Vegetarian protein?

mrsdjordan · August 2014

I never seem to be able to get enough protein. I eat some Quorn, eggs, whole meal bread/pasta, brown rice, beans, small amount cheese. Don't drink cows milk and our house is nut free due to my older sons allergy.
Any ideas what else I can eat to up my protein?

maddyk91 · August 2014

Yogurts, beans, vegetarian meat substitutes like Morning "sausages" (which are PHENOMENAL, btw), and you could also get straight-up protein powders.

Ke11er · August 2014

Beans, eggs, cheese are already great sources. To add to the good ideas above....also oats, edamame pods or dry roasted edamame, peas, and seeds like sunflower or pumpkin.

mam479 · August 2014

Quinoa and chia seeds are packed with protein. 1 cup of quinoa has 24 g and 2 tbsp of chia seeds have 4 g (and are packed full of other nutrients too). Sprinkle some chia seeds on your oatmeal or cereal or add them to smoothie. Thee internet is teaming with quinoa recipes. I recently made this: http://pinchofyum.com/creamy-chicken-quinoa-broccoli-casserole which you can easily modify to fit your dietary requirements (no bacon, quorn instead of chicken and soymilk for cow's milk). It makes 7 servings and each serving is 330ish calories with 34 g of protein.

Also if you are a cereal eater, many cereals such as Kashi and even special K have protein packed cereals.

Meerataila · August 2014

I get more than enough from beans (garbanzo beans are great), nuts, and seeds and a little here and there from leafy sources that just add up. I manage fine even on less than 1400 calories a day most days.

mollyann34 · August 2014

I'm vegan, but I struggle with protein too. I'm not sure if you can have PB2 in your house with a nut allergy but it's been helping... I add it to everything. I also use nutritional yeast in place of cheese and it has a lot of protein. I recently just bough Jarrow's protein powder to add to smoothies (15 grams!)

I don't hardly eat soy so that's difficult, but I do second the beans/chickpeas... Can you not have any nuts or just peanuts? I eat loads of raw almonds as well. Even leafy greens add up (broccoli, zucchini, kale, cooked spinach).

JBearsMom21 · August 2014

Beans, hemp seeds, quinoa, freekeh, edemame, tofu, tempeh and good old protein powder. I use nutribiotic plain rice protein and the Vega One Nutritional line. I don't really eat dairy so it is a little bit more difficult for me but definiately doable. Since your vegetarian, you can also have greek yogurt.

softblondechick · August 2014

You eat eggs, can you eat fish? I eat a lot of salmon. Tofu, and I add protein powder to smoothies.

littlekitty3 · August 2014

Seitan hands down.

Rlavigne93 · August 2014

Greek yogurt and beans. Quest bars are pretty phenomenal, packing 20g of protein per bar, but they're pricey. And most if not all have nuts in them, but they're all individually sealed if that makes a difference.

moxiecowgirl · August 2014

You eat eggs, can you eat fish? I eat a lot of salmon. Tofu, and I add protein powder to smoothies.

Fish are animals. That makes fish pretty much an epic fail as vegetarian protein.

MouseFood · August 2014

humous, chickpeas, beans, protein bars

MouseFood · August 2014

You eat eggs, can you eat fish? I eat a lot of salmon. Tofu, and I add protein powder to smoothies.

Fish are animals. That makes fish pretty much an epic fail as vegetarian protein.

I love this lol

As someone who has only been a veggie for a year and a half, I still find it really funny when people think eating fish means you're still a vegetarian.

RodaRose · August 2014

I never seem to be able to get enough protein. I eat some Quorn, eggs, whole meal bread/pasta, brown rice, beans, small amount cheese. Don't drink cows milk and our house is nut free due to my older sons allergy.
Any ideas what else I can eat to up my protein?

MFP might have your protein goals too high.

cdoesthehula · August 2014

After a lifetime of not drinking milk, I have recently started drinking soya milk. Tastes nice and quite a good source of protein. Get the unsweetened one though; a lot of them are packed with sugar.

sistrsprkl · August 2014

I snack on cottage cheese to help boost my protein. You have a lot of other good suggestions on here.

VonJesserz · August 2014

chocolate soy milk! I personally don't believe any of the anti-soy stuff going around, I enjoy tofu and tempeh on occasion and we love chocolate soy milk ( i use almond milk mostly but soy sometimes with protein shakes for added protein). it's also a complete protein, as well as quinoa and hemp hearts

mrsdjordan · August 2014

Wow some great ideas here, foods I'd totally forgotten about! Thanks!
Quinoa, saitan (mock duck?) both on my shopping day list

may look into some hemp protein for a breakfast smoothie. I drink koko milk which doesn't have any protein unfortunately.

mrsdjordan · August 2014

I never seem to be able to get enough protein. I eat some Quorn, eggs, whole meal bread/pasta, brown rice, beans, small amount cheese. Don't drink cows milk and our house is nut free due to my older sons allergy.
Any ideas what else I can eat to up my protein?

MFP might have your protein goals too high.

It may, but unless I make a conscious effort, I'm deffo too high on carbs (fruit sugar, honey or real sugar on a bad day) and too low on protein in general. Maybe I'm just a sugar addict and need to go cold turkey!

sistrsprkl · August 2014

Also, these are yummy. I had one for lunch today. Lots of protein.

http://www.drinkorgain.com/

_HeartsOnFire_ · August 2014

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/926789-protein-sources

khoshgeleh16 · August 2014

Lots of great suggestions here, the only one I can think of that hasn't been mentioned is cottage cheese - it's one of the most convenient protein sources for me. (I also adore halloumi, but that has a higher calorie cost by a long way :-p)

Graelwyn75 · August 2014

Seitan hands down.

^^ This. You can either buy it from wholefood stores or make your own.

gcarterIT · August 2014

Many people accept the fact there are different types of vegetarians, I being one of them. See this chart here:

http://www.vegetarian-nation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/vegetarian-levels-chart.jpg

mrsjordon, you should specify if you fit one of these categories, then you can receive more specific advice.

skjones0323 · August 2014

I know for me protein is essential for me to feel full enough. Like others have already said, soy based protein, edamame is yummy, I use protein shakes and they have 15 grams of protein. I am getting mine from a medically supervised weight loss program I am on right now, but I have also bought them online.

Naley2322 · August 2014

I get about 100- 120 grams of protein a day. on a 1,200 / 1,300 calorie diet.. Im a vegetarian have been since basically birth

my typical day is usually

breakfast: trader joes egg beaters / fake meat product usually quorn / fruit ( usually about 30 grams protein)

lunch : tofu / salad / veggies ( about 41 grams protein)

snack: fage yogurt ( 23 grams)

dinner: always different but usually veggies and a protein or starch ( usually about 25 grams)

snack : oatmeal ( 6 grams)

rivka_m · August 2014

Seitan is really easy to make - there are a lot of recipes that call for steaming which seems easier to me than the usual simmering.

Most of the recipes I use are in cookbooks but here's one that isn't - a seitan-based sausage recipe. It comes out to about 35 grams protein and ~250 calories.

http://www.theppk.com/2012/01/vegan_sausage/

aubrie917 · August 2014

Quest bars use whey protein which comes from milk so if you don't do cow's milk at all then they don't work but if you just don't drink it then but don't mind eating milk products then those are amazing--20 g protein per bar. Some of them have nuts in them though so just be careful as to which you buy. There have a lot of meat substitutes but a lot of them have tons of soy which you shouldn't have too much of but seitan is good like other people have mentioned. Tons of eggs. Cheese. Protein powders...I love sun warrior protein...it's vegan.