Last week on the blog I reviewed the Costco High Liner Sea Cuisine Ponzu Glazed Cod, Costco Cuisine Solutions Sliced Grass-Fed Beef Sirloin, Costco Helados Mexico Ice Cream Bars and the Costco Kirkland Signature Margarita Wine Cocktail.
If you like my reviews for Costco food products, the best thing is that you can follow me on Instagram or Facebook and tell your friends about my blog Costcuisine, where I review new Costco food products each week! You can also check out my YouTube channel, where I do video reviews!
I needed some protein bars for camping and decided to try these Chef Robert Irvine’s ones. They’re new to my Costco in Edmonton and I also saw them when we were in Montana at Costco.
I paid $21.99 Canadian for the box of 18 baked bars.
The bars come individually packaged and have a best-before date of about a year and five months from when I purchased them. Protein bars like this make a convenient breakfast, snack or meal replacement but real whole food is always better if you have time.
One bar has 190 calories, eight grams of fat, 14 grams of carbohydrates, one gram of fibre, three grams of sugar, eight grams of sugar alcohol, 16 grams of protein and 200 milligrams of sodium. These are low in sugar but the ingredients list isn’t great and I kind of immediately regretted buying these to try after I read it. There’s sucralose, sorbitol, malitol and sugar in them. They’re so extremely processed and it’s not even like they have that much protein, 16 grams isn’t amazing. They contain soy, almonds, milk and peanuts but are gluten-free.
These taste like a chewier version of a chocolate bar. The peanut butter flavor is most pronounced but there’s a good balance of chocolate, caramel and peanut butter. The texture of the bar is chewy, soft and a bit crunchy. They’re delicious but that’s not always a good sign when it comes to protein bars. In my past experience the tastier they are the more unhealthy they are and this is true for this particular one.
Cost: 7/10
Convenience: 10/10
Nutrition: 2.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Which protein bars do you prefer?
Wait! What? You’re from Edmonton?!
Yes I am.
It’s too bad Natalie, you didn’t like them.
Robert Irvine’s protein bars are seriously tasty. We got a bunch and shared them with friends and family all over the world. Not one person disliked them.
If you’ve done your homework, you probably know that these bars have gotten tons of great reviews for how good they taste and the top-notch ingredients they use. They’re a really good and not ridiculously expensive if you need a meal replacement. Most protein bars out there aren’t that healthy because they pack in loads of extra sugar and use not-so-great sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup. They like to use clever “earth” packaging to convince you otherwise. Those really high protein bars can up your chances of getting overweight and diabetes (from what my physician told me). Honestly, a bar with 16 grams of protein is plenty for most people. Too much can be tough on your kidneys.
And as for the sweeteners you mentioned, they’re kind of like how aspartame is needed in sodas for folks watching their carb intake.
I genuinely think these bars are the best ones out there when you want high protein and low sugar. Other options? Well, they’re often just plain gross and have that gritty texture we find awful.
I definitely thought they were tasty! Just don’t love the ingredients, that’s just my opinion though 🙂
Well, this is “Chef” Irvine’s brand. Did we forget how he was caught in a scandal more than 10 years ago? Specifically, it was revealed that he had embellished his resume.
Irvine reportedly claimed to have cooked for multiple US presidents in the White House, which he had not. His other embellishments included a claim that he was knighted by the Queen and that he was a personal friend of now King Charles. At the time, Irvine apologized for the errors in his resume and said that he had exaggerated his accomplishments in order to “keep up with the Joneses”.
As far as these protein bars go? They were really tasty in the beginning. Now, occasionally they have a industrial chemical aftertaste. This wasn’t present when they debuted a few years ago. All protein bars are processed. To emphasize one product is being hypocritical. Most of the foods et al Costco sells is heavily processed, some more and others less. But we’re living in a processed “Barbie” culture now.
Anyhow, I think these are great as a quick snack, especially if you’re a diabetic or pre-diabetic.