heybody protein snacks

Avid snacker Julie here.  I love to snack, I love to munch on things, and even moreso, I love to try products from other countries with flavors and ingredients that are a bit more novel to me.  Which led me to discover protein snacks from heybody, a Korean brand.

"Unleash Your Healthy Snacking"

These are high protein snacks, and healthy ones at that (baked not fried, etc).  The brand also makes protein balls that look like candy and high protein chocolate chip cookies ... and knee and wrists braces, and ankle and elbow support bands.  Um, yes.  The non-edible products are part of their "Hey balance!" line.  I stuck with the consumables.

Protein Chips

I honed right in on the chips.

"heybody Protein Chips are a nutritious snack option that allows you to indulge your cravings for savory and salty flavors without compromising on health. Craving a protein boost? Each serving of heybody Protein Chips delivers a whopping 12g of protein. Fuel your body with the essential building blocks it needs to support muscle growth and repair."

The protein comes from the soy protein isolate, and, to a lesser extent, rice and whole wheat flours and corn grits.  You'd think this would make the chips taste like these things, but, they don't at all.  They just taste like nice puffy rice crackers.  I was amazed I didn't taste anything healthy or protein isolate-like.

They come in 4 flavors: Onion & Sour Cream, Red Pepper & Sweet Chili, Sweet Corn & Cheddar, and Tomato & Pizza. I tried all of them.  All were remarkably flavorful.

"Baked Goodness, Crunchy Bliss: Why settle for greasy, unhealthy snacks? heybody Protein Chips are baked rather than fried, making them a healthier choice compared to traditional fried snacks. Baking helps reduce overall fat content while still providing a satisfying crunch."

Many snacks claim to be crunchy, but, wow, these really delivered.  I was blown away by just how crunchy they were.  Incredible crispiness, shocking in a baked product.  All had the same form factor of sorta puffy crackers.  They call them chips, but they are certainly more cracker like to me.

Red Pepper & Sweet Chili.

Wow!

One bite of these and I was pretty hooked.  First, the aforementioned insanely crispy texture, that just made for a very satisfying eating experience.  But then, the flavor.  So intense.  They did not shy away from the heat on these.  I was pleased that they had legit spice to them (with a bit of sweetness on the finish).

I was really surprised that they didn't taste like a high protein product.  No strange texture nor flavor, and yet ... 12 grams of protein in this snack bag?  The mix of rice and wheat flours and corn grits worked very successfully as a flavorful, hearty base that didn't taste too overly healthy either.

So, great form factor, satisfying snack, AND high protein?  Really a shockingly good product.  4/5.

Note to vegetarians, these actually contain chicken bouillon in the seasoning.

Onion & Sour Cream.

Next up, I went for the Onion & Sour Cream.  These had, um, "onion taste seasoning" and "sour cream taste seasoning" listed as the ingredients, so I can't really tell you what was in them to make them onion & sour cream adjacent (and yes, it drove me crazy that they put onion first - my brain just immediately puts them in the other order!).

Anyway, the flavor was good.  It definitely had dairy-ish taste.  And some savoriness.  Not as awesome as the previous flavor, but, still, good.  3.5/5, maybe even 4/5 as I just love the crispy form factor so much.

Corn.

Now it was time for "corn", perhaps a flavor not expected by most Americans, but one I'm pretty familiar with from Japanese snacks in particular, where corn potage is a fairly common snack flavor (e.g. these Aerial corn potage snacks I reviewed).

The chip/cracker format was pretty much exactly what I came to expect from Heybody now - super crispy, slightly hearty/healthy base. 

The ingredient list for these was just as funny as previous ones, with "buttery cheddar seasoning", "butter mixed powder", "cheddar cheese seasoning", "super sweet corn mix" as ingredients (along with cheese powder, bread crumbs, sugar, salt, and "salty enhancer".  I didn't taste any of the cheddar though, as the flavor was very distinctly corn.  Sweet corn.  Buttery sweet corn.  One you need to be in the mood for, as it was quite intense.

Overall, a nice snack when I was craving crunching on super crunchy corn chips, which isn't all that common of a craving, but, good when I wanted them, a bit overwhelming otherwise.  High 3/5, just because they aren't really an everyday flavor for me.

Tomato & Pizza.

I saved the strangest flavor for last, Tomato & Pizza.  These had tomato powder, cheddar cheese (not what I think of as pizza cheese ...), and beef seasoning.  Calling these pizza inspired seemed like a stretch given the ingredient list, but, actually, the flavor was sorta there. 

Like the other varieties, they were super flavorful, super crispy, and just an addicting joy to eat.  They were savory in a complex way that was maybe pizza if you really tried to envision it, but I mostly just got the tomato and herbs, not pizza exactly.  They were quite enjoyable, another bag gone in mere moments.  3.5/5, nearing 4/5 because I really did love eating them.