High-protein options for people who don't like meat?

whey

I'm not a meat fan myself. I eat a lot of eggs, add whey protein where I can. Eat the meats you can tolerate...meaning, I eat some meat even if I don't necessarily like it. I eat seafood when I can. Protein bars and chips. If you can do protein shakes, those will help as well. String cheese and no fat greek yogurt.

Oh! And I recently found Chick Pea pasta.

Here's a good (not exhaustive, but good) list of protein sources. It's broken up into categories, too.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/926789/protein-sources/p1

BecomingBane wrote: »

Seitan is a good plant based protein... but you've gotten plenty of good suggestions thus far above.

For those who have celiac disease, be aware that seitan is pure gluten. I tried cooking with it once, and did not like it.

Me too! Cottage cheese/eggs/Greek yoghurt/fish / toast topped with avacodo
Spiced Chickpeas/fruit smoothie /olives
Oatneal/apple/peanut butter/celery /unsweetened raisins/wholegrains/dates/cherries/apple sauce/pumpkin seeds/grapefruit/tuna/ mixed berries, Cheese,fruit salad

Hope this helps,

Tempeh (a soybean product), edamame, all types of beans/legumes (some people do better if they phase them in slowly rather than eating a big bunch suddenly - mostly a fiber issue). Beans can also be blended into sauces/"cream" soups as a way to thicken them, not just eaten plain. Nutritional yeast (look into how vegans use it as a flavoring/cheese-alternative).

You can get chickpea flour or soy flour & use it to replace part of the regular flour in recipes, if you like (try 1/8 of one of those, 7/8 of regular flour at first, then increase from there until there are problems with texture or with the baked thing holding together properly.)

Grains - there are ones that are better in protein than rice, and can be used similarly. Folks have mentioned quinoa, but there's also spelt, triticale, spelt, buckwheat, oats, amaranth. Also popcorn for snacks.

Cheeses, if you like those. Personally, I find the naturally somewhat lower-calorie cheeses tastier than the "lite" cheese - chevre, feta, cottage, farmers, etc. Also, parmesan is pretty protein-y and adds a good taste in smaller amounts, so is more calorie-efficient IMO than some other regular cheeses.

Are you allergic to both tree nuts and peanuts? (I know some people who are allergic to only one or the other). There are also seeds: Pumpkin (especially the naked ones, often called pepitas), sunflower, sesame, hemp, chia, etc. Like nuts, these are caloric, but useful in reasonable portions.

Look for bread products (crackers, breads, etc.) with relatively more protein, too. I like the Ezekiel breads/english muffins/tortillas, myself.

Edamame pasta (strangely chewy texture, but I like it in Asian-style preparations). The chickpea pasta (I buy Banza, also available online from Banza or Amazon), to me, tastes a little flatter than regular pasta, so it's tastiest with a flavorful sauce, IMO. The texture isn't bad, though.

Some veggies have some protein - broccoli, spinach, asparagus, green peas, more. It's usually not great-quality protein (not a complete set of amino acids), but if you mix them in your eating with other protein-y foods, it balances out somewhat.

Check out this thread: Carbs and Fats are cheap. Here's a Guide to getting your PROTEIN's worth. Fiber also... . It links to a great spreadsheet with lots of protein-foods on it. There are lots of meats at the top of the spreadsheet (it's kind of in protein-efficiency order), but keep scrolling and you'll find many non-meats as well.

Also, think about increasing your protein by choosing foods in all categories that each add a bit - those little bits add up over the course of a day - in addition to getting a "big" protein item in meals. That's how us veggies do it. (I'm getting about 100g protein/day without eating meat, though I do eat eggs/dairy).

Quark is similar to Greek yogurt but a little less "sour" and more protein. I buy elli quark from target in my area and they have some awesome flavors that I just add fruit too.

karimarie90 wrote: »

Thank you @AnnPT77 ! Awesome info to have. I can have peanuts/peanut butter, just not tree nuts (specifically almonds). I had a reaction to almonds so my doctor told me to cut out all of them, which sucks because I LOVE cashews. It's also hard because 99.9% of healthy recipes I find involve almond flour, which I can't have.

just substitute normal flour in those recipes.