Flavors Tried: Strawberry and Brown Sugar Cinnamon
Price: $3.99 per box
Nutrition (for 2 pastries): 400 Calories, 11g Fat, 67g Carbs (31g Sugar), 10g Protein
If you google “protein pop tarts,” you’ll likely see Legendary Foods Tasty Pastries. They are the OG in this space, and while their texture (a softer, drier dough) takes some getting used to, the filling flavor is very similar to regular Pop Tarts.
Plus, they pack 20g of protein, so you can accept a compromise in texture to get those impressive macros.
But now we have real Protein Pop Tarts, because literally every single brand is throwing the word “PROTEIN” onto their packaging lately.
Honestly, I didn’t even want to review these, because this product genuinely irks me, but I feel a responsibility to report to you how they taste.
Regular Pop-Tarts contain roughly 400 calories and 5 grams of protein for a pack of two. These new “Protein” Pop-Tarts contain the same 400 calories, but they’ve “doubled” the protein to 10 grams.
Let’s be real: 400 calories for 10 grams of protein is not a good protein source. At all.
To make matters worse, you’re still getting 31 grams of sugar. These are regular Pop-Tarts with a tiny sprinkle of extra protein. Point blank. Full stop.
The Taste Test: Spoiler, It’s a Pop-Tart
I won’t drag this out: these taste identical to regular Pop-Tarts. I tried both Strawberry and Brown Sugar Cinnamon, and if you were to do a blind taste test, you would never know these were “protein” pastries.
I tried them both dry and frozen (because we all know frozen Pop-Tarts are far superior to toasted ones), and the experience was exactly what I wanted from a Pop-Tart. Absolutely no differences.
You get the crisp of the icing, the filling pops with flavor, and the crumbly pastry dough is delicious.
That sounds like high praise, but it doesn’t deserve to be. When you are only adding 2.5 grams of protein per pastry, it shouldn’t alter the taste or texture.
At the end of the day, these taste identical to regular Pop Tarts, but that’s because…well, they basically are.
Final Thoughts: Are Protein Pop Tarts Worth It?
Don’t get it mistaken: these are NOT a healthy spin on Pop-Tarts. They’re just Pop-Tarts with 2.5 grams of extra protein.
These cost me an extra $1 per box compared to the standard version. While that isn’t a huge markup, it’s still not something I can justify.
If Pop-Tarts are a non-negotiable breakfast staple in your life and you are missing your daily protein goals by exactly 5 grams every single day, then sure, maybe these are for you. Or, if you have a picky 5-year-old and you’re desperate to sneak a tiny bit of extra protein into their diet, there’s at least a tiny bit of merit.
Otherwise, save the extra dollar and just eat regular Pop-Tarts.
Are these “protein” Pop-Tarts delicious? Yes, because Pop-Tarts are delicious.
But everything doesn’t need protein, especially if it’s hardly any protein at all. Don’t fall for the marketing trick.
