High Protein Tuna Meals Under 500 Calories

One drained can of light tuna (107 g) has 20.3 g of protein and 96 kcal. That makes a high protein, low cal tuna meal easy to build. I built six under 500 calories from USDA records. They run 311–428 kcal with 25.7–35.1 g of protein. The leanest per calorie is a tuna sandwich where Greek yogurt takes the place of mayonnaise.

What counts as a high protein, low cal tuna meal?

For me it’s 30 g of protein or more and under 500 kcal. The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans put daily protein at 1.2–1.6 g per kg of body weight. At 70 kg (154 lb) that is 84–112 g, so a 30 g meal is a bit over a third of the low end. I chose the 30 g cutoff myself, and no guideline sets it.

One can does about two thirds of that. The USDA record gives 19.0 g of protein and 90 kcal per 100 g of drained light tuna in water. For the 107 g drained can that is 19.0 × 1.07 = 20.3 g and 90 × 1.07 = 96 kcal. The rest of the meal has to bring 10 g more without bringing 400 kcal.

To get your own daily number from your weight, use the protein calculator. It uses the same 1.2–1.6 g per kg range, and how much protein you should eat a day has the reasoning behind it.

Which tuna meals have 30 g of protein for under 500 calories?

Four of the six below reach it. I set every ingredient in grams and added up the USDA records myself, with one 107 g can of light tuna in each.

Meal	What goes in (grams)	Protein	Energy	Protein per 100 kcal
Tuna sandwich	64 g whole-wheat bread (2 slices), 107 g tuna, 60 g Greek yogurt, 30 g celery, 10 g red onion, 6 g mustard, 20 g romaine	35.1 g	311 kcal	11.3 g
Tuna rice bowl	107 g tuna, 150 g brown rice, cooked, 80 g edamame, 60 g cucumber, 4.5 g olive oil (1 tsp), 10 g lemon juice	34.4 g	428 kcal	8.0 g
Tuna melt	57 g whole grain English muffin, 107 g tuna, 20 g Greek yogurt, 28 g cheddar, 20 g celery	32.9 g	364 kcal	9.0 g
White bean tuna salad	107 g tuna, 130 g cannellini beans, canned, rinsed, 100 g grape tomatoes, 15 g red onion, 13.5 g olive oil (1 tbsp), 15 g lemon juice	31.0 g	398 kcal	7.8 g
Tuna pasta salad	140 g whole-wheat pasta, cooked, 107 g tuna, 100 g grape tomatoes, 4.5 g olive oil, 10 g lemon juice, 10 g red onion	29.7 g	378 kcal	7.8 g
Tuna-stuffed avocado	100 g avocado, 107 g tuna, 30 g Greek yogurt, 10 g lemon juice, 50 g grape tomatoes	25.7 g	336 kcal	7.6 g

The pasta salad misses by 0.3 g, and 30 g of Greek yogurt fixes it: 32.8 g for 396 kcal. The avocado misses by more. It would need another half can of tuna (53.5 g, which adds 10.2 g of protein).

At 311 kcal, the sandwich sits 189 kcal under the line, enough for a piece of fruit or a glass of milk. One catch: the rice and pasta records are for cooked food, so weigh them cooked. Other proteins give meals in the same range, and low calorie high protein meals counts six of them.

Where do the calories in a tuna meal come from?

Mostly from everything except the fish. The tuna is 96 kcal. The cooked pasta in the pasta salad is 209 kcal, and the 100 g of avocado in the stuffed one is 206 kcal. Each is more than twice the tuna.

Oil is where the calories hide. A tablespoon of olive oil (13.5 g) has 119 kcal per its USDA record, more than the whole can of tuna. The white bean salad carries a full tablespoon. Cut it to a teaspoon (40 kcal) and the salad drops from 398 to 318 kcal. I measure oil with a spoon every time. My eye is useless at it, and the tablespoon I pour never matches the one I think I poured.

Bread and rice sneak up the same way. The sandwich counts 64 g of bread, but a label that says “2 slices” tells you nothing about grams, and a bakery slice isn’t a packaged one. I put the slices on the scale before I build anything. Rice is worse, since a scoop packs differently every time and cooked rice carries water. If a meal in the table matters to you, weigh the cooked rice once and write the number on the container. Once it’s written on the lid, dinner stops being a guess.

Mayonnaise adds up the same way. A tablespoon of regular mayonnaise (13.8 g) has 94 kcal and 0.1 g of protein. The 60 g of Greek yogurt in my sandwich has 37 kcal and 6.2 g. The swap saves 57 kcal and adds 6 g. I’d keep the mustard and onion, since they carry the flavor mayonnaise usually does.

Is light tuna or white tuna better for protein per calorie?

Light tuna in water, per calorie. Three canned types, all drained, at the same 107 g so the rows line up.

Canned tuna (drained)	Protein per 100 g	Energy per 100 g	Protein per 100 kcal	107 g protein	107 g energy
Light, in water	19.0 g	90 kcal	21.1 g	20.3 g	96 kcal
White (albacore), in water	23.6 g	128 kcal	18.5 g	25.3 g	137 kcal
Light, in oil	29.1 g	198 kcal	14.7 g	31.2 g	212 kcal

White tuna gives 5 g more protein for 41 more kcal at the same weight. Oil-packed gives the most protein, 31.2 g, but its drained solids carry 116 kcal more than light in water. The light-in-water record is Foundation data and the other two are SR Legacy. Small gaps between them can come from the datasets rather than the fish. Tuna straight from the can is also a snack, and high protein low calorie snacks ranks it against shrimp, yogurt, cheese and jerky.

How much canned tuna can I eat in a week?

The FDA ranks canned light tuna as a Best Choice and albacore as a Good Choice for mercury. For pregnancy and breastfeeding it advises 2 to 3 servings a week from the Best Choices, or 1 serving from the Good Choices. A serving is 4 ounces. For children it gives smaller servings by age, from 1 ounce at age 1 to 3 up to 4 ounces at age 11, and 2 servings a week from the Best Choices. I found no weekly number for other adults on that page, which only cites the Dietary Guidelines for at least 8 ounces of seafood a week.

A drained can of 107 g is 3.8 oz, so one can is close to one serving. Pregnant, breastfeeding or feeding a young child? Use the FDA’s chart and ask your midwife or doctor. I keep tuna to a few cans a week and rotate it with salmon, eggs or chicken.

Which meal should I start with?

Pick one meal from the table and weigh the drained tuna once. A can’s label shows the weight with the liquid, and the drained part is smaller, so check it. Then measure the oil and the bread, because those two move the total most. Mornings are a different problem, and high protein low calorie breakfast has five weighed plates.

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.