Guide
High-protein foods for a small appetite
Ranked by protein per 100 g, with the serve that gets you to 30 g in grams and ounces. The question is not which foods are healthy, it is which ones do the job in the least amount of eating.
The short answer
On a GLP-1 the useful question is not which foods are healthy, it is which foods deliver 30 g of protein in the smallest amount of eating. Protein powder, hard cheese, lean meat, tinned fish, seitan, tofu and Greek yoghurt win on that measure. Salad, soup, smoothies and almond milk lose badly, whatever else they have going for them.
Get the one-page cheat sheetRanked by protein per 100 g
Every food below is sorted by grams of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), with the serve size that gets you to 30 g, which is the per-meal target we use. Figures are rounded and will vary a little by brand and by cut.
| Food | Protein per 100 g (3.5 oz) | Serve for 30 g |
|---|---|---|
| Whey or plant protein powderOne 30 g scoop is about 24 g before you add milk | 80.0 g22.7 g per oz | 38 g (1.3 oz) |
| ParmesanGrate it over everything, 20 g adds 7 g of protein | 35.0 g9.9 g per oz | 86 g (3.0 oz) |
| Biltong or lean jerkyShelf stable, travels, no cooking | 33.0 g9.4 g per oz | 91 g (3.2 oz) |
| Chicken breast, cookedThe reference point most people know | 31.0 g8.8 g per oz | 97 g (3.4 oz) |
| Turkey breast, cookedLeanest of the common meats | 29.0 g8.2 g per oz | 103 g (3.6 oz) |
| Pork loin, cookedSlow cooked is easier to chew than grilled | 27.0 g7.7 g per oz | 111 g (3.9 oz) |
| Lean beef mince, cookedFive per cent fat, easier to eat than steak | 26.0 g7.4 g per oz | 115 g (4.1 oz) |
| Tinned tuna in springwater, drainedA 95 g (3.4 oz) tin is about 22 g | 26.0 g7.4 g per oz | 115 g (4.1 oz) |
| Tinned salmon or sardines with bonesProtein plus calcium and vitamin D | 25.0 g7.1 g per oz | 120 g (4.2 oz) |
| Salmon fillet, cookedHigher fat, so it sits longer on a slow stomach | 25.0 g7.1 g per oz | 120 g (4.2 oz) |
| SeitanThe densest plant protein there is | 25.0 g7.1 g per oz | 120 g (4.2 oz) |
| Prawns, cookedLight, cold, useful when nothing hot appeals | 24.0 g6.8 g per oz | 125 g (4.4 oz) |
| HalloumiPan fried, salty, goes down when meat will not | 22.0 g6.2 g per oz | 136 g (4.8 oz) |
| TempehFirmer and denser than tofu | 19.0 g5.4 g per oz | 158 g (5.6 oz) |
| Firm tofuPress it, cube it, cook it hard | 17.0 g4.8 g per oz | 176 g (6.2 oz) |
| FetaA 40 g (1.4 oz) crumble adds 6 g to a salad | 14.0 g4.0 g per oz | 214 g (7.6 oz) |
| EggsOne large egg is about 6 g | 13.0 g3.7 g per oz | 231 g (8.1 oz) |
| Cottage cheeseCheapest per gram of protein in the dairy aisle | 11.0 g3.1 g per oz | 273 g (9.6 oz) |
| Edamame, shelledFrozen, three minutes, eat from the bowl | 11.0 g3.1 g per oz | 273 g (9.6 oz) |
| Greek yoghurt, plain and strainedA 200 g (7 oz) tub is about 20 g | 10.0 g2.8 g per oz | 300 g (10.6 oz) |
| Lentils or chickpeas, cookedBulky, so treat as a side rather than the centre | 9.0 g2.6 g per oz | 333 g (11.8 oz) |
| Milk250 ml (8.5 fl oz) is about 8 g, and it goes in everything | 3.4 g1.0 g per oz | 882 g (31.1 oz) |
Cooked weights for meat and fish. Protein powder is measured as dry powder, so a 30 g scoop delivers around 24 g before you add milk.
How to read this list on a small appetite
Look at the third column rather than the second. A 200 g (7 oz) tub of Greek yoghurt and a 97 g (3.4 oz) chicken breast both give you roughly 30 g of protein, but one is twice the volume going into a stomach that is emptying slowly. On days when volume is the problem, work from the top of the table. On days when chewing is the problem, work from the dairy and the powder.
This is also why the foods people reach for when they feel unwell are such a trap. Two slices of toast, a mug of soup and a cup of tea is a reasonable-sounding day of eating that contains around 12 g of protein. Repeat that for a fortnight and the strength test falls. The full explanation is in muscle loss on a GLP-1.
The best of the list, by situation
- When you feel sick Cold, plain and dry: prawns, tinned tuna, hard-boiled eggs, plain Greek yoghurt, a thin shake mixed with water. See nausea, what to eat.
- When nothing appeals at all Drink it: milk with powder stirred in, a shake, a milk-based soup. See no appetite, what to eat.
- When chewing is hard Mince, slow-cooked meat, flaked fish, eggs, cottage cheese, tofu.
- When you are out or travelling Biltong, tuna pouches, a powder sachet and long-life milk. See eating out and travel.
- When money is tight Eggs, milk, skim milk powder, tinned fish, cottage cheese, lentils, bulk whey. See protein on a budget.
- When you do not eat meat Seitan, tempeh, tofu, edamame, soy milk, a pea and rice blend. See vegetarian protein.
The foods that look like protein and are not
Almond milk is about 1 g per 250 ml (8.5 fl oz), against 8 g for dairy and 7 g for soy. A green smoothie is usually 3 to 5 g. Peanut butter is respectable per 100 g and nobody eats 100 g of it, so a normal spread is 4 g. Most breakfast cereals, most soups, most salads and almost every snack bar marketed as healthy sit under 6 g a serve. None of these are bad foods. They are simply not doing the job you need doing at the moment.
The same goes for portion illusions. A restaurant chicken salad might contain 60 g (2 oz) of chicken, which is 19 g of protein and not the 40 g you assumed. Weigh two or three portions at home once, and your estimates will improve permanently.
Protein quality, and why it matters more now
Grams are not the only thing, and this is where a ranked table stops being enough. {claim_with_cite('leucine_per_meal')} Animal proteins, dairy and soy carry leucine in generous amounts; most other plant proteins carry less of it. On a full appetite the difference is easy to paper over by eating more. On 900 calories a day there is no room to paper over anything, which is why we suggest plant eaters aim closer to 1.6 g per kg of goal weight and lean on soy, seitan and a pea and rice blend rather than beans alone.
Preparation matters too. Batch cook when you feel like eating, not when you need to: a tray of chicken thighs, a dozen boiled eggs and a bowl of shredded beef in the fridge turn a bad appetite day into a two-minute decision instead of a missed meal.
Building a day from the table
Take your target from the protein calculator, divide it by three or four, and pick one food from the list for each slot. A 70 kg (154 lb) goal weight gives 84 to 112 g, so four slots of about 28 g each. One egg-based breakfast, one shake, one tin of fish at lunch, one palm-sized piece of meat or tofu at dinner. That is the whole method.
If you want it done for you, the Personal 7-Day Plan builds the week around your number and your appetite for A$19 / US$12 / £9, and the Keep Muscle Kit includes printed meal plans at 100, 120 and 140 g. If you would rather do it yourself, the table above and a kitchen scale are enough.
Questions people ask
What is the highest protein food per 100 g?
Protein powder, at around 80 g per 100 g of dry powder. Among whole foods, hard cheeses such as parmesan and dried meats such as biltong lead, followed by lean poultry, tinned fish and seitan at 25 to 31 g.
How much chicken do I need for 30 g of protein?
About 97 g (3.4 oz) of cooked chicken breast, which is roughly the size of your palm. Tinned tuna needs about 115 g (4 oz), and plain Greek yoghurt about 300 g (10.5 oz).
What can I eat when I cannot face a meal?
Liquid and cold usually win: milk with protein powder, plain Greek yoghurt, prawns, hard-boiled eggs, tinned tuna. A shake with milk is around 33 g in ninety seconds.
Are protein bars worth it?
For convenience when travelling, sometimes. For value, rarely, and many carry sugar alcohols that make wind and nausea worse on a GLP-1. A powder sachet in long-life milk does the same job for less.
Do I need to weigh my food?
Not forever. Weigh two or three typical portions once so you learn what 100 g (3.5 oz) of chicken actually looks like, then estimate. Most people are 30 to 40% out before they check.
Why the serve size in that table is what it is
A food list is only as good as the target it is aimed at. These are the two figures the third column is built from.
Each of those meals wants roughly 2.5 to 3 g of leucine, the amino acid that actually switches muscle building on. That is about 30 g of whey, 120 g of chicken breast, or four eggs. Arslan S, Clinical Nutrition ESPEN 2026
Spread across meals at roughly 0.3 to 0.4 g per kg per meal, rather than taken mostly at dinner. Arslan S, Clinical Nutrition ESPEN 2026
The papers these numbers come from
- Arslan S. Medical nutrition in the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) era: Protein strategies, micronutrient monitoring, and lean mass preservation. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN, 2026. Narrative review, guideline-informed targets. doi:10.1016/j.clnesp.2026.103305
Last reviewed 18 September 2026. We update these figures when a larger or better study replaces them, and we say what changed. How we handle evidence.
The free tools that go with this
- The protein calculator Your daily target in grams from your goal weight, with a sample day at that number.
- The protein cheat sheet One page, forty foods, grams of protein per serve in metric and imperial.
- The muscle or fat quiz Six questions that tell you whether what you are losing is the tissue you wanted to lose.
- The Personal 7-Day Plan Your week of meals built to your target and your appetite, A$19 / US$12 / £9.
The Keep Muscle Kit
Meal plans built from these foods, at three protein levels
The workbook, Sunday numbers tracker, 2-day strength plan, injection-day card, and meal plans at 100, 120 and 140 g protein. Instant download.
A$47 / US$29 / £23, one payment.
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EverStrong provides nutrition and strength coaching and education. It is not medical advice and does not replace your prescribing doctor. Consult your doctor before starting a new exercise or nutrition plan, especially with a heart, kidney, liver or metabolic condition, if pregnant, or with a history of disordered eating.