Lentils, oats and quark deliver the most protein per euro, turkey and tuna the most per calorie. The honest comparison, with real discounter numbers.
The honest answer comes in two halves. Per euro, dried lentils, oats and low-fat quark win by a clear margin — roughly 50 to 57 g of protein for one euro. Per calorie, turkey breast, tuna in water and chicken breast win with roughly 21 to 23 g of protein per 100 kcal. And in everyday life, the source that wins is the one that lands on your plate without cooking.
You may already know the target behind all this: 1.4 to 2.0 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day covers practically every training person [1]. At 75 kg that is around 120 g. The question in this guide is no longer whether you hit that number, but what you hit it with, at the lowest cost and the least effort.
A word on the numbers: the prices and nutrition values below come from our own discounter catalogue — realistic pack sizes at Aldi price level, the same one the nutrition plan in the Lab uses. That is a calculation basis, not a study. Prices fluctuate; the ranking is surprisingly stable.
There is no single best protein source, there are two entirely different questions. Protein per euro is the budget question. Protein per calorie is the satiety question — it matters when you are in a calorie deficit or have little room left in the evening.
Dried lentils top one list and sit mid-table in the other. Chicken breast is exactly the other way round. Anyone who only knows one of the two lists inevitably shops past their own goal.
All values per pack, Aldi price level, rounded:
So one euro of lentils delivers a good three times the protein of one euro of chicken breast. Important footnote: lentils, oats and pasta are dry weights. 100 g of dry lentils becomes around 250 g on the plate once cooked — the per-pack comparison still holds, because the pack is what you buy.
Same foods, different question. Protein per 100 kcal, rounded:
Translated: for the same calories, quark gives you almost five times the protein of oats. Oats are still a good source — they simply arrive with a lot of energy attached. In a diet phase that is the difference between full and hungry.
The third ranking is printed on no packet, but it decides whether you are still doing this in four weeks:
The most common reason for missing a protein target is not a lack of knowledge, it is an empty "zero effort" shelf in the fridge.
Take one source for each of four roles and buy them every week from now on: one dairy source for the morning (quark, skyr, milk), one plant staple for the budget (lentils, oats), one no-cook emergency option (tuna, eggs, cheese) and one main-meal protein to taste (chicken, turkey, ground beef, tofu).
That lands you almost automatically at the distribution the research recommends: roughly 0.4 g of protein per kilogram per meal across at least four meals [2]. For triggering muscle growth itself, the ISSN position stand names 20 to 40 g per serving, or 0.25 g/kg [3].
If you would rather not assemble the selection yourself: the nutrition plan in the Lab works from exactly this catalogue and outputs a weekly plan and a shopping list including pack sizes.
This guide classifies foods, it does not replace medical or dietetic advice. With kidney or liver disease, gout, diabetes, during pregnancy and breastfeeding, or with food allergies, your choice of protein sources belongs with a doctor or a registered dietitian.
Always cook pulses through properly — raw or half-cooked beans and lentils do not agree with anyone. Keep pre-cooked food properly chilled and eat it promptly; that goes double for rice and pasta.
And do not rely on a single source. Eating the same thing every day buys you boredom and a narrow nutrient profile. If counting and comparing starts running your day, or if you skip meals to stay "clean", get support from a registered dietitian or your doctor.
The cheapest protein boost in the shop is not in the chilled aisle, it is on the shelf next to it: 500 g of red lentils delivers as much protein as around 540 g of chicken breast — for less than a third of the money.
The trick is not to think of them as a side dish but as a base: red lentils collapse as they cook and turn into the sauce themselves. A can of passata, an onion, spices, 200 g of red lentils — that is a bolognese delivering 50 g of protein and asking for less than ten minutes of attention. Train Smart here means picking your squad wisely, not shopping harder.
Across a whole day, no, provided the total is right and you mix sources — lentils, beans, tofu, oats, bread. Plant sources often deliver slightly less protein per portion and a different amino acid profile, which is why vegetarians and vegans in practice sit at the upper end of the 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg range [1].
Per 100 g: low-fat quark around 12 g, dried lentils around 25 g, chicken breast around 23 g, skyr around 11 g, eggs and oats around 13 g each, tuna in water around 25 g. Important: the lentil and oat values are dry weights, the meat and quark values are ready to eat.
Dried red lentils, followed by oats and low-fat quark — all three deliver around 50 g of protein or more per euro spent. Quark is the lowest in calories of the three and therefore the first choice if you are watching calories at the same time.
Yes, and it is more than most people think. Whole-grain pasta delivers around 13 g per 100 g dry, whole-grain bread around 8 g, oats around 13 g. Across a normal day, sides and bread easily add up to 30 to 40 g — a quarter to a third of your daily target.
For the raw protein total, one is theoretically enough. In practice four are better: they cover different amino acid profiles and micronutrients, keep costs down and stop you getting sick of everything after two weeks. Spreading intake across at least four meals a day [2] is easier when you have something to choose from, too.
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