Whole Foods Protein Database

Every plain whole-food protein source on the site, ranked by Protein Density (% of calories from protein). Lean meats, fish, dairy, plant proteins, and the one pasta swap that almost doubles the density of the same plate.

Nutrition values come from USDA FoodData Central (SR-Legacy / Foundation) for every entry except Banza chickpea pasta, which USDA does not catalogue — that one row is sourced from the manufacturer panel and flagged below. See methodology for the discipline.

Watching your grocery budget? See which of these are the cheapest protein sources per gram, ranked from official USDA and BLS price data.

35 whole foods tracked · sorted by Protein Density (descending)

All 35 Meat 6 Fish 3 Dairy 3 Plant 21 Pasta 2

Where the choice matters most

Two head-to-head pairs make the case better than any single row can: regular pasta swapped for Banza chickpea pasta, and whole-milk yogurt swapped for nonfat Greek yogurt — same recipe, same serving, very different tier.

Pasta swap
Regular spaghetti
14.5%
8g P · 220 kcal
Banza chickpea
28.0%
14g P · 200 kcal

Same 2 oz / 56 g dry serving. The chickpea version lifts the same plate from Avoid to Gold and adds 6g of protein.

Yogurt aisle
Whole-milk, plain
22.9%
6g P · 105 kcal
Greek nonfat, plain
71.1%
16g P · 90 kcal

Same 170 g serving. Same dairy aisle. Greek nonfat carries 2.7× the protein and lands in Platinum. See the highest-protein yogurts, ranked →

WHOLE FOODS · TOP 8 OF 35

Ranked by Protein Density

Percent of calories from protein. Secondary column is grams of protein per serving.

Top 8 of 35
01 Tuna, yellowfin (raw, 4 oz) 89.6% 28 g
02 Canned tuna in water, drained (1 can, 142 g) 87.3% 36 g
03 Chicken breast (cooked, 100 g) 75.2% 31 g
04 Top-round steak (grilled, 4 oz) 71.6% 34 g
05 Greek yogurt, plain nonfat (170 g) 71.1% 16 g
06 Lean ground pork (cooked, 4 oz) 66.7% 35 g
07 Pork loin chop (cooked, 4 oz) 63.6% 31 g
08 93/7 lean ground beef (cooked, 4 oz) 54.5% 30 g
PLATINUM · 40%+
GOLD · 25–39%
SILVER · 15–24%
AVOID · under 15%
The same data, as a table
FoodCategoryDensityProteinCaloriesProtein / 100 kcalQuality
Tuna, yellowfin (raw, 4 oz) Fish 89.6% 28 g 125 kcal 22.4 Complete
Canned tuna in water, drained (1 can, 142 g) Fish 87.3% 36 g 165 kcal 21.8 Complete
Chicken breast (cooked, 100 g) Meat 75.2% 31 g 165 kcal 18.8 Complete
Top-round steak (grilled, 4 oz) Meat 71.6% 34 g 190 kcal 17.9 Complete
Greek yogurt, plain nonfat (170 g) Dairy 71.1% 16 g 90 kcal 17.8 Complete
Lean ground pork (cooked, 4 oz) Meat 66.7% 35 g 210 kcal 16.7 Complete
Pork loin chop (cooked, 4 oz) Meat 63.6% 31 g 195 kcal 15.9 Complete
93/7 lean ground beef (cooked, 4 oz) Meat 54.5% 30 g 220 kcal 13.6 Complete
Lupini beans, cooked (100 g) Plant 53.3% 16 g 120 kcal 13.3 Complete (mod.)
Cottage cheese, low-fat 2% (1 cup) Dairy 51.9% 24 g 185 kcal 13.0 Complete
Tofu, firm (100 g) Plant 46.9% 17 g 145 kcal 11.7 Complete (mod.)
Soybeans, cooked (100 g) Plant 42.4% 18 g 170 kcal 10.6 Complete (mod.)
Salmon fillet (cooked, 5 oz) Fish 42.0% 31 g 295 kcal 10.5 Complete
85/15 ground beef (cooked, 4 oz) Meat 40.7% 29 g 285 kcal 10.2 Complete
Edamame, shelled, cooked (100 g) Plant 40.0% 12 g 120 kcal 10.0 Complete (mod.)
Edamame, shelled (1 cup) Plant 37.9% 18 g 190 kcal 9.5 Complete (mod.)
Lentils, cooked (1 cup) Plant 31.3% 18 g 230 kcal 7.8 Complete (mod.)
Lentils, cooked (100 g) Plant 31.3% 9 g 115 kcal 7.8 Complete (mod.)
Fava beans, cooked (100 g) Plant 29.1% 8 g 110 kcal 7.3 Complete (mod.)
Kidney beans, cooked (100 g) Plant 28.8% 9 g 125 kcal 7.2 Complete (mod.)
White (cannellini) beans, cooked (100 g) Plant 28.6% 10 g 140 kcal 7.1 Complete (mod.)
Banza chickpea pasta, cooked (from 2 oz / 56 g dry) Pasta 28.0% 14 g 200 kcal 7.0 Complementary
Black-eyed peas, cooked (100 g) Plant 27.8% 8 g 115 kcal 7.0 Complete (mod.)
Lima beans, cooked (100 g) Plant 27.8% 8 g 115 kcal 7.0 Complete (mod.)
Black beans, cooked (100 g) Plant 27.7% 9 g 130 kcal 6.9 Complete (mod.)
Great northern beans, cooked (100 g) Plant 26.7% 8 g 120 kcal 6.7 Complete (mod.)
Split peas, cooked (100 g) Plant 26.7% 8 g 120 kcal 6.7 Complete (mod.)
Mung beans, cooked (100 g) Plant 26.7% 7 g 105 kcal 6.7 Complete (mod.)
Green peas, cooked (100 g) Plant 25.0% 5 g 80 kcal 6.3 Complete (mod.)
Pinto beans, cooked (100 g) Plant 24.8% 9 g 145 kcal 6.2 Complete (mod.)
Adzuki beans, cooked (100 g) Plant 24.6% 8 g 130 kcal 6.2 Complete (mod.)
Whole-milk yogurt, plain (170 g) Dairy 22.9% 6 g 105 kcal 5.7 Complete
Navy beans, cooked (100 g) Plant 22.9% 8 g 140 kcal 5.7 Complete (mod.)
Chickpeas, cooked (100 g) Plant 21.8% 9 g 165 kcal 5.5 Complete (mod.)
Regular spaghetti, cooked (from 2 oz / 56 g dry) Pasta 14.5% 8 g 220 kcal 3.6 Complementary
All 35 whole foods in this database, ranked by Protein Density.

Source provenance

Every row's protein/calorie values map to a public USDA record. The single exception is documented below.

Food Source
85/15 ground beef (cooked, 4 oz) # USDA FDC #174032
93/7 lean ground beef (cooked, 4 oz) # USDA FDC #174752
Adzuki beans, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #173728
Banza chickpea pasta, cooked (from 2 oz / 56 g dry) Manufacturer label*
Black beans, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #173735
Black-eyed peas, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #173759
Canned tuna in water, drained (1 can, 142 g) # USDA FDC #171986
Chicken breast (cooked, 100 g) # USDA FDC #171477
Chickpeas, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #173757
Cottage cheese, low-fat 2% (1 cup) # USDA FDC #172182
Edamame, shelled (1 cup) # USDA FDC #168411
Edamame, shelled, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #168411
Fava beans, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #173753
Great northern beans, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #175191
Greek yogurt, plain nonfat (170 g) # USDA FDC #171312
Green peas, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #170017
Kidney beans, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #175194
Lean ground pork (cooked, 4 oz) # USDA FDC #169193
Lentils, cooked (1 cup) # USDA FDC #172421
Lentils, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #172421
Lima beans, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #174253
Lupini beans, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #172424
Mung beans, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #174257
Navy beans, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #173746
Pinto beans, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #175200
Pork loin chop (cooked, 4 oz) # USDA FDC #168253
Regular spaghetti, cooked (from 2 oz / 56 g dry) # USDA FDC #169737
Salmon fillet (cooked, 5 oz) # USDA FDC #175168
Soybeans, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #174271
Split peas, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #172429
Tofu, firm (100 g) # USDA FDC #172475
Top-round steak (grilled, 4 oz) # USDA FDC #168740
Tuna, yellowfin (raw, 4 oz) # USDA FDC #175159
White (cannellini) beans, cooked (100 g) # USDA FDC #175203
Whole-milk yogurt, plain (170 g) # USDA FDC #171284

*Manufacturer label is used only where USDA SR-Legacy has no equivalent record. Today that covers Banza chickpea pasta only (USDA does not catalogue chickpea pasta as a distinct food). Values come straight off the package nutrition panel.

NEXT IN THIS GROUP Highest leucine foods, ranked Same whole-food dataset, ranked by the MPS-trigger metric instead of density. OPEN CROSS THE DATASET Which of these staples is the cheapest, per gram? Official BLS retail prices × USDA protein content — cost per 100 g of protein. OPEN UNDERSTAND THE METRIC How Protein Density is calculated The tier thresholds and the math behind every number on this page. OPEN
Nutrition data sourced from USDA FoodData Central (SR-Legacy / Foundation). Rankings calculated by Protein Density (% of calories from protein). Tier thresholds: Platinum ≥ 40%, Gold 25–39%, Silver 15–24%, Avoid < 15%. See methodology for the math, and complete protein, scored by DIAAS for how each source's amino-acid quality is judged. Pulses are ranked separately on highest protein legumes and beans. The full product database (204 rows, CSV/JSON + schema) is an open CC BY 4.0 dataset: download it on GitHub. The 35 whole-food records on this page are also served live by the free, no-auth JSON API.
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