Which is cheaper for protein, lentils (cooked) or turkey breast (raw)?

Lentils (cooked), at $0.022 per gram of protein against $0.044 for turkey breast (raw) (July 2026 US grocery prices). A 30 g protein serving costs $0.67 vs $1.31.

Which has more protein per calorie, lentils (cooked) or turkey breast (raw)?

Turkey breast (raw), with 21.6 g protein per 100 kcal against 7.8 g for lentils (cooked), 2.8x leaner. That matters when you are cutting and calories are the binding constraint.

Which should I buy, lentils (cooked) or turkey breast (raw)?

Depends on your constraint. On a tight budget with room in your calories, lentils (cooked) is cheaper per gram of protein. On a calorie-capped cut, turkey breast (raw) gives you 2.8x more protein per calorie and is usually worth its $0.044/g price.

Protein head-to-heads · July 2026

Lentils (cooked) vs Turkey 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.

Lentils (cooked) is 2.0x cheaper per gram of protein ($0.022/g vs $0.044/g), while Turkey breast (raw) is the leaner choice at 21.6 g protein per 100 kcal against 7.8 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
Lentils (cooked)	$0.022	$0.67	333 g	387 kcal	7.8 g
Turkey breast (raw)	$0.044	$1.31	125 g	139 kcal	21.6 g

Full macros, per serving

Food (per serving)	Price	kcal	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Lentils (cooked) (100 g)	$0.20	116	9 g	20 g	0.4 g
Turkey breast (raw) (100 g)	$1.05	111	24 g	0 g	1 g

A week of protein from each

Hitting a common 100 g/day protein target from lentils (cooked) alone costs $15.56 a week; from turkey breast (raw) alone, $30.63. That is a gap of $15.07 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

Lentils (cooked) costs $0.022 per gram of protein against $0.044, so it saves $15.07 a week at a 100 g/day target. Turkey breast (raw) answers a different question: 21.6 g of protein per 100 kcal against 7.8 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 333 g of lentils (cooked), against 125 g for turkey 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 lentils (cooked) as the base of a meal that other protein is added to, not as the protein itself.

One of these is a convenience purchase

Turkey breast (raw) ranks #19 of 25 on cost per gram of protein, near the bottom. It is not a bad food, it is an expensive way to buy protein: $1.31 per 30 g against $0.67 for lentils (cooked). If it is in your basket for the protein, swap it. If it is there because it travels well or you enjoy it, that is a different and perfectly good reason.

On a cut these are not comparable

Turkey breast (raw) carries 2.8x the protein per calorie that lentils (cooked) does. When you are eating at a deficit, that ratio is the whole game: the same 30 g of protein arrives with 139 kcal from one and 387 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, lentils (cooked) or turkey breast (raw)?: Lentils (cooked), at $0.022 per gram of protein against $0.044 for turkey breast (raw) (July 2026 US grocery prices). A 30 g protein serving costs $0.67 vs $1.31.
Which has more protein per calorie, lentils (cooked) or turkey breast (raw)?: Turkey breast (raw), with 21.6 g protein per 100 kcal against 7.8 g for lentils (cooked), 2.8x leaner. That matters when you are cutting and calories are the binding constraint.
Which should I buy, lentils (cooked) or turkey breast (raw)?: Depends on your constraint. On a tight budget with room in your calories, lentils (cooked) is cheaper per gram of protein. On a calorie-capped cut, turkey breast (raw) gives you 2.8x more protein per calorie and is usually worth its $0.044/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.