12 Best Ways to Increase Protein Intake

Whether you want to eat a more balanced diet, build muscle, or lose weight, here are some easy ways to increase your protein intake with protein-rich foods.

Why do you need protein?

Protein is an essential nutrient, along with carbohydrates and fat, that must be consumed through the diet because the body cannot biosynthesize enough to maintain health and survival. Protein is made up of essential amino acids, which play many crucial roles in the body including functioning as skeletal muscle, enzymes, hormones, and immune factors.

Increasing protein intake can help to promote muscle growth, improve muscle recovery, maintain lean muscle during weight loss, regulate blood sugar levels, control appetite, increase metabolic rate, promote weight management, and reduce the risk of dietary-related illness (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).

How much protein do you need daily?

The current recommended daily intake (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram (or 0.36 grams per pound) of body weight per day for adults over 18 years old (8). The RDA is the amount of a nutrient you need to meet your basic nutritional requirements, therefore, individuals seeking to protect against muscle loss, maximize muscle gain, lose body fat, or older individuals at risk for sarcopenia or muscle loss may benefit from an increased intake of protein.

Exactly how much protein you need depends on the individual and their personal goals. For adults looking to optimize health and protect against lean mass loss, a range of 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram (0.54 to 0.7 grams per pound) of body weight per day is more optimal, while non-dieting adults looking to maximize resistance training adaptation a range of 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram (0.7 to 1.0 grams per pound) of body weight per day may be more ideal (9, 10, 11).

How to Increase Protein Intake

Increasing protein intake doesn’t need to be complicated, it just requires a little thought and planning. Here are 12 easy ways to add more protein to your diet.

1. Increase your protein portion size.

The quickest, and arguably easiest, way to increase your protein intake is simply to eat a larger portion of the protein you are already eating. Eating 1 egg for breakfast? Eat 2. Eating 1/2 can of tuna for lunch? Eat the whole can. Eating 3 ounces of chicken for dinner? Eat 4 ounces of chicken. By simply increasing the portion size of your protein source at every meal, even if it’s small, you can easily increase your daily protein intake without much effort.

2. Build your meals around protein.

Make protein the central character of your meal and build your meal around it. Begin by deciding whether you are going to eat salmon, steak, turkey, or tofu, and then decide what you’re going to add to it. Once you’ve determined the protein source you can then add a serving of complex carbohydrates in the form of grains, potatoes, beans, or lentils, fiber in the form of vegetables or fruit, and a source of healthy fat to create a balanced meal that is packed full of protein.

3. Eat protein at every meal.

Don’t wait until dinner to start eating your protein, ensure that you’re including a source of protein at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Although you can certainly create a healthy breakfast without a ton of protein, if you’re trying to increase your protein intake neglecting to include it in your morning meal will leave you playing catch up all day long. Instead, include a source of protein in all of your meals to ensure you’re reaching your protein target by the end of the day.

4. Eat a savory breakfast.

Generally speaking, savory breakfasts are higher in protein than sweet ones. By opting for eggs, sausages, turkey bacon, smoked salmon, tofu scramble, cheese, or a combination of them, you’ll likely consume more protein than you would be opting for a bowl of cereal, a fruit smoothie, or toast with jam. With that being said, if you prefer a sweet breakfast, that’s not a problem, just do your best to be strategic and look for ways to boost the protein intake with foods such as yogurt, milk, nuts, or nut butter. There are plenty of high-protein breakfast foods you can include in your morning meal.

5. Eat your protein first.

When it’s time to eat, focus on eating your protein first. That is not to say you need to eat your entire protein source before you eat anything else, you can enjoy bites of everything along the way, but do your best to ensure that you’re finishing your protein before you get too full. If you leave your protein until the end of your meal, you’ll risk filling up on the other stuff and risk leaving some of the much-needed protein on your plate.

6. Prioritize animal protein.

Although both animal and plant proteins are highly nutritious and can and should be included in a healthy diet, gram per gram, animal sources of protein are more concentrated sources of protein and can, therefore, more easily and quickly increase your daily protein intake.

Animal protein sources, such as meat, poultry, and seafood, are primary sources of protein, meaning they contain more protein than carbohydrates or fat, while plant proteins, such as beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds, are primary sources of another macronutrient. On average, beans and lentils have a 3:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein, while nuts and seeds have a 2:1 ratio of fat to protein (12, 13). Although some plants do contain protein, gram per gram, and calorie per calorie, animal proteins have higher levels of protein so prioritizing animal protein sources can help to increase protein intake.

To be clear, you can still increase your protein intake if you follow a vegetarian diet or don’t eat a lot of meat. You’ll simply need to be more strategic when choosing your vegetarian protein sources as some options, such as tofu and tempeh, are more concentrated in protein than others, such as nuts and seeds.

7. Use animal and plant-based proteins together.

When it comes to protein, you also don’t need to choose. You can consume a combination of animal proteins and plant-based protein sources. Not only will this give you more options to choose from but pairing them together and consuming them in the same meal can help to increase your overall protein intake. By building meals with chicken and black beans, or salmon and chickpeas, you can eat more protein, while increasing your fiber intake at the same time.

8. Reach for high-protein snacks.

In addition to high-protein meals, snacks are a great time to eat more protein. Although the most popular snack foods tend to be richer in carbohydrates, such as crackers, granola bars, toast, or fruit, incorporating a little protein into your snack (or making it the star of the show) is another great way to increase your protein intake throughout the day. Items such as Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, hard-boiled eggs, deli roll-ups, jerky, cheese, edamame, and natural peanut butter or almond butter make great snacks on their own or can be used in conjunction with other foods to create a high-protein snack.

9. Opt for lean meat and low-fat dairy.

While all forms of meat and dairy contain high-quality protein, healthy fats, and micronutrients, opting for lean cuts of meat and low-fat dairy products is an efficient way to increase protein intake without increasing calorie intake. Since dietary fat contains 9 calories per gram and carbohydrates and protein contain 4 calories per gram, gram per gram, fatty cuts of meat contain more calories from fat and less protein compared to leaner cuts. Opting for lean poultry, fish, and meats, such as chicken breasts, chicken thighs, tuna, white fish, turkey, pork loin, bison, sirloin steak, and round roast, and low-fat dairy products, such as plain Greek yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese, skyr, or low-fat cheese, you can increase your daily protein intake without increasing saturated fat or calories.

10. Use no-cook protein sources.

Since most protein sources take time to cook and prepare, no-cook protein sources are a great way to increase protein intake without much effort. Whether you don’t like to cook, you’re in a rush, or it’s too hot to turn on the oven, reaching for minimally processed sources of prepared protein can help to ensure you’re eating enough protein at every meal. Easy-to-find no-cook protein sources include deli meat, beef jerky, Greek yogurt, skyr, canned tuna, smoked salmon, canned chicken, cottage cheese, canned beans, canned lentils, frozen edamame, and hard-boiled eggs, which you can buy pre-cooked in many grocery stores.

11. Eat more beans and lentils.

Although beans and lentils are primarily carbohydrates, they have a much higher protein content than other sources of carbohydrates. Compared to whole grains, grain products, fruits, and vegetables, beans, and lentils contain more plant protein per serving, which makes them high-protein foods you can add to your diet. In addition to whole beans and lentils, you can opt for legume-based dips and spreads and use bean or chickpea pasta to make your favorite pasta dishes for an extra protein boost.

12. Use protein powder, as needed.

If you’re struggling with the above suggestions, or are in the process of working on them, including a high-quality protein powder in your diet is another great way to increase your protein intake. A single scoop of protein powder averages 20 grams of protein per serving, which is equivalent to roughly 2.5 ounces of chicken, 3 ounces of steak, or 3 large eggs, making it a simple way to quickly boost protein intake (14, 15, 16). However, protein powders should always be considered a supplement to a healthy diet, not a replacement for one. So do your best to look for ways to eat more protein with real food and use protein powder only as long as needed.

Protein Intake FAQs

Here are some commonly asked questions about increasing protein intake.

What foods are highest in protein?

The most protein-rich foods include lean beef, lean pork, bison, chicken, turkey, tuna, white fish, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, and firm tofu.

How can I increase my protein intake fast?

The quickest way to increase your protein intake is to add a substantial portion size of protein to every meal. By including a palm-sized portion of protein at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and including smaller portions in snacks, you can easily increase your protein intake throughout the day to reach your recommended daily protein target.

How do you eat more protein as a vegetarian?

Including high-protein plant foods in meals is the best way to eat more protein as a vegetarian. By adding a palm-sized portion of plant-based protein, such as tofu, tempeh, beans, or lentils, to your breakfast, lunch, and dinner you can help to ensure you are consuming enough protein on a vegetarian or vegan diet. Additionally, including smaller portions of protein-rich plant foods, such as pumpkin seeds, natural peanut butter, hemp seeds, and chia seeds, in snacks can help to add a boost of protein to your diet. Furthermore, vegetarians can use protein supplements, such as a plant-based protein powder, protein shake, or protein bar, to increase protein intake.

The Bottom Line

A high-protein diet has been shown to improve overall health by building and maintaining muscle mass, supporting weight management, regulating blood sugar levels, and improving satiety signals. By including a well-sized source of protein in every meal, building your meals around it, eating it first, and snacking on protein in between meals, you can easily increase your daily protein intake without too much effort.