This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure here.
I think about 50% of the foods in the grocery store now have the word PROTEIN on them. I have seen protein popcorn, protein chips, and even protein Pop-tarts! While these items might have more protein than the regular version of those foods, they are still not going to provide you enough protein to make a nutritional difference. If you really want to eat more protein, you need to consider the cheapest protein sources! I went through a list of the highest protein items you can buy at the store and figured out which ones give you the best bang for your buck.
The Cheapest Protein Sources, Ranked by Cost per Gram
I wanted to be extremely exact, and some things like meats that cook down are harder to calculate, so what I did was calculate how much it cost to buy 100g of the item in the form you’d eat it in. For example, 100g of raw chicken breast will not yield the same amount of protein as 100g of cooked chicken breast, so I had to figure out how much it would cost to buy enough raw chicken to make 100g of cooked chicken. Don’t worry—I did the math for you!
The chart below shows the cost per protein gram for a variety of high protein items. If you are trying to eat more protein but don’t want to break the bank, stick with the “green” items below. Moving down into the “red” foods isn’t necessarily bad, but you’re going to be paying a lot more for the same amount of protein you could get in something much cheaper.
Now let’s go through these items and see if we find anything surprising!
Beans, peanut butter, whole eggs, chicken breasts, oats, and pork loin are going to give you the best bang for your buck. You’re only going to pay about 2 cents per gram of protein. If you’re shooting to eat 100g of protein per day, that means you’ll be spending about $2 if you just stick to these foods!
These next items: tuna, Greek yogurt, fish (tilapia), cottage cheese, light string cheese, and chicken thighs are all also great sources of protein, but they’re going to be more expensive. The price of dairy can fluctuate, but you can also often find these items on sale, so you might be able to get the cost per protein gram down if you find a good deal.
These next four items are all still an OK deal in terms of cost per protein gram, but now we’re getting into the items not everyone is going to want to buy. Liquid egg whites, ground turkey, protein powder, and tofu are not on everyone’s shopping list. But if you can’t eat dairy or have other dietary restrictions, these protein sources could help.
Our final set of foods are the highest priced protein sources per gram. These are going to be costlier overall as well. Almonds, ground beef, shrimp, sirloin steak, protein bars, and salmon are incredible sources of protein, but they come at a price. If you have a good source from where to get these, then these options might work for you.
Maybe you have another source of protein I didn’t mention and you’re wondering how much it costs per gram of protein. You can use the graphic above to calculate it yourself! You can also use this if you find an item on deep discount to figure out if it’s a better deal than other items.
What’s your favorite inexpensive source of protein? Let us know in the comments!
