Flavor Tried: Plain
Nutrition: 290 Calories, 2.5g Fat, 45g Carbs (4g Sugar & 3g Fiber), 21g Protein
When people start dieting, bagels tend to be one of the first foods to go. It’s unfair, but because bagels are notoriously high in carbs, many people decide to ditch them.
Thomas is trying to combat that by releasing these new protein bagels… but does the world really need this?
Protein products like this tend to fall into two camps: a low-carb alternative, or just a regular product with added protein. This one falls into the latter, as it’s not necessarily trying to be “diet friendly” with 290 calories and 45 grams of carbs.
I’ve had plenty of protein bagels before; Buff Bagels were awesome, and some of the low-carb options like The Better Bagel and Royo are decent with what they are.
I hate to totally spoil this review for you, but I’m going to do it anyway. These Thomas’ Protein Bagels are the worst high-protein bagels I’ve tried.
Slicing into the bagel, it’s immediately clear that these are denser than regular bagels. With 21 grams of protein, that’s not at all surprising, but you can tell right away what you are in for.
The exterior actually looks a lot like a regular bagel, which was a pleasant surprise.
When it comes to bagels, you’re rarely just going to bite into it as-is without any kind of topping, but I figured it’d be a good taste to see how it stands on its own.
And, well… it’s not great.
Somehow, the flavor is equal parts bland and Earthy. This is basically just a bagel with pea protein added to it, and it tastes every bit of it. That pea protein flavor comes through quite a bit, and the aftertaste sticks with you.
If you eat these plain, the texture is much denser and chewier than a regular bagel, but I’ll be the first to admit that toasting them improves the texture a lot.
Once toasted, the chewiness is much closer to that of a regular bagel, but it doesn’t completely eliminate that dense feeling.
To put it all together, my final test was toasting this bagel and making a sandwich, which is the ideal way to enjoy any bagel.
The photo above is a turkey sandwich, but I also tried an egg & cheese (not pictured) as well. The bagel holds up great as a sandwich, and the toppings certainly help to mask some of the pea protein taste, but it still comes through way too much for my liking.
As you bite, it eats like a normal sandwich, but that aftertaste really punches you in the mouth.
Had I tried the everything flavor, maybe the extra seasoning would help mask that earthiness even more, but I wasn’t willing to go back to the store to buy more.
When it comes to the plain flavor, I wouldn’t recommend them. The regular Thomas bagels taste significantly better than these and pack a pretty impressive 10 grams of protein as-is.
Sure, 21 grams of total protein is impressive, but the taste just isn’t worth it for me. If you truly want a bagel for breakfast, I’d stick with the real thing and just look to bump the protein up elsewhere.
Unless you love the taste of pea protein, in which case, I suppose you’ll love these.
