High Protein Recipes for Weight Loss

These five high protein recipes for weight loss give 31–41 g of protein per serving for 294–473 kcal. I weighed every ingredient against USDA FoodData Central records. The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans set a daily range of 1.2–1.6 g of protein per kilogram of body weight. Three of these meals in one day land inside it.

What makes a recipe high protein for weight loss?

It’s a recipe where protein supplies a large share of the calories, enough that one serving covers about a third of a day’s grams. My bar is at least 30 g of protein per serving and under 550 kcal. That puts protein at about 22% of the energy or more. No published standard backs the bar, though it sits inside the 20–40 g per serving that the International Society of Sports Nutrition gives for exercising people.

I picked 30 g because three servings of it make 90 g, the low end of 1.2 g/kg for a 75 kg adult. A smaller person needs less. A larger one adds a snack. Other body weights are tabled in how much protein to eat to lose weight.

Which high protein recipes can I cook this week?

This week’s five all clear the bar. Every table shows the whole pot first and one serving last. Salt and spices aren’t in the tables. Season to taste.

Turkey and bean chili (4 servings)

Ingredient (raw unless noted)	Grams	Protein	Energy
Ground turkey, 93% lean, raw	600 g	104.1 g	946 kcal
Onion, yellow, raw	150 g	1.2 g	54 kcal
Red bell pepper, raw	150 g	1.3 g	40 kcal
Canned tomatoes, no salt added	400 g	3.2 g	64 kcal
Pinto beans, canned, drained and rinsed	240 g	16.1 g	273 kcal
Garlic, raw	8 g	0.5 g	10 kcal
Olive oil	13.5 g	0.0 g	119 kcal
Whole pot		126.4 g	1,506 kcal
Per serving (1 of 4)		31.6 g	377 kcal

Soften the onion and pepper in the oil, brown the turkey in the same pot, then add the garlic, tomatoes and beans. Simmer for 25 minutes. One serving is 377 kcal with 31.6 g of protein, which is 34% of its calories.

Sheet-pan chicken with potatoes and broccoli (2 servings)

Ingredient (raw unless noted)	Grams	Protein	Energy
Chicken breast, raw	300 g	67.6 g	337 kcal
Russet potato, peeled, raw	300 g	6.8 g	243 kcal
Broccoli, raw	300 g	7.7 g	96 kcal
Olive oil	13.5 g	0.0 g	119 kcal
Whole pot		82.1 g	795 kcal
Per serving (1 of 2)		41.1 g	398 kcal

Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Roast the potato pieces with half the oil for 15 minutes, then add the chicken and broccoli tossed in the rest of the oil. Roast until the chicken is cooked through. It has the most protein per serving of the five: 41.1 g for 398 kcal.

Tuna and white bean salad (2 servings)

Ingredient (raw unless noted)	Grams	Protein	Energy
Light tuna in water, drained	214 g	40.7 g	193 kcal
Cannellini beans, canned, drained and rinsed	240 g	17.8 g	269 kcal
Roma tomato, raw	150 g	1.0 g	28 kcal
Onion, yellow, raw	40 g	0.3 g	14 kcal
Baby spinach, raw	60 g	1.7 g	12 kcal
Olive oil	13.5 g	0.0 g	119 kcal
Whole pot		61.5 g	635 kcal
Per serving (1 of 2)		30.8 g	318 kcal

Drain the tuna and the beans, slice the tomato and onion thin and toss everything with the spinach and oil. No stove needed. Two cans of drained tuna carry 40.7 g of the pot’s 61.5 g of protein, which is 30.8 g per serving.

Tofu and vegetable stir-fry with brown rice (2 servings)

Ingredient (raw unless noted)	Grams	Protein	Energy
Firm tofu, raw	300 g	51.8 g	432 kcal
Broccoli, raw	200 g	5.1 g	64 kcal
Red bell pepper, raw	150 g	1.3 g	40 kcal
White mushrooms, raw	150 g	4.3 g	37 kcal
Garlic, raw	6 g	0.4 g	8 kcal
Olive oil	13.5 g	0.0 g	119 kcal
Brown rice, cooked	200 g	5.5 g	246 kcal
Whole pot		68.4 g	946 kcal
Per serving (1 of 2)		34.2 g	473 kcal

Press the tofu and cube it, then brown it in half the oil and set it aside while you cook the rest. Stir-fry the broccoli, pepper, mushrooms and garlic in the rest, return the tofu and serve over the rice. It has no animal foods at all. A serving gives 34.2 g of protein for 473 kcal, so it is the lowest in protein share at 29%.

Egg, cottage cheese and spinach bake (3 servings)

Ingredient (raw unless noted)	Grams	Protein	Energy
Whole large eggs	301.8 g	37.4 g	444 kcal
Egg white, raw	200 g	21.8 g	104 kcal
Cottage cheese, lowfat 2%	200 g	22.0 g	168 kcal
Baby spinach, raw	150 g	4.3 g	31 kcal
White mushrooms, raw	100 g	2.9 g	25 kcal
Feta, whole milk	40 g	7.9 g	109 kcal
Whole pot		96.3 g	881 kcal
Per serving (1 of 3)		32.1 g	294 kcal

Whisk the eggs, whites and cottage cheese. Soften the mushrooms and spinach in a nonstick pan and fold them in with the feta. Pour it into a baking dish and bake at 375°F (190°C) until set. A serving has 32.1 g of protein for 294 kcal. The 200 g of egg white alone adds 21.8 g for 104 kcal. It works for breakfast too, and quicker mornings are covered in high protein breakfast for weight loss.

Recipe	Servings	Energy per serving	Protein per serving	Protein share of calories
Turkey and bean chili	4	377 kcal	31.6 g	34%
Sheet-pan chicken with potatoes and broccoli	2	398 kcal	41.1 g	41%
Tuna and white bean salad	2	318 kcal	30.8 g	39%
Tofu and vegetable stir-fry with brown rice	2	473 kcal	34.2 g	29%
Egg, cottage cheese and spinach bake	3	294 kcal	32.1 g	44%

How do I count a recipe I cook myself?

Weigh the raw ingredients, add up the pot, and divide by the number of servings. That’s all the tables do. Cooking mostly drives off water, so the pot’s total stays about the same while the per-100 g figure rises.

The trap is weighing food cooked and logging it raw, or the other way round. Raw chicken breast has 22.5 g of protein per 100 g, while braised breast has 32.1 g. Same meat, different water. If you weigh a cooked portion, use a cooked record. If you weigh the raw pieces going in, use the raw one.

Cups and spoons shift with how tightly you pack them, and only grams stay put.

How do I fit these recipes into a day?

Pick three. Take the egg bake, the tuna salad and the sheet-pan chicken: together they give 104.0 g of protein for 1,010 kcal. At 80 kg that is 1.3 g/kg, against the 1.2–1.6 g/kg range. It leaves room in a 1,500–1,800 kcal day for fruit, grains, dairy and oil. A woman at a lower weight has a lower range, worked in protein per day for a woman to lose weight.

Those three are 41% protein by calories, above the 35% ceiling of the daily range. The ceiling applies to the whole day. Add 600 kcal of other food and the day lands near 26%.

Your calorie goal comes first, and what a calorie deficit is is the place to start if the idea is new. For women, the AHA/ACC/TOS guideline usually lands on 1,200–1,500 kcal a day and for men on 1,500–1,800 kcal, with a deficit of at least 500 kcal. Don’t eat under the bottom of that range for a recipe’s sake. Kidney disease changes the protein question, so with it your doctor sets the target and the grams in these recipes no longer apply.

The calorie calculator turns age, height, weight and activity level into your own goal. It won’t go under 1,200 calories for women or 1,500 for men.

Once the chili is cooked, Calsa can build it as your own dish from the ingredient list or a photo of the recipe, with each weight marked raw or cooked.