High Protein Low Calorie Foods

Low-cal high protein foods: compare equal calories

This selected list includes meat, seafood, eggs, dairy and plant proteins with at least 9 g of protein per 100 kcal. “Low calorie” here describes protein relative to energy, not a fixed calorie limit per food or a recommended serving. Salmon, sardines and tofu also contain fat; the actual portion calories matter.

Rows are sorted by protein grams per 100 kcal, highest to lowest, using unrounded USDA values. Equal ratios would be ordered by food name. This is a numerical comparison within this selection, not a quality ranking or a complete inventory of foods.

Food with most protein and least calories: what does the comparison mean?

Within these selected records, shrimp has the highest protein per 100 kcal. That does not mean a shrimp portion has fewer calories than every other portion. For example, a single raw egg white is much smaller than the listed shrimp portion. Compare the protein-to-calorie column for equal energy, and the last two columns for what you actually measure.

Firm tofu and edamame are the plant options here. The tofu record is raw firm tofu prepared with calcium sulfate; soft tofu and fried tofu have different compositions. Greek yogurt is plain nonfat, cottage cheese is creamed, and milk is nonfat. Use the record that matches your food rather than applying these values to another variety or brand.

Keep the preparation and weight consistent

Each food uses one USDA record throughout this page. All weights are edible amounts: meat excludes skin and bone where the name says “meat only”; mussels exclude shells; canned fish is drained, and the sardines include edible bone. Approximate 3 oz portions are calculated at exactly 85 g. Household measures for egg white, yogurt, cottage cheese, milk and edamame use the gram weights in their USDA records.

Raw egg white, raw squid, raw chicken thigh and raw tofu are composition references weighed before cooking, not instructions to eat foods raw. Cooking changes weight and water content. Do not apply a cooked value to a raw weight, or infer a raw-to-cooked yield from this table. Count any separately added oil, sauce or coating.

The existing grilled shrimp page covers a different preparation from FDC 175180 cooked shrimp here. The fried tofu page also covers a different preparation from the raw firm tofu here. Their numbers are not substituted into this table.

For prepared combinations, see measured meal ideas; for shopping by aisle, use the macro counting grocery list.

USDA sources and calculation

All rows use USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, April 2018 CSV, downloaded October 26, 2026 and checked against the original CSV on October 29, 2026. Expand “USDA record” in any row for the verbatim food description and its record link. These are generic food records, not current brand labels.

Protein per 100 kcal = protein grams per 100 g ÷ kcal per 100 g × 100. Portion kcal or protein = USDA amount per 100 g × portion grams ÷ 100. For shrimp: 23.98 ÷ 99 × 100 = 24.2 g protein per 100 kcal; an 85 g portion gives 99 × 85 ÷ 100 = 84 kcal and 23.98 × 85 ÷ 100 = 20.4 g protein after rounding.

Calculations and ordering use the original decimal amounts before display rounding. Decimal ROUND_HALF_UP rounds calories to whole kcal and protein to at most one decimal, removing trailing zeros. A link to an existing food page may use a different serving size or display precision; match its preparation and weight before comparing.