Which is cheaper for protein, quinoa (cooked) or sardines (canned in oil)?

Sardines (canned in oil), at $0.055 per gram of protein against $0.068 for quinoa (cooked) (July 2026 US grocery prices). A 30 g protein serving costs $1.65 vs $2.05.

Which has more protein per calorie, quinoa (cooked) or sardines (canned in oil)?

Sardines (canned in oil), with 11.8 g protein per 100 kcal against 3.7 g for quinoa (cooked), 3.2x leaner. That matters when you are cutting and calories are the binding constraint.

Which should I buy, quinoa (cooked) or sardines (canned in oil)?

Sardines (canned in oil) wins on both axes here: cheaper per gram of protein and more protein per calorie. Unless taste, prep or the rest of your macros say otherwise, it is the better default.

Protein head-to-heads · July 2026

Quinoa (cooked) vs Sardines (canned in oil): 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.

Sardines (canned in oil) is 1.2x cheaper per gram of protein ($0.055/g vs $0.068/g), while it also carries more protein per calorie (11.8 g vs 3.7 g per 100 kcal), so it wins on both axes.

Food	$/g protein	30 g protein costs	You need	kcal that come with it	Protein/100 kcal
Quinoa (cooked)	$0.068	$2.05	682 g	818 kcal	3.7 g
Sardines (canned in oil)	$0.055	$1.65	122 g	254 kcal	11.8 g

Full macros, per serving

Food (per serving)	Price	kcal	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Quinoa (cooked) (100 g)	$0.30	120	4.4 g	21.3 g	1.9 g
Sardines (canned in oil) (100 g)	$1.35	208	24.6 g	0 g	11.4 g

A week of protein from each

Hitting a common 100 g/day protein target from sardines (canned in oil) alone costs $38.41 a week; from quinoa (cooked) alone, $47.73. That is a gap of $9.31 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.

This one is not a trade-off

Sardines (canned in oil) is both the cheaper protein ($0.055/g against $0.068/g) and the leaner one (11.8 g protein per 100 kcal against 3.7 g). Most matchups force you to pick a side. This one does not, so quinoa (cooked) has to win on taste, prep time or what else it brings to the meal, because it is not winning on the numbers.

The amount you actually have to eat

Thirty grams of protein means 682 g of quinoa (cooked), against 122 g for sardines (canned in oil). That is a real constraint, not a footnote: a price per gram only counts if the serving is one a person will finish. Treat quinoa (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 quinoa (cooked) brings 818 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.

One of these is a convenience purchase

Quinoa (cooked) ranks #24 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: $2.05 per 30 g against $1.65 for sardines (canned in oil). 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.

Compare against other foods

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper for protein, quinoa (cooked) or sardines (canned in oil)?: Sardines (canned in oil), at $0.055 per gram of protein against $0.068 for quinoa (cooked) (July 2026 US grocery prices). A 30 g protein serving costs $1.65 vs $2.05.
Which has more protein per calorie, quinoa (cooked) or sardines (canned in oil)?: Sardines (canned in oil), with 11.8 g protein per 100 kcal against 3.7 g for quinoa (cooked), 3.2x leaner. That matters when you are cutting and calories are the binding constraint.
Which should I buy, quinoa (cooked) or sardines (canned in oil)?: Sardines (canned in oil) wins on both axes here: cheaper per gram of protein and more protein per calorie. Unless taste, prep or the rest of your macros say otherwise, it is the better default.

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.