High-Protein Snacks in the UAE: What to Buy and What to Check on the Label
What counts as a high-protein snack, the 6 things to check on the label, and the best whole-food and packaged options in the UAE, with real numbers.
Quick answer: A snack counts as high protein when at least 20% of its calories come from protein. In the UAE, the easiest options are Greek yogurt, eggs, edamame, cottage cheese and packaged snacks such as protein bites or bars. On any packaged snack, check five things: protein per serving, the share of calories from protein, sugar and sweeteners, fibre, and the ingredient list.
Supermarket and pharmacy shelves in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are full of snacks that say "protein" on the front. Some are genuinely high in protein. Others are biscuits with a little whey added. This guide shows you how to tell the difference in about ten seconds, with real numbers.
How much protein should a snack have?
Most healthy adults need about 0.8g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. That is roughly 56g a day for a 70kg adult. People who train hard often aim for more. A snack that gives you 10–20g of protein covers a useful share of that and keeps you fuller than a snack that is mostly sugar.
The bigger question is not how many grams a snack has, but how much of the snack is protein. That is where most labels mislead.
What "high protein" on a label really means
Under EU labelling rules, which many international snack brands sold in the UAE follow, a food can be called a "source of protein" if at least 12% of its calories come from protein. It can be called "high protein" if at least 20% of its calories come from protein.
You can check this yourself. Multiply the grams of protein by 4 (each gram of protein has 4 calories), then divide by the total calories.
Example: a snack with 22g of protein and 286 calories. 22 × 4 = 88. 88 ÷ 286 = 31%. That is comfortably high protein.
Snack | Protein | Calories | % of calories from protein |
|---|---|---|---|
Plain Greek yogurt, non-fat (170g) | ~17.5g | ~100 | ~70% |
Low-fat cottage cheese (100g) | ~10.5g | ~84 | ~50% |
Edamame, cooked (1 cup, 155g) | ~18.4g | ~188 | ~39% |
1 large boiled egg (50g) | ~6.3g | ~78 | ~32% |
Almonds (28g handful) | ~5.9g | ~164 | ~14% |
Medjool dates (80g) | ~1.4g | ~222 | ~3% |
Source: USDA FoodData Central. Figures are approximate and vary by brand.
Notice that nuts and dates are healthy, but they are not high-protein snacks. Almonds get most of their calories from fat, and dates from natural sugar.
6 things to check on a protein snack label
1. Protein per serving, and what a "serving" is
Some packs list protein per 100g, others per bar or per serving. A bar that says "20g protein" may be a 60g bar. A pouch that says "10g protein per serving" may contain three servings. Always check the serving size before comparing two products.
2. The share of calories from protein
Use the 20% rule above. If a "protein" cookie has 8g of protein and 400 calories, only 8% of its calories come from protein. It is a cookie.
3. Sugar, and what is replacing it
Look at both total sugar and the sweeteners in the ingredient list. Many protein bars cut sugar by using artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, or sugar alcohols such as maltitol. Sugar alcohols can cause bloating in some people. "No added sugar" means nothing sweet was added on top of the ingredients, but the food can still contain natural sugar, for example from dates or fruit. "Sugar-free" means almost no sugar at all.
4. Fibre
Protein and fibre together keep you full for longer. A snack with 5g of fibre or more per serving is doing well.
5. The ingredient list
Ingredients are listed from the largest amount to the smallest. If sugar, glucose syrup or vegetable oil is first, protein is not the main ingredient. Check where the protein comes from: whey and milk proteins, soy, pea, or egg. Also check for allergens: most protein snacks contain milk, and many contain nuts or soy.
6. Price per gram of protein
Divide the price by the grams of protein. This makes it easy to compare a bar, a jar and a tub of yogurt fairly.
Types of high-protein snacks you can buy in the UAE
Protein bars: convenient and widely sold in pharmacies, gyms and supermarkets. Check the sweeteners and sugar alcohols, and keep them out of a hot car: chocolate coatings melt quickly in UAE summers.
Greek yogurt and skyr: some of the highest protein for the calories. They need a fridge, so they suit the office or home more than a gym bag.
Protein bites and truffles: bite-size balls made from dates, nut butter or oats with added protein. Check the protein share, because many homemade-style bites are mostly dates and nuts.
Protein chips, puffs and crisps: crunchy and light, but often low in fibre. Check the protein share and the salt.
Ready-to-drink protein shakes: high in protein and easy after a workout. Check the sugar and sweeteners.
Where Rashtions fits
We make protein truffles in Dubai from organic UAE Khalas dates, camel milk and whey protein, with certified organic A2 ghee. They are sweetened only with dates: no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners and no preservatives. Here is how they score on the checks above, using figures from laboratory testing by Middle East Testing Services (September 2026), per 80g jar:
Per 80g jar | Protein | Calories | % of calories from protein | Fibre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
21.8g | 295 | 30% | 6.4g | |
21.8g | 280 | 31% | 6.9g | |
22.5g | 286 | 31% | 6.7g | |
7.5g | 276 | 11% | 1.5g |
The three truffles pass the "high protein" test, with about 30% of their calories from protein and more than 6g of fibre per jar. At AED 20 a jar, that works out to under AED 1 per gram of protein.
To be clear about the trade-offs: the truffles contain 22–25g of natural sugar per jar, all of it from dates, so they are a snack to portion, not to graze on. And our Date Original is not a high-protein snack. It is a simple date-and-ghee energy bite, so choose a truffle if protein is your goal.
Looking for a protein snack without artificial sweeteners? Try the Date Truffle, AED 20, or mix any flavours and save up to 30% on 2, 5 or 10 jars.
Curious how plain dates compare? Read How Many Calories Are in Dates?
Frequently asked questions
What is the healthiest high-protein snack?
Plain Greek yogurt is one of the best: about 17g of protein for roughly 100 calories in a 170g pot. Eggs, cottage cheese and edamame are also excellent. For a packaged snack, choose one where at least 20% of calories come from protein, with little added sugar.
How can I get 20g of protein in a snack?
A large pot of Greek yogurt (about 200g) gets you close to 20g. So do two boiled eggs with a small pot of cottage cheese, or a cup of edamame. A jar of our protein truffles gives you about 22g.
Are protein bars healthy?
Some are. A good protein bar has at least 20% of its calories from protein, a few grams of fibre, and little added sugar. Many bars use sweeteners or sugar alcohols to keep sugar low, so read the ingredient list if you prefer to avoid them.
Which protein snacks in the UAE have no artificial sweeteners?
Whole foods such as eggs, plain yogurt and edamame have none. For packaged snacks, check the ingredient list for sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame K, stevia and sugar alcohols ending in "-itol". Rashtions truffles are sweetened only with dates.
Do high-protein snacks need refrigeration?
Dairy snacks such as yogurt and cottage cheese do. Bars, bites and jars usually don't, but keep them out of direct heat. In the UAE, a car in summer is too hot for anything with chocolate.
Are date-based protein snacks high in sugar?
They contain natural sugar from the dates, so check the label. A date-based snack can still be high protein if protein has been added, as in our truffles, where about 30% of calories come from protein.
Protein figures for whole foods come from USDA FoodData Central. Figures for Rashtions products come from laboratory testing by Middle East Testing Services (METS, ENAS-accredited), September 2026. This article is general information, not medical or dietary advice.
Sources
USDA FoodData Central: Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, edamame, eggs, almonds, Medjool dates
EU Regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims: "source of protein" and "high protein" thresholds