Target Stores sell Tone It Up Vegan protein powder in tubs, and they sell samples for $2.49 each. The sample flavors they had available for sale were Chocolate and Vanilla so I bought one of each. I wanted to try the Peanut Butter flavor, and my husband wanted to try the Coconut and the Café Late protein powder flavors, but we didn’t want to buy the tubs for $22.99 in case we didn’t like it.
First, I tried the Chocolate pea protein powder. I added one frozen banana and one cup of So Delicious plain coconut milk. The end result was a really sweet, thick, slightly chalky smoothie, with not much of a chocolate flavor. I recommend, instead of adding milk, using one cup of cold filtered water to thin it out, and adding a few teaspoons of cocoa powder for a richer, stronger chocolate flavor, which should balance out the sweetness. For a chocolate pea protein powder, this is the best tasting one I have tried to date.
The following day I tried the vanilla protein powder with 1 ½ frozen bananas, with one cup of cold filtered water. It tasted like vanilla pudding. It had the perfect thickness, just the right amount of sweetness, but also a slight chalkiness from the pea protein. The vanilla flavor is a bit strong for my liking; it tastes more like French Vanilla. I prefer subtler, more natural flavors, but this is the best vegan protein powder I have tried, and what’s impressive it that it has no sugar, just 3 net grams of carbs, and is only 90 calories per serving. It is a tad lower in protein at 15 grams (20 grams is more common and preferred). The other downside is that a tub only lasts two weeks if you have a smoothie every day like I do, but $46 for a months’ supply of protein powder isn’t too bad.
The bottom line is that these two protein powders taste good, have healthy ingredients, and aren’t too expensive. They don’t have sugar, rice, dairy, stevia, or sugar alcohols. The sweetness comes from zero calorie, zero carb, Monk fruit extract. Since the smoothies are thick, you can save money and calories by omitting milk.
The cheapest store to buy Tone It Up protein powder is at Target for $22.99. Amazon sells the same ones for $35! Even though I am raving about these two flavors, I still prefer my plain collagen protein powder by Great Lakes because there isn’t that chalky texture, it’s not sweet so I can adjust the sweetness by adding more fruit, and it has more protein at about 20 grams for 80 calories.
If you are looking for a sweet, flavorful, vegan pea protein powder, definitely give the Tone It Up Chocolate and Vanilla flavors a try.
P.S. If you are looking for carb-controlled, whole-food, vegan smoothies, check out my cookbooks: Slimming Dairy-Free Smoothies & Desserts, and The High-Five Diet at https://www.thehighfivediet.com/products.html