11 Healthy High Protein Snacks Under 150 Calories

Portable snack foods are a great solution for those busy days where you have to get on the road but don’t have the time to prepare a full meal. Unfortunately, many of these mainstream snacks are high in refined sugars and empty carbohydrates, causing our bodies to store fat. Healthy fats are great to keep your body at peak performance, but the additives will reverse any sort of benefit you gain from eating that sugar-glazed snack bar.  

Whether you are trying to lose weight, start eating better, or build muscle, protein is your best friend. Protein is responsible for repairing your muscles after a tough workout, helping you build muscle mass and gain strength. It can help alleviate cravings between meals by reducing hormones that cause hunger, making you feel full and satiated longer.

Protein early in the morning helps you lose weight by kickstarting your metabolism, burning excess fat. Often, mealtimes are scheduled too far apart, and our bodies sense a lack of nutrients. By the time we sit down to eat a full meal, we order or prepare too much, leaving us to overeat. If you are hungry in-between meals, eating protein can help keep you satiated so you are less likely to grab a donut on the way out of work, or fast food on the way home.

That is where high protein snacks come in. Having a portable source of high protein, low-carb, low calorie snacks will help you feel full on the go, in-between meals, or tide you over to the end of the workday.

In this article, the team at Youtopia Snacks will help you choose snacks at are both high in protein and under 150-calories.

Yes, really!

It seems hard to believe, but there really are snacks so tasty and healthy for you that they seem unreal. These delicious snacks are easy to take on the go. We also cover the basics of high protein snacks, what you should look for (and avoid) in snack bars, and how these high protein snacks affect your body.

Protein has an amazing fat-burning quality that keeps your body fueled and feeling good while it ramps up the metabolism and burns unwanted fat away.

High protein snacks can help you in two ways: raising your metabolism while keeping your body fueled and ready for action, as well as keeping you full and satiated so you don’t overeat mealtimes.

If your body is lacking nutrients, whether it’s by eating the wrong types of foods or going long periods without meals, it will begin to store fat. To your body, you are starving! Start stocking up on energy now so you don’t waste anything!

In reality, your life is busy, and despite your body being wired to respond with these survival mechanisms, you are no longer on the schedule of the great outdoors. The most stressful encounter you might have is an angry boss or the experience of working late trying to meet a deadline. Your body might be responding to something as simple as skipping breakfast for the sake of getting out the door faster.

Unfortunately, that does not mean the situation is any less real to your body’s automatic responses. Before you leave for the day, dropping a couple of high protein snacks in your bag can help your body take the day at a slower pace, providing the essential nutrition it needs to avoid storing excess energy and keep you satisfied until mealtime.

Protein helps you feel full throughout the day and can signal the release of appetite-suppressing hormones. This prevents you from snacking all day long on unhealthy, sugar-filled treats. Protein also helps slow your digestion and stabilize your blood sugar levels, keeping you in a better mood throughout the day with higher energy levels. With all these benefits, it leaves you wondering why there are so many snacks full of sugar and empty carbohydrates!

For many people, what their high protein snacks are made of is important. By just looking at the package and seeing what the main ingredient in your snacks are, you can determine the range of protein it will contain.

Typically, most of the protein in your diet will come from meat. If you a vegetarian or vegan diet, there are plenty of ways to get protein from other sources, and there are more options available for vegetarian and vegan snack foods now than ever before.

The top three sources of protein from meat, in order of highest protein to lowest per 100 grams include:

Salmon: You might be surprised to learn that there is an astonishing 45 grams of protein per 100 grams of salmon fillet.

Lean chicken breast: A single 100-gram piece of chicken breast contains 32 grams of protein. This means that a third of the chicken you eat is helping you eat healthy, energy-rich protein! A whole chicken leg will contain 62 grams of protein, keeping you feeling full and satiated.

Lean pork: Pork is the third-highest rated in protein content for good reason. Just a single gram behind chicken, lean pork contains 31 grams of protein per 100 grams of pork chops. A 6 oz rack of ribs contains 30 grams of protein in case you needed an excuse to fire up the grill.

The top three sources of protein that come from vegetables, in order of highest protein content to the lowest per 100 grams include:

Pumpkin seeds: These tiny seeds pack a protein punch, with 29 grams of protein per 100 grams of seed. That’s incredible! They taste great roasted, too.

Firm tofu: Tofu is a leading choice for vegetarian sources of protein. There are 17 grams of protein in every 100-gram portion of tofu. It is easy to cook with, and similar to chicken, it tends to take on the flavors of the ingredients around it.

White beans: White beans are powerhouses of protein, packing in 17 grams of protein per 100-gram serving of cooked beans. While eating beans by themselves might not be your thing, they are easy to add to casseroles, dips, stir fry, and many other dinner dishes.

Of course, you might not have the time to cook a whole roast chicken on your way to work, and you might not have the opportunity to grab anything better than a protein bar on your morning coffee run, which is why having your protein in the form of a portable snack is so important. High protein snacks that are low in calories, low in fat, with low to no sugar are the best solution to keeping you on track, snacking throughout the day to maintain your energy levels until dinner time.

Keep reading to see our full list of high protein snacks that will keep you feeling full even when you are on the go.

High protein snacks, in general, are great for gaining muscle. They help repair your muscles after your workout, adding muscle mass, and helping you gain strength at the same time. Recovery is where the gains are at, and protein helps you recover!

Of course, there is more to a good muscle-building snack than just protein. Your body also needs good, healthy carbohydrates to keep it fueled, and the more nutrition, the better. The addition of carbohydrates will help keep you feeling strong and full of energy. A high carbohydrate, high protein snack makes a great pre-workout snack to keep you from getting hungry during a workout and get your body burning stored fat. This focused fat burning, coupled with protein intake after the workout, can help you gain muscle mass, get toned, and lose fat all at the same time.

It is important to keep in mind that not all carbohydrates are made equal. Carbohydrates that come from refined sugars and bread and other highly processed snacks can cause your body to store excess glucose (and then glycogen) as fat, as everything is processed very quickly in the body.

Good carbohydrates are processed slower, keeping your body fueled longer and more efficiently and giving your stomach time to digest all the nutrients coming into your system. Beans are an excellent source of healthy carbohydrates that digest slowly.

Our list of recommended high protein, low-calorie snacks are the perfect addition to any post-workout meal, helping you increase your muscle gains and start burning excess fat.

Did you know that snacks are meant to be eaten much more frequently than larger meals? Waiting hours between each meal will leave your body feeling hungry and going into fat-storing mode.

Snacks are supposed to be eaten much more frequently than larger meals, which helps pace your nutritional intake and keep your body running with as few “pick-me-ups” needed as possible. Timing is everything, and this largely depends on your activity level, age, gender, goals, and other diet factors.

All these factors play into your diet at large, and the only one who can give you accurate advice is your dietitian. Seeking out a professional opinion can help you make more informed choices about your health and snacking habits.

A good rule of thumb, though, is to aim for a high protein snack that has about 7 grams of protein per serving.

Higher levels of protein are fine, but it can make the search for the perfect snack a little difficult. The body can process up to 30 grams of protein at any given meal, but the average adult does not need much more than that in a single day, depending on age and gender.

Of course, if you lead an athletic life, more protein will be necessary, but high protein snacks make it easy to snack on healthy foods throughout the day, giving your body what it needs no matter your level of activity.

When you are looking for high protein snacks, look for snacks that have as little sugar as possible but have key nutrients to keep your body running a peak performance. Pair that with the right balance of other nutrients throughout the day – such as fiber and healthy fats – and you will feel like you are on top of the world.

A snack that has high protein and healthy carbohydrates is a clear winner. If you want to tell whether your snack contains healthy carbohydrates or bad ones, you will have to look in the ingredients label, not just the nutritional facts.

High protein snacks are a delicious way to keep your body fueled and your mind sharp throughout the day, but certain ingredients can diminish those benefits and leave you feeling groggy and lacking energy.

The main culprits are high protein snacks who are pretending to be healthy but pack their foods full of sugar, and other highly refined ingredients. Yes, even the sugar-glazed protein bar should be left for the occasional treat, not eaten as an everyday snack.

Natural sugars are digested slower than simpler refined sugars, but these are still sugars, and frequent snacking can lead you to eat more sugar than your daily limit allows. This is particularly sketchy territory for those who have a sweet tooth, as the sugar can cause you to crave even more sugar. If you have a pack of sugary snacks in your bag, well, the temptation is less than a few feet away.

Empty carbohydrates are another culprit that leads people astray in the search for a truly healthy high protein snack. These carbohydrates come from refined sugars, bread, and other highly processed ingredients.

Snacks that are high in saturated or trans fats are another that you will want to pass on. These are unhealthy fats that are commonly found in red meat and processed oils. While these are okay in moderation, an excess of these fats will raise your cholesterol levels, potentially sending your blood pressure out of what. Nobody wants that from their snacking habits!

The only way you can be certain of what is in a high protein snack is to look at the ingredients label and the nutrition label. These can be difficult to read at first, but by knowing a couple of basic terms and learning about what is or is not good for your body, you will get the hang of it in no time.

Try to find a snack that has as few ingredients as possible to keep things simple. Once you have found a couple of snacks that you can reliably eat that satisfies your cravings and keeps your body happy, you can add them to a snack rotation.

You might think that it is impossible to get a healthy, high protein snack that is also under 150 calories, but we are happy to present our list of the top 11 choices for snacking on the go or at work. These snacks will change the way you think about your diet, helping you feel on top of the world all day long.

To many people, the whole point of snacking is to satisfy cravings and tide yourself over until you can eat the larger meals of the day, such as lunch or dinner. If this is your way of snacking, you might be surprised to learn that your body feels better when you snack on healthy foods throughout the day. These healthy foods, however, can be difficult to find, which is where the team at Youtopia Snacks comes in. We have curated a list of our top 11 favorite high protein snacks that are available in perfect, 150-calorie portion sizes.

Browse through our favorite high protein snacks under 150 calories and find the one that suits your cravings. Try out different brands, look through the nutrition label and ingredients list in your favorite protein bars, and learn more about the food you are putting into your body.

Variety is the spice of life and selecting a couple of snacks from this list that will help you get in a healthier snack rotation will keep you feeling energized and inspired throughout the day. In the end, you will be happy you found the right snack for your cravings.