Which is cheaper for protein, black beans (cooked) or chicken breast (raw)?

Black beans (cooked), at $0.025 per gram of protein against $0.040 for chicken breast (raw) (July 2026 US grocery prices). A 30 g protein serving costs $0.74 vs $1.20.

Which has more protein per calorie, black beans (cooked) or chicken breast (raw)?

Chicken breast (raw), with 18.8 g protein per 100 kcal against 6.7 g for black beans (cooked), 2.8x leaner. That matters when you are cutting and calories are the binding constraint.

Which should I buy, black beans (cooked) or chicken breast (raw)?

Depends on your constraint. On a tight budget with room in your calories, black beans (cooked) is cheaper per gram of protein. On a calorie-capped cut, chicken breast (raw) gives you 2.8x more protein per calorie and is usually worth its $0.040/g price.

Protein head-to-heads · July 2026

Black beans (cooked) vs Chicken breast (raw): which protein is cheaper?

USDA macros joined to current US grocery prices, reduced to the two numbers that decide it: dollars per gram of protein, and protein per calorie.

Black beans (cooked) is 1.6x cheaper per gram of protein ($0.025/g vs $0.040/g), while Chicken breast (raw) is the leaner choice at 18.8 g protein per 100 kcal against 6.7 g. Budget favours one, a calorie cap favours the other.

Food	$/g protein	30 g protein costs	You need	kcal that come with it	Protein/100 kcal
Black beans (cooked)	$0.025	$0.74	337 g	445 kcal	6.7 g
Chicken breast (raw)	$0.040	$1.20	133 g	160 kcal	18.8 g

Full macros, per serving

Food (per serving)	Price	kcal	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Black beans (cooked) (100 g)	$0.22	132	8.9 g	24 g	0.5 g
Chicken breast (raw) (100 g)	$0.90	120	22.5 g	0 g	2.6 g

A week of protein from each

Hitting a common 100 g/day protein target from black beans (cooked) alone costs $17.30 a week; from chicken breast (raw) alone, $28.00. That is a gap of $10.70 every week for the same protein. In practice you mix sources: the planner computes the cheapest mix for your exact target and calorie cap, live from the same dataset.

Budget says one, calories say the other

Black beans (cooked) costs $0.025 per gram of protein against $0.040, so it saves $10.70 a week at a 100 g/day target. Chicken breast (raw) answers a different question: 18.8 g of protein per 100 kcal against 6.7 g, which is what matters once calories, not dollars, are the thing you run out of first.

The amount you actually have to eat

Thirty grams of protein means 337 g of black beans (cooked), against 133 g for chicken breast (raw). That is a real constraint, not a footnote: a price per gram only counts if the serving is one a person will finish. Treat black beans (cooked) as the base of a meal that other protein is added to, not as the protein itself.

What the calories cost you

Getting 30 g of protein from black beans (cooked) brings 445 kcal with it. On a 2,000 kcal day, three servings would be most of your budget before anything else goes on the plate. That is fine when you are eating at maintenance or building, and it is the reason this food falls apart on a cut no matter how good the price per gram looks.

On a cut these are not comparable

Chicken breast (raw) carries 2.8x the protein per calorie that black beans (cooked) does. When you are eating at a deficit, that ratio is the whole game: the same 30 g of protein arrives with 160 kcal from one and 445 kcal from the other. The cheaper option stops being cheaper once you count what you had to give up elsewhere to fit it in.

Compare against other foods

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper for protein, black beans (cooked) or chicken breast (raw)?: Black beans (cooked), at $0.025 per gram of protein against $0.040 for chicken breast (raw) (July 2026 US grocery prices). A 30 g protein serving costs $0.74 vs $1.20.
Which has more protein per calorie, black beans (cooked) or chicken breast (raw)?: Chicken breast (raw), with 18.8 g protein per 100 kcal against 6.7 g for black beans (cooked), 2.8x leaner. That matters when you are cutting and calories are the binding constraint.
Which should I buy, black beans (cooked) or chicken breast (raw)?: Depends on your constraint. On a tight budget with room in your calories, black beans (cooked) is cheaper per gram of protein. On a calorie-capped cut, chicken breast (raw) gives you 2.8x more protein per calorie and is usually worth its $0.040/g price.

Prices are representative US grocery prices as of July 2026; your store will differ. Educational content, not medical or dietary advice. Dataset: free download, CC-BY.