Protein cost by food: every source ranked (July 2026)
USDA macros joined to representative US grocery prices. The two columns that matter: $/g protein for your budget, protein per 100 kcal for your cut. Full dataset free to download.
| # | Food | $/g protein | 30 g protein costs | You need | Protein/100 kcal | Lean rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oats (dry) | $0.009 | $0.27 | 178 g | 4.3 g | #22 |
| 2 | Soybeans (dried, raw) | $0.010 | $0.29 | 82 g | 8.2 g | #15 |
| 3 | Wheat flour (all-purpose) | $0.012 | $0.35 | 291 g | 2.8 g | #25 |
| 4 | Vital wheat gluten | $0.013 | $0.40 | 40 g | 20.3 g | #5 |
| 5 | Peanuts (raw) | $0.017 | $0.52 | 115 g | 4.6 g | #21 |
| 6 | Split peas (cooked) | $0.022 | $0.65 | 361 g | 7.2 g | #18 |
| 7 | Peanut butter | $0.022 | $0.66 | 120 g | 4.3 g | #23 |
| 8 | Lentils (cooked) | $0.022 | $0.67 | 333 g | 7.8 g | #17 |
| 9 | Tofu (firm) | $0.024 | $0.71 | 176 g | 11.8 g | #11 |
| 10 | Black beans (cooked) | $0.025 | $0.74 | 337 g | 6.7 g | #20 |
| 11 | Cottage cheese (lowfat) | $0.027 | $0.82 | 273 g | 13.1 g | #9 |
| 12 | Whey protein (1 scoop) | $0.031 | $0.94 | 38 g | 20.0 g | #6 |
| 13 | Edamame | $0.033 | $1.00 | 250 g | 9.9 g | #13 |
| 14 | Greek yogurt (nonfat) | $0.035 | $1.05 | 300 g | 16.9 g | #8 |
| 15 | Milk (2%) | $0.035 | $1.06 | 882 g | 6.8 g | #19 |
| 16 | Eggs (~2 large) | $0.036 | $1.07 | 238 g | 8.8 g | #14 |
| 17 | Chicken breast (raw) | $0.040 | $1.20 | 133 g | 18.8 g | #7 |
| 18 | Canned tuna (in water) | $0.042 | $1.27 | 115 g | 22.4 g | #1 |
| 19 | Turkey breast (raw) | $0.044 | $1.31 | 125 g | 21.6 g | #2 |
| 20 | Egg whites (liquid) | $0.046 | $1.38 | 275 g | 21.0 g | #3 |
| 21 | Tilapia (raw) | $0.048 | $1.43 | 150 g | 20.8 g | #4 |
| 22 | Sardines (canned in oil) | $0.055 | $1.65 | 122 g | 11.8 g | #10 |
| 23 | Ground beef 90/10 (raw) | $0.055 | $1.65 | 150 g | 11.4 g | #12 |
| 24 | Quinoa (cooked) | $0.068 | $2.05 | 682 g | 3.7 g | #24 |
| 25 | Beef jerky | $0.166 | $4.97 | 90 g | 8.1 g | #16 |
Cheap and lean are different races: the budget winners are carb- or fat-heavy staples, the cutting winners are lean animal proteins. The planner trades the two off against your own protein target and calorie cap, and every head-to-head page settles one specific matchup.
The honest caveat is the You need column: cheap protein comes with a volume problem. Nobody sits down to 178 g of dry oats, and hitting a full daily target from any single staple means eating an amount of food most people simply will not eat. In practice the cheap column is where your first 20 to 40 grams come from (oatmeal, a bean side, bread that pulls its weight) and denser sources cover the rest. That mixed basket is exactly what the planner computes, so treat this table as the parts list, not the meal plan.