High Protein Low Carb Foods: What 30 g of Protein Costs

A food is high protein and low carb when 100 g has at least 10 g of protein and at most 5 g of carbs. I drew that threshold myself. Seventeen of the foods I checked in USDA records clear it, from cod and shrimp to tofu and Greek yogurt. Cod gives 20.4 g of protein and no carbs. Nuts, seeds and beans miss it, and the tables below show by how much.

What makes a food high protein and low carb?

No agency or guideline defines it. So I use two numbers per 100 g of food: at least 10 g of protein and at most 5 g of carbs. That’s a ratio of two to one at the least, and most foods that pass do far better. Per 100 g makes foods comparable, while a portion is whatever you choose to eat.

Why 10 g of protein? A meal needs about 30 g. The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines set the daily protein goal at 1.2–1.6 g per kilogram of body weight. At 70 kg that is 84–112 g. A third of it is 28–37 g. A food with 10 g of protein per 100 g gets you there in 300 g or less. And the 5 g carbs ceiling keeps that same 300 g at 15 g of carbs or less.

Which foods clear the line?

Fish, shellfish like shrimp, poultry, lean meat, eggs, dairy and tofu. The table ranks 17 of them by protein per 100 kcal. Every row is one USDA record for 100 g, in the state shown, and energy is the specific Atwater figure where the record has one.

Food (state)	Protein	Carbs	Energy	Protein per 100 kcal
Cod, Pacific, cooked	20.4 g	0.0 g	84 kcal	24.3 g
Shrimp, cooked	24.0 g	0.2 g	99 kcal	24.2 g
Tuna, light, canned in water, drained	19.0 g	0.1 g	90 kcal	21.1 g
Turkey breast, roasted	30.1 g	0.0 g	147 kcal	20.5 g
Chicken breast, braised	32.1 g	0.0 g	166 kcal	19.3 g
Pork tenderloin, lean, roasted	26.2 g	0.0 g	143 kcal	18.3 g
Greek yogurt, plain, nonfat	10.3 g	3.6 g	61 kcal	16.9 g
Cottage cheese, 2% fat	11.0 g	4.3 g	84 kcal	13.1 g
Tofu, firm, raw	17.3 g	2.8 g	144 kcal	12.0 g
Sardines, canned in oil, drained	24.6 g	0.0 g	208 kcal	11.8 g
Salmon, Atlantic farmed, cooked	22.1 g	0.0 g	206 kcal	10.7 g
Beef patty, 85% lean, broiled	25.9 g	0.0 g	250 kcal	10.4 g
Parmesan, hard	35.8 g	3.2 g	392 kcal	9.1 g
Egg, hard-boiled	12.6 g	1.1 g	155 kcal	8.1 g
Mozzarella, part-skim	23.7 g	4.4 g	298 kcal	8.0 g
Swiss cheese	27.0 g	1.4 g	393 kcal	6.9 g
Cheddar	23.3 g	2.4 g	408 kcal	5.7 g

Cod and shrimp lead at about 24 g of protein per 100 kcal, with nearly no carbs. At the bottom sit the eggs and hard cheeses. Cheddar has 23.3 g of protein per 100 g, which is a lot. But 408 kcal comes with it, so a gram of protein costs 17.5 kcal against 4.1 kcal for cod. Same line, different bills.

Tofu is the one plant food that passes cleanly. It has 17.3 g of protein and 2.8 g of carbs per 100 g, and 2.3 g of that is fiber. Greek yogurt and cottage cheese pass too, though their carbs sit close to the ceiling. Plates built around tofu are in high protein vegetarian meals.

How much of each food gives you 30 g of protein?

It depends on the food. The answer moves the carbs and calories more than per 100 g figures suggest. The table divides 30 g by each food’s protein per 100 g, then reads off the carbs and energy at that weight. Chicken, for example, takes 30 ÷ 32.1 × 100 g, which is 93 g.

Food (state)	Weight for 30 g of protein	Carbs	Energy
Chicken breast, braised	93 g	0.0 g	155 kcal
Shrimp, cooked	125 g	0.3 g	124 kcal
Tuna, light, canned in water	158 g	0.1 g	142 kcal
Salmon, Atlantic farmed, cooked	136 g	0.0 g	280 kcal
Egg, hard-boiled	238 g	2.7 g	370 kcal
Greek yogurt, plain, nonfat	291 g	10.6 g	178 kcal
Cottage cheese, 2% fat	273 g	11.8 g	229 kcal
Tofu, firm, raw	174 g	4.8 g	250 kcal
Tempeh	148 g	11.3 g	284 kcal
Cheddar	129 g	3.1 g	525 kcal
Parmesan, hard	84 g	2.7 g	329 kcal
Edamame, frozen, prepared	252 g	22.4 g	305 kcal
Peanut butter, creamy	125 g	28.4 g	737 kcal
Almonds	142 g	30.6 g	821 kcal
Lentils, boiled	333 g	67.0 g	386 kcal

Look at the carbs column first. Chicken, shrimp, tuna and salmon cost under 1 g. Eggs cost 2.7 g, but you need nearly 240 g of them, which is about five. Greek yogurt and cottage cheese cost 10.6 g and 11.8 g of carbs and still fit a low carb meal. Then the table turns. Almonds cost 30.6 g of carbs and 821 kcal for the same 30 g of protein, and lentils 67.0 g.

Nobody eats exactly 142 g of almonds, and nobody has to. The point is the ratio: how many carbs ride along with each 30 g of protein.

Energy tells a second story. The same 30 g of protein costs 124 kcal from shrimp and 525 kcal from cheddar, and neither is wrong. If you eat to a calorie goal, lean fish and poultry leave the most room for everything else on the plate. If you eat to a carb limit, cheese and eggs work just as well. Eggs, cottage cheese and Greek yogurt also carry most of the high protein low carb breakfast ideas. Cheddar travels better than a can of tuna.

Which foods look low carb but aren’t?

Nuts, seeds and legumes, mostly. They’re real protein foods and they bring fiber, but they carry more carbs than my 5 g ceiling allows. The table lists nine, with a carbs-minus-fiber figure where the record lists fiber.

Food (state)	Protein	Carbs	Fiber	Carbs minus fiber	Energy
Ricotta, part-skim	11.4 g	5.1 g	0.0 g	5.1 g	138 kcal
Edamame, frozen, prepared	11.9 g	8.9 g	5.2 g	3.7 g	121 kcal
Tempeh	20.3 g	7.6 g	not listed	not listed	192 kcal
Hemp seeds, hulled	31.6 g	8.7 g	4.0 g	4.7 g	553 kcal
Peanuts, raw	25.8 g	16.1 g	8.5 g	7.6 g	567 kcal
Almonds	21.1 g	21.6 g	12.5 g	9.1 g	579 kcal
Pumpkin seeds, raw	29.9 g	18.7 g	5.1 g	13.6 g	515 kcal
Peanut butter, creamy	24.0 g	22.7 g	6.3 g	16.4 g	589 kcal
Lentils, boiled	9.0 g	20.1 g	7.9 g	12.2 g	116 kcal

Edamame and hemp seeds come closest. Once you take out the fiber, edamame has 3.7 g and hemp seeds 4.7 g of carbs per 100 g, which would pass the line. Almonds don’t: 9.1 g after fiber, and 579 kcal. Pumpkin seeds and peanut butter are worse at 13.6 g and 16.4 g.

An ounce of almonds (28.35 g) has 6.0 g of protein and 6.1 g of carbs. They work as a topping, not a main protein. A teaspoon of seeds on yogurt is fine. Snacks that stay under 8 g of carbs are in high protein low carb snacks. A bowl is a different food.

Why do raw and cooked numbers differ?

Water. Raw chicken breast has 22.5 g of protein per 100 g, and braised breast has 32.1 g, because cooking drives water out. Log 120 g of cooked chicken as raw and you undercount the protein by about 30%. Weigh the food in the state the record names.

Who should be careful with a high protein plan?

Anyone with kidney disease needs a doctor’s protein number, and the same goes for pregnancy, breastfeeding and anyone under 18. Take medicine that lowers blood sugar? Check with your doctor before cutting carbs.

Everyone else can pick three foods from the first table and weigh one portion of each. A week of that beats any list. Want them on a plate? High protein low carb meals has six.

For your own protein and carb split, use the macro calculator. It sets protein from your weight in the 1.2–1.6 g/kg range and gives carbs whatever is left.

Calsa puts carbs and fiber beside protein on each entry and scans barcodes for packaged foods such as cheese or canned fish.