12 Store-Bought Meat Sticks, Ranked From Worst To Best

I'm an avid backpacker, and when you're halfway up a mountain with three miles to go and no real lunch in sight, few things hit the spot like a meat stick. When I'm hiking, I want something salty and savory that satisfies both my hunger and my craving for bold, meaty flavor. They don't always look appealing (or smell great if I'm being honest), but when you're hungry, dusty, sunburned, and sick of backpacking food like mac and cheese and sickly sweet protein bars, a meat stick really does the trick.

In recent years, meat sticks have gone from gas station trucker food to flavorful, protein packed health snacks. With the rise of high-protein food trends like keto and paleo, there's been a boom in brands made with grass-fed beef, free from sugar, nitrates, and mystery ingredients. Suddenly, the snack aisle has everything from health-conscious jerky alternatives as well as those well-known hyper-processed meat sticks wrapped in garish colors.

Curious to see how they stack up, I set out to taste and rank a wide range of meat sticks. I wanted to know which of these sticks taste like actual meat and which were made of processed meat hiding behind chemically enhanced flavoring. And most importantly, I wanted to know which to take on a hike or even a road trip. Here's how the meat sticks stacked up.

There's something jarring about the term "mechanically separated chicken." By what mechanics this chicken is separated I do not care to know, but the phrase goes against some primordial instinct within me. It doesn't surprise me that this opaque reference to highly processed food resides near the top of the ingredients list in a Slim Jim. The smell alone, a sickening mixture of sweaty, nondescript meat mixed with the sickly tang of corn syrup, made me consider vegetarianism for the first time in a decade.

I'll admit that I wasn't able to swallow the bite I took from this unholy meat stick. I'd never tasted anything that embodied culinary hubris with quite the greasy, sweet, unidentifiable flavor of a Slim Jim. A slick fattiness coated my tongue, followed by an unpleasant flavor that I can only describe as stale meat, two words that should never be together outside of a compost pile.

Slim Jim has been around since the 1940s, and it was its original owner, Adolph Levis, who pioneered the idea of a snack-sized sausage. But since then, the company was acquired by General Mills and then by ConAgra, a leading meatpacking corporation more concerned with shareholder profits than consumer satisfaction (ConAgra once sold meat to Americans knowing it contained listeria, a bacteria known to cause severe illness). Compared to the other sticks on this list, Slim Jim tastes worse, contains more sugar, less protein, and is an all-around abomination.

There are two words that describe the experience of eating an Old Trapper meat stick: Monosodium Glutamate. To be clear, MSG is no longer the bad guy that it used to be. The once popular belief that the compound caused headaches, heart palpitations, and body aches has largely been debunked, but that doesn't mean that a product should rely solely on MSG for flavor, which Old Trapper does.

At first, it's tempting to think the flavor comes from smoked meat, an easy mistake to make since MSG has a deeply umami taste. But as I chewed more I realized that the taste did not come from the stick's beefiness. A chemically inspired greasiness lingered on my tongue after I was done chewing, and I quickly reached for some water just to wash it out.

The texture was perfectly acceptable, but nothing special. Very little about this stick suggested real meat. It was more like a simulation of meat, shaped, smoked, and salted into a vaguely satisfying stick. Old Trapper's branding leans into rugged Americana (think log cabins, flannel shirts, and smokehouses), but the product inside feels more like a lab experiment than something a frontiersman would smoke over an open flame.

The impression left by the Werner meat stick is no impression at all. Despite the inclusion of MSG (an ingredient known for its powerful umami boost) there's almost no flavor to speak of, which is why I deemed this the most forgettable stick in the group. I kept waiting for some salt, smoke, spice, or beefiness to reveal itself, but there nothing came, just a vaguely savory flavor that gently suggested the presence of beef.

Werner's packaging design suggests a more elevated product, with a confident use of teal and orange that looks more modern and gourmet than some of the classic gas station options. But make no mistake: The contents don't live up to the wrapper.

The texture didn't help. It was a bit dry and slightly tough, which made each chew more labor than pleasure. It didn't snap cleanly or melt into the bite the way better sticks do. And the casing, artificially colored with Red 3, added a weird visual glossiness that gave me the strange impression I was chewing on a plastic toy. Even for a stick that leans on chemical seasoning, Werner doesn't even do that well. In a lineup where some meat sticks were too aggressive, this one was decidedly forgettable.

I'm still scratching my head at how this meat stick got away with not listing its ingredients on the packaging, or at least hiding the list well enough that I couldn't find it. Just a name, a logo, and a vaguely threatening red glow emanating from the sausage itself. Despite its appearance, this stick wasn't the worst-tasting of the bunch. In fact, I appreciated that it leaned more heavily into spice than many of its competitors, with a peppery heat that bloomed with each bite, and a flavor profile that had more dimension than some of the bland, MSG-forward offerings on the list. That said, just because something is flavorful, it doesn't make it pleasant, and the spices weren't strong enough to overcome the strange texture.

The stick was overly fatty, and I could feel the pockets of fat ooze out onto my tongue when I took a bite. After just a few chews, my mouth was coated in a greasy film that lingered long after I'd finished eating. Whatever flavor it had was quickly overshadowed by that persistent slickness.

It's made with a blend of beef and pork, and I suspect a heavy hand with whatever low-grade fat was available. That, combined with the mystery ingredients and intense coloring, gave the whole experience a strange feel, like a meat stick manufactured in the uncanny valley.

Of all the meat sticks on the list, Wisconsin's Best was the only one that recommended refrigeration after opening. That little note gave me a brief flicker of hope that this was the more natural option, a stick with fewer preservatives, something closer to real food than processed snack. But the ingredients didn't read any cleaner than the others, and the flavor didn't suggest anything especially fresh or premium. And for a gas station road trip food, I thought it was odd that the product required refrigeration.

These particular sticks are honey BBQ flavored, which sounded like they offered a unique take on the meat stick. But the honey aspect manifested as a noticeable sweetness, but didn't offer much flavor beyond the discernible taste of sugar. That might work for someone who prefers their meat snacks on the sugary side, but it didn't do much for me.

Beyond that, the flavor was mostly unremarkable, with a little smokiness, no tang, and (notably) no real BBQ character, just a generic meatiness with a little sugar on top. The texture was slightly smoother than most, with less of the dry, fibrous character that some sticks have. This aspect didn't tip the scale in either direction, and it certainly didn't save this stick from being forgettable, which it is.

Jack Link's meat stick is easily the best of the mainstream, widely available options that you can find at practically any gas station, convenience store, or big-box retailer in the country. The flavor is super savory, and unlike many competitors, it actually tastes like beef instead of tasting generically meaty. Even better, it manages this without relying on MSG or a chemical cocktail of flavor enhancers, which is no small feat in this category.

But for all its savory strengths, the fat content is hard to overlook. While meat sticks can and should contain some fattiness, when I took a bite I immediately noticed visible fat globules speckled throughout the meat that dominated the texture and mouthfeel. Rather than giving the stick a juicy or tender quality, the fat overwhelms everything. Each bite feels slick, almost greasy, and it leaves a film on your tongue that lingers long after you've swallowed. It's the kind of richness that doesn't build flavor, just heaviness.

That said, if you can get past the fattiness, there's a lot to appreciate. It's seasoned well, satisfyingly salty, and genuinely tastes like meat, which puts it miles ahead of the more artificial sticks on the market. In a road trip pinch, this is the one I'd grab.

One of several beef-only sticks on the list, Country Archer leans heavily into the jerky-adjacent side of the meat stick spectrum. Beef, without the mellowing influence of pork, tends to produce a firmer, drier texture, and that's exactly what you get here. The stick is a bit tougher than most, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you like a chewier, more rugged bite, which is great for fans of beef jerky. Texture-wise, it feels a little closer to traditional dried meat than some of the sweeter, softer competitors.

In terms of flavor, there's a discernible beefiness, but it's quickly overshadowed by a sharp, sour tang that dominates every bite. That would be the citric acid, which is commonly used in shelf-stable meats as a preservative, but here, it's applied with a heavy hand, and I found that it competed with the natural beef flavor.

While the ingredients list cites the presence of garlic, coriander, red and black pepper, and even cherry powder, I was unable to detect these more nuanced flavors. I want to be clear: This is not a bad meat stick. It's clean-tasting, high in protein, and doesn't feel overly processed. But it also doesn't bring anything especially exciting to the table.

One look at the Sweetwood Fatty and you immediately understand why it's called the Fatty. This thing is massive compared to every other meat stick on the list; it's more like a mini summer sausage than a typical gas station snack. It feels like something you'd bring on a long hike or toss in a glove box for emergencies. It looks substantial because it is.

It's made with a mix of beef and pork, and the balance between the two works well. The beef delivers that bold, rich flavor you expect from a meat-forward snack, while the pork softens the texture and keeps things from feeling too dry or chewy. The texture is one of the better ones I tried. It was meaty without being tough, with just enough give to make each bite feel satisfying.

Flavor-wise, it was well salted, and there's a comforting, hearty meatiness to the whole thing, but it leans so heavily into meat flavor that it doesn't leave much room for nuance. I found myself wishing it had just a bit more spice or personality, maybe something smoky or peppery to cut through the richness and give it an edge. But if your ideal snack is unapologetically meaty and filling, the Sweetwood Fatty delivers on that promise. It's not the most complex stick out there, but it earns its name as one of the more satisfying, protein-packed options on the shelf.

Of all the meat sticks on the list, this one comes closest to tasting like traditional sausage. It's made with a blend of beef and pork, and while the beef lends structure, depth, a firmer texture and that unmistakable beefy flavor, the pork brings balance. It softens the texture just slightly and mellows out the overall flavor, giving the seasoning room to come through without being overwhelmed by richness.

These sausages are nicely spiced, with just enough salt to make the flavor pop, and a subtle but effective mix of spices that tastes classic without feeling bland. There's no single spice that dominates, which makes sense for a sausage with old-world inspiration.

While Bavarian Meats is based in Washington, the name does feel earned. Bavaria is famous for its sausages, and these little links seem to honor that tradition, even if they're not made overseas. The packaging notes that the sausages are hardwood smoked, a claim that holds up flavor-wise. The smoky flavor taste clean and natural, nothing like the liquid smoke or artificial smokiness used in some of the lower-tier options. It's not flashy, but it's satisfying and tastes better than some of the other brands that are purely gas station food.

Made with grass-fed beef, Nick's Sticks is a meat stick that really leans into its core ingredient and in this case, that's a good thing. The beef flavor is clean, rich, and front-and-center, without being masked by heavy-handed spices or MSG. There are subtle hints of seasoning, but they're used with restraint, and the result is a meat stick that tastes like actual beef instead of just a salt bomb with a little meat on top.

The texture is much smoother than most of the beef sticks on the list, and it doesn't have any of the chewy toughness that some of its competitors do. It feels more like real food than an engineered snack and it was almost a perfect meat stick experience until I noticed that it left a noticeable slickness on my tongue that was hard to ignore.

Each pack contains two smaller sticks instead of one oversized one. It's a small touch that makes this brand perfect for sharing or for stretching the snack over two sittings without dealing with a half-wrapped meat log in your bag. If you're looking for a cleaner, beef-forward option, this is one of the better choices out there.

If you're surprised that a turkey stick landed this high on the list, you're not alone. Turkey is naturally much leaner than beef or pork, and that usually means less fat, which usually means less flavor, but Vermont Smoke and Cure flipped my expectation on its head with a perfect execution of spices and seasoning.

The flavor is spot-on pepperoni, with a savory, spicy, slightly smoky taste and a perfectly salted finish. It doesn't taste like a healthy alternative or a compromise; it just tastes like pepperoni. The spice blend is bold without being overwhelming, and it layers beautifully over the mild flavor of the turkey. Of all the sticks on the list, this one made the best use of spices by far.

The only area where the turkey shows its leaner nature is in the texture. Compared to beef or pork sticks, this one is drier and a little crumbly. It doesn't have the same chewy, cohesive bite as fattier meat sticks, but it's not unpleasant. And for those who don't love the greasiness that comes with traditional sticks, this might actually be a plus.

Finally, the deliciously salty finish to a meaty tasting. Chomps earned its spot at the top of the list by doing everything right, and doing it with style. The brand has carved out a niche for itself as the modern, healthy alternative to cheaper gas station brands with sleek, modern packaging and a heavy emphasis on health-conscious credentials like "paleo," "Whole30-approved," and "made with grass-fed beef."

The brand's slogan, "All the stick without the ick," is clever, not to mention accurate. It's a subtle jab at some of the more questionable meat logs that fill this category, many of which are greasy, overly processed, and full of additives. Chomps, by contrast, is clean, simple, and genuinely tasty.

The meat itself tastes high-quality and deeply savory, with a rich, beefy umami flavor. The seasoning blend is smart and balanced, with black pepper, red pepper flakes, coriander, and celery powder all working in harmony to lift the beef without stealing the spotlight. There's no sugar, no unnecessary filler, and the texture is firm but not dry, making it chewy in a satisfying, natural way. I will keep chomping.

To evaluate this wide range of meat sticks, I sourced products from both gas stations and health food stores. This allowed me to include everything from the classic, low-cost options you might grab during a road trip to higher-end, grass-fed, paleo-branded sticks marketed as health-conscious snacks. The goal was to cover a broad spectrum in terms of price, ingredients, and overall quality.

When tasting each stick, I looked for qualities like seasoning balance, meatiness, salt level, chew, aftertaste, and any lingering greasiness. I also considered whether each stick relied on things like MSG, citric acid, artificial smoke flavor, or dyes.

Finally, I ranked the sticks not only on taste but also on how well they lived up to their branding, whether they offered a distinct experience, and how likely I'd be to reach for them again. The goal wasn't just to find the best-tasting stick, but the most satisfying overall.