The low calorie high protein foods that give you the most protein per calorie are cooked shrimp at 24.2 g of protein per 100 calories, canned light tuna at 22.6 g, raw egg whites at 21.0 g, cooked tilapia at 20.4 g and roasted chicken breast at 18.8 g.
Nonfat Greek yogurt follows at 17.3 g, which makes it the best dairy option on the list.
Every figure below is calculated from two numbers USDA FoodData Central publishes for each food: protein per 100 g and calories per 100 g. Divide the first by the second, multiply by 100, and you can check any row yourself.
Why protein per 100 calories beats protein per 100 grams
Most high protein lists rank foods by grams per 100 g. That basis rewards dense, dry foods and says nothing about what they cost you in calories.
Take 93% lean ground beef. At 26.2 g per 100 g it outranks canned tuna at 19.4 g. It also carries 193 calories against the tuna’s 86, so per 100 calories the beef delivers 13.6 g and the tuna 22.6 g.
If you are eating in a calorie deficit, the calorie side of that fraction is the one you are budgeting. So the ratio is the column to sort by.
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Twelve whole foods ranked by protein per 100 calories
| Food (USDA description) | Protein per 100 g | Calories per 100 g | Protein per 100 kcal | Grams of food per 100 kcal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shrimp, cooked | 24.0 g | 99 | 24.2 g | 101 g |
| Tuna, light, canned in water, drained | 19.4 g | 86 | 22.6 g | 116 g |
| Egg white, raw | 10.9 g | 52 | 21.0 g | 192 g |
| Tilapia, cooked, dry heat | 26.2 g | 128 | 20.4 g | 78 g |
| Chicken breast, meat only, roasted | 31.0 g | 165 | 18.8 g | 61 g |
| Yogurt, Greek, plain, nonfat | 10.2 g | 59 | 17.3 g | 169 g |
| Beef, ground, 93% lean, patty, broiled | 26.2 g | 193 | 13.6 g | 52 g |
| Cottage cheese, lowfat, 2% milkfat | 11.0 g | 84 | 13.1 g | 119 g |
| Tofu, raw, firm, calcium sulfate | 17.3 g | 144 | 12.0 g | 69 g |
| Edamame, frozen, prepared | 11.9 g | 121 | 9.8 g | 83 g |
| Egg, whole, hard-boiled | 12.6 g | 155 | 8.1 g | 65 g |
| Lentils, cooked, boiled | 9.0 g | 116 | 7.8 g | 86 g |
Source: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy entries, except cottage cheese (Foundation). Ratios are rounded to one decimal.
The fill-you-up column most lists skip
The last column shows how much food 100 calories buys. It is the practical side of feeling full, because it tells you how big the portion on your plate gets.
Egg whites and Greek yogurt stand out here. For 100 calories you get 192 g of egg white or 169 g of yogurt, against 61 g of roasted chicken breast.
Chicken still wins on protein per gram. It just arrives as a smaller pile, which matters if portion size is what keeps you from snacking.
The ratio has a blind spot, though. It says nothing about whether a portion is realistic. Hitting 25 g of protein from egg whites takes about 229 g, roughly seven large whites at USDA’s 33 g each.
Plant foods trail on the ratio because more of their calories come from carbohydrate or fat. Lentils and edamame bring fiber the animal foods lack, which this table does not measure, so read the ranking as a protein metric only.
Where the whole foods meet packaged snacks
These numbers give you a baseline for anything with a label. Our guide to high protein snacks for weight loss covers grab-and-go formats, and you can run the same protein-per-100-calories division on each one.
A tin of tuna or a cup of Greek yogurt also belongs on the list of protein snacks that keep in a work drawer or office fridge. Before a bag of protein chips replaces shrimp in your plan, divide its label protein by its label calories and see where it lands in the table.
This is general nutrition information, not dietary advice. If you manage a kidney condition or follow a prescribed diet, check protein targets with your clinician.
Questions about low calorie high protein foods
What is the leanest protein food per calorie?
Of the twelve foods in the table, cooked shrimp gives the most protein per calorie at 24.2 g per 100 calories, based on USDA figures of 24.0 g protein and 99 calories per 100 g.
Are whole eggs a low calorie protein source?
Whole hard-boiled eggs deliver 8.1 g of protein per 100 calories, since USDA lists them at 155 calories per 100 g. Egg whites alone sit at 52 calories and reach 21.0 g, more than twice as much.
Does cooking change the ratio?
Cooking removes water, which raises protein and calories per 100 g by a similar factor. The ratio stays close unless you add oil or butter, but always compare cooked with cooked, as USDA lists them separately.