Legumes, soy and plant protein
Split peas on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 8 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), cooked, for around 120 calories. A cup, cooked, about 150 g (5.3 oz), gives roughly 12 g of protein for 180 calories.
To reach 30 g of protein from split peas alone you would need about 375 g (13.2 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 split peas sits on a GLP-1
Split peas cook down to a thick, smooth puree with no skins to manage, which is the texture a slow stomach handles best, and at about 8 g per 100 g (3.5 oz) cooked they carry as much protein as most beans. They are also very filling: a big bowl of pea and ham soup is the definition of a meal that sits. On a GLP-1 the answer is a small bowl with the ham left in, because the ham is what makes the bowl a protein stop.
When your appetite is small
Make pea and ham soup thinner than tradition and serve it in a mug. A mug, about 250 ml (8.5 fl oz), with a good amount of shredded ham through it is about 15 g of protein, and it can be sipped over half an hour on a day when a spoon and a bowl are too much to face.
Three ways to prepare it
Pea and ham soup, thinned and blended
Yellow or green split peas, a ham hock or diced leg ham, carrot and onion, cooked until the peas collapse and then thinned with stock. Freeze it in mugs.
Yellow split pea dal with a spoon of yoghurt
Split peas with turmeric, cumin and ginger, cooked to a soft puree, with Greek yoghurt on top. About 15 g in a small bowl, and the spice helps a flat palate.
As a thick puree under fish or sausages
A spoon of split pea puree as the base of a small plate, with white fish or a chicken sausage on top. It replaces the potato and adds protein.
What to eat it with
Ham, bacon, a sausage, a poached egg or yoghurt, which bring the protein and the leucine that split peas are short of. Mint and lemon lift a green pea soup; cumin and ginger lift a yellow dal.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Split peas | about 8 g | 120 kcal | this page |
| Lentils | about 9 g | 115 kcal | See the page |
| Ham | about 18 g | 110 kcal | See the page |
| Chickpeas | about 8 g | 150 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
Split peas in all three countries, green and yellow, dried and sold in bags. Yellow split peas are the base of many dals and are sometimes sold under Indian names in grocers. Tinned pea and ham soup in Australia and the UK is a reasonable cupboard standby at about 5 g per 100 g (3.5 oz).
Questions people ask
How much protein is in pea and ham soup?
A small bowl of home made soup with a decent amount of ham is about 15 g, and a tinned bowl is closer to 10. The ham roughly doubles what the peas bring, which is why we keep it in.
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.