8 Best Collagen Powders You'll Actually Want to Drink

By Maggie Lange

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None of us are above vanity. And of all the food-adjacent products in all the land, collagen supplements tickle our vanity the very most. The best collagen powders promise to strengthen our weak nails, elasticize our sad skin, lengthen our limp hair, and amorphously improve our well-being with just a scoop of this meaty powder. (Yes, meaty—collagen is often extracted by boiling cow bones and dehydrating the stock.)

The health benefits of collagen are as alleged as they are numerous, from alleviating joint pain to keeping our connective tissues spry to promoting gut health. But regardless of the veracity of those claims, collagen-slingers are selling a promise of beauty. "Like many things in wellness culture, the marketing for collagen supplements talks about the supposed benefits for other body systems even though the main focus is cosmetic," says Christy Harrison, author of Anti-Diet and the forthcoming The Wellness Trap. "The marketing for collagen preys on people's, especially women's, societally conditioned fear of aging. Collagen production slows as we age, and that's a natural process."

Ha Nguyen, a registered dietitian in Philadelphia, tells me that many of her clients express enthusiastic interest in all types of collagen. "Unfortunately," she says, "the many studies regarding the benefits of collagen supplementation have been funded by the cosmetic industry or other industries that may benefit from the sales of supplements." So while Nguyen doesn't steer her clients away from collagen, she warns that most studies about it aren't very scrupulous. The dietary supplement industry is notoriously unregulated, so it's extremely difficult to ensure whether the ingredients used are high-quality in any case.

So if we’re ingesting a product that may or may not be a shiny placebo, we should absolutely demand that it taste amazing. Off we go into the dusty world of beauty powders to find the best collagen supplements (or at least the most delicious) on the market.

Tasting notes: Unflavored margarineNutrition info: 12 grams of collagen; 11 grams of protein; gluten-free

On its own in hot water, Earth Fed Muscle's collagen supplement whispers very lightly. I mostly hunted down unflavored collagen options for this jaunt, assuming that products made from animal bones would reconstitute into salty, velvety broths. This first foray was far more neutral with something artificially compressed about it, like airplane air. But when I whisked it into basic salad dressing (mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil, pepper, salt), it whirred into quite the emulsion. Even after two nights in the fridge, this powder somehow kept all the elements of my homemade dressing gorgeously emulsified. I can see this thriving in a milkshake or thickening up a delicate soup. This powder is like the chill, quiet person in the group project who is a dud on their own, but has the power of cohesion that just keeps everyone getting along.

Tasting notes: Shrimp shells, saline solution, gentle saltwater poolNutrition info: 10 grams of collagen; 9 grams of protein; gluten-free

Shore Magic, an unflavored marine collagen peptide made from skins of wild cod, was one of the contenders I was most excited to try. Very avant-garde and gourmet. Shore Magic is a finer-grain, hydrolyzed collagen powder with a really slippery texture. I think it could add some congruous depth to any saucy seafood ordeal, any chowder, any bouillabaisse. I texted the greatest cocktail genius I know about adding it to a dirty martini. They attempted to dissuade me, but I did not listen; the martini was definitely scuzzy, but kinda good. I wouldn't stray too far from "the ocean" or "an estuary," with any flavor profiles here, but I’d see a happy future incorporating Shore Magic into lots of salty, briny concoctions.

Tasting notes: Filtered water sipped poolsideNutrition info: 20 grams of collagen; 18 grams of protein; gluten-free

One might assume that a product made from the literal bones of cows would impart sturdy, savory flavors and velvety textures. Yet Vital Proteins, which also contains hyaluronic acid and vitamin C, dissolves seamlessly in everything from cold tap water to hot morning coffee, adding no discernible texture and almost no taste. But there is a hint of something there—chlorine, maybe? Something unmistakably made in a lab. I’d hoped that bovine powders would add an earthy, deep bass note, but we’re all synth here. I like synth fine enough, I guess. Vital Proteins is the big box store of collagen powders and a collagen category originator. If you want something that gets the job done, is available pretty much everywhere, and is cheaper than most other options, go for it.

Tasting notes: Evaporated Starbucks Frapp, grocery store birthday cakeNutrition info: 11.1 grams of collagen; 10 grams of protein; gluten-free

Dispiritingly, collagen flavor options seem to favor chalky choc varieties, cheery berry options, and the artificial vanilla taste of wellness. This non-GMO grass-fed bovine powder is definitely pandering to those with a sweet tooth and is begging to be popped right into a smoothie. Thrive's collagen does fluff up beverages with a nice supple foam. Monk fruit is employed as a sweetener, but there is, again, a distinct twinge of artificiality following us around.

Tasting notes: Mushroom risotto, a damp hike, the delicious wispy steam from the rice cookerNutrition info: There's no collagen, per se, as this is a vegan product. But there is "high molecular weight of 10k-20k Daltons" of hyaluronic acid and 2.5 grams of Tremella mushrooms per serving, both of which could promote collagen synthesis and skin hydration; < 1 gram protein

As indicated in the nutrition info, vegan collagen is an iffy premise from a technical standpoint, but regardless of whether this will promote skin elasticity, I’m glad I made the exception for this one. Moon Juice's Collagen Protect is billed as a "vegan creamer," which raised my expectations for its employment as a texture-builder. I was extremely not disappointed. The texture was so much creamier than its animal-based counterparts, and mushrooms provided that earthy depth I’d been looking for. Many of Moon Juice's magic powders smack of a shroomy-umaminess that I love. This collagen powder is made primarily from rice bran and silver ear mushrooms, which are kinda sweet in a loamy way, and the gentle flavor of jasmine rice powder comes through as well. I’ve only tried it solo, but I want to add it to rich veggie ramen next.

Tasting notes: Skim milk + portobelloNutrition info: 17.7 grams of collagen per serving; 16 grams of protein; gluten-free

Mindbodygreen's collagen has a nice, rounded, fatty texture, and it's the first supplement I tried that actually tasted a little bit like cow's milk. Even though it's an animal product, there is something distinctly ‘shroomy about it, although it's way less rich than Moon Juice. This could have something to do with the "+," which is working hard; this collagen peptides powder also includes vitamins C and E, biotin, hyaluronic acid, and a host of other ingredients. In sum: I don't know what to do with it. I tried mixing it into a lemon water which tasted confused; I then attempted a honey vinegar dressing over spinach, which tasted like I licked the bottom of the farm share box. Whereas Vital Proteins and Earth Fed Muscle tasted like the aerated future, Mindbodygreen tastes like the dusty, medieval past. I’m not entirely deterred from experimenting, however. Next up: stirred into congee.

Tasting notes: Nothing, absolutely nothing

Nutrition info: 10 grams of collagen per serving; 9 grams of protein; gluten-free

No texture, no taste. I remade it immediately because it was so flavorless, I wondered if I’d stopped making memories for ten seconds and forgotten to add this bovine collagen powder entirely. I hadn't. These printer paper white hydrolyzed collagen peptides—a visual dupe for Morton salt—have achieved null. If you want the alleged benefits of collagen without an actual awareness of consuming collagen, Primal Collagen is the pick for you.

Tasting Notes: An upscale, milder version of ramen flavor packetsNutrition info: 8 grams of collagen per serving; 12 grams of protein; gluten-free

This is the outlier of the group, as it's not a straight-up collagen powder; rather it's just a powdered chicken broth bouillon. However, I am compelled to include it because food is better than powders, I’m realizing. It's got a good "chew" to its sip, as my sommelier friend I kept texting about this experiment would probably never say.

In my preoccupation to coax deliciousness out of these collagen powders, it slipped my mind to keep a log of the physical effects, despite one supplement providing me with a little diary to chart my mood, skin health, hair length, and desirability to all red-blooded singles in a six mile radius. My skin's been gleaming recently, likely for other reasons (there's an aloe skincare regimen I’d love to share if you’re interested); hair seems on the healthy side of normal. But my nails have actually been super weak. I don't know how you check on joint health, but I feel as dextrous as ever. I did lift heavy one afternoon, and the next day my muscles felt popping but way less sore than they should have been.

Who knows what we can credit for what, what is a result, what is a coincidence. And waiting around for results is a cursed life, I think, but trying to enjoy our placebos is always a party.