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A meal replacement bar is a great substitute for any meal. It provides your body with the equivalent nutrients of a complete meal.
You can eat it if you’re too busy to prepare food or don’t have the time to shop for ingredients or stop by a restaurant. Since it’s portable, you can eat it anywhere.
Whether you’re vegan, have a food intolerance, are someone who wants to lose weight, or simply want a quick way to eat—there’s a meal bar for you.
However, just because it’s “nutritious” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthy.
Our in-house expert, Dr. Rizza Mira, weighs in on the matter:
“Relying on these meal replacement bars as your sole meal for a long time can also have deleterious effects on health. There is no substitute for eating a well-balanced nutritious meal.”
Many meal replacement bars are full of sugar and ingredients that you either can’t eat or won’t eat. So we rounded up some of the best meal replacement bars to fit your lifestyle.
KnowYourDNA is dedicated to providing readers with reliable information on products that help them achieve their health goals.
We pick products based on:
Our in-house medical experts ensure the accuracy of our information.
| Best Meal Replacement Bars | Calories per serving | Proteins (g) | Carbohydrates (g) | Fats (g) | Fiber (g) | Sugar (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Joy Plenny Bar v2.0 | 400 | 20 | 38 to 42 | 15 to 18 | 6 to 7.9 | 1 |
| Soylent Squared | 100 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| SlimFast Meal Bar | 180 | 15 | 24 | 10 | 13 | 1 |
| KaChava Chocolate Meal Bear | 200 | 11 | 19 | 13 | 13 | 2 |
| Huel Bar v3.1 | 200 | 12 | 23 | 8 | 5 | 8 |
| Nutritional Information | Jimmy Joy Plenny Bar v2.0 |
|---|---|
| Calories per serving | 400 calories |
| Protein | 20 grams |
| Carbohydrates | 38 to 42 grams |
| Fats | 15 to 18 grams |
| Fiber | 6 to 7.9 grams |
| Sugar | 1 gram |
Jimmy Joy’s Plenny Bar has enough calories to replace a 400-calorie meal.
It provides the “right amount” of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and essential nutrients as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).1
What we like most about this meal bar are its heart-healthy ingredients. Each serving contains up to 15.3 grams of healthy unsaturated fats.1
It also has phytonutrients and omega fatty acids, which can prevent heart disease and lower your risk for certain cancers.1,2,3
“These phytonutrients are a good source of antioxidants. They protect the heart, brain, and liver from damage,” says Dr. Mira.
Read our full review of Jimmy Joy meal bar.
| Nutritional Information | Soylent Squared Meal Bars |
|---|---|
| Calories per serving | 100 calories |
| Protein | 6 grams |
| Carbohydrates | 10 grams |
| Fats | 5 grams |
| Fiber | 2 grams |
| Sugar | 1 gram |
If you’re after a quick snack rather than a complete meal, you should give Soylent a try. Each bar contains half the amount of calories of a typical 200-calorie snack.
The low-calorie meal bar gives you better control of your calorie consumption. You can easily pair it with a calorie-restricted diet.
Unlike most meal replacement bars on our list, it doesn’t contain milk. Its dairy-free formula makes it great for people who are lactose-intolerant.
Read our full review of Soylent Bar here.
| Nutritional Information | SlimFast Meal Bars | SlimFast Intermittent Fasting Complete Meal Bars | SlimFast Keto Fat Bomb Meal Bars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories per serving | 180 calories | 180 to 190 calories | 180 to 200 calories |
| Protein | 15 grams | 15 grams | 7 to 9 grams |
| Carbohydrates | 24 grams | 20 grams | 15 to 21 grams |
| Fats | 10 grams | 8 to 9 grams | 12 to 16 grams |
| Fiber | 13 grams | 10 grams | 9 to 13 grams |
| Sugar | 1 gram | 1 to 2 grams | 1 to 3 grams |
SlimFast is our favorite meal bar for weight loss, mainly because it’s designed for some popular weight loss diets—like intermittent fasting and the ketogenic diet.
It provides 180 to 200 calories and up to 100 percent of your daily recommended intake for 20+ nutrients. It’s rich in dietary fiber, which can reduce your appetite.4
When paired with a calorie-restricted diet, SlimFast can decrease your daily caloric intake without depriving you of nutrients.
Read our full review of SlimFast meal bars.
| Nutritional Information | KaChava Chocolate Bar |
|---|---|
| Calories per serving | 200 |
| Protein | 11 grams |
| Carbohydrates | 19 grams |
| Fats | 13 grams |
| Fiber | 13 grams |
| Sugar | 2 grams |
KaChava Meal Bars are compatible with many diet restrictions. It’s a good option if you’re vegan or have a food intolerance to gluten or soy.
KaChava is also keto-friendly and the only meal bar on our list that uses real food for its ingredients—sans the artificial stuff.
Read our full review of KaChava Bar.
| Nutritional Information | Huel Bar v3.1 | Huel Complete Protein Bar |
|---|---|---|
| Calories per serving | 200 calories | 200 calories |
| Protein | 12 grams | 18 to 20 grams |
| Carbohydrates | 23 grams | 16 to 18 grams |
| Fats | 8 grams | 7 to 9 grams |
| Fiber | 5 grams | 5 to 6 grams |
| Sugar | 8 grams | 1 to 2 grams |
Huel Bars are some of the most nutritionally complete, providing up to 58 percent of the daily recommended intake for 27 vitamins and minerals.
Like Jimmy Joy, each serving contains healthy fats like omega fatty acids.
You can choose between the more balanced Huel Bar or the high-protein Huel Complete Protein Bar.
Read our full review of Huel Bars.
It depends. For example, if you intend to replace meals because you’re traveling or too busy to prepare food, you should only eat them occasionally.
In this case, you should strive to eat more whole foods with a balance of proteins, carbs, fats, and essential nutrients.
But if you’re replacing meals to lose weight, you can eat a meal bar once or twice a day and pair it with a calorie-restricted diet to reduce your calorie intake.
It’s important that you talk to a doctor before you replace meals with nutrition bars. They can determine your needs based on your current health and lifestyle.
You also have to note that some replacement bars do not work for everyone or are even harmful to those with underlying conditions like Diabetes Mellitus, so always consult your doctor.
Yes. You can eat a protein bar to replace a meal. But if you want to ensure that you maintain a balanced diet, you have to be discerning about your diet choices.
“Eating only these meal replacement bars as a sole source of macro and micronutrients for a long time can pose more harm than good,” says Dr. Mira.
Protein bars are rich in protein. Studies show that protein effectively reduces appetite and helps reduce the amount of food you eat.5
However, most protein bars don’t provide enough dietary fiber. You’ll have to get your fiber from whole food sources, like fruits and vegetables.
Alternatively, you can opt for high-protein bars made with plant-based ingredients, such as pea protein and brown rice protein, so you’ll get more fiber.
Yes and no. Whole foods are generally more satisfying than beverages.6 So it’s possible that you will feel more full with a meal bar than with a meal shake.
Consuming whole foods as snacks also provides better appetite control.6 In theory, this means that if you drink a meal shake for a snack, you’re more likely to eat sooner than if you had a meal bar.
That said, the best meal replacement shakes can provide the same nutrition as meal bars. At the end of the day, it all boils down to your preference.
People have their own reasons for wanting to replace an actual meal. So our team looked for meal bars that would meet different needs, namely:
We asked our nutrition expert, Dr. Rizza Mira, what she believed were good criteria for choosing a healthy meal replacement bar. Then we compared products based on these criteria:
Keep in mind that there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all meal bar.
“Choose a meal replacement bar with the right amount of protein and fiber. It should also supply about ⅓ of your daily needs for vitamins and minerals. You can pair this with another healthy snack like yogurt or low-fat milk,” says Dr. Mira.
While some products are bound to have better quality ingredients, it all boils down to choosing the best meal bar that’s tailored to your needs.
While each person has different nutritional needs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates the daily caloric intake for Americans should be:7
If you snack twice a day and stick to the recommended 150 to 250 calorie limit7 per snack, it leaves you 1,100 to 2,100 calories (if you’re a woman) and 1,500 to 2,700 calories (if you’re a man)—which you can divide into three meals.
“This requirement is true for those who have a sedentary lifestyle. If you exercise, this calorie limit also increases,” says Dr. Mira.
This means a nutrition bar needs at least 360 calories to replace a meal. For weight loss, the European Union (EU) recommends 200 to 250-calorie products.8
A balanced meal consists of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
The number of calories you consume each day and with every meal are divided across these macronutrients, depending on your health goals.
For most active adults, the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) recommends a macronutrient distribution of:9
We used this as a guide for choosing the best meal bars for replacing full meals. But when it came to weight loss, we held products to a different standard.
According to the EU, meal replacements intended for weight loss should have 25 to 50 percent protein and no more than 30 percent fat.8
So if a meal bar contains 360 calories per serving, it should have 22.5 to 45 grams of protein and no more than 108 grams of fat.
Research shows that a high-protein meal can suppress appetite and increase satiety or the feeling of fullness. This can help decrease your food intake, leading to weight loss.10
Protein also moves slowly along the intestines, adding to this feeling of fullness. While fat isn’t as effective at reducing hunger, it has satiating effects.10
Fiber is important to any healthy diet. Unfortunately, more than 90 to 97 percent of Americans do not meet their daily fiber requirements.11
Men and women require 25 to 38 grams of fiber per day.12 Alternative sources of fiber (like meal bars) can contribute to your daily intake.12
“A meal replacement bar should contain at least 3g of fiber per serving. Fiber adds to the feeling of fullness,” says Dr. Mira.
A healthy meal will have macronutrients, such as essential vitamins and minerals. It shouldn’t be any different for a bar that replaces meals.
EU regulations state that meal replacements designed for weight reduction should provide 30 percent of the daily values for 12 vitamins and 10 minerals:8
| Vitamins | Minerals |
|---|---|
| Vitamin A | |
| Vitamin C | Calcium |
| Vitamin D | Copper |
| Vitamin E | Iodine |
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) | Iron |
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | Magnesium |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | Manganese |
| Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) | Phosphorus |
| Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) | Selenium |
| Vitamin B7 (Biotin) | Sodium |
| Vitamin B9 (Folate) | Zinc |
| Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) |
This helps prevent nutrient deficiencies, which can happen if you’re constantly substituting whole foods with meal replacement products.
Meal replacements may have more or less of the nutrients in this list. In general, you want a product that provides the most nutrients per serving. At least 33% of your daily requirement should be supplied by these meal replacement bars.
If there are certain foods that you can’t or won’t eat, you should carefully review the ingredients of a meal replacement bar before committing.
Make sure that a meal bar only includes ingredients that are compatible with your dietary restrictions.
For example, a lactose-intolerant person may want a dairy-free bar. Someone who follows a vegan diet will want a vegan option, and so on.
Many bars are loaded with sugar and sodium. This can put you at risk for diabetes, hypertension, and other health conditions.
Eating too much sugar isn’t good for weight loss, too. After the initial rise in blood glucose (sugar spike), your blood sugar levels will eventually crash.
A sugar crash can leave you hungry and cause you to eat more food.13 It increases your calorie intake, which is the opposite of what you need to lose weight.
“A meal replacement bar should ideally contain less than 10 grams of sugar,” says Dr. Mira.
If you don’t take the time to read the nutrition labels, you may also find yourself eating meal bars that contain too many saturated fats.
Unfortunately, diets rich in saturated fats may lead to weight gain.14
We found that the best meal replacement bars contain healthy fats and have little to no added sugars. Amino acids also improve their nutritional quality.
