Supplies the amino acids used to build and repair tissue. Quality depends on amino-acid profile as well as quantity.
Every figure here is per 100 g of the food, not per serving. That makes foods comparable to each other, but it is not how anyone eats: 100 g of a dried spice and 100 g of a leafy green are very different portions, so a high position in this list does not tell you what a meal contributes.
Nutrient values are per 100 g of the USDA reference entry named on this page and vary with variety, growing conditions, storage and preparation.
% DV compares the per-100 g amount with the FDA Daily Value of 50 g for adults and children aged 4 and over. It is a labelling reference, not a personal target.
24 entries with a measured protein value, highest first.
Glycine max
The legume behind tofu, soy milk, tempeh and miso, eaten either as mature dry beans or as edamame, the immature green pod…
73% of the Daily Value per 100 g
A hard cheese aged a year or more, during which enzymes break down protein into free amino acids and the crystalline tyrosine…
72% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Cannabis sativa
The hulled seed of industrial hemp, a cannabis variety bred to contain negligible THC. The USDA reference entry is for the hulled…
63% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Gallus gallus domesticus
The pectoral muscle of the chicken, made up largely of fast-twitch fibres, which is why it is pale and low in fat compared with…
62% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Cucurbita pepo
The hulled green kernels of certain pumpkin and squash varieties, eaten raw or roasted. The USDA reference entry is for the dried…
60% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Engraulis encrasicolus
Tiny oily fish usually sold salt-cured and packed in oil, where months of curing dissolves the flesh into an intensely savoury…
58% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Arachis hypogaea
Botanically a legume that ripens underground, not a tree nut, though its fat content and culinary use put it with the nuts. The…
52% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Katsuwonus pelamis
Almost always skipjack, a small fast-growing tuna, cooked and canned in water or oil. It is a distinctly different product from…
51% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Lens culinaris
Flat pulses sold whole or split, and the only common legume that cooks from dry without soaking. The USDA reference entry is for…
49% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Sardina pilchardus
Small schooling fish canned whole with their soft, edible bones intact. Being short-lived plankton feeders low in the food chain,…
49% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Meleagris gallopavo
The white pectoral muscle of the domestic turkey, leaner and larger-grained than chicken breast. Fresh roasting joints and…
47% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Trigonella foenum-graecum
The hard, bitter seed of a legume-family plant, used whole, ground or sprouted, and responsible for the smell most people…
46% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Cervidae spp.
Meat from deer, whether wild-harvested or farmed. Because the animals are active and rarely grain-finished, the carcass carries…
46% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Phaseolus vulgaris
The large red-skinned variety of the common bean, and the one carrying the highest concentration of the toxic lectin…
45% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Phaseolus vulgaris
A common bean variety whose dark seed coat carries anthocyanin pigments, staple across Latin America and the Caribbean. The USDA…
43% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Prunus dulcis
The edible seed of a stone fruit closely related to the peach, eaten raw, roasted or ground into flour and butter. The USDA…
42% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Sus scrofa domesticus
A small muscle running along the inside of the spine that does almost no work, making it the leanest and most tender cut on the…
42% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Helianthus annuus
The hulled kernels of the sunflower, one of the densest common food sources of vitamin E. The USDA reference entry is for the…
42% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Ovis aries
Meat from sheep slaughtered under about a year old, with a distinctive flavour that comes largely from branched-chain fatty acids…
41% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Cicer arietinum
A pulse eaten whole, ground into gram flour, or blended into hummus, with the large kabuli and small desi types differing in seed…
41% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Salmo salar
The great majority of salmon sold worldwide, raised in sea pens on formulated feed. It is consistently fattier than wild salmon,…
41% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Bos taurus
The metabolic and storage organ of cattle, and consequently one of the most nutrient-concentrated foods in the human diet by a…
41% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Whole cooked soybeans bound into a firm cake by Rhizopus mould, an Indonesian ferment that keeps the beans intact rather than…
41% of the Daily Value per 100 g
Pistacia vera
The green seed of a small desert tree, usually sold roasted in a split shell. The USDA reference entry is for the raw kernel…
40% of the Daily Value per 100 g