In two previous articles, I’ve talked about how much protein you should eat each day for muscle growth (link here), in addition to the benefits of plant-based protein compared to animal protein (link here).
But one of the most common questions I get from people is “how can I reach my protein goals on a plant-based diet?”
So in this article, I’m going to share my top strategies for how to increase your protein consumption while eating plant-based.
Know How Much Protein You Really Need
Before I get into the different strategies to increase your protein intake, I think it’s important to understand how much protein you actually need because in today’s society, we tend to think we need a lot more protein than we actually do, even if your goal is to gain muscle.
Generally, as long as you can get .7 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, you are likely getting enough protein to support optimal muscle growth.
For reference, I weight about 180 pounds I get around 125 grams of protein and have had no trouble putting on muscle the past several years. I get about .7 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight.
That said, there are some situations where you might need more or less.
So if you’re interested in reading a more in depth explanation, check out my article on how much protein you need to gain muscle (link here).
All right, let’s dive into it.
1) Know Which Foods are Higher in Protein
This might seem obvious, but simply knowing which plant-based foods are more protein rich is important if you’re looking to increase your protein consumption.
Here is a list of plant-based protein sources and how much protein they contain per 200 calories.
When looking at lists like this, it’s important to be mindful of how much of the food you can reasonably eat. For example, while it’s perfectly reasonable to eat 200 calories of tempeh, it’s not likely you’re going to eat 200 calories of nutritional yeast (unless you want dry mouth for the next 20 years!).
For example, if you put 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast on your toast, it’s only 20 calories and 3 grams of protein.
So per calorie, nutritional yeast is very high in protein, but because you can’t have a lot of it at one time, it won’t be a significant portion of your daily protein. That said, including some of it in your diet (such as on your toast, or on pasta with red sauce) is a great way to add a few grams of protein.
2) Structure Your Meals Around The Following Foods
When it comes to planning your meals, specifically lunch and dinner, it’s really important to include the following food groups, not only for health, but to maximize your protein intake:
- Grains: This could be quinoa, rice, or your favorite grain (kamut/quinoa are highest in protein)
- Legumes: This could be any kind of beans, lentils, chickpeas, etc. (There’s a full list later in the article)
- “Protein:” This could be tempeh, tofu, seitan, mock meats (you don’t need this for every meal, but definitely helps)
- Vegetables: This isn’t for adding lots of protein, but more-so for health (although vegetables do still contain some protein!)
- Sauce: If you’re making a stir fry or something that you can add a sauce to, not only will it enhance the flavor of the food, but if you’re using higher protein sauce, it can be a great way to get some extra protein. Two examples include a tahini based dressing or a cashew based “cheese sauce” (an example of my favorite lemon tahini dressing is below under “example meal 2”).
By including a grain, legume, and a specifically higher protein food in your meals, especially lunch and dinner, you’ll be right on your way to drastically increasing your protein intake.
If you simply have something like avocado toast for lunch, while that is a healthy option, it won’t be a large amount of protein.
3) Every Bit Counts: Make Little Swaps For Higher Protein Foods
If you’re trying to increase your protein intake, it’s important to understand that every little bit counts. Because of this, there are certain food swaps you can do that will help you increase your protein intake.
Here are several examples:
- Drink soy, pea, or oat milk instead of almond milk (look at the protein on the back of the container to see which ones are higher). Soy milk has 7-9 grams of protein per cup, whereas almond milk has 1.
- Look at the protein content of the beans you use and if you don’t have a taste preference, choose ones higher in protein. Nature’s Promise (Stop and Shop brand) organic kidney beans have 9 grams of protein per 1/2 cup, whereas Trader Joes organic black beans contain 5 grams of protein.
- Kamut has 10g protein per cup, whereas quinoa has 8g and brown rice has 5g.
- Super firm tofu has 14g protein per 3oz, whereas extra firm is 11, firm is 9, and regular has 6g.
- Tempeh has 19g protein per 3oz, whereas tofu has the amount listed above.
- Chickpea, black bean, and lentil pasta have between 10-25g protein per 2oz, whereas regular pasta has 8g.
The point in sharing these differences is that if you swap some of the foods listed here for higher protein options, they can make a big difference.
While these little swaps don’t seem like a huge difference, they could easily add up to 30g+ more protein throughout the day.
4) Eat More Legumes
In addition to being extremely nutritious and health promoting, legumes are an amazing source of plant-based protein.
After reviewing food logs of both my in person and online clients, there is one common theme: people are not eating enough legumes!
Here’s a list of some common legumes – while they all contain 15-20g protein per cup, they’re in order of highest to lowest protein content:
- Lentils(green, red, black, brown etc.)
- Green/yellow split peas
- Pinto Beans
- Kidney Beans
- Black Beans
- Cannellini/Navy Beans
- Chickpeas (Garbanzo)
I recommend having at least a cup of legumes per day, but the more the better!
5) Supplement With Protein Powder
There’s nothing magical about protein shakes – it’s just protein.
That said, they can be super helpful as a convenient and fast way to get an extra 20-25 grams of protein.
If you’re reading this article, it’s probably because you struggle to eat enough protein on a plant-based diet.
So if you do need help reaching your protein goals, I recommend supplementing. If you get enough protein from the foods you eat, then don’t.
It’s that simple!
I personally use a protein powder because it’s convenient and helps me reach my daily protein intake.
Include Some Mock Meats
While I encourage you to get the majority of your calories from whole, plant-based foods, if you want to include an occasional mock meat, they tend to be pretty high in protein.
For example, ever so often, I’ll eat a Beyond Meat burger (my favorite mock meat), which has 20 grams of protein. There’s other options, such as “sausages” or “ground meat.”
Some veggie burgers are high in protein too. So if you eat veggie burgers, look at the protein content and buy ones that are higher in protein.
Now let’s get into 3 example meals containing high amounts of protein.
Example Meal 1: Smoothie Bowl
- 1.5 cups frozen fruit
- 1 banana
- .5-1 cup of plant milk (soy milk has the most protein, then oat milk)
- Protein Powder
- 1 tbsp spirulina
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- Ice
Toppings (optional, but recommended):
- 2 tbsp hemp seeds (topping)
- 1/4 cup granola
- 1/2 cup fresh fruit of choice
Nutrition: makes 1 serving: roughly 700 calories, 94 carbohydrates, 45g protein, 22g fat
Example Meal 2: Tempeh Stir Fry
- Your favorite vegetables (garlic, onions, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, cabbage, etc.)
- 1/4 cup quinoa
- 1/2 cup can of beans
- 3 oz tempeh
Lemon Tahini Dressing
- 4 tbsp tahini
- 1 lemon (juice)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (or date)
- 1 tbsp mustard (I prefer spicy brown mustard)
- ⅓ cup water (or however much water you’d like for desired consistency)
- Salt/pepper to taste
This will make 4 servings of sauce
Instructions:
- After rinsing quinoa for 1 minute, place 1/4 cup quinoa into a pot with 1/2 cup water (twice as much water as quinoa). Bring the quinoa + water to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10-20 minutes (the more quinoa, the longer) until tender and all liquid is gone. Then remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let it steam for 5 minutes.
- Heat up olive oil on the pan (or a splash of water along with instruction #3 if you want to avoid oil)
- Cook aromatic vegetables/spices on low heat (Garlic, onions, ginger, spices)
- Add the tempeh + rest of the vegetables based on how long they take to cook using a medium heat (harder vegetables and things that are bigger require more time, such as carrots/mushrooms)
- Add beans to warm them up
- Add as much sauce as you like to the stir fry to warm up and then serve hot!
Note:
Because we are adding our own sauce, the added oil isn’t necessary. That said, if you prefer it with a bit of olive oil for taste and/or to add some extra calories, that’s fine. If you use water instead, just add a bit of water to instruction #3 and stir to ensure vegetables don’t stick.
Nutrition (including 1/4th of sauce recipe): makes 1 serving: 610 calories, 75 carbohydrates, 38g protein, 19g fat)
Example Meal 3: Red Lentil Curry
- 1 package (450g) of split red lentils, rinsed and drained (no soaking needed)
- ½ onion (diced)
- 1 Tbsp red curry paste
- 4 large carrots (chopped)
- 1 red bell pepper (chopped)
- ½ head of cauliflower (chopped)
- 1.5 cups frozen peas
Instructions:
- In a large pot, add lentils, red curry paste, cauliflower, and carrots.
- Cover with water and turn on medium to high heat
- When the water comes to a boil, turn heat down to medium and cook for 10-15 minutes or until lentils are soft (stir occasionally)
- Reduce heat to simmer and add the frozen peas and red bell pepper
- When the water runs out, turn off the heat and there’s dinner!
Note:
- Feel free to add any vegetables you have that you think would be good in the curry!
Nutrition: makes 4 servings (each serving contains roughly 550 calories, 94 carbohydrates, 33g protein, 4g fat)
Conclusion:
As you can see, just these three meals adds up to over 100 grams of protein and only around 1800 calories. So for those of you who eat more than that (I eat significantly more, at 3,000 calories per day!), simply add more food to the list and you’ll be well above your protein requirements.
While our society has perpetuated this myth that the more protein the better, for the vast majority of people, getting .7 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight will be enough to support your efforts in the gym.
As you can see from this article, if you make a few switches to higher protein foods, including following some of the examples I laid out here, you’ll be well on your way to getting enough protein.
Online Fitness and Nutrition Coaching
I recently opened up a few spots for my online fitness and nutrition coaching. Here’s what it includes:
- Customized workout routine that fits within your schedule/available equipment.
- Tailored plant-based nutrition coaching so you can reach your goals while optimizing your health.
- Integrated support system that allows you to be held accountable throughout your journey.
If you’re interested in working with me, I’d love to talk about how I can help you! Find out more here!