Protein powder can be an incredibly convenient and efficient way to get high-quality protein into your diet. For vegans, this can be even more crucial, as plant-based foods are generally a lot less protein-rich than meat, eggs, and dairy. On top of that, vegan protein sources are often much less bioavailable, and are sometimes incomplete or unideal, containing little or none of one or more essential amino acids. However, by isolating higher quality vegan protein sources and often blending together several different types, the best vegan protein powders can achieve a well-rounded amino acid profile and bioavailability that rival animal-based sources.

Today we’re going to assess the best types of vegan protein powder, based on their bioavailability and their amino acid profiles. In particular, leucine is a very important amino acid, critical in the muscle-building process. In general, somewhere between 1.7g – 3g of leucine in a given meal is necessary to build muscle effectively. Furthermore, we will assess each type of protein isolate based on their composition of key amino acids, mainly essential amino acids (EAAs), by comparing it to an established baseline for complete protein sources.

If you are looking for recommendations of the best brands and flavors of vegan protein powders, make sure to check out our list of The Best Tasting Vegan Protein Powders and The Best Budget Vegan Protein Powders in 2023.

The Top 5 Best Vegan Protein Powders, Ranked:

5. Brown Rice Protein

Bioavailability: 64%

Brown rice protein isolate is a pretty popular and fairly affordable option as far as vegan protein powders go. In general, its amino acid profile is good, boasting a good amount of leucine and a particular high amount of tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine. While it is lacking in lysine, making it an incomplete protein source, my main issue is actually the bioavailability. Even after isolating the protein from the grain, it remains less digestible and less easily absorbed than other protein sources, making it much harder to get an effective amount of essential amino acids. For perspective, you would need about 49g of rice protein isolate to get the same amount of EAAs that are contained in just 20g of whey protein.

If you want to get some rice protein, I would suggest either Nutricost’s Unflavored Rice Protein or NutriBiotic’s Chocolate Rice Protein, the only flavored rice protein I’ve found that actually tastes good.

4. Hemp Protein

Bioavailability: 87%

Hemp protein has a very similar amino acid profile as rice protein, the main differences being that hemp protein has a bit more lysine but a bit less leucine and tyrosine. However, the main benefit to hemp protein is the much higher bioavailability. In fact, it is one of the most bioavailable sources of plant protein that you can find. However, you would need about 46g of hemp protein to provide your body with 2g of leucine, which we know is especially important for muscle growth. Overall, it is a decent source of EAAs, but not ideal for muscle growth.

If you want to get a hemp protein powder, I highly recommend Anthony’s Unflavored Hemp Seed Protein or Nutiva’s Vanilla Hemp Protein Powder

3. Soy Protein

Bioavailability: 74%

Soy protein isolate is one of the few vegan protein sources that is actually a complete protein, containing a fairly even distribution of key amino acids. That being said, it is relatively low in tryptophan, methionine, cystine, and leucine. When considering its bioavailability score of 74%, the leucine becomes more of a problem, requiring 40g of soy protein to provide 2g of leucine to your body. To be honest, that’s not so bad; while it may not be as efficient as whey protein, it still provides a great amount of essential amino acids. And if you are using a soy protein isolate to supplement a meal, you won’t need all 40 grams, as you will likely get a significant amount of leucine from the rest of the meal.

If you want to go get a soy protein powder, I would recommend Nutricost’s Soy Protein, either unflavored or chocolate.

2. Pea Protein

Bioavailability: 73%

Pea protein is probably the best commercially available vegan protein isolate powder. While it isn’t quite a complete protein like soy, as it is lacking in methionine and cystine, it has more leucine and more total essential amino acids than any of the protein sources listed so far. 38g of pea protein would provide you with 2g of leucine and 8g of EAAs, which is a very effective serving for muscle growth on its own. On top of that, it is also the cheapest vegan protein powder on the market, with some brands like NOW Sports selling 96 scoops of 24g protein for just $50 ($0.52/scoop).

If you want to pick up some pea protein, I would recommend either the NOW Sports Unflavored Pea Protein or Naked Pea Chocolate Protein, if you want something flavored.

1. Pea Protein + Brown Rice Protein

Bioavailability: 70%

Pea protein and rice protein complement each other perfectly. Rice protein has very high amounts of methionine, cystine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan, but is lacking in lysine. Meanwhile, pea protein has a good amount of lysine, but is deficient in methionine and cystine, and fairly low in tryptophan and phenylalanine. Research has shown that a higher amount of pea protein, around 70% pea protein and 30% rice protein, is more optimal for muscle growth. A higher pea protein component keeps the bioavailability of the blend higher, while still benefiting from the rice protein filling in the gaps in the amino acid profile. As you can see from the chart above, this pea and rice protein blend is a complete protein, with a decent bioavailability of 70% and high leucine content.

If you want a pea protein and rice protein blend, I would recommend a blend like PEScience Select Vegan Protein Powder, or you could buy pea protein and rice protein separately and then mix them yourself.

So, those are the top 5 types of vegan protein powders based on bioavailability and amino acid compositions. Please leave a comment below and tell me what you think of these options, and let me know of any types of protein that I missed!

— Mr. Bro