How to Hit 100g Protein a Day on a Plant-Based Diet

Okay… here we go. How to Hit 100g Protein

Alright y’all, hitting 100g protein a day on a plant-based diet is the hill I’ve chosen to die on lately and lemme tell you — it’s been a messy, sometimes hangry, occasionally triumphant ride. How to Hit 100g Protein

I’m sitting here in my messy kitchen in the US, January 2026, empty peanut butter jar staring at me accusingly, while my blender is still making sad little death rattles from this morning’s protein shake that had way too many chia seeds (they expand… who knew). Anyway.

Why I Even Decided to Chase 100g Plant Protein (and Immediately Regretted It)

Last summer I got tired of people asking “but where do you get your protein tho” for the 9,000th time, so I decided to shut everyone (including my inner saboteur) up by actually tracking it.

First week? I averaged like… 62g. Brutal. Felt like a fraud. My biceps were judging me.

My Current Go-To High-Protein Plant-Based Meals That Actually Get Me There

Here’s what a semi-normal day looks like when I’m actually trying (not every day is this clean, let’s be real):

• Breakfast — 32g 400g silken tofu scramble (≈22g) + ½ cup nutritional yeast scrambled in (≈10g) + random handful of hemp seeds on top (≈5–7g). Tastes like cheating.
• Mid-morning shake — 38–42g 40g pea protein isolate + 20g pumpkin seed protein + frozen banana + spinach + oat milk + 2 tbsp peanut butter. I call this the “I hate mornings but I love gains” smoothie.
• Lunch — usually 28–35g Big bowl of lentils (1.5 cups cooked ≈27g) + 200g tempeh ≈40g total if I’m feeling ambitious + veggies I pretend are the main character.
• Dinner — 25–35g Seitan stir-fry (100g dry vital wheat gluten before cooking = holy hell 75g protein) or black bean burgers with a sneaky scoop of hemp.
• Snacks — the real MVPs How to Hit 100g Protein
  • Roasted chickpeas (1 cup ≈15g)
  • Edamame straight from the freezer microwaved (1 cup ≈17g)
  • That one sad protein bar that’s 20g but tastes like sadness (still counts)

Add it up on a good day and boom — 105–120g. On a bad day? 78g and a lot of self-loathing.

Here are a couple quick visuals of stuff I actually eat almost daily:

I asked for some real-life-ish pics of what this looks like in practice: How to Hit 100g Protein

(generating examples…) How to Hit 100g Protein

Here’s my usual tofu scramble situation — nothing fancy, just chaotic and effective:

And this is the lentil patty stack that saves my lunch most days:

Best Plant-Based Protein Sources Ranked by How Lazy I Can Be How to Hit 100g Protein

1. Seitan – stupid high protein, but I gotta make it or buy the expensive pre-made kind
2. Pea protein powder – cheap, neutral, 25–30g/scoop
3. Tofu (extra-firm) – basically tofu jerky when I air-fry it
4. Tempeh – nutty, fermented, feels healthy
5. Lentils – dirt cheap royalty
6. Hemp seeds – sprinkle king
7. Edamame – snack of the gods
8. Chickpeas – roasted = crack

(Pro tip: if you’re struggling, just double the legumes and triple the powders. Works 82% of the time.)

Mistakes I Still Make Constantly (So You Don’t Have To) How to Hit 100g Protein

• Thinking “a salad with some beans” is enough → it’s not
• Forgetting to add the 2 tbsp of hemp seeds every single time
• Drinking protein shake too fast → hello bloat city
• Buying fancy vegan protein bars that are 12g protein and $4.50 each. Criminal.

Resources I Actually Use & Trust How to Hit 100g Protein

If you want more structured help, these are the places I keep going back to:

• Cronometer – best tracker for micronutrients too (free version is fine)
• The Game Changers – the documentary that originally made me go “wait… maybe?” (still rewatch the protein section)
• Nora Taylor’s 100g Vegan Protein video – very real, very relatable
• PlantYou.ca high protein recipes – she gets it

Bottom Line (from one exhausted, protein-obsessed American to another)

Hitting 100g protein a day on a plant-based diet is 100% doable. It’s just not effortless. You will have days where you eat three handfuls of dry roasted edamame at 11 p.m. because you forgot earlier. You will have days where you nail it and feel like a plant-based god.

Both days are fine. Both days are progress.

So… what’s your current protein average looking like? Drop it below (no judgment, I’ve been at 54g before and survived). And if you’ve got any weird hacks I missed — please save me.

Talk soon, still trying not to die of pea protein overdose, me 💚🥦