How Do Vegans Get Protein? A Guide to Plant-Based Proteins

How do vegans get protein? Plant-based protein sources are abundant, and we’ll explore them here, from whole foods like grains and legumes, to today’s wide array of vegan meat substitutes. Chances are, if you’ve gone vegan and announce it to a non-vegan you’ll be asked, “How do you get your protein?” 

In all these years that I’ve been writing and speaking about the vegan way of eating and living, I’ve gotten this question a lot. But I’ve rarely felt it was asked in a rude or provocative way. Those who ask seem genuinely to want to know, so I answer in that spirit.

The myth that it’s hard to get adequate protein on a vegan diet is tenacious. Many foods have at least some protein. Whole grains, legumes, soy foods, nuts, and seeds all offer high-quality protein. Many common vegetables have small amounts of protein, so if you eat plenty of them, they add in to your daily total as well.

Studies have shown that plant-based protein is great for most people, including women as they age. Evidence definitively shows that plant-based agriculture is a lot less damaging than animal agriculture when it comes to climate change. And of course, the plant-based diet saves billions of animal lives.

Plant-based protein sources are abundant, and we’ll explore them here, from whole foods like grains and legumes, to today’s wide array of vegan meat substitutes.

You can print this out so that you, too, can answer this question in specifics for others, and have the information at hand for yourself.

The body can manufacture all but nine of the 22 amino acids that make up proteins. These nine amino acids are referred to as “essential” amino acids and must be derived from food.

That is why getting sufficient, good quality protein is crucial. The operative word here is sufficient — this isn’t a case where more is necessarily better. Many Americans eat twice as much protein as needed. 

How to determine your daily protein requirement

Arriving at how much protein you need is based on a calculation. The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA), established by the National Academy of Sciences, states that an adult in good health needs an average (average being the operative word) of .8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. So just to give you an idea, for a 125-pound woman that would be about 46 grams of protein per day. Not difficult to achieve, but remember, there are variables.

Here are a few of articles that will help you calculate how much protein you need for your age, level of activity, gender, and weight. Please note once again that most of these calculate protein needs based on your weight in kilograms, not pounds.

• Are You Getting Too Much Protein? (Mayo Health Clinic)
• Protein for Life (NIH)
• How to Get Enough Protein on a Plant-Based Diet

The next time someone asks you where vegan get their protein, refer them to this list. It’s not exhaustive list of all plant-based protein sources, but a fairly thorough rundown of many of the most common, and ones you’re likely to use most.

Beans and legumes (cooked, 1/2 cup serving)

Remember, beans and legumes are so blessedly low in calories and fat that if you need more protein and have the capacity, a 1-cup serving isn’t unreasonable — so you can double the protein count from these sources below.

• Chickpeas = 7g
• Edamame (fresh green soybeans) = 8.5g
• Black beans= 8g
• Pinto beans = 6g
• Lentils, brown and others = 6 to 8g
• Lentils, red = 13g
• Split peas (green or yellow) = 8 to 10g

Tofu, tempeh, and seitan

• Seitan (4 ounces) = 28g
  (it’s not easy to find good seitan, but you can make your own)
• Tempeh (4 ounces) = 20 to 21g 
• Tofu, firm or extra-firm (4 ounces) = 8 to 10g
• Tofu, baked (2 ounces) = 10g
• Tofu, silken (4 ounces) = 7g

Nuts (1/4 cup)

• Almonds = 8g
• Cashews =  5g
• Peanuts = 7g
• Pistachios = 6g
• Walnuts =  4g

See our guide to Nuts

Nut butters (2 tablespoons)

• Peanut butter = 8g
• Cashew butter = 6g
• Almond butter = 8g

Seeds

• Chia seeds = 4 g
• Flax seeds (2 tablespoons) = 3.8g
• Hemp seeds, also known as hemp hearts (2 tablespoons) = 6g
• Sunflower seeds (2 tablespoons) = 3.5g
• Pumpkin seeds (1/4 cup) = 8g

Grains (1/2 cup cooked serving)

As with legumes, whole grains are low in fat and high in fiber. If you need more, up to a 1 cup serving for those  with heartier appetites or higher protein needs is a reasonable quantity.

• Amaranth = 5g
• Barley = 8g
• Brown rice = 3g
  
• White rice = 2.2g
• Farro = 3.5g
• Millet = 3g
• Oats, steel cut = 5g
• Quinoa =  4 to 4.5g

Nutritional yeast 

• 1 1/2 tablespoons = 8 g (also a great source of Vitamin B12;

See our Guide to Nutritional Yeast)

Pastas (1 cup cooked serving, unless noted)

• Quinoa pasta = 4g
• Spelt pasta = 12g
• Soba noodles (2 ounce serving) =  7 to 8g
• Whole wheat pasta = 7g
• Ordinary durum wheat pasta = 7g

Plant-Based Meat alternatives

Plant-based meats are an easy way to pack in a lot of protein. It would be “Impossible” (get it?) to list all the various brands and varieties on the market today  — which seem to be growing by leaps and bounds — so here’s just a small sampling of some of the popular products. 

• Beyond Burger® (1 patty) = 20g
• Beyond Sausage® (1 link) = 16g
• Gardein Beefless Ground (1/2 cup) – 12g
• Gardein® Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick’n (7 nuggets) = 11g
• Field Roast® Sausages, any flavor (1 link) = 25 – 28gg
• Field Roast ®Fieldburger (1 patty) = 25g
• Impossible® Burger (1 patty) = 19g
• Lightlife® Smoky Tempeh Strips (4 strips) = 12g
• Lightlif®e Smart Dogs (2 links) = 14g
• Tofurky® Bologna Style Deli Slices (3 slices) = 14g
• Tofurky® Italian Sausage (1 link) = 24 g

Vegetables

• Asparagus (1 cup) = 4 g
• Broccoli (1 cup cooked florets) = 2 to 3g
• Brussels sprouts (1 cup cooked) = 4g
• Kale (1 cup packed) = 2g
• Spinach (1/2 cup wilted, packed) = 3g
• Sweet potato (1 medium) – 2. 25g

Other vegetables and fruits, including butternut squash, green peas, blueberries, medjool dates, and others, have from 1g to 2g protein per serving. So it does all add up!

More …

Even ordinary foods like bread (whole grain, of course), add to your day’s total protein needs. A slice of whole grain bread has 2.5g to 4g protein, so a two-slice sandwich gives you 5 to 8 grams, before you even add the filling.

A medium banana has about 1.5g protein! So a simple peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole grain bread provides nearly a third of the daily protein requirement of an average-size woman.

Photos (other than broccoli, nutritional yeast, and Beyond® Burger) by Hannah Kaminsky

• Adapted from Plant Power by Nava Atlas
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