Orgain Organic Protein Powder Review

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orgain vegan protein powder summary

Flavors: Chocolate, Vanilla, Unflavored, Pumpkin Spice, Peanut Butter, Iced Matcha Latte

Orgain’s organic protein powder is one of the highest rated on Amazon and most other stores, so I was excited to finally try it and review it.

I’ve tried over 30 vegan protein powders at this point, and tested them with the same methodology each time.

I’ve broken down this review into the 4 main factors behind choosing a protein powder. Each category has a score out of 25 maximum points.

About Orgain Organic Protein

Orgain makes several different protein powders and bars, including both whey protein and vegan powders. While many are gluten free and plant based, not all are, so vegans should be careful not to order the wrong one.

orgain products

Is Orgain a Good Company?

Overall, Orgain has a good reputation overall with no major recalls in its history. It was founded by Dr. Andrew Abraham after he saw a need for a better nutritional protein shake while he was undergoing cancer treatment.

However, there has been one class action lawsuit that alleged that Orgain shakes had about 10% less protein than advertised (found through private testing). I could not find the result of the lawsuit though.

Orgain Ingredients and Protein Content

Fundamentally, a protein powder should contain a lot of protein, which is what I base the nutritional rating of a powder on.

I developed a simple linear formula to calculate a nutrition score. The only thing I plug in is the ratio of calories from protein to the total calories in a serving.

protein powder nutrition score test

You can check my math if you’d like, I’m using the numbers straight from the nutrition label:

orgain organic protein powder nutrition label review

With only 84 of 160 total calories coming from protein, which is only about 53%, this powder gets a nutrition score of ~15, out of a maximum of 25 points.

Compared to the other vegan protein powders that I have reviewed, Orgain has a really low amount of protein in it.

Ingredients

One thing that the score doesn’t reflect at all are the ingredients, which may be important to you. Orgain’s protein powder is one of the few that uses all organic ingredients.

Here’s the full ingredient list:

  • Organic Pea Protein, Organic Brown Rice Protein, Organic Chia Seed, Organic Hemp Protein, Organic Acacia Gum, Organic High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Organic Inulin, Organic Rice Dextrins, Organic Rice Bran Extract, Organic Erythritol, Organic Natural Flavors, Organic Alkalized Cocoa, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor, Organic Acacia Gum, Organic Stevia, Organic Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum

It’s a fairly long ingredient list, but it’s clearly vegan-friendly and gluten-free, and there are no “sketchy” ingredients in my opinion. It’s also certified organic by the USDA.

There’s protein from 3 main sources (pea, brown rice, hemp), which gives it a well rounded essential amino acid profile.

Cost of Orgain Compared to Other Vegan Protein Powders

The second most common thing to consider when buying a protein powder is usually (but not always) the cost.

Orgain sells their organic plant based powder in 3 different sizes. Here’s a quick breakdown of the cost per hundred grams for each size:

  • 462 g / 1.02 lb
  • 720 g / 1.59 lb
  • 920 g / 2.03 lb

Considering that all the ingredients are organic, which usually increases a product’s price quite a bit, the prices aren’t too crazy.

In order to compare the price with other alternatives, I plug in the price per 100 grams of the size closest to 2lbs (the most common size offered) into this linear formula:

pricing score formula

A score of 25 means that it’s very cheap, while a score of 0 means it’s very expensive.

Plugging in the appropriate value here yields a pricing score of 16.2 out of 25.

Not terrible, but if budget is your primary concern, there are other plant based protein powders that would be better for you.

However, organic powders are typically more expensive, and Orgain is reasonably priced among that group.

How Well Does Orgain Powder Mix?

No one likes clumps in their protein shakes, which is why I test mixability.

I’ve devised a simple procedure to measure how mixable a protein powder is. Here’s a brief breakdown of what I do:

  • Add 450mL of refrigerated almond milk to a shaker bottle.
  • Add 35g of the powder.
  • Shake for 45 seconds.
  • Pour out the shake through a fine strainer and measure those remnants.

After doing that procedure for several protein powders, I was able to create yet another simple formula to compare mixability to others. Again, 25 indicated perfect mixability, while 0 is terrible.

Here’s the formula:

vegan protein powder mixing test

Since the scoop size is controlled, all that needs to be input into the formula is the weight of the remnants (the clumps that were filtered out).

Here’s where this protein powder really shines. It’s one of just a few protein powders I’ve tried that scores a perfect 25.

How Does Orgain Protein Powder Taste?

Finally, we come to the subjective part of the review.

In order to stay as consistent as possible, I try to assign a taste rating based on this table, and give a justification for it.

Taste Score Meaning
25 Amazing, would drink for enjoyment alone.
20 Very good.
15 Drinkable, not really good or bad.
10 A bit of a struggle to get down
5 Quite bad

In this case it was pretty simple to give Orgain a solid 15.

It had a pretty good taste and initial texture. Unfortunately, there’s a significant amount of chalkiness and an aftertaste (not terrible, but definitely there).

Keep in mind that I ordered the vanilla bean flavor; Other flavors might vary.

Overall Impressions

This protein is definitely a great choice for certain types of people.

It has very clear strengths:

  • Mixes very well.
  • Decent taste.

But also some weaknesses:

  • Low protein content relative to other powders.
  • Price is a bit on the higher side.

I’d say that if you’re looking for a vegan protein powder just to get a little bit more protein, and budget isn’t an issue, you’ll enjoy Orgain.

If you’re looking for a more cost-effective powder or one that maximized protein intake, there are likely better options for you.

Other Organic Vegan Protein Powders You May Prefer

I tried a handful of other organic powders in my testing. Since you may want some alternatives to Orgain, here are my top 3 recommended alternatives:

  1. Purely Inspired (72/100 overall score) – Purely Inspired is one of the best organic vegan protein powder in my opinion. It’s cheap, mixes well, and tastes okay. Here’s my full Purely Inspired review for more information.
  2. ON Gold Standard Plant (65/100 overall score) – While it doesn’t advertise it, all of ON Gold Plant’s ingredients are organic, and it’s a pretty solid plant based protein powder. It’s similar to Purely Inspired, but more expensive. Check out my complete ON Gold Plant review for more specifics.
  3. NOW Sports Pea Protein* (82/100 overall score) – I put a star next to this one because only the unflavored version is organic. However, it’s a great option if you’re okay with no flavor. Here’s my full NOW Sports review for more information.

About the author

Dale Cudmore

Your friendly neighborhood vegan from Toronto. I've spent over 6 years as a freelance nutrition writer and researcher. During this time, I've tested over 50 vegan protein powders, and over 100 other types of vegan supplements.