Best Meal Replacement Shakes 2024

2

Instant Knockout

Overview

While Rootana tops our charts, Instant Knockout Complete is right on its heels. Offering an incredible 35 grams of protein per serving, and 13 grams of fibre, Instant Knockout Complete is the best weight loss meal replacement shake out there. The ingredients list is superb, using MCT oil for its healthy fats, organic brown rice, pea protein, chia seeds, and a number of other clever additions.

Instant Knockout Complete was designed for boxers and MMA fighters to use while on a cut (calorie deficit diet used in the run up to a fight). It works best when combined with the Instant Knockout Cut fat burner (one of our all-time favourite fat burners) but is equally good as a standalone supplement.

While IK Complete is ideal for weight loss, it can also be used for building muscle and gaining weight healthily, just consume it alongside your meals instead of using it as a replacement. Complete’s ingredient list offers a range of benefits, including:

Ingredients

Most of the protein in Instant Knockout Complete is derived from pea and soy protein, which provides a complete amino acid profile. Add to that brown rice protein, oat flour, and the protein found in chia seeds and flaxseeds, and you have a very diverse protein source.

Instant Knockout Complete also contains a number of healthy fats, these come from the oat flour, the flax seeds, the chia seeds, and primarily from the MCT oil. This is oil derived from coconuts, and it has many health benefits.

How to take it

Mix one scoop of Instant Knockout Complete with water, milk, or dairy alternative for 20-30 seconds. Then drink. Milk or a plant-based alternative produce a much better taste and consistency, but water is obviously zero calories.

Conclusion

If you are looking to lose weight in an effective and healthy manner, then Instant Knockout Complete is by far your best option. It provides enough protein and fibre per serving to keep you satisfied between meals, and at only 400 calories per serving, will make it easy to maintain a calorie deficit. Combining this with a healthy evening meal will make dieting simple and easy.

Check Latest Price at instantknockout.com

3

Huel

Overview

Chances are, if you have heard about any meal replacement it will have been Huel. They are the big name in meal replacement shakes, and they provide an excellent product. Huel has a huge variety of flavours available; they also offer higher protein versions of their staple product. They are the most well-known company, but perhaps not quite the best.

Their strongest benefit is the fact that they offer so much choice. There is a gluten-free version of Huel, a high-protein version of Huel, and the regular Huel has a large number of flavours available. They use excellent, plant-based ingredients, and they keep their servings affordable. Here are some of the benefits of Huel v3.0:

• High in protein
• Contains 27 vitamins and minerals
• Healthy fats from MCT oil
• Good source of vitamin D
• Slow releasing carbohydrates

Ingredients

The ingredients in Huel are all plant-based. It derives its protein from pea protein, brown rice protein, and oats, with a little coming from flaxseed. Fats come from sunflower oil, and MCT powder. It uses sucralose as its sweetener. There is 30 grams of protein per serving, 45 grams of carbohydrates, and 13 grams of fat. One area where they could look to improve is the fibre, with only 7 grams per serving. Compare that to Instant Knockout Complete which has 13 grams.

How to take it

Add 500 ml of water to a Huel shaker, and then put two scoops of Huel powder in. Tighten the lid and then mix thoroughly for ten seconds. You can take Huel once, twice, or even three times per day as replacements for meals. Or you can take them alongside your regular meals if you are looking to build muscle and gain weight safely.

Conclusion

Huel has a great reputation for delivering quality meal replacement shakes, they are not always the best tasting, but the ingredients are decent. It’s not quite as good as Instant Knockout Complete for dieting, as the fibre is too low, but it is still an excellent product. We like the amount of choice you are offered, and it has quite a lot of protein per serving. Replacing the sucralose with a natural sweetener (like Rootana has done) would be another way to improve Huel overall.

Check Latest Price at huel.com

4

Jimmy Joy

Overview

Jimmy Joy is a decent meal replacement shake company, that makes a lot of promises about nutrition and its impact on the environment. Don’t get us wrong, it absolutely delivers in this regard, but it doesn’t appear to be any more environmentally friendly than the other companies on this list, and it isn’t quite as impressive from a nutritional standpoint.

The majority of its protein is derived from soy and oats, while its fat content also comes from the oats alongside flax seed and sunflowers. Thanks to the soy, Jimmy Joy is the lowest priced per meal product on this list. Not that any of the other products are expensive!

The ingredients in Jimmy Joy offer the following benefits:

• High in protein
• Contains probiotics and prebiotics
• Good source of omega 3 fatty acids
• BCAAs for building and maintaining muscle
• 26 essential vitamins and minerals

What’s in it?

Jimmy Joy’s ingredients list is fairly simple. The three main ingredients are oat flour, soy flour, and soy protein. It also contains sunflower oil, a vitamin and mineral mix, inulin (fibre), flaxseed, and a variety of flavourings and artificial sweeteners.

The use of oat flour is ubiquitous in meal replacement shakes because it is such an effective ingredient. High in protein, a source of healthy fats, and packed full of fibre. Oats are also inexpensive, helping to keep costs down.

Some would argue that there is too much soy in Jimmy Joy. There is no issue with using soy, but Jimmy Joy uses soy flour and soy protein. Compare that to Rootana which also uses pea protein, or Instant Knockout which uses pea and brown rice for protein alongside soy.

The fibre is a little low, which is disappointing, but the protein per serving is decent. Jimmy Joy offers 26 grams of protein per serving. As we said, it’s a very decent meal replacement shake, that isn’t quite as good as the three meal replacements we’ve already looked at but is cheaper and is still effective.

How to take it

The instructions for Jimmy Joy are pretty vague. Mix two scoops of powder (one serving) with some water. As the other meal replacement shakes all recommend 500 ml of water, we’d recommend starting with that and then adjusting the water based on your own preference for consistency. A thicker shake requires less water, while a smoother shake requires more.

Conclusion

Jimmy Joy is a great budget meal replacement shake. The company is quite a lot of fun, with excellent packaging and a great ethos. The commitment to be environmentally friendly is admirable. The actual shakes are tasty and high in protein, but the ingredients list could do with a little updating. Soy protein is fine when used sensibly, but overuse can have downsides.

Check Latest Price at jimmyjoy.com

5

Abnormal

Overview

The final meal replacement shake on our list is by Abnormal, and it is one of the most intriguing. Though it sits in 5^th place, it is still a superb product with a very creative design. What makes Abnormal different is the fact that it customises its product based on the dietary requirements of each user. This is not something that any other company offers, but how important is customisation?

Abnormal are quite limited in what they can offer, they are not providing individual dieticians but rather have certain ingredients they can add for certain clients. For example, they will add more fibre if you are experiencing bloating or constipation. But what if your bloating is not caused by a low fibre diet? What if you typically follow a high fibre diet, and this increase exacerbates matters?

The idea of customisation based on nutritional needs is really exciting, but it needs to be implemented properly, and we’re not 100% sure that Abnormal can do this yet.

That being said, there is still a lot to like about Abnormal, and it is made with some excellent ingredients. They offer the following benefits:

• High in protein
• High in fibre and digestive enzymes
• Low in sugar
• Great for weight maintenance
• Phytonutrients to address health issues

What’s in it?

Due to Abnormal being customisable, it is difficult to give a proper ingredients breakdown. If you choose a vegan meal then the protein will come from soy and pea protein, whereas a non-vegan version uses whey protein. MCT oil is used for fat content, and/or sunflower oil powder. There are phytonutrients such as ashwagandha, cherry extract, and panax ginseng that may be added. You also have amino acids such as glucosamine which are added if you want to support your joints.

How to take it

As with Jimmy Joy, it is really difficult to find specific how to take instructions. However, this is not rocket science. Add some water to your powder and mix in a shaker. The powders are separated into (recyclable) paper packets so no need for a measuring scoop.

Conclusion

Abnormal is probably the model that many other meal replacement companies will follow in the future. Promising a fully customisable diet, but only having a few (smart) changes. It’s a good system, but it could be better. The biggest issue with Abnormal right now is the fact that their shakes are only 350 calories, rather than 400.

We love the fact that it offers both whey protein and plant-based protein, and the added phytonutrients/amino acids/vitamins is a really smart touch. But they are only scratching the surface of what they could do, and this is currently holding them back slightly.

Check Latest Price at abormal.io