Protein in chicken breast, thigh, beef, and fish — raw vs cooked

Protein in chicken breast is about 31 g per 100 g cooked, and about 23 g per 100 g raw. Cooking adds no protein — it drives off water, concentrating what's already there. A typical 6 oz (170 g) raw breast finishes near 125 g cooked and delivers roughly 39 g.

Protein in chicken breast, raw versus cooked

Two numbers, and they are not interchangeable:

• Raw, boneless skinless: ~23 g protein, ~120 kcal per 100 g
• Cooked (roasted or grilled), boneless skinless: ~31 g protein, ~165 kcal per 100 g

Raw chicken breast is about 75% water. Dry heat drives off a quarter to a third of that weight, packing the same protein into less mass — the denominator shrank, not the protein.

Yield depends on method: roasted or grilled to 165°F usually finishes at 70–75% of raw weight, poached or sous-vide holds above 80%, and a hard-seared, overcooked breast drops below 65% — which is why it reads higher per gram and eats like a hockey puck. Skin-on breast is close on protein and worse on calories: roughly 30 g protein and 197 kcal per 100 g cooked.

The raw-versus-cooked trap that inflates most logs

This is the most common protein-logging error, and it runs one direction: too high.

Weigh 200 g of raw breast, cook it, then log "200 g chicken breast, cooked." The entry credits you 62 g of protein. You ate 46 g. About a quarter of what you logged was never on the plate.

The reverse — weighing cooked meat against a raw entry — undercounts by a similar margin. Both come from mixing states, not bad data.

The fix is a rule, not arithmetic. Weigh raw and use raw entries, or weigh after cooking and use cooked entries. If you batch-cook, weigh the tray raw, weigh it again cooked, and divide — that yield, for your cut in your oven, beats any published table.

That gap is the concrete argument for weighing a portion instead of estimating it. Protein Tracker is a protein tracking app for iPhone, and its serving entries let you log the weight you actually measured rather than a "one breast" guess that can be 50 g off in either direction.

Protein per 100 g cooked, ranked by protein per calorie

Every row is cooked weight — no skin, no breading, no sauce. The last column matters most when calories are capped.

Food (100 g cooked)	Protein	Calories	Protein per 100 kcal
Shrimp	24 g	99	24 g
Turkey breast, skinless	30 g	135	22 g
Canned light tuna in water, drained	24 g	110	22 g
Chicken breast, skinless	31 g	165	19 g
Ground beef, 93/7	26 g	172	15 g
Chicken thigh, skinless	26 g	209	12 g
Ground beef, 85/15	26 g	215	12 g
Salmon, farmed Atlantic	25 g	206	12 g
Ground beef, 80/20	26 g	254	10 g

The protein column is nearly flat — every row lands between 24 and 31 g per 100 g. Fat is what separates them, so the last column is really a fat ranking wearing a different hat.

Protein in a chicken thigh, and whether the trade is worth it

Boneless skinless thigh runs about 26 g protein and 209 kcal per 100 g cooked — 5 g less protein, 44 more calories than breast. One average thigh is 80–95 g raw, cooking down to 60–70 g for 16–18 g of protein — two thighs swap fairly for one breast.

For muscle the difference is trivial; the amino acid profiles are close enough that neither cut has an edge. Breast wins on calories, thigh wins on forgiveness.

Protein in ground beef at three fat levels

Protein in ground beef barely moves across fat grades once cooked — 25–26 g per 100 g whether you started with 93/7 or 80/20 — because browning renders out fat along with water. Calories are what separate them: roughly 172, 215, and 254 kcal per 100 g cooked.

Draining matters more than the label: pan-browned 80/20, drained and blotted, lands nearer 85/15, while the same beef simmered into a sauce keeps all its fat. Package numbers are raw — a quarter-pound (113 g) raw 85/15 patty cooks to about 85 g for roughly 22 g of protein.

Fish and shellfish: salmon, shrimp, and canned tuna

Protein in salmon is about 25 g per 100 g cooked for farmed Atlantic, at roughly 206 kcal. Wild species run leaner — commonly 25–27 g of protein for 150–190 kcal. Salmon's calories come from fat, which makes it a weaker pick on a hard cut.

Shrimp is the outlier: about 24 g of protein for 99 kcal cooked, with essentially no fat — nothing else on a normal shopping list touches it on protein per calorie.

Canned tuna protein depends on the pack. Light tuna (skipjack) in water runs roughly 22–25 g per 100 g drained; white albacore sits a little higher on protein and calories. Brands vary enough that the can label beats any table — a standard 5 oz can, drained, usually totals 26–28 g.

Protein in turkey breast, the leanest common bird

Roast turkey breast without skin is about 30 g of protein for 135 kcal per 100 g — the best protein-per-calorie ratio of any everyday poultry cut, chicken breast included. Deli turkey is a different food: brined and pumped, its protein per 100 g often falls to 15–20 g while sodium climbs. Use the package label.

Portions when you don't own a scale

Rough cooked-weight equivalents:

• Chicken breast, one medium: 170–200 g raw → 125–145 g cooked → 39–45 g protein
• Chicken thigh, boneless skinless, one: ~85 g raw → ~65 g cooked → ~17 g
• Quarter-pound burger, 85/15: 113 g raw → ~85 g cooked → ~22 g
• Salmon fillet, restaurant portion: 170 g raw → ~140 g cooked → ~35 g
• Shrimp, a dozen medium: ~85 g cooked → ~20 g
• Canned tuna, one 5 oz can drained: ~110 g → ~26 g
• Palm or deck of cards: ~85–100 g cooked → ~25–30 g for a lean cut

Eyeballing runs 20–30% high on average — fine at maintenance, not fine when you're chasing how much protein to build muscle inside a fixed calorie budget.

Choosing for a cut or a bulk

On a cut, calories bind, so read the last column: shrimp, turkey breast, tuna in water, and chicken breast all clear roughly 19 g of protein per 100 kcal. Dairy and plant sources shift the math again — scan the wider list of high protein foods before committing to chicken five nights a week.

On a bulk the ranking inverts: thigh, 80/20 beef, and salmon bring calories along with the protein, a feature when you're trying to eat 3,000 kcal a day. The target doesn't change with the cut — see how much protein do I need for setting that number.

FAQ

How much protein in chicken breast if I don't weigh it?

A medium supermarket breast is 170–200 g raw, cooking down to 125–145 g for roughly 39–45 g of protein — a 15 g swing between breasts.

Does cooking destroy protein in chicken?

No. Heat denatures protein — unfolds its structure — but the amino acids survive and digest just as well. The per-100 g number rises because water left, not because protein arrived.

Should I weigh chicken raw or cooked?

Either, as long as the entry matches the state. Raw is more consistent since cooking yield swings with method — what you can't do is weigh raw and log cooked.

Which has more protein, chicken breast or salmon?

Chicken breast, by about 6 g per 100 g cooked (31 g versus 25 g), and by more per calorie. Salmon's advantage sits elsewhere — fat-soluble nutrients and omega-3s chicken doesn't supply.

Is canned tuna as good a protein source as fresh fish?

For protein, yes: roughly 22–25 g per 100 g drained is on par with cooked fresh fish, no cooking or scale required. Favor light tuna over albacore if you eat it often — it carries less mercury.