When you’re putting together some food to eat, you want to always have tasty foods to choose from. Everyone wants to eat the best meals, but it’s even more important to consider the nutritional value of what’s on your plate.
In order to live your best life, you need to get all your daily nutrients. That starts with a solid foundation of protein.
If you’re eating enough protein during the day, you’ll feel more energized and able to accomplish anything. You won’t struggle with constant hunger thirty minutes after you eat, and you won’t even have those three o’clock nap urges.
So how do you get enough protein in your daily diet anyway? It all comes down to what you buy at the grocery store. Check out these best high protein foods for snacks and meals so you know that everything you eat will have the proper fuel to keep you going throughout the day.
Chicken Breasts
The first place you’ll probably think to find protein is in meat, and you’d be right. Meat is typically higher in protein than most other foods, but the most nutritiously sound meat is found in the chicken breast.
Chicken breasts are low in calories and fat, making them the perfect addition to any meal or diet. They also have 54 grams of protein in each breast on average, so you’re guaranteed to get a good base to your meal with any container of chicken breasts you get at the store.
If you’d rather not have a chicken breast cut up on a plate as a side, you can also use them in the following ways:
- Shredded on any salad
- Mixed into any quinoa or grains dish
- Tossed into a simple soup
- Layered into a sandwich
Chicken is versatile, so you can use it in just about any meal you’d normally eat. Top it with your favorite dressings, sauces, cheese, or spices and you’ll have a great meal or snack ready to go.
Eggs
Eggs are another one of those foods that can go with a meal or snack, and they also contain a good amount of protein.
Depending on their size, eggs can contain:
- Small eggs: 4.9 grams of protein
- Medium eggs: 5.7 grams of protein
- Large eggs: 6.5 grams of protein
- Extra large eggs: 7.3 grams of protein
How many eggs you eat and at what time is up to you. The average man needs 56 grams each day and the average woman needs 46 grams. Split those numbers up into three meals and maybe a snack or two to figure out how many eggs to eat per day.
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Almonds
If you’ve tried to read about protein before, you’ve probably seen nuts come up as a snack option. Nuts can be an excellent source of protein, depending on which ones you eat. Almonds are a high protein nut that you can get at any grocery store. Studies show that eating 10 almonds provides 2.5 grams of protein.
If a meal or snack is lacking that protein base, but you don’t want to go too heavy with your protein, adding almonds could be the perfect way to round out your food. Toss them in your salad or put a handful in a plastic bag to munch on.
Greek Yogurt
Yogurt is something you’ve probably been eating all your life. There are plenty of colorful flavors in the dairy aisle, with lots of containers offering add ins like crumbled cookies or candy. When it comes to protein, not all yogurts are equal. Skip the yogurts with the high sugar and food coloring and go straight for the 0% unflavored Greek yogurt.
The only difference between Greek and regular yogurt is that the Greek version has had most of its whey removed. That leaves behind 10 grams of pure protein per 100 grams.
You can eat Greek yogurt as a snack with berries mixed in, or throw in a dressing spice packet and use it as salad dressing. It even works beautifully on top chicken dinners or as a substitute for sour cream. Try it out for yourself to sneak extra protein into your next meal.
Cottage Cheese
Cottage cheese isn’t something everyone has in their house as a staple refrigerator item, but adding it to your grocery list will definitely increase your protein intake.
Whether you put it on your salad, eat it with fruit, or mix it into a protein shake, you’ll be getting 25 grams of protein per cup. Another bonus of cottage cheese is that it’s essentially tasteless, so you can put it in almost anything.
Tuna
Looking to stay away from heavy meats and dairy? Tuna might just be your new best friend. For every two ounce container of tuna that’s been canned in water, you’ll find 10 grams of protein and only 50 calories. It’s the perfect low fat, low calorie, low carb addition to your diet.
Tuna is used in many different weight loss diets, but it’s good for regulating your health as well. Whatever you’re trying to accomplish by increasing your protein, tuna will help you get there.
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Milk
People may get a bit confused about milk protein because there are so many different types of milk to choose from. If drinking more milk is how you want to increase your protein, you’re in luck. Turns out, the protein in a cup of milk stays the same across the board. You can get fat-free, 1%, 2%, whole, and even chocolate milk and still get 8 grams of protein in each cup.
Use milk in your shakes, drinks, and meals to bulk up your daily protein. It’s easy to find ways to add it to your diet, since it can be used as a drink or an addition to food.
Lentils
For those who don’t know, lentils are another type of bean that many people use in meals. They’re cheap and come in big bags, so you can stock up for a week or two at a time. For every cup of lentils you eat, you’ll get 18 grams of protein. Plus, they’re full of other nutrients like fiber and vitamins.
Lentils will improve your diet as a whole, so you’ll benefit from more than just protein by eating them with your meals.
Try Different Proteins Out
Protein is found in all of these foods and more, so have fun trying them out for yourself. You’ll find new ways to eat food without having to add protein powders or shakes as a replacement for real food. Once you get the hang of which high protein foods you like, switch things up! Your diet never has to be boring again once you learn how to build your meals on a solid protein foundation.