Protein is important as building blocks in our bodies. While we often associate protein with “meaty” foods, how much protein is actually in the foods we eat? Here are some foods and their protein content per serving.
How Much Protein is in Common Foods?
| Beef |
- Hamburger patty: 24 g per quarter pound
- Tenderloin: 23 g per 3-oz serving
- Prime rib: 38 g per 6-oz serving
|
| Pork |
- Pork chop, ground pork, or tenderloin: 22 g per 3-oz serving
- Sausage, Italian: 13 to 16 g per piece
- Ham, deli: 4 to 5 g per slice
|
| Chicken or Turkey |
- Breast, skinless: 27 g per half breast
- Thigh, skinless: 28 g per thigh
- Chicken drumstick, skinless: 23 g per drumstick
- Turkey leg, skinless: 65 g per leg
- Chicken wings, skin-on: 9 g per wing
|
| Seafood (3-oz serving) |
- Fish filet or steak: 20 to 22 g
- Tuna, canned, drained: 22 g
- Salmon, canned, drained: 20 g
- Shrimp: 19 g (~12 to 15 medium shrimp)
|
| Dairy |
- Milk: approximately 8 g per cup
- Cottage cheese: approximately 14 g per half cup
- Cheese: 6 g per oz for soft cheeses (Brie, camembert), 7 to 8 g per oz for medium cheeses (cheddar, mozzarella, Swiss), 10 g per oz for hard cheese (parmesan)
- Yogurt: 6 to 10 g per 6-oz serving, depending on type and flavor
- Greek yogurt: 17 g per 6-oz serving
- Note: For dairy foods, lower fat items contain slightly more protein than higher fat items, but the difference is not significant.
|
| Non-dairy Milk (1 cup serving) |
- Soy: 7 to 11 g
- Coconut: 1 g
- Rice: 1 g
- Almond: 1 g
- Hemp: 2 to 4 g
|
| Eggs |
- 5 to 8 g per egg, depending on size
|
| Beans and Lentils (half-cup serving) |
- Tofu: 8 g (soft) to 10 g (firm)
- Edamame: 8.5 g
- Beans (black, pinto, navy, kidney, etc.): 7 to 10 g
- Lentils: 9 g
|
| Nuts and Seeds (1-oz serving unless specified otherwise) |
- Walnuts: 4.3 g
- Almonds: 6 g
- Pecans: 2.7 g
- Peanuts: 6.7 g; peanut butter: 8 g per 2 tbs
- Pistachios: 6 g
- Sunflower seeds: 5.5 g
- Sesame seeds: 4.8 g
- Pumpkin seeds: 5.3 g
- Flax seeds: 5 g
|
| Whole Grains (cooked, 1 cup serving) |
- Oatmeal: 5.9 g
- Brown rice: 4.5 g
- Quinoa: 8.1 g
- Millet: 6.1 g
|
Alumni: University of California, Berkeley – Sofia believes in bringing back fun and pleasure into everyday eating. She loves cooking, and is constantly experimenting with ingredients, creating recipes and trying them out on family and friends. Her latest interest lies in finding realistic and practical ways of environmentally-friendly food/eating habits.
