14 High Protein Vegetables (+ How To Eat Them!)

Looking to boost your protein intake while sticking to a plant-based diet? Look no further than these protein-packed vegetables that are surprisingly rich in protein.

How much protein do you need?

The Mayo Clinic recommends 10-35% of calories come from protein. That is obviously a wide range, but protein requirements depend greatly on your level of activity and need to rebuild muscle tissue after exercise or strenuous physical labor.

This range gives you a minimum and maximum protein intake to aim for. You can use your typical daily caloric intake to figure a range for your daily protein intake.

• 1500 calories = 38-131 grams of protein per day
• 2000 calories = 50-175 grams of protein per day
• 2500 calories = 63-219 grams of protein per day

Are all grams of protein the same?

The short answer to this is no. Not all grams of protein are equal nutritionally because their amino acid makeup varies.

There are 20 amino acids common to all life forms. Nine of the amino acids cannot be synthesized and are called the Essential Amino Acids. We must get them from dietary sources. These are: 

• Histidine
• Isoleucine
• Leucine
• Lysine
• Methionine
• Phenylalanine
• Threonine
• Tryptophan
• Valine

We won’t have a quiz on these because what is really important to know is just that different food sources contain varying amounts of these 9 essential amino acids. When a protein source contains all 9-it is called “complete”.

What are complete proteins?

Animal proteins are always complete proteins. These include meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy. Some plant-based sources are complete to include peas, soybeans, and quinoa is very close (it contains them all but two are a little low). They contain all of the 9 essential amino acids we mentioned above.

Most plant-based proteins are incomplete to varying degrees. Variety in a vegetarian or vegan diet is critical to supplying all 9 essential amino acids because an amino acid lacking in one veggie might be in abundance in another, so one tactic is to match veggies together so that when you eat one that is missing some amino acids, it is covered by another that is high in that nutrient. We will recommend some pairings for those veggies that are incomplete.

As a read ahead, the prime essential amino acid lacking in many vegetables is Methionine. You will see this pop-up quite a bit in the veggie list. If you are a vegetarian, you can easily make up for this shortfall with dairy. If you follow a vegan diet, your choices are a little more limited, so we recommend paying attention to the vegetables that contain methionine as well as the other essential aminos.

Veggies High In Protein

Let’s start looking at which vegetables are high in protein and will help get us to the ideal daily protein intake range. We will use a “serving size” of 100g (about 3 ½ ounces) for each, even if that doesn’t really make sense for how you might eat each vegetable. This allows you to compare protein content easily between veggies. We also list the number of calories in 100g because sometimes the ratio of protein to total calories is actually more useful.

• Broccoli
• Brussels Sprout
• Cauliflower
• Collards
• Edamame
• Kale
• Lima Bean
• Mushroom
• Peas
• Pinto Bean
• Quinoa
• Soybean
• Spinach
• Zucchini

Broccoli

100g of raw broccoli (34 calories) contains 2.8g of protein. The ubiquitous vegetable that people everywhere love to hate. But with some careful coaxing, broccoli can be the star of your dinner table! And any of these broccoli recipes will add protein to your diet.

Broccoli is nearly a complete protein. It is low (not devoid) in both methionine and lysine. You can cover this by using any of these that are higher in methionine:

• Almonds
• Quinoa
• Chia seeds
• Edamame
• Corn
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Onion
• Garlic
• Leek
• Ocra

Good sources of lysine include:

• Tomatoes
• Kale
• Spinach
• Peas
• Quinoa
• Most Beans
• Chickpeas

Brussels Sprout

100g of raw Brussels Sprouts (43 calories) contains 3.4g of protein. If that isn’t enough to warrant roasting some up, they are also high in fiber and one of the richest sources of Iron. As with many fruits and vegetables, the smaller brussels sprouts will be sweeter and more delicious, and if you want to try our favorite recipe check out Roasted Brussels Sprout Salad with Apple ider Vinaigrette Like using your air fryer? Try Easy Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts (with Flavoring Options).

Brussels sprouts are not a complete protein. They are low in methionine. You can cover this by adding any of the following to your diet:

• Almonds
• Quinoa
• Chia seeds
• Edamame
• Corn
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Onion
• Garlic
• Leek
• Ocra

Cauliflower

100g of raw cauliflower (25 calories) contains 2.0g of protein, and it is considered a nearly complete protein source. This is another little recognized great source of protein.

Cauliflower is close, but not a complete protein. It is low in methionine. This is pretty common in vegetables as we said earlier. You can cover this by using any of the veggies we listed under Brussels Sprouts.

Collards

100g of raw collards (30 calories) contains 2.5g of protein. You can pretty much lump any of the leafy greens like Mustard greens, Dandelion greens, etc into this category as they all have similar protein contents. With about 8g of quality protein in each 100 calories of collards it makes a great high protein smoothie.

Collards are close, but not a complete protein. It is low in methionine. The lack of methionine is pretty common in vegetables. You can cover this by using any of these that are higher in methionine:

• Ocra
• Almonds
• Quinoa
• Chia seeds
• Edamame
• Corn
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Onion
• Garlic
• Leek

Edamame

100g of raw edamame (110 calories) contains 10.3g of protein. Now that is impressive, but it gets better for this ancient veggie. USDA data shows that the same 100g contains 4g of fiber, 30% of the RDA for Iron, and 8% for Calcium.

The protein in edamame is considered complete.

Kale

100g of raw kale (50 calories) contains 3.3g of protein. Kale is right up there with spinach, nutritionally!

Kale is similar to collard greens in that it is low in methionine.You can cover this by using any of these that are higher in methionine:

• Ocra
• Almonds
• Quinoa
• Chia seeds
• Edamame
• Corn
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Onion
• Garlic
• Leek

Lima Bean

100g of boiled lima beans (123 calories) contains 6.8g of protein. Okay, we know you probably don’t like them, but we had to praise them for their commendable protein content.

This is a third high protein veggie on our list that is low in methionine. You can cover this by using any of the veggies we listed above for Kale.

Mushroom

100g of raw white mushrooms (22 calories) contains 3.1g of protein. On a per calorie basis mushrooms are very high in protein! They are, however, rather “incomplete” as they do not provide all the essential amino acids.

This just highlights why it is important to eat a variety of vegetables particularly if you are on a vegetarian or vegan diet, and may get little protein otherwise. Mushrooms also have a pretty impressive mineral content, and let’s face it they go well in soooo many recipes.

This is yet another high protein veggie on our list that is low in methionine. You can cover this by using any of these that are higher in methionine:

• Ocra
• Almonds
• Quinoa
• Chia seeds
• Edamame
• Corn
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Onion
• Garlic
• Leek

Peas

100g of raw green peas (81 calories) contains 5.4g of protein. If you needed another reason to make stir fry, the protein provided by peas and pea pods could be it. My favorite has to be Buddha Bowls.

Pinto Bean

100g of boiled pinto beans (120 calories) contains 9.2g of protein. We could separately list kidney, black, navy, garbanzo, and a host of other similar legumes, but they all have similar protein levels.

So, even pinto beans are low in methionine. This shows the value of eating a variety of foods from the two lists below. You can cover this by using any of the veggies recommended above for other vegetables short in this essential amino acid.

Quinoa

100g of cooked quinoa (120 calories) contains 4.4g of a complete protein. Many people understandably think of quinoa as a grain, but technically it is a seed. The quinoa seed comes from a plant in the same family as spinach and chard. It’s more closely related to beets than it is to wheat!

Many sources consider quinoa a complete protein, but they are actually a little bit short in both leucine and lysine. You can cover leucine by adding in any of these vegetables:

• Peas
• Pretty much any bean

Good sources of lysine include:

• Tomatoes
• Kale
• Spinach
• Peas
• Quinoa
• Most Beans
• Chickpeas

Soybean

100g of cooked soybeans (172 calories) contains 16.6g of protein. If that isn’t enough, the fiber, iron and omega-3 content in soy is off the charts.

The protein in soybean is considered complete, but some sources claim that its methionine content is actually a little low. This simply shows the need to include all those few vegetable sources rich in methionine are part of your diet.

Spinach

100g of raw spinach (23 calories) contains 2.9g of protein and it is considered a complete protein source. So, if you were inclined to eat 100 calories of spinach, perhaps say in a mega smoothie, it would provide a whopping 12.6 grams of a high-quality complete protein.

Like many others, is short in methionine. Look at the many veggies above to see what to work into your diet to ensure this one essential amino acid is covered.

Zucchini

100g of raw zucchini (16 calories) contains 1.2g of protein. Zucchini is an extremely low-calorie veggie but also quite protein dense. 100 calories of zucchini has over 7g of protein. Of course that is over a pound of zucchinis! Still, adding zucchini to your cooking is a great way to sneak in extra protein. We have an entire arsenal of zucchini recipes dedicated just to you, from zucchini noodles to stuffed zucchini to zucchini dessert crisp! 

Zucchini is incomplete and missing a few acids. Specifically, it is short methionine, lysine, and tryptophan.  Here is what to add for each. For added methionine:

• Almonds
• Quinoa
• Chia seeds
• Edamame
• Corn
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Onion
• Garlic
• Leek
• Ocra

For added lysine:

• Kale
• Spinach
• Peas
• Quinoa
• Most Beans
• Chickpeas
• Tomatoes

And for added tryptophan:

• Cucumber
• Spinach
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli

That pretty well wraps up our look at protein rich vegetables. We hope you found what you were looking for, and as always happy cooking!