Typically, we tend to eat the majority of our protein at our evening meal.
However, we may get more bang for our buck by spreading our protein intake throughout the day.
Including an adequate amount of protein (around 20-30g) at breakfast, lunch and dinner can help your body to use protein more effectively, and it has been shown that increasing your protein intake helps increase feelings of fullness or decrease feelings of hunger. If you find you are struggling with hunger during the day, adequate protein in your main meals or a protein-rich snack between meals may be the answer to satisfying hunger without consuming large quantities of food. While adding more protein throughout your day may sound easy, thinking of creative and tasty ways to incorporate protein into meals that are often carbohydrate-dense can be hard. So here are a few high protein breakfast, lunch and snack suggestions to get you started!
Typically, we tend to eat the majority of our protein at our evening meal. However, we may actually get more bang for our buck by spreading our protein intake throughout the day.
High protein meal ideas
Breakfast
Many breakfast foods, such as cereal and bread, tend to be carbohydrate-dense. While the body does need carbohydrates for energy, you can easily boost the protein content of a classic breakfast by including milk, cheese and yoghurt, legumes, eggs or nuts and seeds. This can be as easy as adding some Anchor Protein+ milk and nut butter to a smoothie, or a dollop of Anchor Protein + Yoghurt with Honey and a sprinkle of nuts or seeds to your bowl of cereal.
For something that requires a bit more prep, such as overnight oats or Bircher muesli, mix 35g oats with ½ cup milk and 1 cup high protein yoghurt, and refrigerate overnight.
If you love toast, there are a number of different toppers, tweaks or additions that can help to ensure you are getting around 20g of protein in your morning meal. Picking a wholegrain toast will already give you a head start – 2 slices of wholegrain bread can provide around 8g protein alone!
- Add 40-50g cottage cheese and avocado to your toast, along with a coffee made with Anchor Protein+ milk on the side
- Spread 2 tablespoons of peanut butter to your toast and top with ½ a banana, and 4 tablespoons of chia seeds
- Scramble 2 eggs with Anchor Protein+ milk and serve on toast with wilted spinach and a sprinkle of cheese
For a more gourmet option, take a look at our Anchor Protein + recipes for more inspiration. We’ve got chia breakfast puddings, banana choc smoothie bowls or Oat and Berry Smoothie.
Lunch
Liven up your lunchtime salad or sandwich by adding chickpeas, cheese, quinoa, nuts, seeds, fish, meat, yoghurt or egg. Have a look at the table below to get an idea as to how much protein they can add to a meal. Also check out the delicious recipes for Spicy Roast Vegetable Pizza and Tandoori Lamb Pizza.
| Serve size |
Serve size |
Protein per serve |
| Almonds |
10 Almonds |
2.5 g |
| Boiled eggs |
2 eggs |
13 g |
| Cashew nuts |
10 nuts |
2.1 g |
| Cheddar cheese |
40 g |
9.8 g |
| Chicken breast |
1 breast, shredded |
33.4 g |
| Chickpeas |
1 cup, cooked |
9 g |
| Chia seeds |
2 Tablespoons |
1.5 g |
| Cottage cheese |
45 g |
6 g |
| Haloumi cheese |
40 g |
9 g |
| Quinoa |
1 cup cooked |
6 g |
| Salmon |
1/2 cup |
21.5 g |
| Tuna, canned |
95 g tin |
25 g |
| Anchor Protein+ plain unsweetened yoghurt |
180 g serve |
14 g |
Snacks
Instead of just an apple, adding a pottle of high protein yoghurt, such as Anchor Protein+ plain yoghurt, & a sprinkle of cinnamon will provide you with 14g protein. Other high protein snacks can include;
- A few handfuls of nuts
- Crackers with tuna or a few slices of cheese
So choosing higher protein foods throughout the day can be easy once you’re equipped with the right knowledge and inspiration!
