High protein foods, ranked by protein per serving

Per serving, the highest protein foods are lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, and soy — 4 oz of cooked chicken breast gives you about 35 g. But high protein foods split into two groups: dense sources that deliver protein cheaply in calories, and merely large ones that bring calories along. The table below shows both.

Read every protein number two ways

Most databases list protein per 100 g of raw weight, which flatters almost everything. Meat loses roughly a quarter of its weight to cooking, so 100 g of raw chicken breast lands on the plate at about 75 g. Legumes go the other way — dry beans roughly double or triple once cooked. Comparing raw to cooked is how a high protein foods list ends up ranking things nobody actually eats in that state.

So every number below is per realistic serving: 4 oz of cooked meat or fish, one cup of cooked legumes, one large egg.

The second number — protein per 100 calories — is what decides whether a food fits your day. Chicken breast and peanut butter both "have protein." Chicken breast carries about 19 g per 100 calories. Peanut butter carries about 4. On a 2,000-calorie day, reaching 150 g of protein out of foods in the 4 g range is arithmetically impossible. Anything above roughly 15 g per 100 calories is what lets a high-protein diet fit inside a calorie ceiling. For setting the target itself, see how much protein you need per day.

High protein foods ranked by protein per serving

Food	Serving	Protein	Per 100 cal
Chicken breast, skinless	4 oz cooked (113 g)	35 g	19 g
Top sirloin, trimmed	4 oz cooked	35 g	17 g
Turkey breast, skinless	4 oz cooked	34 g	22 g
Ground beef, 93/7	4 oz cooked	31 g	14 g
Pork tenderloin	4 oz cooked	30 g	18 g
Cottage cheese, 1%	1 cup (226 g)	28 g	17 g
Ground beef, 80/20	4 oz cooked	28 g	10 g
Shrimp	4 oz cooked	27 g	24 g
Cod, haddock, other white fish	4 oz cooked	26 g	22 g
Tuna, canned in water	1 can drained (112 g)	25 g	23 g
Salmon, farmed Atlantic	4 oz cooked	25 g	11 g
Whey protein powder	1 scoop (~30 g)	24 g	20 g
Sardines, canned in water	1 can drained (92 g)	21 g	16 g
Seitan	3 oz (85 g)	21 g	19 g
Greek yogurt, nonfat	3/4 cup (170 g)	18 g	20 g
Edamame, shelled	1 cup (155 g)	18 g	10 g
Lentils	1 cup cooked (198 g)	18 g	8 g
Tempeh	3 oz (85 g)	16 g	10 g
Black beans	1 cup cooked (172 g)	15 g	7 g
Chickpeas	1 cup cooked (164 g)	15 g	5 g
Tofu, firm	3.5 oz (100 g)	10–17 g	~12 g
Egg whites	3 large (~100 g)	11 g	21 g
Pumpkin seeds	1 oz (28 g)	9 g	5 g
Skim milk	1 cup	8 g	10 g
Quinoa	1 cup cooked (185 g)	8 g	4 g
Whole-wheat pasta	1 cup cooked	8 g	4 g
Cheddar cheese	1 oz (28 g)	7 g	6 g
Peanut butter	2 tbsp (32 g)	7 g	4 g
Egg, whole	1 large	6 g	9 g
Almonds	1 oz (28 g)	6 g	4 g
Rolled oats	1/2 cup dry (40 g)	5 g	3 g

Values are typical for cooked, ready-to-eat portions. Brands vary most for tofu, seitan, jerky, and protein powder — check the label on those four.

Two things fall out of the last column. Density tops out near 20–24 g per 100 calories, because at that point the food is close to pure protein and there's nowhere further to go. And the two rankings disagree constantly: salmon and 80/20 ground beef sit high on grams and low on density, since fat is riding along. A single large egg looks weak at 6 g, but nobody eats one — three eggs is 19 g.

If you'd rather not re-check a table at every meal, Protein Tracker is a protein tracking app for iPhone, and its food list runs on these same per-serving figures, so you log "4 oz chicken breast" instead of looking the number up again.

Lean meats carry high protein for the fewest calories

Fat content, not the animal, drives density. Same 4 oz cooked: 80/20 ground beef is 28 g at about 290 calories, 93/7 is 31 g at about 215, a skinless chicken breast is 35 g at about 185. Trading fattier cuts for leaner ones moves protein density further than any single food swap. Salmon is the honest exception — its fat is the reason to eat it.

Cuts that stay dense: skinless poultry breast, pork tenderloin, top sirloin, eye of round, 93/7 or leaner ground meat, all white fish, shrimp, scallops, and canned tuna or salmon packed in water rather than oil.

High protein snacks that actually hold up

A snack earns its slot if it clears about 10 g of protein without pushing 250 calories.

• 1 cup 1% cottage cheese — 28 g, ~160 cal
• Nonfat Greek yogurt cup — 18 g, ~90 cal
• A 2.6 oz tuna pouch — ~17 g, ~80 cal
• 2 hard-boiled eggs — 13 g, ~145 cal
• 2 oz sliced turkey breast — ~11 g, ~60 cal
• 1 oz beef jerky — 9–12 g, 80–120 cal; teriyaki and honey styles add several grams of sugar
• Shelled edamame, 1 cup — 18 g, ~190 cal
• String cheese — 7 g, ~80 cal, though at ~6 g per 100 calories it's a fat snack that happens to help

Roasted chickpeas and most "protein" chips fail the test. Six grams at 120–150 calories is a carb snack with a claim printed on the front.

High protein low calorie foods for a deficit

When calories are capped, only the top of the density column matters. At or above roughly 18 g per 100 calories: egg whites, cod, haddock, pollock, tilapia, shrimp, canned tuna in water, nonfat Greek yogurt, skyr, skinless chicken and turkey breast, whey isolate, and seitan. Low-fat cottage cheese sits just under at 17.

The practical version: 6 oz of white fish plus a cup of nonfat Greek yogurt is more than 55 g of protein for under 350 calories. Getting the same 55 g from ribeye and cheddar runs past 900.

Legumes still belong in a deficit for the fiber and the fullness, but read them honestly — a cup of chickpeas costs 270 calories for 15 g. That's a carb source with protein attached.

Foods with an undeserved high-protein reputation

• Peanut butter — 7 g per 2 tbsp at 190 calories. It's a fat source. Defatted peanut butter powder shifts the ratio to roughly 6 g per 60 calories, which makes it a genuinely different food.
• Almonds, cashews, walnuts — 4–6 g per ounce at 160–185 calories. Nuts are not a protein strategy.
• Quinoa — the "complete protein" line is true and misleading. Eight grams per cooked cup at 220 calories puts it in the same neighborhood as pasta.
• Oat milk — usually 1–3 g per cup. Dairy milk is 8, soy milk 7. Anyone who switched milks for protein reasons switched the wrong way.
• Bone broth — around 9 g per cup, but it's collagen, which contains no tryptophan and can't carry a meal's amino acid needs alone.
• Bacon — 3 g per slice at 45 calories. It's a seasoning.

Plant versus animal sources

Most plant proteins are digested and used slightly less efficiently than animal ones, and several run short on one amino acid: legumes on methionine, grains and nuts on lysine. Soy is the exception. Tofu, tempeh, edamame, and soy milk carry a full amino acid profile and enough leucine to anchor a meal the way meat or dairy does.

In practice that means spreading protein across every meal, using soy and seitan as the anchors, pairing legumes with grains over the course of a day rather than fussing per plate, and setting a somewhat higher daily total — adding around 10% is the usual adjustment for lower digestibility.

FAQ

What foods are high in protein?

Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, soy, and legumes. Within that group, the leanest versions carry the most per calorie: skinless poultry breast, white fish, shrimp, canned tuna, egg whites, nonfat Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and seitan all land near 20 g of protein per 100 calories.

Which foods have the most protein per serving?

A 4 oz cooked serving of chicken breast, top sirloin, or turkey breast leads at 34–35 g. A cup of 1% cottage cheese (28 g) and a 4 oz cooked shrimp serving (27 g) are close behind. Foods with the most protein per serving are nearly always meat, fish, or a concentrated dairy product.

What are the best high protein snacks?

The ones that clear 10 g without reaching 250 calories: cottage cheese, a Greek yogurt cup, a tuna pouch, sliced turkey, two hard-boiled eggs, edamame, or jerky. Skip anything marketed as a protein snack that delivers under 10 g — read the panel, not the front.

Is quinoa a good protein source?

It's a decent grain, not a protein food. A cooked cup gives 8 g for 220 calories, about the same density as whole-wheat pasta. It does contain all nine essential amino acids, which is why the reputation stuck, but the amount per serving is too small to build a meal on.

Can you hit a high protein target without meat?

Yes, though it takes more deliberate planning. Soy foods, seitan, dairy, eggs, and legumes cover it — a day built on tofu, tempeh, Greek yogurt, lentils, and edamame reaches 120–150 g without difficulty. Fully plant-based eaters usually raise the daily target slightly and lean on soy and seitan, which are the densest options available.