The Cheapest High-Protein Meals You Can Make in the UK

Cheap high-protein meals in the UK don’t require expensive meat or protein powders — eggs, lentils, tinned fish and chicken thighs are the backbone of budget-friendly eating.

Protein is often treated as the expensive part of cooking. Chicken breasts, salmon fillets, steak — the assumption is that eating enough protein means spending a lot. But that’s only true if you’re limiting yourself to the premium end of the protein spectrum. The UK has some excellent, cheap, and genuinely filling protein sources that most people underuse.

This guide focuses on the best value proteins available at UK supermarkets and how to turn them into meals worth eating — not just meals that are technically nutritious.

The cheapest protein sources in UK supermarkets

Price per gram of protein varies enormously. Here’s how the main options compare (approximate Aldi/Lidl or own-brand pricing):

• Dried red lentils — around 500g for £1. Roughly 26g protein per 100g dry weight. One of the cheapest proteins per gram available anywhere.
• Tinned chickpeas — around 40–50p per 400g tin. About 7g protein per 100g drained. Cheap, versatile, and very filling.
• Tinned kidney beans — similar price to chickpeas, about 8g protein per 100g drained.
• Eggs — around £1.50–£1.80 for 6 large eggs. About 6g protein per egg, making them approximately 25p per 6g protein — hard to beat for convenience.
• Tinned tuna — 60–80p per 145g tin. Around 25g protein per tin. Good value and useful in a wide range of dishes.
• Frozen chicken thighs — often £3–£4 for 1kg. Around 18g protein per 100g raw (roughly 27g once cooked and the water has gone — packs are sold at raw weight, so use the raw figure when costing). Much cheaper than breast and more flavourful when cooked properly.
• Frozen white fish fillets — around £3–£4 for 800g. Roughly 18g protein per 100g. Often overlooked but an excellent budget protein.
• Whole milk Greek yoghurt (own brand) — around £1.50 for 500g. About 10g protein per 100g. Works as a high-protein breakfast base or as a substitute for cream or soured cream in cooking.
• Dried split peas — similar price to lentils, high protein, and excellent in soups and stews.

Five meals built around cheap protein

Red lentil dal — 250g dried red lentils simmered with tinned tomatoes, onion, garlic, and a tablespoon of curry powder. Served with rice. Feeds four, costs approximately £1.50 total, and delivers around 15–18g protein per serving. One of the best value meals you can make.

Tuna pasta bake — pasta, two tins of tuna, tinned tomatoes, frozen peas, and whatever cheese you have. Baked for 20 minutes. Feeds four for under £3 and provides roughly 30g protein per serving.

Egg fried rice with frozen vegetables — three eggs beaten into cooked rice with frozen peas, sweetcorn, a splash of soy sauce, and spring onion if available. 10 minutes, under £1.50 for two portions, around 20g protein per serving.

Chickpea curry — two tins of chickpeas, tinned tomatoes, onion, garlic, garam masala, and cumin. Served with rice. Feeds four for under £2 and provides around 8g protein per serving from the chickpeas, plus significant fibre — nearer 14g once the rice is counted. Chickpeas are the cheapest protein here per pound, not the densest.

Baked chicken thighs with roasted veg — seasoned chicken thighs roasted alongside whatever root vegetables are cheap that week (sweet potato, carrot, onion). Feeds four for around £3.50–£4, which buys close to 1kg of thigh — about 40–45g protein per serving at raw weight. This is the most expensive meal on the list but still excellent value for the protein content.

Making pulses more appealing

The biggest barrier to eating more lentils and beans isn’t cost or availability — it’s that many people haven’t found ways of cooking them that they actually enjoy. A few principles that help:

Season generously. Lentils and beans absorb flavour from whatever they’re cooked with. Underseasoned pulses are boring; well-seasoned ones aren’t. Use onion, garlic, spices, and salt properly and the difference is substantial.

Use fat. A tablespoon of oil or a knob of butter finishing a dal or bean dish adds richness that transforms the texture and flavour. This is how restaurant versions taste better than home versions — they use more fat.

Add acid. A squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of vinegar added at the end of cooking brightens the flavour of lentils and beans significantly.

Combine with other textures. Soft lentils alongside crunchy flatbread, or chickpeas in a stew with chunks of potato, are more satisfying than a bowl of uniform softness.

A note on protein targets

General guidance for most adults is around 0.8–1g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day — so roughly 56–70g for a 70kg adult. This is achievable on a tight budget using the sources above. A day with lentil dal at lunch, tuna pasta at dinner, and eggs at breakfast can easily hit 70–80g without any expensive ingredients.

You don’t need chicken breast, protein shakes, or expensive cuts of meat. The cheapest proteins available in UK supermarkets are genuinely excellent nutritionally — they just require a bit more cooking than putting a fillet in a pan.

🛡 Our standards: How we research · Editorial policy · Affiliate disclosure · Corrections · Last reviewed: April 2026

About Gareth

Gareth Isherwood is the editor of Danbury & Lovejoy. He has baked bread at home for 25+ years and has 15 years of growing experience across gardens, containers and other growing spaces, including an East Sussex allotment for the past three years. Read his full story →