The Cheapest Sources of Protein, Ranked by Cost Per Gram

If you change one thing about how you shop for protein, make it this: start from the foods that cost the least per gram, then build your meals around them. Everything else on this site is downstream of that one habit.

The everyday champions

Eggs, dried beans, and lentils sit at the top of almost every budget. A dozen large eggs runs about a dollar fifty to three dollars depending on where you live, and that's roughly 70 grams of protein. Dried lentils and beans are even cheaper per gram — a one-pound bag costs a couple of dollars and cooks down into six or more servings.

Canned beans cost a little more than dried for the convenience, but they're still one of the best deals in the store. Keep a few cans around for the nights you didn't plan ahead.

The reliable middle

Chicken thighs, canned tuna, milk, and cottage cheese are the next tier. Chicken thighs almost always beat breasts on price and they're harder to overcook. Canned tuna and other canned fish give you 20-plus grams of protein per can for around a dollar. A gallon of milk and a tub of cottage cheese both stretch a long way for what they cost.

Buying the larger pack and freezing or portioning what you don't need immediately is what turns these from "fine" into "great value."

When it's worth spending more

Lean ground beef, salmon, and most pre-cooked or pre-marinated proteins cost more per gram. That doesn't make them bad buys — it makes them occasional ones. Spend there when you actually want them, not by default, and let the cheaper staples carry the rest of the week.

The one number that settles it

Stop comparing sticker prices and start comparing cost per gram of protein: take the price of the package, divide by the total grams of protein it contains. Suddenly the "expensive" tub of eggs beats the "cheap" bag of chips by a mile, and your grocery decisions get a lot quieter. Every recipe on this site already does that math for you.