Eating High-Protein Without Blowing Your Budget

Protein is the macro that costs the most, and the one you can least afford to skimp on. Here's how to get enough without it eating the grocery budget.

Cheapest protein per gram

Ranked roughly by cost per 25g of protein in a South African supermarket:

• Eggs — still the best value protein there is. Two large eggs is 12–13g.
• Dried lentils, beans and chickpeas — very cheap, and cheaper still bought dry rather than tinned.
• Tinned tuna and pilchards — cheap, shelf-stable, and 25g of protein a tin.
• Chicken thighs and drumsticks — a fraction of the price of breast per gram, and better to cook.
• Plain yoghurt and maas — 10g a cup, and they double as breakfast.
• Beef mince and stewing beef — pricier, but they stretch further than steak.

Chicken breast, salmon and steak are at the top of the price list. They're great; they just shouldn't be your everyday.

Stretch the expensive ones

Half the protein from something cheap, half from something good. Mince with lentils folded in. A chicken thigh over a bean stew. Tuna through a grain salad. You keep the flavour of the good stuff and the bill of the cheap stuff, and the total protein goes up, not down.

Cook in bulk, portion cold

Protein is the thing worth prepping. A tray of thighs, a pot of lentils, a dozen boiled eggs — done once, and every meal for four days has its protein sorted. The carbs and vegetables can be done on the night.

Where a prepped plate fits

A Prepd plate runs R139 to R179, and each one has 26–43g of protein — more than most people get at dinner cooking for themselves. It's not the cheapest protein there is. But it's cooked, it's the right amount, and there's nothing wasted, which for the nights you'd otherwise order in makes it cheaper than the alternative. Most people use it for exactly those nights and cook the rest.