The best protein shakes for an effortless boost

Kate Farms

Editor’s note, August 11, 2022: Kate Farms’ company, Lyons Magnus, has voluntarily recalled some of its pediatric, standard and nutritional drinks. See the recall details.

Kate Farms uses organic yellow pea protein in their plant-based smoothies that are free of gluten, soy, dairy and artificial sweeteners. I loved how creamy and delicious these protein shakes were. They are higher in calories (330 calories), which is not a problem since it is considered a meal replacement drink, not just a protein shake. This product almost made the best list, but it fell in an important area: it has only 16 grams of protein per serving compared to other vegetable brands, which have at least 20 grams of protein. If Kate Farms reformulated their formula to include 20 grams or more of protein, it would have easily made the list better.

Orgain organic nutrition shake

I’m familiar with Orgain’s plant protein powders because I’ve had them in the past. I had never tried their shakes before, and I fell for them. I really wanted to like them, but they had an aftertaste that their powders normally don’t have, and even the creamy chocolate fudge flavor (which I usually like) didn’t taste the same to me. If it were me, I’d stick to Orgain in powder form and mix it with my non-dairy milk of choice as usual.

Iconic lifestyle protein drink

This milk based protein shake was not a hit for me because I couldn’t get past the artificial taste. I often like vanilla flavors, but I wasn’t a fan of this vanilla protein version. The chocolate flavor was slightly better, but ultimately the mixture of sweeteners was not suitable for me.