Nutrition

Getting Enough Plant Protein: A Practical Guide

How to easily hit your daily protein from beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, and grains.

7 min read

Last updated June 21, 2026 Traditional wisdom + modern evidence Educational, not medical advice

Getting enough plant protein is easier than most people think — and modern research no longer worries about 'complete proteins' at every meal.

Daily targets

A reasonable daily target is 1.0–1.2 g/kg of body weight — for a 70 kg adult, that's 70–85 g/day.

Lentils (18 g/cup), chickpeas (15 g/cup), tofu (20 g/cup), edamame (17 g/cup), seitan, tempeh, peanut butter, hemp and pumpkin seeds, quinoa, nuts.

Variety across the day naturally supplies all essential amino acids over 24 hours — you don't need to combine 'rice and beans' at every meal.

Breakfast: oatmeal with hemp seeds and almond butter. Lunch: lentil soup with bread and yogurt. Dinner: tofu stir-fry with rice and edamame.