Fish and seafood
Anchovies on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 29 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), tinned in oil, drained, for around 210 calories. Five fillets, about 15 g (0.5 oz), give roughly 4 g of protein for 32 calories.
To reach 30 g of protein from anchovies alone you would need about 103 g (3.6 oz). On a small appetite that is often more than one sitting allows, which is why we pair it rather than chase the whole target from one food.
How anchovies sits on a GLP-1
Anchovies are a seasoning, not a protein: five fillets is about 4 g. They belong on this list for one reason, which is that they make other food taste of something. On a GLP-1, when a flat palate is the thing stopping you eating, a food that restores flavour is doing real work.
When your appetite is small
Melt two fillets into the pan at the start of any sauce. They dissolve completely, nobody will identify them, and a dish that tasted of nothing suddenly tastes savoury enough to finish.
Three ways to prepare it
Melted into a tomato sauce
Two fillets in the oil before the garlic. They disappear and the sauce tastes twice as good.
Mashed into butter for fish or vegetables
Anchovy butter over white fish turns a bland fillet into something you will eat.
Blended into a dressing
Anchovy, lemon, yoghurt and garlic makes a dressing that gets salad and chicken eaten.
What to eat it with
Tomato, garlic, lemon, butter, parsley. Anchovies pair with whatever you needed to taste better.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchovies | about 29 g | 210 kcal | this page |
| Sardines | about 25 g | 208 kcal | See the page |
| Prosciutto | about 27 g | 250 kcal | See the page |
| Parmesan | about 35 g | 400 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, tinned in oil, drained, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
Tinned anchovy fillets in oil in all three countries, usually Spanish or Italian. White anchovies, called boquerones or marinated anchovies, are milder and larger and are eaten as a snack rather than as a seasoning.
Questions people ask
Do anchovies count towards my protein?
Barely. Five fillets is about 4 g. Their value is that they make low appetite food taste like something you want to eat, which is worth more than the grams.
Your number comes first
Knowing what is in a food only helps once you know how much you are aiming for. The target is 1.2 to 1.6 g of protein per kg of your goal weight, not your current weight, which for most people is 90 to 140 g a day.
Work out your protein targetMore on eating well when your appetite is small: high protein foods for a small appetite, how much protein on a GLP-1, and every food we have written up. The whole system in five documents is the Keep Muscle Kit, A$47 / US$29 / £23.
EverStrong provides nutrition and strength coaching and education. It is not medical advice and does not replace your prescribing doctor.