We recently got our hands on an on-the-go protein snack from the team over at BarnDad Nutrition. The supplement company actually has a few protein products available; however, they don’t feature your typical protein formula. BarnDad sets its items apart from the rest by using chicken isolate as its primary source of protein.
The on-the-go snack we’re going to be talking about in our hands-on review today is Meat-SNX. It is a small, crispy chip-like snack that comes in two versions. There is the regular Meat-SNX which is just the small crispy pieces; then there is the energy edition which has almonds and peanuts also in the mix.
Nutrition profile
Macro wise, BarnDad’s Meat-SNX is a pretty clean protein snack. Each bag of the regular version provides a strong 20g of protein, 6g of fat, 15g of carbohydrates, for a light 190 calories. The profile is actually better than a lot of protein bars, featuring the usual amount of protein but slightly fewer calories.
How does it taste?
The big question with any protein snack is, of course, how does it taste? That question is even more important when the macros are as clean as they are with BarnDad’s Meat SNX. After trying four of the product’s five flavors, we feel the best answer is it all depends on the flavor you get.
All of the Meat-SNX flavors have the same crispy crunch to their chicken protein pieces. There is a nice, chip-like consistency to them that makes for a convenient, easy to eat snack. As mentioned it isn’t the consistency we found to be the challenge; it is the flavor.
The worst of the four Meat-SNX flavors we tried was Sweet BBQ, which feels like the best example of the taste BarnDad is trying to mask with the others. It has a somewhat nice flavor hit for a second or so, it then turns into a powdery, stale, dry experience, which leaves an unfortunate taste in your mouth.
Better flavors
As bad as the Sweet BBQ is, the other flavors we tried are not quite the same. BarnDad’s Ranch, Siracha, and Cheese Pizza Meat-SNX are all great representations of their title tastes and hide that dry, off taste from Sweet BBQ almost completely.
The Ranch and Siracha flavors are both energy versions of Meat-SNX, although for this review we’re purely judging them on the taste of their crispy pieces. Those two along with the Cheese Pizza bring with them some solid flavor hits that make the product very easy to throw back by the handful.
Summary
If you’re looking for an alternative protein snack that’s slightly lighter in calories than a protein bar, then Meat-SNX might be worth a try. We can’t say we’ve had anything else like it before, as the crispy chicken protein pieces tied with the better flavors make for an extremely unique experience.
For those after flavor recommendations, we’d say go with the Ranch or Siracha to start, however only if you don’t mind the added almonds and peanuts. If that added fat and calories is a bit too much, we suggest you go with the Cheese Pizza especially since the one option after that is Sweet BBQ.
