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These Are The Best Vegan & Vegetarian Protein Sources | Nutritionist Explains | Myprotein
Jan 30, 2025
What are the best vegetarian and vegan protein sources? Find out now from an expert nutritionist and nutrition consultant.
It's a common misconception that people can't get enough protein when following a vegetarian or vegan diet — but nutritionist and PhD researcher, Richie Kirwan, is here to prove that's just not the case. Yes, it might take a little more planning and thought, but there are plenty of quality vegetarian and vegan protein sources out there for you to get your fill and hit your macro targets.
Watch now to find out exactly why protein is so important and which meat-free protein sources you should consider making part of your diet.
Find Richie on Instagram: @be_more_nutrition
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Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
00:34 – Why listen to Richie?
01:01 – Why do you need protein?
01:51 – Vegetarian sources of protein
03:49 – Vegan protein sources
08:45 – Plant-based protein powders
09:12 – Any questions?
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0:00
you just can't get enough protein on a
0:01
vegetarian or vegan diet it's a myth
0:03
that just needs to die but where can
0:06
vegetarians and vegans get their protein
0:08
from let's talk about that
0:12
how's it going guys my name is richie
0:13
kirwan and today we're going to talk all
0:14
about different sources of vegetarian
0:17
protein as always i want to point out
0:19
that i'm not telling you what proteins
0:21
you should eat or not that's entirely
0:23
your choice what i am going to do is
0:25
help you understand what the research
0:26
says about different proteins and you
0:28
can use that information to help you
0:30
make more informed choices let's get
0:32
started now if you're vegan you might be
0:34
wondering if you should even listen to a
0:37
non-vegan talk about something like this
0:39
well
0:40
on one hand all that matters is the
0:42
evidence we have from nutrition science
0:44
and not what someone's diet is that
0:46
shouldn't influence their advice at all
0:47
on top of that in the past i've actually
0:49
followed a vegan diet myself and i also
0:52
have and continue to work with
0:54
vegetarian and vegan nutrition clients
0:56
so i know exactly the challenges they
0:58
have when it comes to getting enough
0:59
protein first and foremost why do you
1:02
even need protein well it's an essential
1:04
nutrient that provides you with amino
1:06
acids which are the building blocks of
1:07
protein and you need those for growth
1:10
and repair of tissues like muscle for
1:11
producing hormones and enzymes and
1:14
basically for staying alive and if
1:15
you're watching this channel there's a
1:17
good chance that you're interested in
1:19
improving your performance in the gym
1:20
and building muscle and that's where
1:22
protein really shines in fact we have
1:25
good evidence to suggest that getting
1:26
around 1.6 to 2.4 grams of protein per
1:29
kilogram of body weight per day is the
1:31
golden zone for building muscle ideally
1:34
you would break this into four to six
1:36
meals per day of about 0.4 grams of
1:39
protein per kilogram of body weight so
1:41
for example if you weigh 70 kilos that
1:43
works out at about 28 grams of protein
1:46
per meal that's pretty easy to do if you
1:47
eat meat but what if you're vegetarian
1:49
or vegan well let's talk about some
1:51
great ways to get plenty of protein in
1:53
your meat-free diet now when i talk
1:55
about protein here i'm going to mention
1:57
a number of really important factors
1:59
that everyone should consider about
2:01
their protein we'll talk about quality
2:03
which is the amount of essential amino
2:05
acids in relation to how many humans
2:06
need we'll talk about digestibility
2:08
which is how much of the protein you
2:10
absorb in relation to how much you eat
2:12
and we'll talk about protein per calorie
2:15
or how many calories you get with a
2:17
certain amount of protein specifically
2:19
we'll talk about a 25 gram dose of
2:21
protein which is just a decent average
2:23
amount to have in a meal why do the
2:25
calories matter well
2:27
if a source of protein has too many
2:29
calories it might make sticking to your
2:31
calorie goals a lot more difficult if
2:33
you're vegetarian and not vegan things
2:36
are going to be pretty easy for you
2:38
vegans don't worry we've got you covered
2:40
too now just in case you haven't thought
2:41
of it already whey protein is an amazing
2:44
vegetarian protein source it's the
2:46
highest quality protein known to science
2:48
it's very easy to digest and quick to
2:50
absorb and a 25 gram portion of protein
2:53
has only
2:54
104 calories if we look at whole food
2:57
sources cheddar cheese has the same
3:00
great quality easy to digest protein but
3:02
because of all the fat cheese has a
3:04
portion with 25 grams of protein has
3:07
about 442 calories and quite a
3:10
significant amount of saturated fat it
3:12
is an excellent source of easy to absorb
3:14
calcium though sticking with cheese
3:16
low-fat cottage cheese is another great
3:19
whole food protein source that doesn't
3:21
come with all the fat of hard cheese
3:23
like cheddar a portion with 25 grams of
3:25
protein a little less than one pot has
3:27
only 166 calories and lots of easy to
3:31
absorb calcium and iodine to and the
3:34
last non-vegan but still vegetarian
3:36
option i'll mention are whole eggs
3:38
because of the fat in the yolk a portion
3:40
of 25 grams of protein about 4 medium
3:42
eggs has about 240 calories it also
3:45
comes with a decent amount of vitamins
3:47
and minerals like iron and nutrients
3:49
like choline now onto the fully vegan
3:51
protein sources the first one to mention
3:53
is one of my favorite vegan proteins and
3:56
those are legumes for anyone not
3:58
familiar legumes include beans peas and
4:00
lentils as an example a portion of
4:02
lentils with 25 grams of protein which
4:04
is about 100 grams of dried lentils has
4:06
about 322 calories legumes also come
4:09
with loads of fiber phytonutrients
4:12
vitamins iron although the iron isn't as
4:15
bioavailable as the iron in some animal
4:17
foods another thing to bear in mind with
4:19
plant proteins like legumes is that they
4:21
aren't as high quality as the animal
4:22
sources i mentioned earlier as they're
4:24
lower in some essential amino acids that
4:26
means if building muscle is your goal
4:28
eating a little more might be a good
4:30
idea also protein from whole food plant
4:32
sources might not be fully digested
4:35
because the fiber and the structure of
4:36
the plant themselves may actually make
4:38
digestion a little harder another good
4:40
reason to eat a little bit more another
4:42
great vegan protein that is technically
4:44
a legume is tofu this is made from soy
4:46
beans that have been processed in a
4:48
similar way to cheese making giving a
4:50
product that is really high in protein
4:52
on its own it doesn't have a
4:54
particularly strong flavor but it
4:55
absorbs flavors of spices and sauces
4:57
really well also the protein from
4:59
soybeans is considered a complete
5:00
protein because it's high in all the
5:02
essential amino acids and the processing
5:04
makes the protein very easy to absorb
5:06
too a portion with 25 grams of protein
5:08
has about 208 calories and it's often
5:10
high in calcium too again because of the
5:13
way it's processed another vegan protein
5:15
that everyone talks about is quinoa but
5:17
it's not as great a protein source as
5:19
everyone says you see quinoa is more
5:22
like a grain although it's not actually
5:24
a grain and has similar protein content
5:26
to wheat and oats although it is higher
5:28
it's not that high a portion of quinoa
5:30
with 25 grams of protein which is high
5:33
quality protein by the way has a
5:35
whopping
5:36
682 calories which means it might not be
5:40
a great source of protein if you're on a
5:42
diet
5:42
on top of that that's a huge portion of
5:45
quinoa which may not be that easy to eat
5:48
or digest due to the high fiber content
5:50
in terms of processed vegan proteins one
5:52
worth trying out is textured vegetable
5:54
protein or tvp this is made from protein
5:57
from soybeans usually that has been
5:59
heated and formed into chunks it's high
6:01
quality and it's easier to digest than
6:03
whole soybeans a portion with 25 grams
6:05
of protein has only
6:06
180 calories it's not particularly tasty
6:09
on its own but it goes really well with
6:12
strongly flavored stews and sauces now
6:14
this is a common misconception but
6:16
people often mention nuts and seeds as
6:19
being good sources of protein the thing
6:20
is while many do contain more protein
6:22
than other plant foods they are also
6:24
high in fat which can increase their
6:26
calories a lot for example to get 25
6:28
grams of protein from a portion of
6:30
almonds and not with one of the highest
6:32
protein contents you'll have to eat
6:34
684 calories worth now an advantage of
6:37
nuts is that they do contain a lot of
6:39
health promoting nutrients like fiber
6:41
polyphenols unsaturated fats and some
6:44
minerals but they're still very high in
6:46
calories the protein quality isn't the
6:48
highest and the digestibility is lower
6:50
than tofu so that's worth bearing in
6:52
mind another vegan protein that's less
6:54
well-known is seitan which is made by
6:56
washing the starch out of wheat flour
6:58
until you're left with mostly the
7:00
protein gluten the advantage of gluten
7:02
is its texture is very meat-like which
7:04
is why it's often used as a meat
7:06
substitute in some asian cuisine now
7:08
boil a portion of seitan with 25 grams
7:10
of protein has as few as 127 calories
7:13
which are quite well digested it's worth
7:15
pointing out that wheat protein in
7:17
general is quite low quality so you'll
7:19
need more of it if building muscle is
7:21
your goal one vegan source of protein
7:24
that i want to dwell on for a minute is
7:26
the very famous broccoli yes that's
7:28
right broccoli got a lot of press in the
7:31
last few years mostly from memes
7:33
comparing broccoli to ribeye steak as a
7:35
protein source
7:36
per calorie broccoli may have more
7:38
protein than a ribeye steak but that's
7:41
only because ribeye is one of the
7:43
highest fat and therefore highest
7:45
calorie steak cuts that you can buy
7:46
broccoli's advantage disappears as soon
7:49
as you switch to a lower fat and lower
7:51
calorie steak like round steak or fillet
7:52
steak or sirloin which also comes in an
7:55
easy to digest portion size of a little
7:57
over 100 grams on the other hand to get
7:59
25 grams of protein from broccoli you
8:01
would need to eat almost 1 kilogram or
8:04
10 cups of broccoli and that still comes
8:07
with about 300 calories which is more
8:09
than double the calories of an
8:10
equivalent protein portion of round
8:12
steak i don't care how much you love
8:14
broccoli eating that much would be
8:16
unpleasant on top of that the high
8:18
volume and fiber content of broccoli
8:20
would lower the protein digestibility a
8:22
lot a common and very unscientific
8:24
argument i hear is that all plant foods
8:27
like vegetables contain protein making
8:29
protein easy to get on a vegan diet my
8:32
counter argument would be that all
8:33
sawdust contains water but you wouldn't
8:35
want to rely on it if you were thirsty
8:37
there are far better vegan sources of
8:40
protein than broccoli ones that aren't
8:42
going to give you farts that would be
8:43
classed as chemical weapons and finally
8:45
i also want to point out that nowadays
8:47
there are a lot of plant-based protein
8:50
powders available like soya and pea and
8:51
rice plants they're low in calories
8:53
usually about 120 to 130 calories for 25
8:56
grams of protein and because they're
8:58
processed digestibility is a lot higher
9:00
than whole food sources they can be a
9:02
really convenient way to increase your
9:04
protein if you follow a vegan diet
9:07
so i hope this helped you better
9:08
understand your vegetarian and vegan
9:10
protein options as always if you have
9:12
any questions let me know in the
9:13
comments below and remember to like and
9:15
subscribe to the my protein youtube
9:16
channel for more great evidence-based
9:19
nutrition information
9:22
[Music]
9:29
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