What has a lot of protein?

Proteins. THE nutrient of our time. A few years ago, it was only physically active people who drank protein shakes and ate protein bars, but nowadays many other people also pay attention to their protein intake. Meeting protein requirements in everyday life is not always easy, which is why the question often arises: What is high in protein?.

That is exactly what this article is about: I’ll explain which foods are high in protein, how much protein we really need, and why proteins are so important in the first place.

Your knowledge to go: What is high in protein?

• A distinction is made between animal-based protein sources (e.g. meat and dairy products) and plant-based protein sources (e.g. legumes and nuts).

• Especially with vegetarian and vegan protein sources, it is important to combine different protein sources to obtain a complete amino acid profile.

• Protein powder and high-protein products can help meet your protein requirements.
  

Let’s get started: What is high in protein?
Okay, you’re right. It makes more sense if we start with the basics:

Your protein requirements

Let’s take a look at how much protein you actually need per day. First of all: This question is far more extensive than you might initially think. That’s why we’ve written two dedicated articles on the topic, where you’ll learn everything important:

How much protein per day?

How much protein per kg?

In brief: Protein requirements are individual and depend on many different factors, such as body weight, age, and activity level. For the general population, the recommendation is 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight. However, other groups, such as physically active people (1.2–2 g) or older adults (1 g), have different requirements. Protein needs are also higher during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

Why are proteins important?

Why do we actually need to think about which foods are high in protein? Why are proteins so much in focus?
Proteins are incredibly versatile nutrients, and the current hype is quite justified! Proteins are small all-rounders and important for our entire body.

In general, alongside carbohydrates and fats, we know proteins as one of the macronutrients. Proteins provide us with energy and also supply us with important building blocks for our bodies: amino acids.
In the body, proteins—or amino acids—are involved in various processes in many different areas:

• Energy metabolism

• Hormonal balance

• Bone and muscle metabolism

• Immune system

• …
  

It is therefore very important that we consume enough protein, to supply our bodies with important amino acids and thus contribute to a balanced diet. According to professional associations, a long-term inadequate protein intake can lead to limitations in everyday life—for example, reduced performance or increased fatigue. We don’t want that! Therefore, make sure you get enough protein and generally follow a protein-rich diet.
So, how do we approach this? What is high in protein?

What is high in protein – the best protein sources

When asking what is high in protein, a distinction is made between animal-based and plant-based protein sources.
To cut short the discussion that has probably already begun about which option is actually better: What the better choice is differs from person to person. Depending on your personal values, diet, and preferences, plant-based or animal-based proteins—or a wild mix of both—may be the right choice for you. You can find a detailed discussion of this topic in our article "Animal vs. plant-based protein".

But first, let’s take a look at various protein-rich foods:
What is high in protein – an overview. 

Animal-based protein sources

When you think of protein and consider what contains a lot of protein, the words meat and eggs often immediately come to mind. And for good reason. These foods really do contain a lot of protein!
A little spoiler in advance: Plant-based protein sources are in no way inferior to animal-based ones.

Here is a brief overview of some animal-based foods that are high in protein:

Table: What is high in protein? Animal-based version                                                                   

Some important notes:

• The type of product (high-fat, low-fat, …), its preparation, and the exact variety of the product also affect the final protein content.

• The table is not exhaustive; there are simply too many products to display them all here. Therefore, we have focused on some of the foods with the highest protein content and the ones most commonly consumed.

• For most products, the protein content of the raw product is given: The cooked / fried / baked / … product has a different protein content.

• Don’t be misled: It is of course much easier to drink 100 g of milk than to eat 100 g of Parmesan … although … Well, back to the topic: A high protein content per 100 g is not everything. Always bear in mind how much of a food you can or want to eat.
  
  

Plant-based protein sources

Contrary to what many people assume, plant-based foods also contain large amounts of protein. Therefore, sufficient protein can also be consumed as part of a vegetarian and vegan diet. No wonder—there are vegan bodybuilders, too! They are living proof.
Legumes in particular stand out with very high protein contents, comparable to those of meat. Soy is one of the best-known legumes, which is why it has a separate place in our table.
So: What foods are high in protein in the plant-based food world?

Table: What foods are high in protein? Plant-based version

Some important notes:

• The type of product, its preparation, and the exact variety also affect the final protein content.

• The table is not exhaustive; there are simply too many products to display them all here. Therefore, we have focused on some of the foods with the highest protein content and the ones most commonly consumed.

• For most products, the protein content of the raw product is given: The cooked / fried / baked / … product has a different protein content.

• Dried foods have a much higher protein content:
  dried tomato: 11.3 g / 100 g
  fresh tomato: 0.8 g / 100 g

Of course, fruit also contains protein. However, compared with other foods, the amounts are so small that we decided not to include fruit in our list of “What foods are high in protein?”. Nevertheless, you can also make smart choices when selecting fruit and choose higher-protein varieties such as berries (especially elderberries, with 2.5 g) or passion fruit, with 2.2 g of protein.

Our overview on the topic “What has a lot of protein?” is still missing one product category. Clearly: protein powders. If they don't contain a lot of protein, what does? Let's take a closer look.

Protein powders and high-protein products

Protein powders, protein bars & co. can of course also help meet your daily protein needs. However, one thing is clear: Protein shakes are not a substitute for balanced meals. As a small snack, a quick serving of protein, or occasionally as a breakfast replacement when you're short on time, protein shakes are great.
Be sure to pay attention to the following points when choosing such products:

• Quality: organic quality is best, sensible, high-quality ingredients, high protein content, and as clean as possible

• Biological value of the protein (more on this shortly)

• Composition: Does it contain other valuable nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, or healthy fatty acids?

As you can see, it's not only a question of “What has a lot of protein?”; you also need to look at the product as a whole.

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Choose your proteins wisely

Protein is not all the same. And a product with an extremely high protein content is not necessarily better than one with a lower content. Why is that?!

Let's start with a brief explanation: Proteins are made up of amino acids. These are divided into

• Nonessential amino acids (the body can produce them itself): alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine

• Essential amino acids (the body cannot produce them itself, or cannot produce enough of them, so they must be obtained through food): isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine

If we want to meet our protein needs, our goal should always be to consume as much of every amino acid as we need. How can we achieve this? Through a balanced and varied diet and smartly combining different foods. After all, all foods contain different types, ratios, and amounts of amino acids.
Animal-based foods often already contain all the important amino acids, whereas with plant-based protein sources, you need to pay a little more attention. Here, it can help to combine different plant-based protein sources, as their amino acid profiles complement each other, allowing you to achieve an almost complete amino acid profile.

Example: grains and legumes (e.g., lentil stew with bread): 
Grains: low in lysine, threonine, and tryptophan, but rich in methionine
Legumes: low in methionine, but rich in threonine and tryptophan

Rather than simply choosing the highest protein content (à la What foods are high in protein?!), you should also consider biological value.
Oh oh, a new technical term! Don’t worry, biological value simply describes how efficiently a protein from food can be converted into a protein produced by the body. A prerequisite for this is a good amino acid profile. So we want an amino acid profile that is as complete as possible, with a good ratio of amino acids, so that we can achieve a high biological value.

A suitable protein powder we developed especially for you. Why not give it a try!

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Conclusion: What foods are high in protein?

So, what foods are high in protein? The top sources are legumes, nuts, seeds & kernels, as well as meat, dairy products, and fish. A balanced diet is the best foundation for meeting your protein needs. Feel free to combine different food groups, such as protein-rich vegetables, tofu or meat, and legumes, into a protein-rich meal. We also have a great recipe collection with high-protein dishes for you – feel free to take a look!

P.S.: Feel free to take a screenshot of our table above. So when you ask yourself “What had lots of protein again?” the next time you go shopping, you’ll have the answer right at hand.

Do you have any questions? Then feel free to send me an email – I look forward to hearing from you! :)

Literature & Sources

1. Bieler, S. (2021). Swiss Nutritional Value Table. 3rd edition. BLV (Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office).

2. German Nutrition Society e. V. (2021). Selected questions and answers about protein and essential amino acids. 

3. Heseker, Prof. Dr. H. & Heseker, B. (2019/2020). The Nutritional Value Table. 6th edition. DGE (German Nutrition Society e.V.)

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