What does 25 g of protein cost?
Dried beans are about 43 cents for 25 g, eggs 77 cents and chicken breast about a dollar, at October 2026 US prices.
What 25 g of protein costs from each food, October 2026 US prices
Dried beans$1.68 per lb43 cents$1.71 for 100 g
Eggs$2.32 per dozen, grade A large77 cents$3.07 for 100 g
Whole milk$4.10 per gallon83 cents$3.33 for 100 g
Chicken breast$4.10 per lb, boneless$1.00$4.02 for 100 g
Cheddar$6.13 per lb$1.47$5.89 for 100 g
100 g a day from dried beans: about $1.71. A dozen eggs gives you protein for less than chicken breast, and dried beans for less than half of that.
Prices are the US city averages for October 2026 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, refreshed by hand each month. Ground beef waits until the lean series is pulled, since the BLS beef price names no fat level.
What your result means and what to do next
- If money is what's in the way, dried beans and eggs give you protein for well under a dollar per 25 g.
- If calories are tight too, mix a cheap food with a lean one, like eggs at breakfast and chicken breast at dinner, since beans bring more calories per gram of protein.
The cheapest protein has a full budget day, and protein foods, ranked four ways sets cost beside calories and quality.
How it works
The price of each food divided by the protein it holds, times 25. A pound of dried beans holds about 98 g of protein, a dozen large eggs about 76 g, a gallon of whole milk about 123 g, a pound of raw chicken breast about 102 g and a pound of cheddar about 104 g.
The prices are the Bureau of Labor Statistics US city averages for October 2026, the latest month, and they're dated on the page because they move. Ground beef is left out until the lean beef series is pulled, since the BLS beef price names no fat level. Peanut butter's series stopped in 2017.
2 sources
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average Price Data, US city average, October 2026, series APU0000714233, APU0000708111, APU0000709112, APU0000FF1101 and APU0000710212bls.gov
- USDA FoodData Central: black beans dry (173734), egg (171287), whole milk (171265), chicken breast raw (171077), cheddar (173414)fdc.nal.usda.gov
