Having a tub of good-quality protein powder in your pantry can be a blessing for busy lifestyles. But what are the best vegan protein powders? Let’s back up a second…
Protein is an essential nutrient, used in the body for everything from hair growth to muscle recovery. As such, everybody needs it, regardless of your lifestyle.
The good news is that you can get all the protein you need on a plant-based diet – woohoo! We highlight this in our guide to where vegans get their protein.
In addition to eating whole foods like beans, tofu, and chickpeas, protein powders are a popular method for hitting your daily protein goals. They provide the fast protein you need for building muscle, sports recovery, and weight loss. They are also convenient, tasty, and easy to digest.
So, which are the best vegan protein powders? Read on to find out!
Table of contents
Vega
Vega is a longstanding vegan protein brand, co-founded by vegan triathlete Brendan Brazier in 2001. More than 20 years later, Vega remains one of the most respected protein brands on the market, with a wide range to suit every need.
The brand has an assortment of vegan protein powders for daily nutrition, including Protein Made Simple, which uses just five ingredients for a clean no-nonsense shake that delivers 15g of protein per serving.
For athletes and sports recovery, Vega Sport is very popular. It blends pea, pumpkin seed, sunflower seed, and alfalfa proteins for a total of 30g of protein per serving.
With 5g of BCAAs and 5g of glutamic acid – and tart cherry and turmeric for recovery – this is a great addition to any gym bag!
It comes in lots of flavor options, like Vanilla, Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Berry, and Mocha! Take your pick.
Garden of Life
As one of the world’s leading suppliers of plant-based supplements, Garden of Life should need no introduction to vegans. Of course, the brand naturally offers a solid range of vegan protein powders worth checking out.
For daily nutrition, the Raw Organic Protein is hard to beat. This powder offers 22g of organic protein per serving, made from peas and raw sprouted seeds. Each serving also includes live probiotics and digestive enzymes for gut support.
It comes in several flavors, including Vanilla, Chocolate, Vanilla Chai, and Unflavored.
For muscle-building and recovery, Garden of Life’s Sport is very appealing. This one includes a similar blend of raw organic protein, with 30g of protein and 5.5g of BCAAs per serving. In addition, it also features organic tart cherry and turmeric recovery-boosters.
Naked Nutrition
We like a protein with added boosters, such as fruits, vitamins, minerals, and recovery aids. But we also appreciate clean one-ingredient vegan protein powders, such as the range from Naked Nutrition.
For example, Naked Pea is 100% pea protein isolate made entirely from raw yellow peas from North American farms (27g of protein per serving).
It is refreshing to see nothing else in the mix, although you may need to blend it into a smoothie or add your own flavorings to make it more drinkable.
The brand also offers other choices, such as Naked Seed and Naked Rice – a similar concept for both, using a combination of chia, watermelon, sunflower, and pumpkin seed protein for Naked Seed (20g of protein per serving), and 100% organic sprouted brown rice for Naked Rice (25g of protein per serving).
Sunwarrior
Sunwarrior is another highly respected protein brand that’s been around since 2008, with a mission to change the face of plant-based proteins.
The brand offers a range of protein powders including Classic and Classic Plus, although its high-performance Warrior Blend is one of the most popular.
This powder includes a blend of raw organic pea and hemp proteins to deliver 27g of protein per serving. Organic goji berries, MCTs and electrolytes complement the blend by adding extra support.
Plus, it comes in a few different flavors, including Chocolate, Vanilla, Berry, Mocha, and Unflavored.
For daily nutrition with a boost, the brand’s Clean Greens & Protein is also worth checking out.
This tub offers 17g of protein per serving, with a vegetable blend including broccoli sprouts, tomato, carrot, spinach, and kale. Alongside the fruit and cocoa powders, this veggie blend tastes great!
Oh, and if you happen to be on the hunt for a vegan collagen boost, check out their Collagen Building Protein Peptides.
KOS
Named after the Greek island of which Hippocrates was an inhabitant, KOS is a brand inspired by the ‘simplicity and purity of the Hippocratic approach to health’.
Brand stories aside, KOS offers a solid range of organic protein powders worth getting excited about.
This is because it puts an emphasis on making great flavors, resulting in some of the best-tasting vegan protein powders around.
Try the award-winning Blueberry Muffin flavor, packing a blend of five proteins for a total of 20g protein per serving. It also includes an immunity support blend, with blue spirulina, adaptogens, ginger, and elderberry.
If you’re not into blueberry muffins, try one of their many other flavors: Chocolate, Vanilla, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip Mint, Salted Caramel Coffee, or Unflavored & Unsweetened!
PlantFusion
PlantFusion is an innovative brand with some interesting vegan protein powders. One of these is their Complete Protein, which is available in Red Velvet Cake flavor and Cookies & Cream flavor among others (yes, these are what initially caught our eye!).
This powder delivers 21g of protein per serving, with a unique mix of protein sources and an amino acid-infused blend that compares to whey protein (seen as the one to beat in the protein world). However, it remains entirely vegan.
The brand has other offerings, such as Inspire for Women. This powder has been optimized for women, with plant extracts that can balance stress and hormones, as well as extracts to boost energy and metabolism.
Earth Chimp
Earth Chimp was founded in Dublin, Ireland by a husband and wife duo who made it their mission to create quality nutrition to fuel their busy lives.
They were struggling to find a plant-based protein that helped them stay lean and healthy while also juggling the demands of their careers and family. Sound familiar?
The result? Earth Chimp… a protein that’s clean and simple. No nasties! No added sugar or salt, no added erythritol, no dairy, no soy, no gluten, no gums, non-GMO.
Each serving provides 20g vegan protein, as well as organic Fruits, Baobab, Flax, Turmeric & Cinnamon. Not to mention, each serving also contains 1 billion probiotics, digestive Enzymes and 4g of fiber. Yay!
They offer several flavors, including Chocolate, Vanilla, and Plain & Unsweetened.
Orgain
Orgain is a very highly-rated vegan protein powder brand with an emphasis on health and simplicity; created by Dr. Andrew Abraham, an integrative medicine specialist and cancer survivor.
Orgain’s classic Organic Protein does what it says on the tub. It delivers 21g of USDA-certified organic protein per serving, from pea, brown rice, and chia seeds. Each serving also provides 6g of prebiotics and fiber, with no sugar.
Plus, it even comes in flavors like Iced Coffee!
For athletes and muscle building, Orgain also has a Sport Protein, which amps up the protein content to 30g per serving, with 5g of BCAAs and just 1g of sugar. They also slip some organic turmeric and ginger powders in there to help support recovery.
Four Sigmatic
Four Sigmatic is an innovative Finish-American brand that makes crash-free coffee using superfoods like mushrooms. Turns out they make a pretty mean vegan protein powder too!
Like their coffee, their Plant-Based Protein Powder is packed with superfoods that boost immunity and support stress. Each scoop provides 1,000mg of functional mushrooms (like chaga extract, reishi extract, and cordyceps extract) and 500mg of adaptogens such as ashwagandha.
Every low-carb serving includes 18g of protein from a blend including pea, hemp, and chia. It’s also sweetened with ingredients like organic maple syrup powder and monk fruit, instead of sugar or stevia.
Aside from the Unflavored option, you can get this plant-based protein powder in a Sweet Vanilla flavor or a Peanut Butter flavor. YUM!
Ora
Another plant-based wellness brand we love is Ora. In particular, their So Lean & So Clean vegan protein powder ticks the boxes for us.
Living up to its name, So Lean & So Clean is a no-sugar, organic, plant-based protein powder with 21g of protein per serving, with a good amino acid profile and only 4g carbs. It’s also heavy-metals tested, making it great for moms!
We also like some of the supportive ingredients, such as digestive enzymes to help the body break down proteins and fats, as well as more than 20 organic superfoods. These include turmeric, broccoli, kale, and acerola extract for all round support.
You can get this protein in either Unflavored, Vanilla, Chocolate, and Vanilla Chai flavors!
Amazing Grass
Amazing Grass really is amazing! This company specializes in both protein and greens, with all their cereal grasses grown, harvested and dehydrated on their certified-organic family farm in Kansas.
In terms of protein, we recommend their Protein Superfood range, available in multiple flavors (like Vanilla, Rich Chocolate, and Chocolate Peanut Butter). Each serving packs in 20g of complete protein, coming from a mix of organic pea, quinoa, hemp, and chia proteins.
Additionally, every serving contains nine alkalizing greens and nine fruits and vegetables, including organic grasses, organic pineapple, organic sweet potato, and organic goji.
They also do a Protein and Kale powder, which provides a full serving of dark leafy greens in each scoop! It doesn’t get much easier than this.
Oh, and if you’re looking for a vegan collagen boost, you’ll definitely want to check out their Glow Protein!
Nutiva Hemp Protein
Quality is the focus of Nutiva products, and can certainly be found in their Organic Hemp Seed Protein powder. Each serving provides 15g of raw organic hemp protein with all nine essential amino acids, as well as 6g of fiber and 2g of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.
This hemp protein is organic and clean – in other words, it’s not processed with dangerous chemicals or heat. The result is a very respectable, simple protein that is great blended into smoothies. Plus, it comes in environmentally conscious packaging! Bonus points!
You can also try it in Vanilla flavor.
Nutiva also sells an Organic Plant Protein mixed with other protein bases (like pea protein, sunflower protein, and pumpkin protein). These offer 23g of protein per serving, and are loaded with 1 billion CFU probiotics per serving! If this is sounds up your alley, try their Vanilla Plant Protein or their Chocolate Plant Protein.
As you can see, there are some incredible vegan protein powders on the market, all ready to give you a healthier and more convenient life!
This list is certainly a good reflection of the best, but which one is your favorite?