What is the cheapest protein source?
I have recently moved away from home and would like to continue weightlifting/gaining muscle. Food cost however is a big problem. My question is: what is a really cheap protein source? From my own investigation milk seems to run in at about 30g protein/dollar while sausage and canned tuna is around 13g protein/dollar. Are protein powders the best way (read cost effective) to get protein in terms of gram/dollar? Milk seems to be pretty decent in terms of calories and protein but I was wondering if the was something better in terms of price.
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Oats are tough competition, even in Australia you can get 1 kg of protein for , or [CO].01/g.
[CO].99 / 750g oats
~13g protein / 100g oats
=> [CO].99 / ~97.5g protein
=> ~[CO].01 / 1g protein
They are a carb-heavy option, so that's a huge plus if you're in the earlier stages of bulking, but likely a minus if you're in the latter chiselling stages.
If you live near the coast, then dried or fresh fish can get you pretty far. Dried cod, for example, has 80-85% protein and costs around 30$/kg in most areas - likely a lot cheaper near fisheries! Although it will require you to do quite a bit of cooking (or to drink a lot of water if dried).
I think tuna is a very, very good source for not much money. The type I get is in water, of course, and it's 90 calories per tin, with 20 grams of protein. There's only 1 gram of fat with all that protein, and then an extra calorie from something haha.
My lunch is 2 cans of tuna plus a deli sandwich with about 30 g of protein in it. So I get 70 g of protein just from my lunch.
Nutri chunks is best and and cheapest source of protein (55gm. Protein Per 100 gm) In my country (India) cost of 1 kg chunks is app. 2$ i dont know about USA . But if the rate is same then u will get app. 500-550 gm protein in 2 $;-)
I typically do the store generic complete post workout (with bcaas) which they do a sale on every so often ( buy one get one half off etc. Vitamin shoppe is in September) last time I bought it was about .02$/gram not on the level of beans but very complete quality protein.
I would also check out Costco. Whenever I go in I check to see if they are doing a sale on protein and try to snap some up. Best price I have seen so far is $.30/serving of protein powder with bcaas.
A typical 10lb bag of ON whey protein costs ~5 USD. There are 149 servings (1 scoop = 1 serving) in a bag.
So 24 grams of protein (with negligible carbs and fat) costs [CO].77 USD. I don't think you'll find anything cheaper anywhere. And if you do, let me know.
Beans! A 1-pound bag of dry beans can easily be found for , and contains about 100 grams of protein. [CO].01 per gram beats pretty much any animal source.
Of course, you can't eat raw beans, so this source requires some kitchen work.
Eggs!
A dozen in USA costs around that is 6 grams of proteins for [CO].041 per gram. Although it doesn't beat [CO].03 per gram in Eric's answer but its close and eggs are not for everywhere.
Knowing which country you belong to, this price can be significantly lower.
I am from Canada. I just bought a dozen eggs for .64
Wohoo, that makes it [CO].03 per gram of protein right there.
That answer was obviously based on cost requirements, otherwise i love a diet of whey protein + eggs + almonds + banana shakes and ofcourse ocassional steaks :p
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