Protein Price Guide (UPDATED 2022.11.09)
One of the keys to maintaining a lean, healthy body is eating enough protein. In addition to the energy (calories) it provides, protein also provides essential amino acids that are needed by your body to rebuild and renew tissue, vitamins and minerals to support your body’s day-to-day functions, AND it can help rev up your metabolism because your body has to work harder to break it down than it does for carbs or fats.
Ideally, we should be getting most of our protein needs from whole foods, but sometimes it’s tough to know what to buy, especially if you’re on a budget. For that reason, every once in a while, I take a cruise through the local grocery store and update this protein price guide for the reference of our members at The BTG, and now I’ve decided to share it with all of you!
All prices were collected at our local grocery store (Save On Foods), and reflect the regular prices (not any daily specials on at the time of collection). You can often get these same items at pretty good discounts if you shop the specials, or figure out which day your local store usually blows out existing inventory. ;)
Protein Price Guide - Notable Trends With This Update
Since the last time I updated this guide in 2020, as we’re surely all aware, prices have jumped significantly for most things, and meats and poultry are no exception. With the overall cost of living jumping so significantly, getting the most bang for your buck out of your grocery budget is even more important than ever!
Here are a few notes on the overall trends with this update to our protein price guide:
Beef and Pork
These days there seems to be no difference in pricing at my local store between roasts and steaks / chops when it comes to beef and pork. In fact, it’s harder to find roasts there these days, I think because the store is trying to make their shelves look fuller by only putting out the steaks and chops (which take up more room than the roasts for the same package weight). That said, if you happen to find roasts of these cuts cheaper than the steaks / chops, by all means buy them - it’s easy enough to cut them into steaks or chops yourself.
Pork is still generally cheaper than either beef or poultry for the same amount of meat (but NOT by grams of protein - see below), with premium cuts like tenderloin or loin chops now coming in below every cut of beef aside from extra lean ground beef, despite pork loin chops having the biggest price jump since 2019, with a shocking 94% price increase (I.E. they’re nearly double what they used to cost, though most of that jump actually happened between 2019 and 2020).
I’ve removed the pork sausages from the list because our local store has increased the prices by 50%, making them a very poor value in addition to not the best choice, nutrition-wise.
As ever, note that pork tends to be less protein-dense than beef, so its price per gram of protein for the solid cuts is actually higher than all but the most expensive cuts of beef. Still generally cheaper than poultry, with one BIG exception, which you can read about below…
Poultry
The biggest shocker for me in terms of protein prices these days is boneless, skinless chicken breast. The $14 “Value Pack” of chicken breast (usually around 800 grams total) at the local grocery is an outstanding value - it is BY FAR the cheapest meat protein option.
It is cheaper than ALL other meat options on our protein price guide by a significant amount, and is even cheaper than free run or free range eggs!
Aside from that one option though, poultry is still the most expensive meat choice on our list. Note that I also plan to add pricing info on “Raised Without Antibiotics” options in our next update for reference, though they will certainly be even more expensive.
One other note is that pricing on chicken thighs still baffles me. They used to be about 53% the price of chicken breast by weight back in 2019, but these days they’re nearly the same price (and MUCH more expensive vs. the “Value Pack”, even when sold as a “family pack”). The only explanation I can think of is that they’ve become more popular over the last few years due to the continued trend of low-carb diets, for which their higher fat content than breast meat makes them a more compelling option. It could also just be because they’re tastier (which they definitely are), but who knows…?
Eggs
Eggs have historically been a pretty great value in terms of protein grams per dollar. One of the ethical problems with them, however, is the health and wellbeing of cage-raised layer hens. For that reason, I always choose “cage-free” options, because of the more humane treatment of the animals.
After speaking to some egg farmers, I have pretty much never bought “Free Range” eggs anymore, instead choosing “Free Run” eggs. The distinction being that “Free Range” hens have free access to the outdoors, while “Free Run” hens are still raised in barns. The number of hens per square foot of barn space is generally the same.
Why do I make that choice? Because the farmers I’ve spoken to have observed that the “Free Range” hens will almost always stay indoors anyway, because that’s where their feed is, so paying a premium because they could go outdoors seems silly.
Organic hens are ALL Free Range, and there are some additional standards for square footage per bird depending on the certifying organization, and of course their feed has to be certified organic as well. Is the cost difference worth it? For me, no, because it doesn’t substantially improve conditions for the animals, or the quality of the end product.
I’ve included pricing for regular, free run, free range and organic free range eggs for your reference, but I only recommend (and buy myself) Free Run eggs, unless (like right now) for some weird reason, the Free Range eggs are the same price.
Protein Powder and Dairy
I’ve included grocery store pricing for my favourite brand of whey protein, Bio-X, which is a local company here in the BC Lower Mainland. You can buy it for an even cheaper price by volume from some local sports supplement stores, but you have to buy a BIG bag. For what it’s worth, that’s what I do. ;)
While whey protein powder is a VERY inexpensive protein option, and is perfectly acceptable for one or two servings per day, it shouldn’t make up the majority of your protein intake because it is a more processed product, and a healthy approach to eating should focus primarily on whole, minimally-processed foods.
Sadly, I have had to remove the Kaizen Vegan Protein powder (which was the only vegan protein that I would recommend because its texture and flavour wasn’t as offensive as the others I’ve tried). Unfortunately, the company ran into some financial difficulty earlier this year, and from what I gather has ceased operations. If I find a suitable replacement, I’ll add it to the next update of this list. Any recommendations you may have are welcome in the comments below!
The only dairy protein source I’ve included in our protein price guide is Greek yogurt, because of its relative protein density. I never count cheeses as protein sources because they are simply too high in fat relative to their protein content. I look at them more as fat sources that just happen to come along with a bit of protein instead.
I’ve switched brands of Greek yogurt since our last update, because the Oikos brand seems to be the only major one out there that is strained in the traditional fashion to increase its protein density rather than having milk protein (I.E. protein powder) added in. It’s worth noting that in terms of price per gram of protein, it is competitive with all but the least expensive meat options.
Other Protein Sources
I have not priced out any seafood because any that is caught or farmed with sustainable methods is prohibitively expensive. I will add in some pricing for the OceanWise varieties our local grocery store carries when I do my next update on this for the sake of context. For my household, when it comes to occasionally indulging in seafood, we accept that cost is not a factor. ;)
I have also not priced out any other plant-based protein sources because, aside from quinoa (which is a complete protein), more than one food would have to be combined (E.G. beans and rice) to cover off all the essential amino acids, making pricing them overly complicated.
The Protein Price Guide
The selection below includes the options that I would recommend due to their combination of value and their suitability for a healthier diet.
I’ve arranged each grouping by their price per gram of protein for your convenience, and I’ve highlighted in bold those that are frequent choices for my household.
Beef
Eye of Round - $23.13 / kg (about 280g of protein / kg = $0.083 / g)
Sirloin Tip - $22.02 / kg (about 260g of protein per kg = $0.085 / g)
Extra Lean Ground Beef - $19.16 / kg (about 220g of protein / kg = $0.087 / g)
Inside Round - $25.33 / kg (about 280g of protein / kg = $0.090 / g)
Top Sirloin - $28.64 / kg (about 290g of protein per kg = $0.099 / g)
Pork
Ground Pork - $14.31 / kg (about 170g of protein / kg = $0.084 / g)
Pork Loin Chops (Centre Cut) - $19.16 / kg (about 200g of protein / kg = $0.096 / g)
Pork Tenderloin - $20.92 / kg (about (about 210g of protein / kg = $0.100 / g)
Poultry
Chicken Breast Value Pack - $17.50 / kg (about 230g of protein / kg = $0.076 / g)
Ground Turkey Thigh - $19.82 / kg (about 205g of protein / kg = $0.097 / g)
Ground Turkey Breast - $24.23 / kg (about 240g of protein / kg = $0.101 / g)
Chicken Breast (Regular Pack) - $24.01 / kg (about 230g of protein / kg = $0.104 / g)
Chicken Thigh - $20.92 / kg (about 200g of protein / kg = $0.105 / g)
Turkey Breast - $30.84 / kg (about 240g of protein / kg = $0.129 / g)
Eggs (all prices are for 1 dozen)
Regular - $3.89 (about 6 g of protein / egg = $0.054 / g) - NOT RECOMMENDED
Free Run - $6.99 (about 6 g of protein / egg = $0.097 / g)
Free Range - $6.99 (about 6 g of protein / egg = $0.097 / g)
Organic Free Range - $7.99 (about 6 g of protein / egg = $0.111 / g)
Protein Powders and Dairy
Bio-X Power Whey Complex - $34.99 (approx. 650g protein per container = $0.054 / g)
Oikos Greek Yogurt - $11.99 / 1.5 kg (about 16g of protein / 175 g = $0.087 / g)
If you have any questions or comments about any of the above, feel free to contact Coach JP. If you have found the guide useful, please feel free to share a link to it with friends or family! ;)