising its 22 vitamins and minerals per serving. I do have to give Elevation a small slap on the wrist for the 15 grams of added sugars. But, still, not a bad protein bar.

I have a couple of bones to pick with this shake. However, its delicious taste still won it a more elite spot in the ranking. It's smooth and creamy without being too thick, and it looks and tastes like a darker chocolate, so each swig is packed with cocoa flavor and richness. The experience is very similar to a SlimFast ready-to-drink shake — maybe even better — and the price is more reasonable by far. You can get six bottles of Aldi's Elevation shakes for less than the price of four SlimFast shakes – that's a deal if I've ever seen one.

Now, onto the issues I spoke of earlier. This shake differs slightly from Elevation's vanilla protein shake. This one is classified as a "meal replacement." In my mind, that would mean it has more protein and other nutrients, perhaps at the expense of a few more calories. The chocolate drink does, in fact, have slightly more calories and slightly more vitamins and minerals compared to its vanilla counterpart. However, it drops down by 20 grams of protein, leaving it with just 10 grams. It trades them for a boost in sugars, up to 18 total grams (5 grams of which are added).

So, for me, the math doesn't necessarily math on this protein product. But it goes down so smoothly — and for such a good price — that it's difficult to hold that against it.

The German grocer hangs its hat on its large selection of private label brands. In fact, 90% of Aldi's inventory is made up of its own exclusive products under names like Millville, Simply Nature, and Clancy's. But some name-brand items do sneak onto the shelves. Heck, I spotted a few pints of Ben & Jerry's in Aldi's freezer section just the other day. And Perfect bars seem to have infiltrated the store as well.

The Perfect Bar is known as the "original refrigerated protein bar." That doesn't necessarily mean it's going to go bad if you leave it in your gym bag for a few hours. But its lack of chemical preservatives and emulsifiers means it won't last at room temperature for more than about a week. The coolness also helps the bars to maintain their consistency. I appreciate this freshness factor. It's what helps Perfect stand out from many other protein bars — at Aldi and beyond.

The taste is nothing like cookie dough. I'll get that out there first. But it's tasty nonetheless. It starts out as more of a crumbly peanut butter, then smooths into sweet tastes of honey and maple syrup. Dark chocolate chips sweeten the deal, making it feel more like a peanut butter dessert bar than a protein-charged snack.

I love a good granola, especially for a great price (seriously, why are clusters of oats and nuts so expensive?), and this option from Millville fits the bill. The recipe is kept simple with a blend of oats, soy protein crisps, almonds, and dried cranberries (not strawberry-flavored cranberries or cranberry-flavored strawberries). Everything is coated in what tastes like a dose of golden honey, but it's actually cane sugar and brown rice syrup. The cranberries are admittedly few and far between — as are the almond slivers — but they add a touch of chewiness and tartness to the mix when present. It all tastes fresh, managing to rise above that dusty, stale flavor that other store-bought granolas can suffer from.

We also can't forget the fact that just half a cup of the crunchy granola equates to 20 grams of whole grains and 10 grams of protein. It's a bit high in sugar — sitting at 14 added grams — but we'll let that slide. I could see myself eating this on top of yogurt, as a cereal with a splash of ice-cold milk, or even just as its own standalone crunchy snack. Versatility really is a virtue, and the Millville granola is a master of this art.

In the morning, I'm making waffles — Breakfast Best waffles. These toaster classics rival those of the protein waffle leader, Kodiak. They share the same amount of protein, at 12 grams per serving, and a very similar ingredient list, including whole wheat flour, oil, sugar, wheat and whey protein isolate, buttermilk, and sea salt.

The aroma of vanilla drifted from the toaster as I cooked the Aldi versions. And the taste was just as satisfying. The edges became nice and crispy while the insides remained supple and squishy. Underneath the notes of buttermilk and vanilla, it was hard to even tell that extra protein was packed into the recipe. The flavor is more like a dense pound cake, and it remained enjoyable long after it had cooled. It's hard to believe that something whole wheat could taste so good — and I didn't even whip out the maple syrup.

With manageable sugar, fat, sodium, and calorie levels (just 230 for two waffles), this is an Aldi swap I can get behind. And, what do you know, it beats out the name brand in terms of price yet again.

Flavorful and functional fuel. That is how I would describe this Elevation protein bar. It looked a bit strange at first, like a cheesecake bar that had been flipped upside down with its graham cracker crust facing up. This layer of crumbs is actually meant to mimic a golden OREO taste. I don't quite get that flavor, but the dusting adds a light hint of sweet vanilla to the bar. The rest is predominantly made up of soy protein crispies and peanut butter, laced with whey protein, white confectionery, and chocolate confectionery. With a crispy texture and the rich taste of peanut butter and cream, it's like the health-conscious version of a Nutter Butter or a Girl Scout Do-si-do. In terms of nutrition, the bar stacks up well. It carries 18 grams of protein, 250 calories, just 4 grams of sugar, and 10 grams of fat (a little on the high side).

All things considered, it's a well-rounded snack bar that doesn't make you feel like you're sacrificing flavor for nutrition. Who doesn't love a protein bar that doubles as a sweet treat? A major reason this one ranks as my favorite is also its one-of-a-kind nature, breaking away from the overdone chocolate-coated crowd and the typical oat-and-nut mashups. Elevation thinks outside the box with this bar, and that's exactly why I like it.

Protein products can be hard to perfect. Their main purpose is performance, but that doesn't mean taste has to be sacrificed. So, I watched out for whey protein-heavy flavors and the gritty texture that often befalls these products. Thankfully, most of Aldi's lineup avoided these pitfalls, though some carried unsavory artificial flavors, like the Maxx bar, cardboard-like puffs, and stevia-splashed Protein20 hydration drink.

Whether a shake or bar, I wanted something I'd enjoy eating or drinking again and again. Something that masked the fact that you were consuming a protein bomb, and that would stand out even amongst standard snack foods and beverages.

Nutrition was a factor. I checked protein count first (obviously), then extras like vitamins and minerals, plus calories, sugar, sodium, and fat content. In the end, though, I was willing to trade a few extra calories or grams of sugar for great taste.