Zing Bars Review (Are they tasty? Healthy?)

If you’ve searched for plant based protein bars before – there’s a good chance you’ve come across Zing Bars!

Well, at least I have, and they sounded so good that I had to give them a try.

In this dietitian written review, I give my thoughts about 6 different flavors, and chat about nutrition.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Associate affiliate links. This means: if you click on the links and purchase, I earn a commission.

Disclaimer: This review includes the authors own personal opinions. It is not personal dietary advice. Talk to your doctor about any health/diet concerns and dietary changes. Please note that product formulations, and ingredients may change. See our disclaimers for more details.

Here’s the variety pack of Zing bars that I bought for this review:

What are Zing Bars?

I was initially intrigued by Zing Bars, because I heard they were formulated by fellow Registered Dietitians!

Zing bars is owned by Mindful Nourishment LLC, and provides a variety of plant based bars.

Their original line of bars (full size) is noted to be(1):

• plant based and vegan
• high protein
• lower in added sugar (compared to several other vegan protein bars)
• gluten free
• non-GMO project verified

Current flavors include:

• Dark Chocolate Cherry
• Dark Chocolate Mocha
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
• Oatmeal Chocoalte Chip
• Dark Chocolate Mint
• Dark Chocolate Coconut
• Dark Chocolate Hazelnut
• Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter

They also have smaller bars called ‘Zing Minis’ that are also lower in protein than their full sized bars.

Zing Bars Review

Taste

If you want to watch me reiew 6 Zing bar flavors, check out the video below (for a more in depth notes, check out my comments and flavor ratings) All my personal opinion and taste preferences of course!

• Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond: (My Taste Score- 9/10) I’m not a fan of chocolate with cherry usually, but this bar is more cherry than chocolate and I’m not mad at at all! It was actually might have been one of my favorites!
  The chocolate flavor was more subtle which I prefer when there are cherries involved (if they compete, I’m out 😅 )
  For a protein bar, I didn’t taste much ‘protein flavor,’ giving it a huge thumbs up from me in the flavor department!
  
• Dark Chocolate Mint: (My Taste Score- 6/10) The smell jumps out at you right when you open the package (very minty)! It reminded me of a chewy Andes Mint chocolate in bar form – which I enjoyed, but when I finished it, the after taste gave me more of a ‘chewing gum taste.’
  I’m not sure I like this for a protein bar… so this one gests a 6 out of 10 for a good initial experience, yet, not so great aftertaste!
  
• Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter: (My Taste Score- 9/10): This one might be tied with the cherry one for my favorite in flavor! While it had more of a ‘peanut protein powder taste’- I actually don’t mind that (it’s kind of what I expect from a protein bar).
  And, it reminded me of Reese’s (which I loved), but more hearty.
  This one was also a bit less chewy than some of the others, which gave it the biggest ‘candy bar’ mouthfeel of the bunch.
  
• Dark Chocolate Hazelnut (My Taste Score- 5/10): I was expecting a lots of hazel nut flavor in this one.
  But if you are expecting it to taste like a Ferrero Rocher this one isn’t it. Surprisingly it was giving me memories of a Snickers bar!
  So if you enjoy Snickers, you might like this flavor. I didn’t enjoy Snickers as a non vegan, and wasn’t a big fan of how chewy and stick-to-your-mouth this one was.
  Still, it gets points for not having a ‘protein powder’ after taste, which is certainly appreciated!
  
• Dark Chocolate Coconut (My Taste Score- 8/10): Smells like an dark mounds, and tastes very similar to one! A bit more chewy than I’d like for (for it tasting like a Mound bar) – but delicious nonetheless!
  
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip: (My Taste Score- 7/10) As can be expected, this one was a bit more a bit more protein powder tasting/grainy -than the chocolate covered ones!
  But I did enjoy how peanut butter flavor shine through- with just enough choc chips for my liking!

A final note that I’ll make is that, the dark chocolate covered bars were more chewy than the non chocolate covered one I tried (peanut butter chocolate chip).

Check out the difference in texture in the picture below!

Nutrition

First of all, I’ve got to give this important message about processed protein bars.

They shouldn’t be a replacement for a variety of nutrient dense protein packed plant based whole foods, like legumes.

So, this nutrition section is dedicated to comparing it to other protein bars.

Alright, let’s dive right in to the nutritionals!

Here’s a range of a few select nutrients from a single Zing bar (original) (please note, ingredients/nutritionals may change, and a range is included because nutritionals differ between flavors).

• Calories: 210 – 220
• Protein: 10 grams
• Added Sugars: 2 – 5 grams
• Saturated fat: 2 – 4 grams
• Fiber: 4 – 6 grams
• Sodium: 64 – 120 milligrams

The thing that sticks out the most to me about Zing bars (as compared to other vegan protein bars) is that they likely have less added sugar!

Too much added sugar can displace other more healthy and nutrient dense options.

So it’s worth mentioning to keep it in context of your entire eating pattern.

Here’s a comparison of the added sugar in the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter bar compared with other vegan bars you may have heard of!

FYI – I’ve tried to find similar flavors that included peanuts and chocolate for comparison. Of course, ingredients may change. Check the nutrition facts for updated information.

Another bonus for Zing bars is that all bars appear to be low sodium (< 140 milligrams of sodium per serving (2) ) at the time of this review.

Too much sodium can contribute to an increased risk of high blood pressure and associated conditions, so it’s generally recommended to be mindful of intake(3).

When added sugar is low, sometimes companies will increase the sodium to add flavor.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed most flavors despite the bars being low sodium and have less added sugar than popular competitors!

They also contain a decent amount of fiber – something many Americans don’t get enough of (4).

Now, some bars are do contain a bit of saturated fat. The bar highest in saturated fat at the time of my review was the Dark Chocolate Coconut flavor (4 grams saturated fat per serving), with the saturated content ranging from 2 – 4 grams per serving among the different varieties.

Now, there is a bit of nuance with saturated fat in that the saturated fat from from cocoa butter (stearic acid), a type of fat found in dark chocolate, might have a more of a neutral affect on bad cholesterol levels(5).

Also, much of the fat from Zing Bars appear to come from either poly or monounsaturated sources (healthier options) often from nuts.

In general healthy principles suggest keeping saturated fat low and eliminating trans fat if possible.

Ingredients

Many protein bars include dairy, but all flavors of Zing Bars are vegan at the time of this review (make sure you check the actual product packaging).

Like I mentioned before, Zing bars are likely to be lower in added sugar than many other popular brands.

It appears that they keep the sugar content low by adding a virtually calorie free sweetener from monk fruit concentrate.

All bars contain chocolate, so another thing that I personally look at is chocolate sourcing.

That’s because cocoa has a history of being sourced from areas with known slavery and child labor.

Food Empowerment Project, a vegan organization working for food justice, has actually looked into this issue and created a ‘Chocolate List’ that suggests which companies source from areas prevalent with the issues mentioned.

Luckily Zing bars is on their ‘Chocolate we feel comfortable recommending’ category (full list here) at the date of this post.

You can learn more about cocoa sourcing issues in this article.

Price

Obviously, prices will differ based on where you go and what kind of sales are going on (if any)!

I personally got Zing bars on Amazon during a sale.

At that time, a 12 count variety pack was on sale for $22.49 USD on Amazon.

At Walgreens, you might find Zing bars for $2.79 USD per bar which is quite expensive.

Here’s a comparison of prices from other bars that I’ve reviewed:

• Nugo Vegan Bars: ~$1.79 USD per bar
• Lenny and Larry Protein Bars: ~$1.99 USD per bar

So yep! Zing bars are likely to be a pricier plant based protein bar.

Would I Buy these Again?

I would! In particular, I’d really love to get the cherry flavor again if I had to pick one at this moment.

Here’s a final pros and cons list (again – just one vegan’s opinion 😉 )

Pros

• I thought most of the flavors were tasty!
• Chocolate is on Food Empowerment Projects list as recommended for not being sourced via some of largest cocoa areas with slavery.
• Lower sugar than several other vegan protein bars
• Decent amount of fiber
• Easy, convenient high protein food
• Low sodium

Cons

• Some flavors tasted a bit grainy/protein-powdery, or had a bad aftertaste.
• Expensive
• Saturated fat and added sugar is something to be mindful of in the context of your overall diet

Have you tried these bars? Which flavor was your favorite? Let me know in the comments below!
If you loved this vegan food review, make sure you check out these other articles about food and vegan stuff!
–Beyond Good Chocolate Review
–Wunder Eggs Review
–Vegan Babybel Review
–Quotes About Veganism to Come back to
–Grocery Shopping for Vegans (the 101)
Ready to jump start your vegan journey? Get access to my ‘Vegan Challenge’ for 7 days FREE by selecting the ‘free 7-day trial option’ on

Love these food reviews? Let’s be ‘pen ’email pals’ so you don’t miss another one!