How To Get More Protein in Your Diet Without Meat

So many people asked how to get more protein into their diets, specifically without using meat. I love this topic because I personally eat mostly plant-based with occasional meat dinners. I tried being 100% vegetarian a long time ago and I didn’t feel my best. I think a lot of people are becoming more aware […]

So many people asked how to get more protein into their diets, specifically without using meat. I love this topic because I personally eat mostly plant-based with occasional meat dinners. I tried being 100% vegetarian a long time ago and I didn’t feel my best.

I think a lot of people are becoming more aware of both the ethical effects on animal welfare and the environmental effects of commercial meat and seafood gave that the livestock sector is one of the leading causes of climate-altering gas (more than transportation). If you don’t want to go cold turkey vegetarian but want to reduce overall meat consumption, there are baby steps you can take to reduce the amount of meat you consume. A suggestion to start reducing your meat consumption is to reduce the nights per week that you eat meat and/or keep breakfast and lunch vegetarian and save the animal protein for dinners. Also, make meat the side dish rather than the main dish – make a big hearty salad with a small side of chicken.

It’s obvious that eating meat will get you lots of protein, but how can we make sure we’re getting enough protein every day from non-meat sources? It can be challenging if you’re used to eating meat with every meal, but I hope this post gives you some guidance and ideas to make small changes 🙂 The secret is incorporating multiple sources of plant protein into your meals to get enough protein and a variety of nutrients.

Now let’s dive into my favorite vegetarian protein foods…

You can find all of the vegetarian Cooking Club recipes here!

My favorite vegetarian protein sources

• Whole grains (quinoa, farro, brown rice, oats, wild rice)
• Lentils and black beans
• Hemp seeds
• Almonds, cashews, peanuts
• Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds
• Tempeh
• Whole milk Greek yogurt
• Eggs
• Cheese (goat cheese, feta, parmesan)
• High protein veggies: spinach, kale, broccoli, asparagus, corn, artichokes

How To Add More Plant Protein To Your Meals

Infusing sauces with protein

Many of my creamy-style dressings and sauces have nuts, seeds, or Greek yogurt blended into them, adding lots of protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. Next time you make a salad dressing or even tomato sauce, try adding it to the blender with some nuts or seed butter or soaked seeds/nuts to turn it into a creamy sauce with more protein and healthy fats. The Broccoli Kale Sauce is a great example!

Beef up your salads

If you eat a salad as a meal, make it feel like one! Top it with plenty of nuts (and cheese!) and enjoy with a slice of whole grain bread or add in some whole grains. The combination of those things will give you a good amount of protein and lots of variety. It also helps to have some kind of plant protein in the salad like tempeh, legumes, lentils, eggs, etc…

My suggestion is to always have some cooked whole grains, toasted nuts, cheese (if you eat dairy), and one of those plant proteins prepped in your fridge to add to your bowls and salads.

Check out all of the cooking club salads here!

Eat protein-rich snacks

Including high-protein snacks can help bridge the gap between meals to make sure you’re getting enough protein. Try to snack on foods that have a combination of carbs, fat, and protein. For example, eat a banana with peanut butter on it rather than a plain banana – the fat and protein in the peanut butter will slow the release of glucose in your blood (keep that blood sugar stable!) and will be more satiating.

Find all the snack recipes here!

Favorite protein-rich snacks:

• Superhero muffins!
• Raspberry Rhubarb Buckwheat Breakfast Cake
• Raw Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Bites
• Strawberry Lemon Balls
• Banana or apple with nut butter
• Nuts/seeds
• Boiled egg sprinkled with salt
• Avocado toast with an egg or hummus
• Veggies and hummus
• Cheese and crackers
• Smoothies with nuts/seeds + greek yogurt
• Greek yogurt with granola or fruit

Eat more whole grains 

Whole grains contain all three layers of the kernel (unlike refined grains/flours), which are high in protein, lots of minerals, and B vitamins. I always like to have a whole grain (usually brown rice, farro, quinoa, or barley) prepped in my fridge or freezer to add to salads, and bowls, or use in a stir-fry.

Eat more legumes

Legumes are a great option for increasing protein without adding meat. My favorites are lentils and black beans, as they tend to be easier on my digestive system. It’s always best to cook your beans from scratch because soaking them overnight helps remove some of those fart-inducing carbohydrates found in beans. 

My favorite way to prep legumes is to marinate them in a simple dressing and store them in the fridge to scoop onto salads and bowls. They need a lot of salt to taste good, so marinating them in a salty, vinegary dressing really amps up the flavor. You want each component of your bowls and salads to be well-seasoned on its own.

Spiced Lentils and Rice with Garlicky Yogurt is one of my favorites!

Think about playing around with tempeh or tofu

If you’re new to tempeh or tofu, it’s worth trying out. Some people straight up don’t like them, but if you slather enough sauce onto it, then it will be delicious.

Both are also great sources of calcium, iron, magnesium, and vitamin B6.

Add protein to your baked goods

My favorite add-in for baked goods is hemp seeds. They are totally undetectable and are a great source of complete protein. Baking with almonds four is another way to add more protein to your baked goods. 

Try swapping out refined flours with whole grain flours. Those whole grains contain the whole kernel made up of three layers. The bran is the outer layer that is rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The germ is the core that contains healthy fats, B vitamins, vitamin E, and antioxidants. The endosperm is the inner layer that contains carbs, protein, and some vitamins and minerals. 

So by baking with seeds, nuts/nut flours, and whole grains you and your body will feel a lot better about eating that banana bread or cake for breakfast (with Greek yogurt!). 

This Seedy Buckwheat Veggie Loaf has about 14g of protein per slice!

How much protein do I need?

How much protein you need varies depending on your activity level, weight, age, hormone levels, and other lifestyle factors. I don’t like to get bogged down in the numbers, but for those of you interested, this is what is generally recommended:

• Average adult: 0.8 grams (g) of protein per kilogram (kg) per day
• Runners: 1.4 to 1.7 grams of protein per kg per day

So a 130lb runner should aim to get in 83-100g of protein per day or 47g for the same non-runner.

What does that look like?

Here’s a list of some of my favorite vegetarian protein sources and how much protein they contain per serving:

• ½ cup cooked lentils = 9g 
• ½ cup cooked black beans = 7.6g
• 1 cup cooked brown rice = 5.5g
• 1 cup cooked quinoa = 8g 
• 1 cup cooked farro = 6.5g
• 1 cup cooked wild rice = 7g
• ½ cup dry rolled oats = 6g
• ½ cup buckwheat flour = 7.7g
• ½ cup whole wheat flour = 8g
• ½ cup almond flour = 12g
• 3 tbsp hemp seeds = 9.5g
• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds = 3g

• ¼ cup almonds = 7.5g 
• 2 tbsp nut butter = 8g
• 3 oz tempeh = 18g
• ½ cup or ¼ block tofu = 10g 
• 1 large egg = 6g 
• ¼ cup feta cheese = 6g 
• ¼ cup goat cheese = 12g
• ¼ cup grated parmesan = 9.5g
• 1 cup whole milk Greek yogurt = 20g
• 4 cups raw spinach = 2g
• 1 cup chopped cauliflower = 2g 
• 1 cup corn = 5.4g

So if you need about 25g of protein per meal (100g per day), making a salad and adding ½ cup lentils, ¼ cup almonds, and ¼ cup goat cheese will give you 28.5g of protein! BOOM! 

Keep it simple people!

The numbers above are just to give you an idea of how much protein you can find in vegetarian-based foods. Don’t start adding up and calculating everything you eat – this will just add more stress to your life and complicate your relationship with food. 

This simple rule of thumb is all you need to know: include a variety of protein sources in each meal (from my list above) and incorporate protein-rich snacks between meals. 

Comment below with some of your favorite ways to incorporate plan protein into your meals and snacks! Would love to hear your ideas 🙂

Happy fueling!!