Meat and poultry
Chicken sausages on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 17 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), cooked, for around 170 calories. Two sausages, about 100 g (3.5 oz), give roughly 17 g of protein for 170 calories.
To reach 30 g of protein from chicken sausages alone you would need about 176 g (6.2 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 chicken sausages sits on a GLP-1
Sausages are the food people most often overrate as a protein. Even a good chicken sausage is about 17 g per 100 g, because the rest is fat, water and filler, so two sausages is roughly 17 g rather than the 30 g the packet implies. They are soft and easy to eat, which counts for something.
When your appetite is small
If sausages are what you can face, have them, and add an egg or a spoon of yoghurt alongside to bring the stop up to 25 g. The mistake is counting two sausages as a full protein serve when it is barely half of one.
Three ways to prepare it
Read the panel before you buy
Protein per 100 g on sausages ranges from about 11 g to about 20 g. The difference between two brands is a whole protein stop across a week.
Split them and grill them flat
Butterflied sausages cook faster and eat more easily than whole ones, and a great deal of the fat drains away.
Slice them into a bean or lentil stew
The beans carry real protein and the sausage carries the flavour, which is the right way round.
What to eat it with
Beans, lentils or eggs, which add the protein the sausage does not. Mustard and something acidic help when everything tastes bland.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken sausages | about 17 g | 170 kcal | this page |
| Chicken thigh | about 26 g | 209 kcal | See the page |
| Bacon | about 28 g | 280 kcal | See the page |
| Beef mince | about 26 g | 180 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, cooked, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
Chicken sausages are sold everywhere, but minimum meat content is regulated differently in each country, so the protein figure varies more than the name suggests. Check the nutrition panel rather than the front of the pack.
Questions people ask
How much protein is in a chicken sausage?
Around 8 to 9 g each, so two sausages is about 17 g. Good quality ones reach 20 g per 100 g, cheap ones sit near 11 g, and the packet front will not tell you which you have.
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.