13 High-Protein Ingredients You Should Be Adding To Your Meals

Another plant-based protein star, tofu is an easy centerpiece to any meal. It's excellent baked, fried, or air-fried—the options are endless for this versatile, vegetarian protein. This chili crisp fried tofu is one of our favorites, but our tofu recipes offer plenty of options—make our sesame tofu and broccoli, caramelized tofu lettuce wraps, tofu nuggets, or our spicy fried "chicken" sandwich.

If you're looking to add more protein to your diet, try introducing Greek yogurt to your morning breakfast, like with this no-bake fruit and granola tart or our copycat Chobani yogurt protein drink. This ingredient goes beyond breakfast though—incorporate it into any recipe that includes a creamy sauce: our green goddess grilled chicken, chicken shawarma sheet-pan dinner, or creamy feta-lemon penne with asparagus.

Cottage cheese has become a high-protein ingredient staple, but you may be surprised all the ways you can use it. Layer on fresh veggies and jammy eggs like we did in these Greek salad cottage cheese bowls, or incorporate it into classic dishes like cottage cheese Alfredo, high-protein marry me chicken, cottage cheese baked ziti, and cottage cheese gnocchi. It blends into a creamy sauce—you won't even realize there's a secret high-protein ingredient hiding in these cottage cheese recipes.

Grain bowls are a frequent lunch for members of the Delish test kitchen, and good news—they can be packed with protein. Whole grains provide a great source of protein as well as fiber, making them an ideal high-protein ingredient swap. There are lots of great options, quinoa is a true shining star. Make it in these salmon quinoa bowls or our one-pan chicken and quinoa skillet, vegan taco salad, or avocado breakfast bowls.

Farro is an incredible high-protein ingredient that doesn't get enough love. If you're tired of your usual rice grain bowl, then switch it up with farro! This miso salmon and farro bowl is one of our favorites, but it also shines in our one-pot farro with chicken sausage and tomatoes and farro and white bean salad.

Brown rice makes frequent appearances in our grain bowls, and for good reason. It's easy to cook, and tastes great with countless ingredients and combinations. Use it as a base for these BBQ protein bowls, or in our Greek power bowls, goddess bowls, or halal cart-style cauliflower bowls.

Chickpeas are an excellent plant-based high-protein ingredient. They are not only high in protein and fiber, but are extremely versatile. Need proof? Check out these peanut chickpea protein bowls, or our Indian butter chickpeas, creamy coconut-lime chickpea skillet, or marry me chickpeas.

We've already given love to chickpeas, but beans in general deserve their share of the spotlight. This white bean smoked sausage skillet is one of our top-rated dinners, and is just one recipe where white beans shine (our spinach and artichoke white bean skillet and Mediterranean white beans and greens are other go-to's). That being said, don't let your bean recipe ideas stop there: our crispy sheet-pan black bean tacos and butter beans alla vodka are other great places to start.

Everyone knows by now that eggs have plenty of benefits, one being they are high in protein. Eggs are obviously wonderful in breakfast and brunch recipes (these sloppy Joe eggs are one of my favorite ways to pack in double the protein); they are great in dinners as well. Make our egg curry, cheesy white bean skillet, or chicken curry laska with shrimp.

Introducing an obvious protein powerhouse: steak. There are no limits to how you can prepare and serve this classic protein, but some of our favorites have to be these steak fajita power bowls, or our picanha steak, Mongolian beef ramen, or cheesesteak-stuffed peppers.

We're big salmon fans here at Delish. It's easy (and quick!) to prepare, flaky and flavorful, and is a great way to switch it up from staples like chicken and steak. This brown sugar salmon is one of our go-to choices, but keep it interesting with our lemon-brown butter salmon, blackened honey-glazed salmon bites, and baked salmon sushi cups.

If there's one thing we know here at Delish, it's chicken dinners. Any of our most-popular recipes are perfect options for a protein focused dinner (we're looking at you, chicken stir-fry, Hawaiian shoyu chicken, and white chicken chili), but make this high-protein marry me chicken if you really want a protein-packed meal.

An underrated protein, turkey deserves to be celebrated more. It's light but still filling, and when prepared right, is extremely flavorful. These low-carb turkey gyro bowls are great for meal prep, but we also often turn to our classic turkey burgers, turkey chili, turkey salad, or turkey lavash wraps.