Legumes, soy and plant protein
Black beans on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 9 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), cooked or tinned, drained, for around 130 calories. Half a tin, drained, about 130 g (4.6 oz), gives roughly 12 g of protein for 169 calories.
To reach 30 g of protein from black beans alone you would need about 333 g (11.7 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 black beans sits on a GLP-1
Black beans are the softest and creamiest of the tinned beans, with a mild, earthy flavour and skins that give way easily, and at about 9 g per 100 g (3.5 oz) they are on the higher side for a bean. Like every legume they bring fibre and bulk, so on a GLP-1 a whole tin is a filling meal that delivers about 22 g of protein and leaves no room for anything else. Half a tin, mashed, with cheese or an egg is the version that works.
When your appetite is small
Mash half a tin, about 130 g (4.6 oz), with a fork, warm it with cumin and a squeeze of lime, and top it with 30 g (1 oz) of grated cheese. That is about 20 g of protein in a small bowl that is soft the whole way through and takes three minutes from the cupboard.
Three ways to prepare it
Mashed and warmed, with cheese on top
Fork mashed beans lose the bulk of whole beans and eat like a thick dip. Cheese melted on top adds 8 g and the salt the beans need.
A small quesadilla
Mashed beans and cheese in one small tortilla, folded and pressed in a dry pan. About 18 g, and it can be eaten in the hand.
Black bean soup, blended
Beans, stock, cumin and onion blended smooth, with a spoon of Greek yoghurt on top. Liquid food that carries about 14 g a mug.
What to eat it with
Cheese, eggs, sour cream or Greek yoghurt, and lime, cumin and coriander. Beans want fat and acid, and they want an animal protein beside them to make the meal a full stop.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black beans | about 9 g | 130 kcal | this page |
| Kidney beans | about 8 g | 125 kcal | See the page |
| Lentils | about 9 g | 115 kcal | See the page |
| Chickpeas | about 8 g | 150 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, cooked or tinned, drained, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
Black beans in all three countries, sometimes black turtle beans in the UK. They are on every US supermarket shelf, common in the UK, and easy to find tinned in Australia though less so than kidney beans. Tins are 400 g (14 oz) in Australia and the UK and 15 oz (425 g) in the US.
Questions people ask
Are black beans a good source of protein?
Good for a plant food: about 9 g per 100 g (3.5 oz), so half a tin is about 12 g. Like all beans they are low in methionine and leucine, so the 12 g does more for muscle when it sits next to cheese, an egg or some meat.
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.