High Protein Foods for Weight Gain: Protein and Calories

When you want to gain, pick high protein foods for weight gain that carry calories too: peanut butter, whole milk, eggs, salmon, lentils and full-fat yogurt. The NHS advises adults to add around 300 to 500 calories a day. Two tablespoons of peanut butter and a cup of whole milk give 328 kcal and 14.7 g of protein, so one snack does most of that job.

Which high protein foods help with weight gain?

The ones that give a lot of both. Lean foods such as chicken breast are great for protein, but they add few calories, and that’s the catch when you want to gain. The high protein low calorie foods ranking is the mirror image of this table. I weighed each food at a normal portion from USDA records and sorted the table by energy.

Food	Portion	Energy	Protein	Protein per 100 kcal
Lentils, boiled	1 cup	230 kcal	17.9 g	7.8 g
Ground beef, 85% lean, broiled	85 g patty (3 oz)	213 kcal	22.0 g	10.4 g
Peanut butter, smooth	2 tablespoons	191 kcal	7.2 g	3.8 g
Tofu, firm	half a cup	181 kcal	21.8 g	12.0 g
Salmon, farmed, cooked	85 g (3 oz)	175 kcal	18.8 g	10.7 g
Almonds, raw	28 g	163 kcal	6.0 g	3.7 g
Eggs, large	2 eggs	148 kcal	12.5 g	8.4 g
Greek yogurt, whole milk	150 g	142 kcal	13.2 g	9.3 g
Whole milk	1 cup	137 kcal	7.5 g	5.5 g
Cheddar cheese	1 oz (28.35 g)	114 kcal	6.5 g	5.7 g
Chicken breast, braised (a lean contrast)	120 g	199 kcal	38.5 g	19.3 g

Read the energy column first, then the protein column. Lentils, ground beef, peanut butter and tofu give 180 kcal or more per portion along with 7 to 22 g of protein. Whole milk and cheddar are lighter but easy to add to what you already eat. The last column shows the trade-off. Chicken gives 19.3 g per 100 kcal, peanut butter 3.8 g, so the calorie-dense foods carry less protein for their energy. That’s fine when your goal is to gain. I shop from the top rows. To add 400 kcal with braised chicken breast alone you would eat 241 g of it, which is 77 g of protein. That’s a lot of chicken. High protein foods ranks them per 100 g as well, if you want the plain protein order.

How much protein do I need to gain weight?

About what any active adult needs. The calories change, the protein doesn’t, and how much protein you should eat a day gives the range with examples. The Dietary Guidelines set 1.2–1.6 g per kg of body weight a day. For people who train, the International Society of Sports Nutrition says 1.4–2.0 g/kg is enough for most.

Body weight	Dietary Guidelines, 1.2–1.6 g/kg	Sports nutrition position, 1.4–2.0 g/kg
60 kg (132 lb)	72–96 g	84–120 g
70 kg (154 lb)	84–112 g	98–140 g
80 kg (176 lb)	96–128 g	112–160 g

A meta-analysis of 49 trials of protein supplementation in healthy adults doing resistance training for six weeks or more found that extra protein added no more fat-free mass once total intake passed 1.62 g/kg a day. That is 113 g at 70 kg. So I’d keep protein inside the range and let the extra calories come from the rest of the plate.

To get the grams for your own height and weight, use the protein calculator.

How do I add 300 to 500 calories with protein?

Aim for a snack and leave dinner alone. Smaller meals more often with snacks between them is the NHS advice, along with cheese, nuts and seeds on meals, milkshakes or other high-calorie drinks between meals, and easy snacks like yogurt. Each add-on below fits that list, and each lands inside the band of 300 to 500 kcal the NHS gives.

Add-on	Protein	Energy
2 tablespoons peanut butter and 1 cup whole milk	14.7 g	328 kcal
150 g whole-milk Greek yogurt, 28 g almonds and 1 banana (115 g)	20.0 g	406 kcal
2 eggs cooked in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, with 1 oz (28.35 g) cheddar	19.0 g	381 kcal

Most days I’d pick the first one. It takes two minutes. The second travels well, and the third is a breakfast that needs a pan but no real recipe. Whichever you pick, eat it mid-afternoon or in the evening rather than right before a meal, so it adds to your meals instead of pushing them out. On days you don’t need the extra, swap in one of the high protein low calorie snacks.

I’d add strength training if I could. The NHS lists strength training and yoga as ways to build muscle and says exercise can improve appetite too.

Is a protein shake worth it for gaining weight?

Only if you build it with calories. A 32 g scoop of whey-based powder from the USDA record gives 25.0 g of protein and just 113 kcal. Blend it with a cup of whole milk and a banana and the shake comes to 33.4 g of protein and 351 kcal. That’s a milkshake in the NHS sense, drunk between meals. The scoop alone adds little energy, and the foods in the table already cover the protein, so the powder is optional.

What doesn’t work?

Chocolate, cakes and sugary drinks are the easy calories, and the NHS warns against leaning on them, just as it does against filling up on drinks before meals. Gaining gradually is the point, so I’d treat 500 kcal as the ceiling. If a week of the add-ons feels like a chore, shrink the portion instead of skipping the snack.

Everything above is for adults who want to gain weight. The NHS says to speak to a GP if you have lost weight suddenly or without changing your diet or exercise. It lists using control of food to cope with feelings as another reason to speak to one.

If counting calories has started to feel hard to stop, or eating feels out of control, talk to someone: ANAD in the US (1-888-375-7767), Beat in England (0808 801 0677), NEDIC in Canada (1-866-633-4220) or the Butterfly Foundation in Australia (1800 33 4673). If you’re in danger right now, call your local emergency number. Other UK numbers and crisis lines are on our crisis support page.