Women's Health may earn commission from the links on this page, but we only feature products we believe in. Why Trust Us?
19 Delicious Keto-Friendly Protein Bars That Will Keep You Full For Hours
You can buy or DIY your own!
Snacking is arguably one of the biggest challenges when it comes to sticking with the keto diet. Your usual options like granola bars are out since they are typically packed with carbs, a big no-no in this low-carb lifestyle. Sure, you can make your own, but having to do that every week is kind of a bummer. Before you think you're doomed to spending all your free time in the kitchen, know that there are keto protein bars out there you can buy online. And there are some recipes that are so easy to make. You just need to know what to look out for and how to choose the best ones that won't break your diet.
Here are 19 picks for the best keto-friendly bars out there from a nutritionist. This is a mix of homemade and store-bought options, so you can get domestic AF sometimes and just throw a packaged bar in your bag on lazier days.
Meet the expert: Lauren O'Connor, RD, focuses on helping her clients build healthy lifestyle centered around nutrition, mindfulness, and exercise. She's an active member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Food and Culinary Professionals dietetic practice group.
These are the OG keto bars. They were designed specifically for those who don't want to mess around with snacks that just sorta come close to the right ratios. They're packed with the exact amount of fat and protein you want while having three grams or fewer of net carbs. They come in two flavors: chocolate peanut butter and chocolate coconut.
If you're craving a protein bar that feels more like dessert, here's your best pick. Perfect Keto bars come in tasty flavors like almond butter brownie, birthday cake, cinnamon roll, and chocolate chip cookie dough, while keeping carbs and sugar low. Each bar has no added sugar and only three grams of net carbs.
In the world of protein, collagen is the new kid on the block. The powder, made from the skin, muscles, bones, and connective tissue of animals (usually cows or chickens), is high in protein and virtually tasteless. These collagen bars in particular come in seven sweet flavors, including café latte, vanilla shortbread, mint chocolate, lemon cookie, and cookie dough—all of which keep carbs to a minimum.
Each of these bars is free of preservatives. The bars are also made with organic ingredients and grass-fed beef, and basically check off every diet box you can think of. Not only are the bars keto-friendly, but they're also gluten-free, lactose-free, and soy-free.
Technically this is a keto protein bar, but if it wasn't for its packaging, you wouldn't know. These refrigerated keto bar taste like a decadent dessert. There are so many yummy flavors like chocolate chip cookie dough, white chocolate macadamia cookie dough, chocolate cookie dough, and peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough. That's a whole lot of (tasty) dough.
If you're looking for a plant-based bar, this one's it. Dang bars are only made with vegan ingredients and pack just four to five grams of carbs and 14 to 15 grams of fat, making these keto-compliant.
The refrigerated bars are made with ingredients so fresh that they claim you may even be able to identify the individual nuts and seeds in every bar. Get it in flavors like lemon matcha and cardamom chai.
Krave Bar Wild Blueberry Barbecue Seasoned Beef With Fruit And Quinoa
Krave Bar Wild Blueberry Barbecue Seasoned Beef With Fruit And Quinoa
Krave bars combine natural beef, turkey, or pork jerky with dried fruit and quinoa for a sweet-salty-spicy snack. These have a few more carbs (nine to 12 grams per bar), but they're from healthy fruit and quinoa, which is a plus, says Lauren O'Connor, RD, the owner of Nutri Savvy Health. Flavors include wild blueberry beef, chipotle cherry beef, cranberry thyme turkey, and mango jalapeño pork.
Epic Provisions Chicken, Sesame & BBQ Bar
Epic is known for its low-carb and keto-friendly snacks made from the highest-quality ingredients and whole foods. They do not cut corners when it comes to taste or nutrition, making the bars from pasture-raised, hormone-free meats, along with wholesome vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and spices. They boast two grams or less of carbs in most bars, which come in 11 exotic flavors including chicken sesame BBQ, smoked salmon maple, and wild boar bacon.
Atlas Protein Bar Chocolate Cacao Protein Bar
Atlas Protein Bar Chocolate Cacao Protein Bar
Atlas bars bill themselves as the "cleanest protein bar on the planet" thanks to the grass-fed whey protein they use and them being GMO-, gluten-, and preservative-free. These bars are low in sugar and high in fiber to keep things moving in the bathroom (hey, no shame, it's a common problem with keto!). They come in three flavors: chocolate cacao, vanilla almond, and peanut butter.
High in fat (14 grams!) and low in net carbs (three grams!), these SlimFast bad boys—also available in triple chocolate—are definitely keto-approved. And thanks to ingredients like MCTs, sunflower butter, and almond butter, the bars boast a variety of healthy fats, per O'Connor.
Head's up, though: Compared to other bites in this category, SlimFast bars have a bit of complicated ingredient list with less real, whole foods. A good example? The added isomalto-oligosaccharides, which have a high glycemic index that can spike and drop blood sugar quickly.
No-Bake Peanut Butter Protein Bars
These peanut-butter chocolate bars are legendary in the keto community, thanks to their decadent texture and flavor. If you're just looking to keep carbs low, follow the recipe as written. If you're doing strict keto, the recipe offers several modifications, including using liquid monk fruit as the sweetener and buying a sugar-free keto chocolate. The best part? These have only five ingredients and no baking required.
Per serving: 139 calories, 10 g fat, 6 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 9 g protein
Low-Carb Protein Bars
In order to keep carbs to a minimum, lots of keto-friendly creations call upon sugar alcohols to help boost the flavor. Unfortunately, however, these sweeteners can cause bloating and gut troubles, especially if you have a sensitive tum, says Beth Warren, RDN, the author of Secrets of a Kosher Girl and founder of Beth Warren Nutrition. These are your best bet for steering clear of any unnecessary bathroom situations.
These chewy bites, which call upon the natural and gut-friendly sweetener, monk fruit extract. And thanks to a mix of ingredients including unsweetened coconut flakes, almonds, pecans, and sunflower seeds, these high-fat energy bars are full of fun textures and flavors.
Per serving: 310 calories, 28 g fat, 9 g carbs, 7 g protein
Coconut Cashew Energy Bars
Pumpkin-spice protein and coconut cream combine with crunchy nuts to make a tasty keto protein bar that will satisfy your every craving. You can whip this one up in under five minutes and it needs no cooking. The recipe even includes variations to customize it to fit your exact macro goals.
Homemade Coconut Chocolate Keto Bars
Coconut and chocolate are a perfect pairing in this recipe. Real, whole coconut meat, butter, and whole cream give this bar its creamy texture. Then it's dipped in baker's chocolate and sweetened with erythritol and stevia to keep the carbs under three grams.
Per serving: 278 calories, 23 g fat, 9.8 g carbs, 6.7 g fiber, 7.5 g protein.
Low-Carb Lemon Keto Bars
If you're a strict keto follower, chances are you're really starting to miss fruit. Indulge in the taste of sweet lemon without the high-carb sugar with this recipe from I Breathe, I'm Hungry. The lemon provides vitamin C and the almond flour provides some fiber and vitamin E, all important nutrients for keto dieters, O'Connor says. Plus, these keto protein bars pack 19 grams of fat, thanks to egg yolks and butter.
Per serving: 193 calories, 19 g fat, 2 g carbs, 4 g protein
Keto Seven-Layer Bars
Remember those decadent seven-layer magic cookie bars your mom used to make when you were a kid? Relive that joy without the guilt with this recipe. Every aspect of this classic has been reworked to make it keto-friendly, from the almond-flour crust, to the "caramel" sauce, to the chocolate-coconut toppings. They take a little time to put together, but it's worth the effort.
Chocolate Chip Sugar-Free Paleo Protein Bars
The secret to these magical keto protein bars, is in Ancient Nutrition's vanilla bone broth powder, mixed with coconut oil and nut butter. Sprinkle in a handful of keto chocolate chips if you want to really nail that craving.
Low-Carb Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Protein Bars
All it takes to make these fall-flavored eats? Five minutes. I repeat: five minutes. Although practically sugar-free, thanks to primo ingredients like keto-friendly Stevia, these pumpkin bars taste so so sweet it's easy to forget that they're not actually candy. They're also packed with nearly five grams of fiber and seven grams of protein, helping you stay satisfied and say no to all those non-keto Halloween treats.
Per serving: 89.1 calories, 2.7 g fat, 10.6 g carbs (5.7 g net carbs), 7.1 g protein
Matcha Keto Low Carb Protein Balls
Okay, so, they're less of a bar and more of a, well, ball, but these high-fat treats still totally "fit the keto-friendly bill," O'Connor says. Plus, they're packed with protein from collagen and energy-boosting caffeine from matcha, making them a perfect snack to pop into your mouth pre or post workout.
Per serving: 116 calories, 9 g fat, 3 g carbs (2 g net carbs), 5 g protein
How to Choose A Keto-Friendly Protein Bar
The keto diet is all about counting your macronutrients—a.k.a. how many grams of carbs, fat, and protein you eat on the reg. In order for a protein bar to be keto-friendly, it has to be low in carbohydrates and high in fats—specifically, any product or recipe macro make-up should be 60 to 75 percent fat, 15 to 20 percent protein, and 10 percent or less of carbs, says O'Connor. "That being said, as long as your low-carb bar has quality, whole ingredients and plenty of healthy fats, the numbers don't have to be exact."
While the numbers don't have to be perfect, the closer a bar is to that ratio, the better, as this will help you meet your daily macro needs. So, sticking to O'Connor's recommended ratio will help you choose protein bars that best support all this macro counting or, simply, the diet.
Another priority when picking a keto protein bar? Whole-food ingredients, O'Connor says. This means looking for bars that prioritize healthy fats and whole proteins over powders and supplemented vitamins. Steer clear of preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and processed fats.
Look for ingredients like medium-chain triglycerides, or MCT, oils (a type of healthy fat), extra-virgin olive oil, cold-pressed coconut oil, avocado, nuts, hemp hearts, and seeds. Pro tip: If you're sensitive to carbs or doing strict keto, skip the nuts and stick to straight oil.
Good protein choices include wild-caught fish, grass-fed meat, poultry, or eggs, she says. If you're looking for a more cost-friendly alternative, whey or collagen powders also pack a clean protein punch.
Charlotte Hilton Andersen has been a health and fitness writer for 12 years and is the author of The Great Fitness Experiment. Her three great loves are her family, jelly beans, and true crime podcasts on the treadmill (but only the ones against the wall so no one can creep up on her).
Jasmine Gomez is the Commerce Editor at Women’s Health, where she cover the best product recommendations across beauty, health, lifestyle, fitness, and more. When she's not shopping for a living, she enjoys karaoke and dining out more than she cares to admit. Follow her @JazzeGomez.
Watch Next
High-Protein Breakfasts That Will Keep You Full
30 Easy Meals That Are Loaded With Protein
Delicious And Easy High-Protein Smoothies To Try
30 Vegetarian Keto Recipes That Are *So* Delish
