If you've been wondering how to add more protein to your meals, you're not alone.
Especially if you’re eating the same high-protein meals and still falling short of the 0.8g to 1.2g per kg of bodyweight that the experts recommend.
When paired with a whole protein source (either in the same meal or throughout the day), it provides around 8g to 10g of protein per cup.
Choose high-protein dairyCottage cheese, quark, ricotta, skyr: high protein dairy is easy enough to find these days.
“Rather than looking only at your main protein source, think about the whole meal,” she says.
Are you among the (many) people angsting over how to add more protein to your meals? Last month, Google searches for “how much protein should I eat in a day” rose by 110 per cent, with accompanying searches seeking more information specifically around the right amount for women and the best sources of protein. If you've been wondering how to add more protein to your meals, you're not alone. Our obsession with the stuff isn’t a bad thing (to a point). Consuming adequate amounts of protein has marked benefits for our blood sugar, satisfaction after eating, muscle growth and recovery and mood stabilisation.
Found in meat, dairy, fish and plants, protein forms the building blocks of our muscles and plays an important role in hormone production, immune function and tissue repair.
The only issue is that outside of feeling better and more energetic, eating a high-protein diet can start to feel, well, boring. Especially if you’re eating the same high-protein meals and still falling short of the 0.8g to 1.2g per kg of bodyweight that the experts recommend. But worry not. Here, we lay out how to add more protein to your meals, whether you eat meat, are vegetarian, pescatarian or keep it totally plant-based.
Think tinned
“Tinned tuna, salmon and sardines are affordable, convenient staples to keep in the pantry,” Kat Chan, a nutritional therapist and the author of the Full Serving Substack, tells Vogue. Not only is tinned fish (especially oily tinned fish, like sardines, herring and trout) high in protein, but also in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids: critical for brain, heart and hormone health as well as blood pressure and immunity. Most contain supplementary amounts of calcium, certain vitamins and micronutrients like iodine and selenium.
Swap stock for bone broth
If you’re not yet at the level of drinking bone broth solo, just subbing it in for stock or water can deliver benefits, says Farzanah Nasser, functional medicine practitioner, nutritionist and author of The Everyday High Fibre Plan. Nasser says to think of broth as a high-protein liquid base that can easily be incorporated into savoury meals.
Bone broth is rich in both minerals and amino acids, as well as gut-healing glutamine and electrolytes. While it’s not a complete protein (meaning it doesn’t contain all nine amino acids) paired with whole protein sources, it can work as a supporting balustrade. When paired with a whole protein source (either in the same meal or throughout the day), it provides around 8g to 10g of protein per cup.
Choose high-protein dairy
Cottage cheese, quark, ricotta, skyr: high protein dairy is easy enough to find these days. What’s not so simple is knowing which ones to prioritise. “So long as you can tolerate dairy, something like Greek yoghurt can be added to your breakfast, eaten as a dip or used as the base of a creamy sauce,” Kirsten Humphreys, Bare Biology’s nutritional therapist notes.
Cottage cheese is another simple option that works well as a side or added to salads. One cup of cottage cheese contains around 25g of protein and can be blended into scrambled eggs and pasta sauces, incorporated into pancake batter or swapped in for natural yoghurt.
Snack smart
Trying to eat 30g of protein at each meal can feel overwhelming, something Humphreys suggests alleviating by stacking up a series of smart, high-protein snacks throughout the day. “Rather than looking only at your main protein source, think about the whole meal,” she says. That might mean swapping a packet of crisps for a high-protein snack or thinking about what could work alongside your breakfast, lunch or dinner.
