High Protein Salad: Three Recipes With 30+ Grams

A high protein salad gets its protein from the toppings, not the greens. Romaine has about 1 g of protein per 100 g, and 90 g of cooked chicken breast has 28.9 g. I call a bowl high protein at 30 g or more, the middle of the 20–40 g per serving that sports nutrition researchers suggest. The three recipes below give 32–38 g.

What makes a salad high protein?

Romaine has 1.0 g of protein per 100 g and baby spinach has 2.9 g, so a 100 g bed of either adds 1–3 g. Thirty grams is a useful share of a day, though. The Dietary Guidelines set 1.2–1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight, which is 84–112 g for a 70 kg adult (how much protein you should eat a day has the details). One 30 g bowl covers 27–36% of that.

The table ranks toppings by protein per 100 kcal. Portions are sizes that fit on a salad, so the protein column is per portion, not per 100 g. Where a record lists specific Atwater factors, energy uses them.

Topping	Portion	Protein	Energy	Protein per 100 kcal
Light tuna in water, drained	107 g (1 can)	20.3 g	96 kcal	21.1 g
Braised chicken breast	120 g	38.5 g	199 kcal	19.3 g
Lowfat cottage cheese	100 g	11.0 g	84 kcal	13.1 g
Firm tofu, raw	126 g (half a cup)	21.8 g	181 kcal	12.0 g
Edamame, frozen, prepared	155 g (1 cup)	18.5 g	188 kcal	9.8 g
Hard-boiled egg	100 g (2 large)	12.6 g	155 kcal	8.1 g
Boiled lentils	100 g	9.0 g	116 kcal	7.8 g
Feta, crumbled	30 g	5.9 g	82 kcal	7.2 g
Canned cannellini beans, rinsed	130 g	9.6 g	146 kcal	6.6 g
Canned chickpeas, rinsed	130 g	9.1 g	173 kcal	5.3 g
Cooked quinoa	92 g (half a cup)	4.0 g	110 kcal	3.7 g
Raw almonds	28 g	6.0 g	163 kcal	3.7 g

Tuna and chicken are the leanest route to protein. Feta, almonds and quinoa feel like protein foods, but a handful gives 4–6 g for 82–163 kcal. Keep them for flavor and crunch. The egg sits mid-table, and how many grams of protein in an egg splits it by white, yolk and size.

Start with one topping from the top half of the table and add whichever second one you like.

Which high protein salad recipes reach 30 grams?

Three bowls, each built on one main topping and one helper. I added the grams up from the USDA records linked in the tables, using drained or cooked weights where the record says so. Totals add the rounded rows shown.

Chicken and chickpea salad

Ingredient	Grams	Protein	Energy
Romaine lettuce, raw	100 g	1.0 g	17 kcal
Braised chicken breast	90 g	28.9 g	149 kcal
Canned chickpeas, rinsed	100 g	7.0 g	133 kcal
Cucumber, with peel	80 g	0.5 g	11 kcal
Roma tomato	80 g	0.6 g	15 kcal
Olive oil	13.5 g (1 tbsp)	0.0 g	119 kcal
Lemon juice	15 g	0.1 g	3 kcal
Total		38.1 g	447 kcal

In the chicken bowl 90 g of chicken gives 28.9 g, and the chickpeas add 7.0 g. The bowl comes to 38.1 g of protein and 447 kcal. Cut the chicken to 70 g and you still have about 32 g for a lighter bowl. Chop the cucumber and tomato just before you eat.

Tuna and white bean salad

Ingredient	Grams	Protein	Energy
Baby spinach	60 g	1.7 g	12 kcal
Light tuna in water, drained	107 g (1 can)	20.3 g	96 kcal
Canned cannellini beans, rinsed	130 g	9.6 g	146 kcal
Red onion, raw	30 g	0.3 g	13 kcal
Celery, raw	40 g	0.2 g	6 kcal
Olive oil	13.5 g (1 tbsp)	0.0 g	119 kcal
Lemon juice	15 g	0.1 g	3 kcal
Total		32.2 g	395 kcal

This is the pantry bowl. It doesn’t need cooking. Drain and rinse the beans, flake the tuna over the spinach, then dress it with the oil and lemon. That’s 32.2 g and 395 kcal. Both the tuna and the beans carry sodium. The records show 219 mg and 164 mg per 100 g, so taste the bowl before you reach for the salt shaker.

Tofu and quinoa salad

Ingredient	Grams	Protein	Energy
Red cabbage, raw	60 g	0.7 g	18 kcal
Firm tofu, raw	126 g	21.8 g	181 kcal
Cooked quinoa	92 g	4.0 g	110 kcal
Red bell pepper, raw	60 g	0.5 g	16 kcal
Sunflower seed kernels	15 g	2.8 g	86 kcal
Greek yogurt, plain, nonfat	50 g	5.2 g	30 kcal
Lemon juice	15 g	0.1 g	3 kcal
Total		35.1 g	444 kcal

A vegetarian bowl that still passes 30 g: 35.1 g and 444 kcal. It’s dressed with yogurt and lemon instead of oil, so it has dairy. The tofu alone gives 21.8 g. Swap the quinoa for 100 g of edamame and you get 43.0 g and 455 kcal, which is my pick for a hard training day. The red cabbage stays crunchy for days. If you want pasta where I put quinoa, high protein pasta shows which noodle and which topping count.

Cooked chicken from a rotisserie or another cut will differ from the braised breast record. Weigh your own and scale the row: 30 g less chicken takes about 9.6 g off the protein. And when a salad is not what you feel like for dinner, high protein meals rebuilds three everyday dishes in grams.

How much do dressing and extras change a high protein salad?

A lot, and almost all of it is energy. One tablespoon of olive oil is 13.5 g and 119 kcal, with no protein. A pour from the bottle can easily be two tablespoons, and that’s 239 kcal.

Now the swap. Replace the oil in the chicken bowl with 60 g of Greek yogurt and keep the lemon juice. Protein goes from 38.1 g to 44.3 g, and energy falls from 447 kcal to 365 kcal.

Weigh one tablespoon once and log that number for a week, and the oil stops being a surprise.

Can I make a high protein salad ahead?

Yes, for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator. That’s the USDA’s figure for leftovers. Cold perishable food such as chicken salad shouldn’t rise above 40°F. Anything that’s sat out for more than 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F) goes in the bin. Cook the chicken to an internal temperature of 165°F, and don’t guess: use a food thermometer.

My packing habit is simple. The dressing goes in a small jar. The greens sit on top of the beans, and the cucumber and tomato go in last, so nothing turns soggy by day two. Make three bowls on Sunday. Eat the last one on Wednesday.

To see where a 30 g bowl lands in your own day, the protein calculator works from 1.2 g per kg of a reference weight and never answers below 60 g.

I’d keep the chicken bowl in Calsa as a recipe built from its ingredients, with the chicken at its cooked weight.