1/30/26 Groceries: Protein Shake Breakdown
Plus pizza, pasta, and a freezer clean out.
Protein Shake Breakdown
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Let’s drop into a super quick breakdown of what to look for in your protein shake. Plus, the shakes I recommend most.
1. Is it Third-Party Tested?
Hopefully you’ve all heard this before, but long story short, the supplement industry is the wild, wild, west. Ideally, look for a protein shake that has a Nutrition Facts Label, but for the powders that have a Supplement Label, look for an NSF for Sport or Informed Choice label. More about what that means here.
2. Where is the protein coming from?
Ideally, look for at least 20g of protein from a whey protein source. If you look at the ingredients, you’ll often see whey protein isolate, or if the protein shake is from a dairy milk (like Fairlife’s 30g shakes), you’ll see filtered milk as the main ingredient. Milk contains two types of protein: whey and casein, so this checks the box, too.
Whey protein is best at stimulating muscle protein synthesis, but if you prefer a vegan option, there are a few things you can do.
Look to see if your protein discloses amino acid content. Some do, some don’t. When the amino acid leucine is matched, vegan protein sources can similarly stimulate muscle. If the amino acid content is not disclosed, or if there is less than 3g of leucine per serving, you can add a BCAA supplement to your preferred shake or powder. Optimum Nutrition has an unflavored option.
If you do not want to do that, then aim for higher protein content.
3. Check for ingredients that don’t mesh well with you.
I am not an ingredient fear-mongerer, but there are some that tend to pop up in protein shakes, powders, and bars that cause a percentage of the population to bloat, have diarrhea, or just have a sickly sweet aftertaste. They are not bad ingredients, and I know and understand the purpose of them in the product, but over and over again, I see people blame dairy, or something equally important, for these side effects and cut it from their diet. Ideally, I don’t want you to have to cut an entire food group from your diet. Another caveat here: There is a lot that can cause bloating or stomach concerns; hydration, food patterns, caffeine patterns, etc.
Those caveats in place, the two ingredients I don’t love to see in shakes and powders are sugar alcohols, like xylitol, erythritol, sorbitol, maltitol, and added fiber sources like inulin/chicory root.
Both of these options are commonly found in low-calorie options because sugar alcohols are a low-calorie sweetener and inulin helps create a creamier texture without adding fat.
What do I recommend?
My favorite whole food option:
Fairlife 30g shakes (found at Costco) or Chobani drinkable yogurts (grab 2).
My favorite powders:
BiPro is pretty simple and has a nice flavor/blendability, especially with milk. Optimum Nutrition is super easy to find in stores for a good price point and has historically been a fan favorite amongst my athletes.
My favorite non-whey options:
There are a few options that come close to making this list, but Orgain wins out. Personally, it’s not my favorite flavor profile, but I can’t say I’ve found a plant-based protein powder that I like the flavor of. If you have one, please share!
Your prompt for the week:
This is by no means a complete list of options. Fill up on the comments on this post with your favorite powders and shakes and any questions you have!
Breakfast:
Waffles
I have leftover greek yogurt, frozen fruit in my fridge, and it’s freaking cold out, so I want something that feels heart-warming. Frozen waffles, topped with greek yogurt for protein, some fruit, nuts, and maple syrup from my cousin’s farm in Vermont is what going for this week.
Lunch:
Pesto Chicken Salad
Grab a jar of your favorite pesto, some cherry tomatoes, spinach, a rotisserie chicken, fusili pasta, diced cucumber, and mozzarella balls and throw it all together. Inspo (and a clearer recipe to follow if you want it) is from The Kitchn.
Dinner:
1: Hot Honey Chicken Pizza
2: Freezer Clean Out
For the pizza:
The easiest way to do this would be to grab a frozen pizza and use the rest of your rotisserie chicken on it with some hot sauce/hot honey, etc. Throw some of the extra spinach you have from lunch on there, too.
An elevated option would be to build the pizza yourself from a pre-made dough or pita bread at the store.
I think I have the time and energy to make a dough from scratch and see how it goes. TBD! (I like making dough from scratch. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO.)
For your freezer clean out:
Either use up some leftovers (I still have some soup), or grab EASY freezer-to-oven options at the store this weekend. Most grocery stores will have great frozen salmon options, veg, and corn or potatoes. I’m going to pick up some honey chipotle salmon, pictured below, green beans, and frozen corn because I might put some on my pizza, too, and oddly, I’ve also just been in the mood for corn? Random.
Snack Spotlight:
Taking this spotlight from earlier in this article. Don’t underestimate the power and convenience of drinkable greek yogurts.
If you’re working off the performance plate system, these are a great red option.
Your Grocery List:
Breakfast
frozen waffles, greek yogurt, and toppings
Lunch
Ingredients from The Kitchn
or throw together: pesto, cherry tomatoes, spinach, a rotisserie chicken, fusili pasta, diced cucumber, and mozzarella balls
Pizza ingredients
Dough of choice, sauce, mozzarella cheese (you can use the balls from lunch if you want), rotisserie chicken (again, take half from lunch), hot sauce and/or hot honey, leftover spinach from lunch, and might as well use the cherry tomatoes, too.
Freezer options
Grab an easy protein that can be thrown in the oven, carb of choice, veg of choice
Or copy me: salmon, corn, and green beans
Snacks for the week
Performance
Supplement check? Are you about to run out of anything?
Want to learn more about your “performance” category?
Take a look at the Injury Performance Plate Guide for more.
