Free tool
The cheapest protein in the shop, ranked.
Thirty foods sorted by what it costs to get 10 g of protein into you, for Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. Our prices are a starting point. Type in what yours actually cost and the whole table reorders.
Protein figures are per 100 g of the food as you buy it, drained where that applies. Prices are typical supermarket own-brand in September 2026 and will be wrong for your shop, which is exactly why every one of them is editable. Change a price and press tab or enter.
Two things the price column cannot tell you
Not all protein counts the same. Dairy, eggs, meat, fish and whey carry the full set of amino acids and enough leucine to actually switch muscle building on. Oats, lentils and beans are cheap per gram but lower in leucine, so past 45 they need a bigger serve or a dairy or whey partner to do the same job. Cheap and useless is not a bargain.
Volume is a cost too. Lentils win on price and lose on room. Getting 30 g of protein from lentils is roughly two full cups, which on a suppressed appetite is not happening. Sort by the volume column before you build a shopping list.
Get the printable version
The ranked list as a one-page PDF for the fridge, in your currency, plus five short emails on hitting a protein target while your appetite is doing its own thing. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
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Or grab the protein cheat sheet now, 40 foods ranked by protein per bite rather than per dollar.
How to shop this list
Buy the top three you will actually eat
The cheapest food on the list is worthless if it sits in the cupboard. Pick the three highest-ranked items you already like, buy those every week, and ignore the rest of the table. Protein you eat at forty cents beats protein you throw out at twenty.
Put one powder in the basket
Whey or a plant blend usually lands mid-table on price and top of the table on convenience. On the days your appetite disappears entirely, a shake is the difference between hitting your floor and missing it, and it needs no cooking and no chewing.
Use tins for the bad days
Tuna, salmon, sardines and beans keep for years, need no preparation and travel. Six tins in the cupboard is a week of insurance against the days when standing at the stove is out of the question.
Work out the weekly number once
Take the daily cost above, multiply by seven, and compare it with what you spent before the medication. Most people find their food bill has already fallen further than the protein upgrade costs, because they are eating less of everything else.
The Keep Muscle Kit
Meal plans built around the cheap end of this table
Seven days at three protein levels, with a shopping list that comes in under A$90 (US$60, £47) a week, every food in grams and ounces. Plus the 12-week workbook, the 2-Day Strength Plan and the Sunday tracker.
The other free tools
- Goal weight protein calculatorYour daily target, set from where you are heading rather than where you are.
- Meal protein builderPut a plate together and see the protein, the energy and the volume before you cook.
- Muscle loss risk calculatorScore the factors stacked against you and find the one to change first.
- Injection day plannerThree days of eating and training arranged around your dose day.
Cost per 10 g of protein is the pack price divided by the protein in the pack, times ten. Protein per 100 g is taken from published composition tables for the food as sold. Prices are indicative September 2026 supermarket own-brand and are meant to be replaced with yours. Nutrition and strength coaching, not medical advice.