High-Protein Foods List: Protein per 100g, Cost per 30g and Meal Prep Guide

The best high protein foods list is not one list. It is three: foods that pack the most protein into the fewest calories (chicken breast, tuna, Greek yogurt, tofu), foods that give you the most protein per rupee (soya chunks, chana, peanuts, dal), and foods you will still enjoy in week six. Pick from all three and you will hit your number without a supplement budget.

This is the reference page. It covers protein per 100 g, protein per 100 calories, cost per 30 g of protein, how raw and cooked weights differ, and a 3-hour batch cook. It sits beside our theory pages on how much protein you actually need and the Indian high-protein nutrition guide, so I will not repeat the requirements debate here. First, a target. Run your weight through the protein calculator, then come back and shop for it.

How much protein should this list actually deliver?

You need a target before a food list means anything. The International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) position stand says 1.4-2.0 g of protein per kg of body weight a day is sufficient for most exercising people (Jäger et al., 2017). A meta-analysis of 49 trials found that extra protein beyond about 1.6 g/kg/day gave no further gain in fat-free mass in people doing resistance training (Morton et al., 2018).

So a 70 kg lifter is looking at roughly 100-140 g a day. Lean, trained people in a hard calorie deficit may need more: a systematic review of six studies suggested 2.3-3.1 g/kg of fat-free mass (Helms et al., 2014). That is a small, specialised evidence base, so treat it as a ceiling to consider, not a rule.

Top high protein foods list: protein per 100 g

Here is the protein per 100 g chart. The values marked with a source are USDA FoodData Central reference entries I checked; the rest are typical pack values, rounded, and they vary by brand. Always trust your own label over a table.

Food (per 100 g)	Protein (g)	Energy (kcal)	Protein per 100 kcal (g)
Chicken breast, cooked (braised)	32.1	157	20.4
Chicken breast, raw	22.5	n/a here	n/a here
Tuna, canned in water, drained	19.0	90	21.1
Greek yogurt, plain, nonfat	10.3	61	16.9
Cottage cheese, 2% fat	11.0	84	13.1
Tofu, firm (calcium sulfate)	17.3	144	12.0
Egg, whole, raw	12.6	143	8.8
Salmon, farmed, raw	20.4	208	9.8
Soya chunks, dry (typical pack)	~50	~340	~15
Paneer (typical)	~18	~265	~7
Moong or toor dal, dry (typical)	~22-24	~340	~6-7
Chana, dry (typical)	~19-20	~360	~5
Peanuts (typical)	~25	~565	~4-5

The protein per 100 kcal column does the heavy lifting on a cut. Chicken breast, tuna and Greek yogurt are all around 17-21 g per 100 kcal, while paneer, dal and peanuts sit at 7 or below because they carry carbohydrate or fat alongside the protein. That is not a reason to avoid them. It is a reason to know what you are buying.

A word on “dry” versus “cooked”. Dal and chana in the table are dry weights. Once cooked, 100 g of boiled dal holds a fraction of that protein, because it has soaked up water. This is the single biggest source of confusion when people compare dal with chicken, and the next sections deal with it.

Which foods keep you full? Top 30 by satiety and protein density

I will not pretend there is one validated “top 30 by satiety” ranking. Satiety depends on protein, fibre, volume and how much you like the food. What the evidence does support is that higher-protein diets help with weight management: a meta-analysis of 37 studies in adults with excess weight found about 1.6 kg more weight loss on higher-protein diets than controls (Hansen et al., 2021). Those were weight outcomes, not satiety measurements, so treat protein as helpful, not magic.

In practice, the filling picks are:

• Lean animal protein: chicken breast, fish, tuna, egg whites, lean mutton.
• Dairy: hung curd, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, chenna, skimmed milk.
• Soy: tofu, soya chunks, soy milk.
• Pulses: moong, masoor, chana, rajma, lobia, sprouts.
• Seeds, nuts and others: peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sattu, quinoa (small amounts).

For the full ranked version with protein per calorie, see top 30 high-protein foods ranked by protein per calorie. The two veg and non-veg deep dives are 25 high-protein vegetarian foods with macros and leucine and 25 high-protein non-vegetarian foods and lean meats. For cutting, high-volume, low-calorie foods tells you how to fill the plate; for bulking, calorie-dense foods for hardgainers does the opposite.

Vegetarian versus non-vegetarian: does the source matter?

Short answer: a bit, less than the internet says. A 2021 meta-analysis of 16 trials found that protein source did not change absolute lean mass or strength, but animal protein favoured percent lean mass, particularly in adults under 50 (about 0.41 kg more absolute lean mass) (Lim et al., 2021). The authors flag that total protein intakes were generally high at baseline, so these results may not apply to people eating little protein.

On soy specifically, a meta-analysis of nine studies (266 participants) found soy protein supplementation gave similar strength and lean mass gains to whey and other animal proteins during resistance training (Messina et al., 2018). Both of these look at supplementation over at least six weeks, not a whole vegetarian diet.

Why do plant proteins have a reputation as weaker? Digestibility and amino acid scores. A pig study comparing proteins found whey and milk proteins had higher digestibility of most essential amino acids than pea, soy and wheat (Mathai et al., 2017). Pigs are not people, so read that as a hint. A modelling paper (not a trial) estimated that a fully plant-based diet scaled to rugby players’ calorie needs could meet protein and leucine targets for muscle growth (Goldman et al., 2024).

The Indian vegetarian combination plays to this. Dal with rice or roti, curd or paneer on the side, and soya or tofu once a day gives a spread of amino acids without any special product. Our deep dives on soya chunks, paneer, dals and pulses and eggs cover each one.

What is the cheapest protein per gram? Cost per 30 g of protein

This is the table that gets saved and screenshotted, so I want to be careful: the prices below are illustrative mid-range Indian prices, not a market survey. They will be off in your city by 10-30 percent, and soya, dal and chicken swing with the season. Use the method, not my numbers.

Method: price per kg ÷ grams of protein per kg, times 30. Protein per kg is the label percentage times 10.

Food	Illustrative price	Typical protein	Approx. cost per 30 g protein
Soya chunks (dry)	Rs 140/kg	~52 g/100 g	Rs 8
Chana (dry)	Rs 100/kg	~20 g/100 g	Rs 15
Peanuts	Rs 130/kg	~25 g/100 g	Rs 16
Toor dal (dry)	Rs 150/kg	~22 g/100 g	Rs 21
Chicken breast (raw)	Rs 260/kg	22.5 g/100 g	Rs 35
Eggs	Rs 7 each	~6 g each	Rs 35
Milk	Rs 60/litre	~3.3 g/100 ml	Rs 55
Curd	Rs 70/kg	~3.5 g/100 g	Rs 60
Paneer	Rs 380/kg	~18 g/100 g	Rs 63
Whey protein	Rs 2,500/kg	~75-80%	Rs 96

Two honest caveats. First, dry weights flatter the plant foods: you cook them in water, and protein quality and digestibility are somewhat lower than in animal foods. Second, cheap is not the same as easy. Eating 30 g of protein from dal alone means a very large bowl, and the carbohydrates come with it. Mixed plates win.

My usual advice is to anchor the day on one cheap workhorse (soya, dal, chana or eggs), add one convenience protein (curd, paneer, chicken) and use whey only when food leaves a gap. A longer comparison is in cost per 30 g of protein: economic comparison of foods, and the tight-budget version is eating healthy on a student budget.

Raw vs cooked meat weight: what changes and what does not

Cooking does not make protein vanish. It drives water out of meat and draws water into rice, dal and pasta. Protein per 100 g of food changes because the weight changes.

USDA FoodData Central lists skinless chicken breast at 22.5 g protein per 100 g raw and 32.1 g per 100 g cooked (braised). The cooked piece weighs less, so each 100 g of it is more concentrated. From those two numbers, braised breast lost roughly 30 percent of its weight, though the exact figure changes with method, time and cut.

The rules I would follow:

1. Meat: weigh raw when you can. If you must weigh cooked, use cooked values for that cut and cooking method.
2. Rice, dal, pasta: these gain weight. 100 g of dry dal becomes roughly two to three times heavier when cooked, which is why cooked dal has only a few grams of protein per 100 g.
3. Mixed dishes: weigh the whole pot once, note the total, then portion by weight. That avoids guessing what is in each spoonful.
4. Be consistent. An error that is the same every day cancels out. An error that keeps changing does not.

Our dedicated guide food scale mastery: raw vs cooked weight differences goes through the common Indian staples.

Meal prep for beginners: a 3-hour weekly batch cook

Meal prep is not a personality. It is a way to stop deciding what to eat at 9 pm when you are tired and a delivery app is open. Here is a simple Sunday structure for roughly 8-10 lunches and dinners.

The formula: one carb, two proteins, one vegetable base.

• Carb: a large pot of rice, or atta dough for fresh rotis later in the week.
• Protein 1 (cheap): a big pot of dal, chana masala or soya chunks curry.
• Protein 2 (convenient): chicken breast baked or pan-cooked, or paneer or tofu cubes, plus a dozen boiled eggs.
• Vegetables: one sabzi base and a washed, chopped salad mix.

The order matters. Start the cooker items first (rice, dal, chana), because they need no attention. Season and bake the chicken or paneer in the oven while you chop. Boil the eggs while you portion. Finish by cooling everything in shallow boxes so it chills fast. Our full 3-hour weekly batch meal prep blueprint lists quantities, and the essential kitchen equipment guide covers what is genuinely worth buying.

Food safety: how long does meal prep keep?

Rice deserves a special mention. Rice is often contaminated with spores of Bacillus cereus, a soil bacterium. According to a 2021 review, it can multiply at temperatures as low as 4 C in cooked rice foods, and it can produce diarrhoeal or emetic toxins when enough cells grow (Rodrigo et al., 2021). That is a good reason not to leave a pot of rice on the counter all day in an Indian summer.

The practical habits, which are common food-safety guidance rather than findings from that review:

• Cool cooked rice, dal and meat quickly in shallow containers.
• Refrigerate within a couple of hours, and in a hot kitchen sooner.
• Eat refrigerated meals within about three days; freeze the rest.
• Reheat until steaming hot all the way through.
• If it smells off or you are unsure, do not eat it.

People who are pregnant, elderly, immunocompromised or who have had food poisoning before should be more cautious and follow local health authority guidance. For more detail see food storage and meal safety: shelf life of chicken and rice and freezing and reheating meal prep.

How should I spread protein through the day?

Total daily protein is the main thing. After that, spreading it is a sensible refinement. The ISSN suggests about 0.25 g/kg per meal, or an absolute 20-40 g, roughly every 3-4 hours (Jäger et al., 2017). A review of per-meal protein concluded that about 0.4 g/kg per meal across at least four meals is a sound target for reaching 1.6 g/kg a day (Schoenfeld and Aragon, 2018). The same paper notes that higher single doses do cause more amino acid oxidation, but not all the extra protein is wasted.

For a 70 kg person that is around 18-28 g per meal across four meals, which fits an Indian day naturally: eggs or a besan chilla at breakfast, dal and curd at lunch, a protein snack, and chicken or paneer at dinner. If you eat two big meals only, you will probably still do fine. The timing literature is less strict than the Instagram version.

Grocery shopping: a high-protein list for the week

A sensible weekly basket for one person aiming at about 120 g of protein a day looks like this. Adjust for your size, budget and diet.

• Cheap staples: soya chunks, toor or moong dal, chana, rajma, peanuts, rice, atta, oats.
• Convenience proteins: eggs, curd or hung curd, paneer or tofu, chicken breast or fish, milk.
• Produce: onion, tomato, spinach, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, seasonal fruit.
• Flavour: ginger, garlic, chilli, jeera, haldi, lemon, pickles in small amounts.

Read labels by protein per 100 g, not per serving, and check whether the number is for raw or cooked food. For label reading, see fitness grocery shopping blueprint and nutrition labels. For eating away from home, portable high-protein snacks that need no fridge and travel nutrition strategies fill the gaps.

When should you see a doctor or dietitian?

A high-protein diet is generally considered fine for healthy adults, and this article is not medical advice. If you have kidney disease, liver disease, are pregnant, have diabetes, a history of eating disorders or any chronic condition, check with your doctor or a registered dietitian before raising protein or changing your diet drastically. The same goes if you get repeated digestive problems after switching to a high-fibre pulse-heavy plan.

Putting the list to work

You do not need every food on this list. You need a target (use the protein calculator), two cheap staples, two convenience proteins you like, a weighing habit that stays consistent, and one weekly cook. If you want a full day laid out, our free diet plan page is a starting point. Then spend your effort on the part food lists cannot do: lifting hard enough to deserve the protein. For energy balance and how protein fits into a cut or bulk, see energy balance, fat loss and bulking.