if you're trying to get more protein in your life, you'll love our list of foods high in protein to help you get started. Better yet? We've made this a free printable pdf chart you can even download a handy reference sheet.
We've been focusing on a high protein low carb eating plan while losing weight and building muscle for over a year now. Eating more protein has seriously been a game changer!
We have TONS of high protein foods on our website, you'll especially love our post with 40 high protein meal prep recipes. It includes tons of healthy ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Benefits of eating more protein
Eating more protein comes with a ton of benefits for your body and overall health. It helps build and repair muscles, keeps you feeling fuller for longer, and even boosts your metabolism.
Protein can also help you keep your bones stronger and to maintain muscle mass as you get older.
Whether you're trying to lose a bit of weight, build strength or muscle, or just feel more energized, adding more protein to your meals is a great way to do that.
List of high protein foods
Please note, we didn't call this the "highest protein foods list" for a reason. Instead, we took the common food categories like meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, dairy, grains, nuts, popular snacks, and plant based options and created a list of the highest protein foods within each of those categories.
Meats (Cooked)
This is a list of the highest protein meats per serving. If you're trying to lose weight, sticking to the leaner cuts is a great way to do that.
- Chicken Breast: 31g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Turkey Breast: 29g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Ground Turkey: 28g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Duck: 27g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Lean Beef Steak: 26g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Lamb: 25g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Pork Chops: 25g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Ground Beef: 22g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
Seafood (Cooked)
- Tuna: 28g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Tilapia: 26g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Salmon: 25g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Sardines (canned): 25g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Shrimp: 24g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Swordfish: 23g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Red Snapper: 22g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
- Rockfish: 22g protein (100g/3.5 oz)
Dairy
Dairy contains a whopping amount of protein, especially Greek yogurt and cottage cheese. Whether you're buying full fat products, low fat, or nonfat, they all have a lot!
- Cottage Cheese: 28g protein (226g/1 cup)
- Greek Yogurt: 23g protein (245g/1 cup)
- Ricotta: 14g protein (124g/1/2 cup)
- Parmesan: 10g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Milk: 8g protein (245g/1 cup)
- Cheddar: 7g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Swiss: 7g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Mozzarella: 7g protein (28g/1 oz)
Beans & Legumes (Cooked)
Eating more beans and legumes is a fantastic way to add plant based protein and fiber to your diet, plus they're cheap too!
- Soybeans: 29g protein (172g/1 cup)
- Lentils: 18g protein (198g/1 cup)
- Peas (Split): 16g protein (198g/1 cup)
- Black Beans: 15g protein (172g/1 cup)
- Chickpeas: 15g protein (164g/1 cup)
- Kidney Beans: 15g protein (177g/1 cup)
- Navy Beans: 15g protein (182g/1 cup)
- Pinto Beans: 15g protein (171g/1 cup)
Other Animal Products
Other animal products include popular prepared meats that can be used as a snack or to supplement a meal. We've linked to some of our favorite products below.
- Turkey Stick: 12g protein (32g/1 stick)
- Chicken Bone Broth: 10g protein (240ml/1 cup)
- Beef Jerky: 9.4g protein (246g/1 cup)
- Beef Bone Broth: 9g protein (240ml/1 cup)
- Pepperoni: 6g protein (15g/3 slices)
- Large Egg: 6g protein (50g/1 egg)
- Egg Whites: 3.6g protein (30g/1 egg)
Other Soy Protein
If you're trying to cut back on animal protein sources, you can still get a whopping amount of protein each day by eating vegetable and plant based sources.
- Seitan: 25g protein (100g/3 oz)
- Tempeh: 20g protein (84g/3 oz)
- Tofu, High Protein: 14g protein (84g/3 oz)
- Texturized Soy Protein: 13g protein (25g/1/4 cup)
- Soy Nuts: 10g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Edamame: 9g protein (85g/1/2 cup)
- Soy Milk: 9g protein (240ml/1 cup)
- Tofu, Firm: 8g protein (25g/1/4 cup)
Vegetables (Cooked)
Vegetables and fruits on there own, don't really have a ton of protein. But a little adds up each day when combined with meats, seafood, grains, dairy, and plant based options.
- Spinach: 5g protein (180g/1 cup)
- Collard Greens: 5g protein (170g/1 cup)
- Broccoli: 4g protein (156g/1 cup)
- Asparagus: 4g protein (180g/1 cup)
- Brussel Sprouts: 4g protein (156g/1 cup)
- Artichokes: 4g protein (120g/1 cup)
- Mustard Greens: 3g protein (140g/1 cup)
- Kale: 2g protein (130g/1 cup)
Fruits
- Guava: 4.2g protein (165g/1 cup)
- Avocado: 4g protein (200g/1 whole)
- Raisins: 3g protein (65g/1/2 cup)
- Jack fruit, sliced: 2.8g protein (165g/1 cup)
- Blackberries: 2g protein (144g/1 cup)
- Apricots (Dried): 2.7g protein (65g/1/4 cup)
- Dates: 1.8g protein (49g/1/4 cup)
Nuts & Seeds
Eat in moderation since nuts and seeds are higher in fat, one serving per day is recommended.
- Peanuts: 7.3g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Almonds: 6g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Pistachios: 5.8g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Sunflower Seeds: 5.5g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Flax Seeds: 5.2g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Pumpkin Seeds: 5.2g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Cashews: 5.2g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Chia Seeds: 4.7g protein (28g/1 oz)
Grains (Cooked)
- Spelt: 11g protein (194g/1 cup)
- Teff: 10g protein (252g/1 cup)
- Amaranth: 9g protein (246g/1 cup)
- Quinoa: 8g protein (185g/1 cup)
- Sorghum: 8g protein (192g/1 cup)
- Wild Rice: 7g protein (164g/1 cup)
- Oats: 6g protein (234g/1 cup)
- Millet: 6g protein (174g/1 cup)
Other
While it would be lovely if we all had time to eat natural whole foods for every meal, our on-the-go lifestyles make that pretty hard to do. Here's a list of additional items we recommend that make great snacks or will give you an extra boost of protein.
We've linked to our favorite products below that we buy and love ourselves.
- Pea Protein: 27g protein (36g/2 scoops)
- Protein Powder, Whey: 24g protein (32g/1 scoop)
- Protein Powder, Vegan: 16-24g protein (32g/1 scoop)
- Barebells Bars: 20g protein (55g/1 bar)
- RX Bars: 12g protein (52g/1 bar)
- Peanut Butter Powder: 8g protein (15g/1 scoop)
- Peanut Butter: 8g protein (32g/2 Tbsp)
- Almond Butter: 7g protein (32g/2 Tbsp)
Get the high protein foods list printable!
Feel free to print off this list or even take screenshots for your phone. If you'd like a cutesy and demure high-protein printable, you can get it as a free bonus when signing up for our healthy high-protein email list!
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