We Tried As Many Protein Powders as We Could Find — And Are Shocked at How “Delicious” the Winner Tastes
Although the mere mention of protein powder may conjure unsolicited images of gym bros working on their gains, more and more people are incorporating protein supplements into their daily diets. We aren’t experts on the subject by any means and there’s still some gray area on exactly how much protein a person should eat, so we tapped Maya Feller, a registered dietitian to help clarify some key points.
“Protein is integral to supporting muscle growth, tissue building, and tissue repair in the body. It’s often called the building block for this reason,” Maya says over email. “Generally, we need about 1 gram of protein per kilogram (or roughly 2.2 pounds) of body weight,” which most people in the United States already get from food we eat.
The Best Chocolate Protein Powders at-a-Glance
- Best Whey Chocolate Protein Powder: Muscle Milk Chocolate Genuine Protein Powder
- Runner Up: Vital Proteins Vital Performance Chocolate Protein Powder
- Honorable Mention: Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Double Rich Chocolate Protein Powder
- Best Vegan Chocolate Protein Powder: KOS Organic Chocolate Plant Protein Powder
- Runner Up: Orgain Organic Creamy Chocolate Fudge Plant Based Protein Powder
- Honorable Mention: Vega Chocolate Plant-Based Sport Protein Powder
Protein powders can help us meet their daily protein needs through supplementation, explains Maya (though consuming it in excess, like most things, “is not a case of more is better.”) So if you’re looking for a delicious one to add to your diet, that’s where our expertise comes in handy.
Surprisingly, many protein powders are available on shelves in a variety of flavors (including cinnamon roll?!). We focused exclusively on chocolate (both whey- and vegetable-based) this time around, choosing ones based on availability, popularity, and price. We also requested input from our editorial team to round out the list of 12 competitors. The brands ranged in price from $20 all the way up to $50, though most were around $30 at the time of this tasting.
Our team of nine tasters spent two long hours sipping and judging to find the one protein powder (per category) that we’d stock in our pantry from here on out. The winners stood out for their distinct creamy, chocolatey (and not grainy at all texture) flavor.
Best Whey Chocolate Protein Powder: Muscle Milk Chocolate Genuine Protein Powder
We won’t lie, tasting this many protein powders in one sitting was quite the task. We quickly learned the heavy lifting a banana does in a smoothie as we sipped on the competitors. That being said, Muscle Milk Chocolate Genuine Protein Powder was praised by nearly all of our tasters, including Kate Edler, our executive director of brand innovation & strategy, who compared it to brownie batter, noting its “dessert-like richness.”
This was a theme among our testers: Ali, our associate groceries editor, gave it a roaring five stars (and ranked it as her top pick), gushing that it “tastes like dessert!” It even reminded Mara, our senior groceries editor, of a “quality mug of hot chocolate.” With just 3 grams of sugar, this protein powder does get the majority of its sweetness from sucralose, which is a synthetic artificial sweetener and contains 32 grams of protein per serving.
What’s So Great
- Blends easily
- “Dessert-like richness”
- Sweet and creamy
Good to Know
- Contains sucralose
- 32 grams of protein per serving
Buy: Muscle Milk Chocolate Genuine Protein Powder, $22.99 (on sale!) for 30.9 ounces at Amazon
Runner-Up: Vital Proteins Vital Performance Chocolate Protein Powder
“I’d happily add some peanut butter and banana to this one and drink it every morning,” wrote Ali after her first sip. The Vital Proteins Vital Performance Chocolate Protein Powder may not have snagged the top place in our test, but our group of testers were still thoroughly impressed by it.
It “has a subtle chocolate flavor but really is more smooth than anything, which is a great quality in a protein powder, IMO,” Ali added. That smoothness is one of the best qualities of this protein powder, which “made it easy to drink,” according to Kate — especially in comparison to some others notably “pudding-like thickness.”
This protein powder contains no artificial sweeteners or sugars, which we love to see. Although it didn’t have the same dessert-like quality of Muscle Milk, we still highly recommend (and will keep drinking) it.
What’s So Great
- Smooth
- “Easy to drink”
- No artificial sweeteners or sugars
Good to Know
- 25 grams of protein per serving
Buy: Vital Proteins Vital Performance Chocolate Protein Powder, $32.99 for 27.6 ounces at Instacart
Honorable Mention: Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Double Rich Chocolate Protein Powder
We were looking for chocolate protein powders that had both great flavor and consistency. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Double Rich Chocolate Protein Powder received high marks for its smooth sippability. But despite its “double rich” name, a few tasters wanted more chocolate flavor (maybe, triple?!). It was a bit too subtle to snag either of the top two spots.
This powder contains a protein blend of whey protein isolate and hydrolyzed whey protein and is sweetened with acesulfame potassium, which is a synthetic sweetener.
What’s So Great
- Smooth
Good to Know
- 24 grams of protein per serving
- Subtle chocolate flavor
Buy: Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Double Rich Chocolate Protein Powder, $33.25 (on sale!) for 32 ounces at Amazon
Best Vegan Chocolate Protein Powder: KOS Organic Chocolate Plant Protein Powder
Turns out, our tasters like to have their cake and drink it, too. KOS Organic Chocolate Plant Protein Powder “tastes like chocolate cake mix in liquid form,” writes Brian, our director of people operations, who raved over its sweet (but not too sweet) flavor. It’s smooth all the way through with no “unpleasant aftertaste.”
Ali also marked it as her top vegan protein powder pick, writing one word: “YUM!” She actually made a note on her sheet to inquire what this one is afterwards so she could buy it in the future! It’s made with a blend of pea protein, flax seeds, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, and chia seeds, and although it’s on the pricier end, its high-quality ingredients and great taste make it well worth it (in our opinion).
What’s So Great
- Cake-like flavor
- Sweet
Good to Know
- $$$, but worth it
- 20 grams of protein per serving
Buy: KOS Organic Chocolate Plant Protein Powder, $24.99 for 13.75 ounces at Amazon
Runner-Up: Orgain Organic Creamy Chocolate Fudge Plant-Based Protein Powder
Ali, a former vegan, immediately recognized Orgain Organic Creamy Chocolate Fudge Plant-Based Protein Powder in the test. “It was one of the few vegan protein powders available at big stores, and it’s just as good as I remember.” While it wasn’t nostalgic for other testers, Kate still thoroughly enjoyed its “really good taste and texture,” especially in comparison to some that tasted chalky-like.
So where did it fall short? Well, testers like Mara found it to be very smooth, but overall lacking in the strong chocolate flavor that one may look for in a chocolate protein powder. It’s made from a plant protein blend (pea protein, brown rice protein, mung bean protein) and chia seeds, and is sweetened with organic agave.
What’s So Great
- Smooth texture
- No artificial sweeteners
Good to Know
- 21 grams of protein per serving
- Subtle chocolate flavor
Buy: Orgain Organic Creamy Chocolate Fudge Plant Based Protein Powder, $19.98 (on sale!) for 16 ounces at Instacart
Honorable Mention: Vega Chocolate Plant-Based Sport Protein Powder
Vega Chocolate Plant-Based Sport Protein Powder was a sleeper hit with our tasters, and one of Kate’s favorites overall (including the whey options!). It smelled and tasted like “sweet chocolate milk smell” despite zero traces of dairy (we mixed all the powders with oat milk) and was “easy to sip.” Though several tasters agreed on the delicious flavor, a few found the “grainy consistency” a little off putting.
This vegan protein powder contains pea protein, pumpkin seed protein, sunflower seed protein, and alfalfa seed protein. It’s also sweetened with stevia.
What’s So Great
- Tastes like chocolate milk (and is vegan)
- “Easy to sip”
Good to Know
- 30 grams of protein per serving
- Slightly grainy
Buy: Vega Chocolate Plant-Based Sport Protein Powder, $21.59 (on sale!) for 21.7 ounces at Amazon
How We Tested Chocolate Protein Powder Brands
We recruited nine staff members to randomly taste 12 different chocolate protein powders sold at grocery retailers today. Maya, our studio assistant, mixed the protein powders with oat milk according to packaged directions. She then randomly assigned one in each category a letter — from A through F — to conceal the brands’ identities.
Tasters were given small cups and encouraged to sample the protein powders in random order (to avoid giving any particular brand an advantage) before jotting down their thoughts and rankings.
Our team rated each protein powder on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = No, thanks; 2 = Meh; 3 = Pretty good; 4 = Really like; 5 = Yes, Please!) across four criteria — look, smell, texture, and flavor — and included any specific observations, tasting notes, and general opinions worth mentioning. They were also asked to answer, arguably, the most important question of all: Would you buy this protein powder?
Why You Should Trust Us
To decide which protein powders are worth buying, we recruited nine volunteer testers who work at Apartment Therapy Media (our parent company) to evaluate 12 different protein powders based on texture, look, smell, desire to repurchase, and flavor.
Tasters were unaware of the brands involved and tasted each drink randomly. Each taster independently filled out a score sheet, scoring and ranking each protein powder without larger discussion or influence from the group throughout the entirety of the test. It was only after all evaluations were completed that we tallied the scores to determine the winners.
Did your favorite chocolate protein powder brand make the list? Tell us about it in the comments below.