Most protein lists you find online are American, rounded, and quietly assume pork. This one is built from the UK's own food tables, keeps to foods a halal kitchen actually cooks, and adds the column those lists leave out: what a normal British portion of each food gives you.
Where every number comes from
Every figure in the table is read straight out of McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset, the 2021 edition the government publishes, and each row carries its CoFID code so you can look it up yourself. We picked the form you actually eat: grilled, stewed, boiled or drained, never raw meat or dry pulses, because a raw figure flatters a food you would never eat raw.
The portion column uses the British Nutrition Foundation's single portions. The Foundation puts a portion of chicken breast at 120g, about the size of your whole hand, and cheddar at 30g, about two thumbs. We used 100g for red meat and mince, 120g for fish, two eggs, a 120g bowl of cooked pulses and a 20g handful of nuts, the same portions our own planner uses.
The table
Per 100g of the food as eaten, ranked by protein. "Trace" means CoFID found a little but too little to state; "not measured" means CoFID has no figure.
| Food (CoFID code) | Protein, g | kcal | Iron, mg | Zinc, mg | B12, µg | A portion | Protein in it, g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey breast, grilled (18-356) | 35 | 155 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 1 | 120 g | 42 |
| Chicken breast, grilled, no skin (18-323) | 32 | 148 | 0.4 | 0.8 | trace | 120 g | 38 |
| Beef rump steak, grilled, lean (18-474) | 31 | 177 | 3.6 | 5.6 | 3 | 100 g | 31 |
| Lamb leg steak, grilled, lean (18-133) | 29.2 | 198 | 2.2 | 4.7 | 3 | 100 g | 29 |
| Lamb, stewing cut, stewed, lean (18-186) | 26.6 | 240 | 1.9 | 6.1 | 3 | 100 g | 27 |
| Paneer (12-495) | 26 | 328 | trace | 3.2 | not measured | 30 g | 8 |
| Peanuts, plain (14-877) | 25.8 | 564 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 0 | a handful, 20 g | 5 |
| Chicken thigh, casseroled, meat only (18-319) | 25.6 | 180 | 1 | 2.1 | 1 | 120 g | 31 |
| Cheddar (12-346) | 25.4 | 416 | 0.3 | 4.1 | 2.4 | 30 g | 8 |
| Tuna, tinned in brine, drained (16-416) | 24.9 | 109 | 1.51 | 0.9 | 3.4 | 1 tin, 120 g | 30 |
| Ox liver, stewed (18-416) | 24.8 | 198 | 7.8 | 4.3 | 110 | 100 g | 25 |
| Beef mince, extra lean, stewed (18-507) | 24.7 | 137 | 2.3 | 5.6 | 3 | 100 g | 25 |
| Salmon, farmed, grilled (16-357) | 24.6 | 239 | 0.45 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 120 g | 30 |
| Cod, grilled (16-466) | 24.6 | 106 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 2 | 120 g | 30 |
| Lamb mince, stewed (18-159) | 24.4 | 208 | 2.1 | 4.6 | 2 | 100 g | 24 |
| Haddock, grilled (16-376) | 23.9 | 98 | 0.17 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 120 g | 29 |
| Halloumi (12-496) | 23.9 | 313 | trace | 3.7 | 0.5 | 30 g | 7 |
| Pink salmon, tinned, drained (16-420) | 23.6 | 138 | 0.83 | 0.7 | 4.7 | 100 g | 24 |
| King prawns, grilled (16-388) | 23.5 | 102 | 0.43 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 100 g | 24 |
| Sardines, tinned in brine, drained (16-424) | 22.1 | 170 | 2.73 | 2.2 | 10.8 | 100 g | 22 |
| Beef mince, stewed (18-470) | 21.8 | 209 | 2.7 | 5 | 2 | 100 g | 22 |
| Almonds (14-896) | 21.2 | 554 | 3.71 | 3.1 | 0 | a handful, 20 g | 4 |
| Tempeh (13-118) | 20.7 | 166 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 120 g | 25 |
| Mackerel, grilled (16-394) | 20.3 | 283 | 1.28 | 0.8 | 9.1 | 120 g | 24 |
| Quark (12-174) | 14.6 | 74 | trace | 0.9 | 0.7 | 120 g | 18 |
| Eggs, boiled (12-940) | 14.1 | 143 | 1.97 | 1.3 | 2 | 2 eggs, 120 g | 17 |
| Soya beans, boiled (13-116) | 14 | 141 | 3 | 0.9 | 0 | 120 g | 17 |
| Edamame, boiled (13-667) | 12.2 | 142 | 2.73 | 1.17 | 0 | 80 g | 10 |
| Cottage cheese, plain (12-539) | 9.4 | 103 | trace | 0.6 | 0.6 | 120 g | 11 |
| Black-eyed beans, boiled (13-063) | 8.8 | 116 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0 | 120 g | 11 |
| Toor dal (pigeon peas), boiled (13-105) | 8.7 | 118 | 1 | 0.9 | 0 | 120 g | 10 |
| Red kidney beans, boiled (13-659) | 8.6 | 100 | 2.26 | 0.88 | 0 | 120 g | 10 |
| Chickpeas, whole, boiled (13-662) | 8.4 | 129 | 1.9 | 1.13 | 0 | 120 g | 10 |
| Tofu, steamed (13-570) | 8.1 | 73 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0 | 120 g | 10 |
| Urad dal, boiled (13-061) | 8.1 | 96 | 2 | 0.9 | 0 | 120 g | 10 |
| Red lentils, boiled (13-658) | 8.1 | 102 | 2.14 | 1.02 | 0 | 120 g | 10 |
| Moong dal, boiled (13-099) | 7.8 | 92 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0 | 120 g | 9 |
| Chickpeas, split (dal), boiled (13-077) | 7.7 | 114 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0 | 120 g | 9 |
| Greek style yogurt, plain (12-555) | 5.7 | 133 | 0.11 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 120 g | 7 |
| Semi-skimmed milk (12-313) | 3.5 | 46 | 0.02 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 200 ml | 7 |
What the table says
The top of the list is lean meat and fish. Grilled turkey breast leads at 35g of protein per 100g, with chicken breast close behind at 32g for 148 kcal in CoFID's figures. White fish matters more than its reputation suggests. Grilled cod gives four fifths of rump steak's protein for 60% of the calories.
Per 100g is not per plate. Paneer and cheddar sit in the top ten per 100g and near the bottom per portion, because nobody eats 100g of cheddar. Peanuts and almonds do the same thing for the same reason, and they bring over 550 kcal per 100g with them. The portion column is the one to plan with. Paneer in a curry is usually more than the 30g cheese portion, so count what you actually put on the plate.
Red meat earns its place on iron, zinc and B12, not on protein. Lean rump steak carries nine times the iron of chicken breast in this table, and lamb is the best zinc source on the list. The NHS puts it plainly:
"Meat is one of the main sources of vitamin B12 in the diet."
NHS, Meat in your diet
The same page also sets the ceiling: if you eat more than 90g of red or processed meat a day, the NHS advises cutting down to 70g. That is one 100g portion most days, not two.
Tinned fish is the quiet winner. A drained tin of tuna gives about 30g of protein for under 140 kcal. Tinned sardines carry more B12 per 100g than any food on the list except liver, and they need no cooking at all. If you are building a week on a budget, start there.
Dal is a carbohydrate food that brings protein, not a protein food. A 120g bowl of red lentils, urad, moong or toor dal gives 9 to 10g of protein. That is a real contribution and a cheap one, but it is about a quarter of what the same portion of chicken gives. Pair it: dal with eggs, dal with a yogurt raita, dal beside a smaller piece of meat. Plant eaters do not need to worry about the total. The British Dietetic Association's fact sheet on plant-based eating is blunt about it:
"You can easily meet protein needs by eating protein-rich foods."
British Dietetic Association, Vegetarian, vegan and plant-based diet
The same sheet notes that iron and zinc from plants are absorbed less well than from meat and eggs, which is why the iron column matters more on a vegetarian week than a meat one.
Greek style yogurt is lower than you think. Plain Greek style yogurt in CoFID is 5.7g per 100g, closer to milk than to quark. Quark and cottage cheese are the dairy foods that actually move a protein total.
How much do you need?
For most adults, enough protein comes without trying. If you lift and want the muscle to show for it, the evidence points higher: the largest review of the question, a 2018 meta-analysis of 49 trials and 1,863 people, found that extra protein stopped adding lean mass at about 1.6g per kg of body weight a day. For a 75kg lifter that is about 120g a day, or four plates of 30g, which in this table is one portion of chicken, tuna, salmon, steak or lamb at each meal, or close to it with a bowl of dal and two eggs.
If you would rather see the arithmetic done for your own body, our method page shows how every target is worked out, and the meal prep guide turns the number into a Sunday.
Ten recipes built on the top of the table
Each of these clears 40g of protein a serving on its own:
- Musakhan-style chicken with sumac onions
- Chicken and chickpea fatteh with garlic yogurt
- Chicken kabsa with golden rice
- Berbere beef and lentils with injera
- Beef and kidney bean chilli with rice
- Harissa lamb, chickpea and egg skillet
- Salmon, potato and egg plate
- Tuna, cannellini and avocado rice bowl
- Tunisian sardine, potato and olive plate
- Sri Lankan coconut dhal with egg
Or browse every recipe, each with its protein per serving worked out from the same kind of figures as this table.
The short version
- Lean poultry, white fish and tinned fish give the most protein per calorie.
- Red meat is for iron, zinc and B12; keep it near 70g a day on average.
- Cheese and nuts look strong per 100g and weak per portion.
- Dal brings protein but needs a partner to make a full meal of it.
- Plan with the portion column, not the per-100g one.