by Matt Weik
When Quest Nutrition first hit the market, I was eating two of their bars every single day. It was their bar that had me, at the time, go to MET-Rx to create a similar bar – which they couldn’t quite nail and ultimately discontinued. As the years go on, I commend them for being innovative with their product launches and thinking outside the box. Protein cookies, protein chips, protein bars, protein powders, and now Quest tortilla protein chips.
If you’ve been following my content, you’d know I did a review on their protein cookies. While I didn’t feel they knocked it out of the park, I wanted to give their Quest tortilla protein chips a try as the owner of the supplement store near me recommended them to me.
I picked up a bag of the ranch flavor as well as the chili lime. The store owner mentioned he liked the ranch but the chili lime was a little too spicy for him. Being that I like spicy foods, I definitely wanted to give the chili lime a try and figured I’d enjoy the flavor.
Are the Quest Tortilla Protein Chips a Great Snack Option?
The first bag I tore open was the ranch flavor. I thought they had a good flavor and a nice crisp and crunchy texture to them. A day later I ripped open the chili lime expecting to fall in love but quickly found it wasn’t what I had expected. In fact, I really didn’t even care for the chili lime flavor at all. I’ve heard so much about the nacho flavor that I didn’t want to give them a try as almost everyone said they taste exactly like Doritos so I’m taking their word for it (Doritos aren’t my thing).
These Quest tortilla protein chips do have a decent profile and one that I could easily recommend to my clients who aren’t prepping for shows. The protein content is high-quality whey and milk protein isolates which I feel is great for a product like this. Here’s what we’re working with as far as a nutritional breakdown.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 Bag
• Calories: 140
• Fat: 4.5g
• Carbohydrates: 4g
• Protein: 19g
The tortilla protein chips are baked (not fried) and are all natural, gluten free, soy free, and potato free. Each bag contains around 32g of tortilla protein chips.
How Do They Compare to Other High-Protein Options?
The interesting thing is that these Quest tortilla protein chips contain more protein than many of the Quest bars and cookies. Their bars are between 15-24g of protein and their cookies are around 15g. Never would I have thought that a bag of tortilla protein chips would have more overall protein per serving – not that I’m complaining about more protein.
I’m not positive of the process used to make the Quest tortilla protein chips (such as how they apply the flavoring ingredients) but I was surprised that from the two bags I ate, all of the chips were pretty similar in taste. Normally you’ll find chips that have a ton of the flavor/seasoning on it while other chips have none and taste bland.
Are They Worth the Price?
Using Amazon for our pricing, you can get eight bags of a specific flavor for $16.48. That breaks down to $2.06 per bag. For around 20g of protein per bag, I don’t think that’s too bad. Would these Quest tortilla protein chips be something I purchase all the time? No, probably not. I liked them for what they were but I wouldn’t say I liked them enough to have a constant supply of them in my office or my house.
My product testing always comes down to what my wife thinks about the product. If she likes something I give her, I know the product will be a home run. While she CAN not like a product, it could still sell well as it seems if you’re in this industry, your taste buds are a little different from the main population when it comes to supplements and high-protein snacks, bars, beverages. However, I had her taste both the chili lime flavor as well as the ranch and she was not a fan of either.
Out of all the flavors, what I’m hearing from people is that the nacho flavor is the clear winner of all the flavors available. While I’m not a big fan of Doritos, I might give the Quest tortilla protein chips another try with the nacho flavor and see if for me it trumps the ranch.
Would I recommend the Quest tortilla protein chips? If you’re looking for something different that will satisfy your snack craving while providing you with a decent amount of protein, then I’d say go for it. If you’re in the market for a great tasting snack and love chips/tortilla chips, you may be disappointed.
Overall, proceed with caution but I still appreciate the fact that Quest Nutrition is coming to market with new high-protein snack items to fill a void. If you enjoy the flavor, this is a slam dunk and gives you no excuse to venture towards the vending machine at work.
