Quest Nutrition Bars

Quest Nutrition is another nutrition snack foods company, focusing on high protein items.  They made protein powder, bars, protein pasta, and even, uh, protein chips and peanut butter cups.  

Protein Bars (Original Review, 2016)

I've tried only the bars, as they are an easy grab-n-go item for me when I'm dashing around on weekends.  Quest makes 3 different product lines for bars: "Cereal Protein Bars", in flavors like Waffle and Cinnamon Roll, Hero bars, with gooey fillings and sweet candy-like coatings, and more standard protein bars.

"America's Favorite Protein Bar leads the charge in Quest's mission to end metabolic disease. Every delicious Quest Bar flavor has 20-21 grams of protein and plenty of fiber without a lot of unnecessary ingredients or extra carbs. All Quest Bars are gluten and soy free, and contain no added sugar."

It is the protein bars that I tried, which is also their most extensive product line, with more than 20 varieties, many of which sound rather awesome (e.g. Strawberry Cheesecake, Cinnamon Roll, PB & J, Mint Chocolate Chunk).

The protein bars are high protein, 20+ grams per bar, made from a protein blend of milk protein isolate and whey protein isolate, along with soluble corn fiber, almonds, and, some chemicals.  They are virtual no sugar, using artificial sweetener only.  Sounds promising, nutritionally, in some ways.

I tried several flavors, and, I have to admit, my reaction was a bit unexpected.  The texture is all wrong, but, they don't taste that bad.  I stopped after trying only 3 varieties however because whey protein isolate bothers my stomach, and, these made me feel awful almost immediately.  If you can tolerate whey protein isolate though, I do recommend, for taste and yummy chunks inside!

S'mores Protein Bar.

"Toasty-sweet marshmallow, rich chocolate and crisp graham cracker layered together in this melt-in-your-mouth, campfire classic. "

This one looked ... promising.  I could indeed see large chunks of chocolate.  I could indeed see areas of graham cracker.  It didn't look THAT fake.

And, at first bite, it wasn't awful either.  It was kind of a strange texture, but I loved the big chunk of chocolate.  And then ... the aftertaste hit.  Wow, it was horrible.  I don't know what it was, if it was the "protein blend" or all the artificial sweeteners.  Whatever it was, it was truly awful.  I actually spit it out.  I couldn't handle it, nor could I handle taking a second bite to give it another chance.  Zero stars?

Cookies & Cream.

"With real cookie crumbles and delicious cream, America’s favorite flavor can now be your favorite Quest Bar! "

So, I tried another, the promising sounding Cookies & Cream.

And, like the S'mores, it was actually almost good.  The texture was odd, but it had huge chunks of chocolate cookie and cream in it, both of which were actually good.  This was much better than the S'mores.

Except, well, it had the strange protein blend in it, which immediately made my stomach feel really funny.

I need to stop trying these bars! **.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

"Our best-selling bar is like sneaking a spoonful of cookie dough straight from the bowl."

I don't listen to my own advice.  Particularly when I discover cookie dough bars.

It was like every other bar.  The texture is strange, the taste is strange, but, the chocolate chunks and slightly cookie dough nature of it are good.  And it makes my stomach feel strange.  **.

Protein Chips (2023 Review)

Quest makes two styles of protein chips, either tortilla chips or "original style".  The tortilla chips look much like regular tortilla chips, triangle shaped, and they come in a bunch of zesty varieties (nacho cheese, chile lime, ranch, spicy sweet chili, loaded taco).  The original style aren't really standard potato chips, but rather, they seem to be baked, hexagon shaped, and look much like Popchips.  They come in more standard potato chip flavors such as sour cream & onion, cheddar & sour cream, or bbq.  All use their protein blend (whey and milk protein isolates), and boast a fairly impressive load of protein (19g per bag or so).

I tried only one kind of tortilla style chips, but I'd gladly try more.  Which, is very odd for me to say.

Loaded Taco.

"Say hola to the Quest Loaded Taco Tortilla Style Protein Chips! Each crunchy chip is seasoned with loaded taco flavor and ready to feed your taco cravings whenever they hit. Keto-friendly."

Things I don't generally like: tortilla chips.  Tacos.  Most Mexican food.  Healthy strange protein items.  And yet ...  I both tried, and liked, these taco flavored protein tortilla chips?  Um, yes.

I kinda liked them.  Yes, they tasted quite a bit like Doritos, which I generally do not like (although not as heavy in the tomato department).  Mostly zesty, slightly cheesy, tortilla chips.  They had a good crunch and completely normal tortilla chip texture.  Very savory.  They had a slightly odd aftertaste, but, there was so much spicing that it was easy to overlook.  I didn't hate them.  They went remarkably well with salads with tomatoes and/or corn, and great with Mexican style chipotle like creamy dressings.  

I easily finished my bag.  While I wouldn't seek them out again, they really weren't bad, and the protein stats are quite compelling (and, somehow, the protein isolates in this form didn't bother my stomach the way it does in bars).  I'd like to try more flavors.  ***.