Protein powders can be designed to taste like strawberries, cocoa and vanilla or you can pick up unflavoured protein powders, too.

But, why would anyone want an unflavoured protein powder? And what about the benefits of using unflavoured vegetarian/vegan protein?

Unflavoured vs flavoured protein

It might not be something you have thought about before but here is why unflavoured protein could be good addition to your pantry.

Using unflavoured protein powder means that you can make every protein shake completely differently, so you’ll never get bored with the options or the range of ingredients you can use. This is because the protein will work with every combination of ingredients you can think of without the need for pairing your flavour with the different fruits and vegetables you’re using.

You can also add your unflavoured protein to recipes such a bread, vegan pizza, pancakes, cookies or soups without affecting the flavour. It also means you don’t have to get a bunch of flavoured proteins at once, especially when you intend to use them in food. When it comes to flavours, sure, you can buy a protein powder that tastes like cookies but if you want to make protein cookies yourself, you might be better off choosing an unflavoured protein. You might also find that if you want to use that same flavoured powder to make savoury foods or something else, you’ll have fewer options.

All of the recipes you see in the above rotating image were made using Nutristrength's unflavoured protein powders.

Protein powder recipes

In some baked goods recipes, unflavoured whey protein powder is used as a flour substitute. It can be combined with almond flour or coconut flour, oat flour etc. because the protein helps add structure to improve the texture of baked goods. Try adding unflavoured protein powder to your baked goods recipes to maintain the flavours that you like whilst still getting your protein boost.

Unflavoured protein also gives you the freedom to develop your own recipes. Try adding it to:

• guacamole


• hummus


• crackers


• soups


• salad dressing


• savoury protein pancakes


• chia seed pudding


• oatmeal


• protein cheese spread


• vegetable stew


• vegan sushi

So, you could just get one unflavoured protein and use it in multiple different recipes. Flavouring your own protein powder is really fun too.

Protein powder flavours

Flavoured protein powders taste like what they’re designed to taste like. Here at Nutristrength, we’re very proud of our range of naturally flavoured whey protein and vegan protein powders because we’ve gone through rigorous taste-testing to ensure we’ve created the perfect combination of taste and quality in a completely natural flavouring.

That being said, we also know that a lot of people want to incorporate protein powder into their lifestyle through cooking and mixing it into different foods. If you purchase a vanilla powder, for example, you are locked into that flavour and, when you decide to blend in other ingredients, you have to think about what will pair well with vanilla.   

This is why we offer all of our flavoured protein powders in sachet form as well as in 500g and 1kg tubs. This works well for our Nutristrength family as it means they can purchase full-size tubs of their favourite flavours that they use regularly, then unflavoured protein powder for use in protein recipes, and sachets of different flavours when they want to mix it up or #ExploreSomethingNew.

Types of unflavoured protein powder

While there are lots of different flavours of protein powder, there are also several different types of unflavoured protein too.

Even with traditional whey protein, you have the option to choose between whey protein concentrate and isolate.

Then you have different types of vegan protein powders, such as vegan pea protein isolate, which is made from peas and can give you up to 24g of protein per serving.

Then there’s goat and sheep whey protein, which a lot of people find easier to digest than whey protein because of its casein structure.

Which will you choose?

If you like the aspect of control with your flavour choices, the unflavoured version is probably going to be more useful and versatile for you. Give it a go and let us know what you think! You can also share photos of your protein recipes with us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.