The most protein-dense everyday foods from Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and SuperValu — every food ranked by grams of protein per 100 calories, plus selected branded examples.
Grams of protein per 100g (or per 100ml for milk) looks simple, but it hides how many calories you have to eat to get there. Protein per 100 calories tells you how efficiently a food delivers protein for the calories it costs — which is what actually matters when you're dieting. Below, every staple is ranked, and each food and store has its own page with the full breakdown.
To rank everyday Irish foods side by side, see the protein per 100 calories label comparison.
Want to compare your own shortlist? The Protein Swap Lab puts up to four labels on the same protein, calorie or portion basis.
In a small 2005 feeding study of 19 adults, increasing protein from 15% to 30% of calories cut spontaneous intake by 441 kcal a day, but that does not predict any one person's result.
| # | Food | Category | Protein / 100 kcal | Reference protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tinned tuna (in spring water) | Fish | 23.1g | 25g / 100g |
| 2 | Chicken breast | Poultry | 20.9g | 23g / 100g |
| 3 | Low-fat cottage cheese | Dairy | 16.7g | 12g / 100g |
| 4 | Tinned pink salmon | Fish | 15.5g | 22g / 100g |
| 5 | Lean beef mince (5% fat) | Meat | 15.3g | 21g / 100g |
| 6 | Turkey mince | Poultry | 14g | 20g / 100g |
| 7 | Natural Greek-style yoghurt | Dairy | 9.3g | 9g / 100g |
| 8 | Large eggs | Eggs | 8.7g | 12.5g / 100g |
| 9 | Red split lentils (dried) | Legumes | 7.3g | 24g / 100g |
| 10 | Tinned chickpeas | Legumes | 5.8g | 7g / 100g |
| 11 | Whole milk | Dairy | 5.3g | 3.4g / 100ml |
| 12 | Porridge oats | Grains | 3g | 11g / 100g |
Staple figures are estimates, not current product labels or prices. Check the current pack for the specific brand and preparation.
Food tip: For fat loss, start with the portion you actually eat and include oils, sauces and extras. The label gives you a starting point.
Check your portion and work out your daily target. FoodSussed adds label scanning, calorie and protein tracking, and a built-in Coach for fat loss or muscle gain.
FoodSussed is being built for Ireland and the UK. The Android app is coming soon.
Protein and calories are one part of the label. See processing Levels 1–4 with real examples; levels are estimates, not health scores.
Selected own-brand product examples from our site data, across Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and SuperValu. Values and availability can change; check the current pack and retailer. Photos appear only where a barcode match is confirmed in Open Food Facts.
It's the grams of protein you get for every 100 calories a food contains -- the most honest way to compare foods for fat loss, because it accounts for how filling and how calorie-efficient the protein actually is. We calculate it directly from each food's protein and calories per 100g, or per 100ml for milk.
Lean poultry and fish like chicken breast and tinned tuna lead, followed by lean mince, cottage cheese and salmon. Dried staples like oats and lentils look high in protein per 100g but are far less protein-dense once you account for their calories. See the ranked table above for all 12 foods across Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and SuperValu.
We don't scrape live Irish supermarket prices, so we don't publish per-euro value claims we can't stand over. Protein and calorie figures are reference estimates and can vary by brand. Check your current pack; the table ranks staples by protein density, not price.
