Vegetarian Protein Calculator — Target and Sources

Dropping meat does not lower the number you are aiming for — protein is prescribed per kilogram of body weight, not per food group. What changes is which servings get you there. Calculate the target first, then work backwards through the table below.

Eggs and dairy do most of the heavy lifting

The number to hit is the general one: the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines ask every adult for 1.2 to 1.6 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, and nothing in that goal changes when meat comes off the plate.

Ovo-lacto vegetarians have an easier job than vegans for one reason: eggs and dairy are complete, highly digestible proteins that arrive in small, familiar servings. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics position on vegetarian diets rates appropriately planned patterns as nutritionally adequate for all life stages, and the food math is what makes “appropriately planned” concrete.

Protein per serving, from USDA FoodData Central:

Food	Serving	Protein
Cheddar cheese	1 oz (28 g)	7 g
Egg, hard-boiled	1 large (50 g)	6 g
Greek yogurt, plain nonfat	6 oz (170 g)	18 g
Cottage cheese, 1% milkfat	4 oz (113 g)	14 g
Tempeh	3 oz (85 g)	17 g
Lentils, cooked	1 cup (198 g)	18 g
Chickpeas, cooked	1 cup (164 g)	15 g
Tofu, extra firm	3.5 oz (100 g)	10 g
Quinoa, cooked	1 cup (185 g)	8 g

Cottage cheese and Greek yogurt are the two entries worth building habits around: 12.4 g and 10.3 g of protein per 100 g respectively, in a format that needs no cooking and lands easily at breakfast or as a snack, where American diets are thinnest on protein.

Where a meatless day usually leaks protein

Not at dinner. Vegetarian dinners tend to be built around beans, lentils or tofu and land fine. The shortfall shows up earlier:

• Breakfast — cereal, toast, fruit, coffee. Often under 10 g. Two eggs or a container of Greek yogurt fixes it in one move.
• Lunch — a salad with cheese sprinkled on it reads as protein but rarely clears 10 g. Add chickpeas, lentils or a hard-boiled egg.
• Snacks — fruit and crackers contribute almost nothing. Cottage cheese, edamame or a handful of nuts change that.

Adding 20 g at breakfast and 15 g at lunch closes a 35 g gap without touching dinner, which is usually the whole problem.

Combining sources: over the day, not the meal

Grains and legumes are each limited in a different essential amino acid and complement each other, which is where the rice-and-beans advice came from. The part that got over-taught is the timing: they do not have to share a plate. Variety across a day is enough, and eggs and dairy make the question mostly academic for ovo-lacto vegetarians, since both are complete on their own.

Iron, zinc and B12 sit alongside protein

The Dietary Guidelines name the pattern directly: vegetarian diets “often fall short in vitamins D and E, choline, and iron,” while vegan diets show broader shortfalls that include protein itself. Protein is not on the vegetarian list — eggs and dairy are why — but iron is.

Meatless eating shifts iron toward the non-heme form, which is absorbed less efficiently — vitamin C at the same meal helps. Zinc runs lower for similar reasons. B12 is generally covered by eggs and dairy, which is the sharpest line between vegetarian and vegan planning; if you drop those too, the vegan protein calculator explains why supplementation stops being optional.

The target itself, and where each g/kg figure comes from, is on the protein calculator. Older vegetarians in particular should read protein needs for seniors, since that is the group where a low appetite and a lower-density diet compound each other.

This content is informational and does not replace evaluation by a physician or a registered dietitian.