What it is
Protein is a nutrient measured in grams. Meat, fish, eggs and dairy carry a lot of it, and so do legumes, nuts, seeds and grains. This page answers two questions: what foods are high in protein, and which give the most protein for each dollar, so you can find cheap foods high in protein. A food can be high in protein per 100 g and still cost a lot per gram. The ranking below divides protein by price, so affordable foods with plenty of protein rise to the top.
What foods are high in protein?
Per 100 g, the highest values are in soybeans (dry), pumpkin seeds (pepitas) and peanuts. By food group, Legumes has the highest average, at 23.3 g per 100 g.
- Per 100 g36.5 gSoybeans (dry)
- Per 100 g30.2 gPumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- Per 100 g25.8 gPeanuts
Highest per 100 g of the 155 foods on this site.
Protein per dollar
Each food's protein per kg is divided by its price per kg in your location, so the list shows how much protein $1 buys. For the bone-in cuts marked with *, I first multiply by the share that is meat. Foods with no price for your location are left out.
| Rank | Food | g per $1 |
|---|
Checking prices.
Approximate. Adjusted for the share of the cut that is meat rather than bone. See how I estimate this.
Notes and limits
All 155 foods on this site have a protein value in USDA FoodData Central. Values are per 100 g of each food as described in its USDA entry, such as raw or dry.