If you're trying to eat more protein and eat low carb, you'll love our list of 50+ high protein low carb foods that'll help you narrow down exactly what you can eat.
What's considered low carb can vary by person, some readers are looking for a strict keto plan and others are eating high protein low carb to build muscle and lose a little weight.
The majority of the items included on our high protein low carb foods list have 5 net carbs or less per serving. Enjoy!
Meats (Cooked) (All meats are naturally low carb)
- 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)
High protein low carb meat recipes to make for dinner tonight!
- Italian chicken sausage and peppers
- Sheet pan chicken and vegetables
- Italian turkey skillet with zucchini
- Air fryer boneless pork chops
- Healthy baked chicken breasts (boneless skinless)
Seafood (Cooked) (Seafood is naturally low carb)
- 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)
High protein low carb seafood recipes you'll love!
- Cold shrimp salad with Old Bay
- Tuna in avocado halves
- Fish taco bowl (with cod)
- Honey garlic air fryer salmon (feel free to reduce the honey even more to bring down the carbs!
Dairy (Low-carb options, some may vary by brand)
Lower carb dairy options are usually the low fat or full fat varieties. The less fat in your yogurts, cheeses, or cottage cheese, you'll have to balance that with higher carbs.
- Cottage Cheese: 28g protein (226g/1 cup) (4-6g net carbs per cup, check brand)
- Greek Yogurt (Plain, Unsweetened): 23g protein (245g/1 cup) (4-5g net carbs)
- Parmesan: 10g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Cheddar: 7g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Swiss: 7g protein (28g/1 oz)
- Mozzarella: 7g protein (28g/1 oz)
High protein low carb dairy recipes to try!
- Cottage cheese flatbread (3 flavors!)
- High protein yogurt bowl - coming. soon!
- Peanut butter frozen yogurt bark
- Cottage cheese buffalo chicken dip
Beans & Legumes (Cooked)
Beans generally are not included on a low carb diet, but that can depend based on how many carbs you're eating per day or what kinds of beans you eat.
Many people consider low carb as eating between 50-100 net carbs per day, a small portion of beans per day can easily fit into that. If you're on a stricter carb diet, then just skip the beans or only eat very low carb beans like black soybeans, lupini beans, or edamame.
The most common types of beans like black beans, pinto beans, and kidney beans are not low carb.
Lowest carb beans:
Black Soybeans
- Net Carbs: ~1g per ½ cup (85g, cooked)
- Protein: ~11g per ½ cup
Lupini Beans
- Net Carbs: ~4g per ½ cup (60g, cooked)
- Protein: ~12g per ½ cup
Mung Beans (in moderation)
- Net Carbs: ~6g per ½ cup (100g, cooked)
- Protein: ~7g per ½ cup
Edamame (Green Soybeans)
- Net Carbs: ~3-4g per ½ cup (85g, cooked)
- Protein: ~9g per ½ cup
Other Animal Products
- Turkey Stick: 12g protein (32g/1 stick)
- Chicken Bone Broth: 10g protein (240ml/1 cup) (~1g net carb)
- Beef Jerky: 9.4g protein (246g/1 cup) (Check for added sugar)
- Beef Bone Broth: 9g protein (240ml/1 cup) (~1g net carb)
- Pepperoni: 6g protein (15g/3 slices)
- Large Egg: 6g protein (50g/1 egg)
- Egg Whites: 3.6g protein (30g/1 egg)
High protein low carb egg recipes
- Starbucks egg white bites copycat recipe
- Healthy Greek breakfast casserole
- Air fryer hard boiled eggs
Vegetables (Cooked) (Low-carb vegetables)
- Spinach: 5g protein (180g/1 cup) (~2g net carbs)
- Collard Greens: 5g protein (170g/1 cup) (~4g net carbs)
- Broccoli: 4g protein (156g/1 cup) (~3g net carbs)
- Asparagus: 4g protein (180g/1 cup) (~3g net carbs)
- Brussels Sprouts: 4g protein (156g/1 cup) (~4-5g net carbs)
- Mustard Greens: 3g protein (140g/1 cup) (~2g net carbs)
- Kale: 2g protein (130g/1 cup) (~3g net carbs)
Fruits (Most fruits are not low carb; marginal options included)
- Avocado: 4g protein (200g/1 whole) (~2-3g net carbs)
- Blackberries: 2g protein (144g/1 cup) (~5g net carbs)
There are very few high protein fruits, but there are other low carb fruits like strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries! These all have about 1-1.5 grams of protein per cup.
Nuts & Seeds (Low-carb options)
- Chia Seeds: 4.7g protein (28g/1 oz) (~2g net carbs)
- Flaxseeds: 7.8g protein (28g/1 oz) (~1-2g net carbs)
- Pumpkin Seeds: 5.2g protein (28g/1 oz) (~2g net carbs)
- Almonds: 6g protein (28g/1 oz) (~2g net carbs)
- Pistachios: 5.8g protein (28g/1 oz) (~4-5g net carbs)
You'll for sure want to try our chocolate chia seed pudding if you love chia seeds! They work wonders for keeping us regular lol.
Curious about more low carb nut options? You'll want to read our lowest carb nuts list.
Other Soy Protein (Marginal low-carb options included)
- Seitan: 25g protein (100g/3 oz) (~4-6g net carbs, check brand)
- Tempeh: 20g protein (84g/3 oz) (~3g net carbs)
- Tofu, High Protein: 14g protein (84g/3 oz) (~2g net carbs)
- Soy Nuts: 10g protein (28g/1 oz) (~4g net carbs)
- Edamame: 9g protein (85g/1/2 cup) (~3-4g net carbs)
Grains (Cooked) (Most grains are not low carb)
- None included; grains are generally too high in carbs for low-carb diets.
Other
- Pea Protein: 27g protein (36g/2 scoops) (~1g net carb)
- Protein Powder, Whey: 24g protein (32g/1 scoop) (~1g net carb, check brand)
- Protein Powder, Vegan: 16-24g protein (32g/1 scoop) (~2-4g net carbs, check brand)
- Peanut Butter Powder: 8g protein (15g/1 scoop) (~2g net carbs)
- Peanut Butter: 8g protein (32g/2 Tbsp) (~3-4g net carbs)
- Almond Butter: 7g protein (32g/2 Tbsp) (~3-4g net carbs)
Be sure to try our Chocolate fudge protein balls!
More High Protein Low Carb Help!
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