What's the cheapest way to get protein?
On this page
Dried beans, at about 43 cents for 25 g of protein at October 2026 US prices. Eggs come next at about 77 cents, then whole milk at 83 cents. Chicken breast is about a dollar and cheddar about $1.47. A 100 g day from dried beans costs about $1.71.
Most people assume protein is the expensive part of the grocery bill, and that the cheapest protein must be some kind of meat on sale. The surprise is that a dozen eggs gives you protein for less than chicken breast, and a bag of dried beans for about half of what eggs cost. The pricey part tends to be the packaged “high protein” stuff.
We’d build a budget protein day on eggs and dried beans, with chicken breast where calories are tight. Beans are the cheapest per dollar but not per calorie, so the right pick depends on which you’re shorter on.
It’s like picking a phone plan. The cheapest per month isn’t always the cheapest per gigabyte, and you pick the one that fits how you use it.
The race
| Food | US average price | Cost for 25 g of protein | 25 g of protein is | A 100 g day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dried beans | $1.68 a lb | 43 cents | about 1 2/3 cups cooked black beans, 370 calories | $1.71 |
| Eggs | $2.32 a dozen | 77 cents | 4 large eggs, about 285 calories | $3.07 |
| Whole milk | $4.10 a gallon | 83 cents | about 3 1/4 cups | $3.33 |
| Chicken breast | $4.10 a lb, boneless | $1.00 | 3 oz grilled, about 125 calories | $4.02 |
| Cheddar | $6.13 a lb | $1.47 | about 3.8 oz, 440 calories | $5.89 |
Prices are the US city averages for October 2026 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Protein per pound or per dozen comes from the matching USDA records: 98 g in a pound of dried black beans, 75.6 g in a dozen large eggs, 123 g in a gallon of whole milk, 102 g in a pound of raw chicken breast and 104 g in a pound of cheddar. The cost calculator is refreshed by hand each month.
What the numbers hide
Beans cost calories. 25 g of protein from cooked black beans comes with about 370 calories, three times as much as from chicken breast. That’s fine on a normal day, and it’s a lot on 1,200 calories. They’re also a plant protein, so they carry fiber and minerals that chicken doesn’t.
Eggs are the sweet spot. At 77 cents per 25 g and about 285 calories, they’re cheap and fairly compact, and four eggs clear the meal line for a lot of people.
Cheddar is the trap. It feels like a protein food, but 25 g of protein from cheddar costs $1.47 and comes with about 440 calories.
Two foods are left out for now. Ground beef has no fat level in the price data, so pairing it with a USDA record would be a guess. Peanut butter’s price series stopped in 2017. Peanut butter is also a weak protein food per calorie, which the peanut butter myth covers.
A cheap 100 g day
| Food | Protein |
|---|---|
| 3 large eggs | 19 g |
| 2 cups of cooked black beans | 30 g |
| 4 oz grilled chicken breast | 35 g |
| 2 cups of whole milk | about 15 g |
| The day | about 100 g |
That’s about $3 at October 2026 prices, worked from the same rows.
Race the foods against your own daily target in the cost calculator, and see them ranked by protein per calorie in the per-calorie calculator.
2 sources
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data, US city average, October 2026 (series APU0000714233 dried beans, APU0000708111 eggs, APU0000709112 whole milk, APU0000FF1101 boneless chicken breast and APU0000710212 cheddar)bls.gov
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy records 173734 (black beans, dry), 173735 (black beans, boiled), 171287 (egg), 171265 (whole milk), 171077 (chicken breast, raw), 171534 (grilled) and 173414 (cheddar)fdc.nal.usda.gov
