Cost per 30 Grams of Protein: 40 Common Fitness Foods Ranked by Price

If you want the cheapest protein, the answer in India is dry soya chunks, then dals, besan and atta, then eggs and chicken, with whey powder further down. The cost per 30g protein for soya chunks works out to roughly Rs 8 on typical retail prices, against about Rs 30 for eggs, Rs 50 for chicken breast and Rs 90 for whey concentrate.

That ranking surprises people who assume powder is always the budget option. This article is part of our high-protein foods and meal prep cost guide, and it does one job: put 40 common gym foods on the same price scale so you can shop with numbers, not marketing.

How we calculate cost per 30 g of protein

Price per kg is useless for comparing foods, because a kilo of chicken and a kilo of soya chunks carry very different amounts of protein. The fix is simple. Work out how much food gives you 30 g of protein, then price that amount.

Why 30 g? It is a typical protein serving at a meal, which makes comparisons easy to picture. It is not a biological ceiling. What research links to muscle gain is total daily protein: one large meta-analysis of 49 trials (1,863 participants) found that protein supplementation improved strength and fat-free mass during resistance training, and that intakes above about 1.6 g/kg/day gave no further gain in fat-free mass (Morton et al., 2018). For a 70 kg lifter that is about 112 g a day, or roughly four portions of 30 g.

Which foods give the cheapest protein per gram?

Here are 14 of the 40 foods from the full table, drawn to scale.

Three patterns stand out.

Dry soya chunks are in a class of their own. About 58 g of dry chunks gives 30 g of protein, for roughly Rs 8. That is why soya keeps showing up in budget lifter diets. We cover its protein profile and safety questions in our soya chunks guide.

Dals and flours beat meat on price. Masoor, chana, moong and urad dal land at about Rs 12-17 per 30 g. Even atta, a staple you already buy, delivers protein at about Rs 12 per 30 g, though you need over 270 g of it to get there, which is a lot of calories.

Whey is not the cheap option here. Many lifters assume powder is the cheapest protein. In India, at about Rs 2,400 per kg for an 80% concentrate, that is roughly Rs 90 per 30 g, well above eggs and chicken. In markets where chicken is expensive and whey is discounted, the order can flip. Whey earns its place through convenience and low calories, which we weigh in whey concentrate vs isolate.

Full table: 40 foods ranked by cost per 30 g protein

Prices are illustrative rupees per kg as bought (raw or dry). “Food for 30 g” is the raw or dry weight of the food.

Rank	Food	Protein per 100 g (approx.)	Rs per kg (illustrative)	Food for 30 g	Rs per 30 g
1	Soya chunks (dry)	52 g	140	58 g	8
2	Masoor dal (dry)	25 g	100	120 g	12
3	Atta (wheat flour)	11 g	45	273 g	12
4	Besan (gram flour)	22 g	100	136 g	14
5	Chana dal (dry)	21 g	110	143 g	16
6	Moong dal (dry)	24 g	130	125 g	16
7	Kala chana (dry)	20 g	110	150 g	17
8	Urad dal (dry)	25 g	140	120 g	17
9	Peanuts (raw)	25 g	140	120 g	17
10	Sattu	20 g	120	150 g	18
11	Roasted chana (bhuna)	20 g	130	150 g	20
12	Toor dal (dry)	22 g	150	136 g	21
13	Rajma (dry)	22 g	150	136 g	21
14	Rice (raw)	7 g	60	429 g	26
15	Rolled oats	13 g	120	231 g	28
16	Whole egg	12.6 g	127 (about Rs 7 each)	238 g (about 4-5 eggs)	30
17	Skimmed milk powder	35 g	380	86 g	33
18	Chicken thigh, boneless (raw)	19 g	300	158 g	47
19	Peanut butter	25 g	400	120 g	48
20	Rohu fish (edible, raw)	17 g	280	176 g	49
21	Buffalo meat (raw; legal status varies by state)	21 g	350	143 g	50
22	Chicken breast (raw)	23 g	400	130 g	52
23	Toned milk	3.2 g	56	938 g	53
24	Mackerel/bangda (edible)	18 g	350	167 g	58
25	Egg whites (yolks discarded)	10.9 g	about 212 (whites from Rs 7 eggs)	275 g (whites of about 8 eggs)	58
26	Curd (dahi)	3.5 g	70	857 g	60
27	Green peas (frozen)	5 g	100	600 g	60
28	Paneer (full-fat)	18 g	400	167 g	67
29	Pea protein powder (80%)	80 g	2,000	38 g	75
30	Greek yogurt	9 g	250	333 g	83
31	Whey concentrate (80%)	80 g	2,400	38 g	90
32	Tofu (firm)	10 g	300	300 g	90
33	Pumpkin seeds	30 g	900	100 g	90
34	Prawns (raw)	19 g	600	158 g	95
35	Quinoa (dry)	14 g	500	214 g	107
36	Almonds	21 g	800	143 g	114
37	Mutton (boneless, raw)	19 g	800	158 g	126
38	Whey isolate (90%)	90 g	4,500	33 g	150
39	Canned tuna (drained)	24 g	1,400	125 g	175
40	Makhana	10 g	1,000	300 g	300

Read the table the way a coach would, not an accountant. A few rows are cheap but impractical: you would have to eat 429 g of raw rice for 30 g of protein, which is about 1,500 kcal. Others, like curd and milk, are valuable mostly for what else they bring (calcium, taste, an easy way to spread protein through the day).

Cheap is not the whole story: calories, quality and digestion

Three caveats keep the cost ranking honest.

Calories come along for the ride. Thirty grams of protein from chicken breast or whey is a modest number of calories. Thirty grams from peanuts, peanut butter, paneer or almonds brings a lot of fat with it. If you are cutting, that changes the real cost of staying in a deficit. During energy restriction, resistance-trained lean athletes likely need higher protein, an estimated 2.3-3.1 g/kg of fat-free mass in one systematic review of just six studies (Helms et al., 2014), which makes lean, protein-dense foods more valuable than the rupee figure alone suggests.

Protein quality differs, but less than people fear. A pig study measuring digestibility found most indispensable amino acids in whey and milk protein concentrates were digested better than in skimmed milk powder, soya, pea and wheat (Mathai et al., 2017). That is an animal model, and cooking and processing improve plant digestibility, which is one criticism of the scoring method itself (Craddock et al., 2021). In people lifting weights, a meta-analysis of 9 studies and 266 participants found soy and animal protein supplementation produced similar gains in strength and lean mass (Messina et al., 2018). The sample is small and limited to supplement-based trials, so treat it as encouraging rather than final. For the deeper debate, see plant vs animal protein for muscle.

Raw and cooked weights differ. The table uses dry or raw weights, because that is what you pay for. If you track cooked food, the numbers shift, as covered in our food scale guide.

How to build a cheap high protein grocery list

A practical approach is to buy a cheap base, then add a few higher-quality “anchors.”

• Base (cheapest grams): soya chunks, masoor or chana dal, besan, peanuts, roti and rice.
• Anchors (quality and variety): eggs, curd, milk, skimmed milk powder, and chicken or fish if you eat them.
• Convenience (optional): whey, bought on discount, for days with no time to cook.

A simple day for a vegetarian lifter aiming near 110 g might be: dal with roti (about 25-30 g), soya chunk curry (30 g), curd or milk through the day (about 15-20 g), a peanut and roasted chana snack (about 15 g), and a scoop of whey or two more eggs if you eat eggs. That is a plausible shape, not a prescription, so adjust to your appetite and budget. For a full rupee-capped plan, see our Rs 100 a day, 120 g protein diet, and for rankings by protein per calorie see the top 30 high-protein foods. Vegetarians can also compare leucine content in our vegetarian food list.

Who should be careful

Most healthy adults can use all of these foods. Check with a doctor or registered dietitian first if you have kidney disease, a soy or peanut allergy, gout or a diagnosed digestive condition, because very high protein intakes or specific foods may not suit you. If soya chunks or dals cause persistent bloating or discomfort, soak and cook them longer, reduce portions, and see a doctor if symptoms continue.

The bottom line

On Indian prices, protein is cheapest from soya chunks and dals, then eggs and chicken, and priciest from nuts, seafood and premium powders. That ranking is useful, but it is a starting point: the best protein budget is one that mixes cheap staples with a few quality foods you enjoy and gets you to roughly 1.6 g/kg a day.

Work out your own number with the protein calculator, then use the free diet plan to turn it into meals.