What is the highest protein vegetarian food?
Among everyday foods, parmesan (35g per 100g) and pecorino (32g) lead, but they are calorie-dense. Among lean options, quark (12g) and cottage cheese (12g) give the most protein per calorie.
High Protein Vegetarian Foods
Vegetarians have the easiest high-protein diet outside of omnivores: eggs and dairy are complete proteins, and quark, skyr and cottage cheese are among the leanest protein foods that exist.
Greek yogurt at 10g per 100g, quark at 12g and cottage cheese at 12g let you add 25–30g of protein to a meal without any cooking. Eggs bring 13g per 100g and complete amino acids.
Add tofu, tempeh and legumes and you have a diet that clears 130g of protein a day without effort.
Best vegetarian protein sources
Protein and calories per 100g, from the Protein Hunter database.
| Food | Protein | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 🧀 Parmesan | 35g | 420 |
| 🍞 Seitan | 25g | 370 |
| 🧀 Halloumi | 22g | 313 |
| 🍢 Tempeh | 19g | 193 |
| 🧀 Paneer | 18g | 265 |
| 🥚 Whole egg | 13g | 155 |
| 🥣 Quark | 12g | 77 |
| 🧀 Cottage cheese (low-fat) | 12g | 72 |
| 🍢 Firm tofu | 12g | 76 |
| 🥣 Skyr | 11g | 63 |
| 🥚 Egg white | 11g | 52 |
| 🫛 Edamame (cooked) | 11g | 122 |
| 🥣 Greek yogurt (plain, 0%) | 10g | 59 |
| 🫘 Lentils (cooked) | 9g | 116 |
Per 100g.
Building vegetarian meals above 30g
- 250g of Greek yogurt or skyr is roughly 25g of protein and takes no preparation.
- Three eggs plus 40g of cheese is about 30g of protein in one pan.
- Paneer and halloumi hold their shape when cooked, so they work as the anchor protein in a curry or a traybake.
- Cottage cheese blends into sauces and desserts without changing the flavour much — an easy way to add 12g per 100g.
Add up your whole meal
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Try the Protein CalculatorCommon questions
How much protein do vegetarians need?
The same as anyone else — 1.2–2.0g per kilogram of bodyweight depending on training and goals.
Are eggs a complete protein?
Yes, eggs contain all nine essential amino acids in high amounts and are often used as the reference standard for protein quality.
Keep reading
Protein CalculatorAdd up any meal in plain words.Protein database230+ foods with protein and calories.How much protein per daySet the target these foods feed into.What is Protein Hunter?
Protein Hunter is a protein and nutrition app with a database of 232 foods — from a leaf of kale to a wagyu steak — plus AI tools that answer protein questions, count a whole meal, build recipes to a macro target, and track what you actually eat.
- Search any food
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- Scan a plate or label
Why it's different: the numbers are calculated from a fixed ingredient database rather than guessed, and when a target is not physically achievable the app says so instead of inventing a figure.
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