Beans and Legumes Protein Chart: per Cup Cooked
Protein, fiber, carbs and sodium in 26 beans, lentils, peas and soy foods per cup, from USDA data, with canned and dried beans compared.
A cup of cooked beans, lentils or dried peas has about 13 to 26 g of protein in USDA FoodData Central, along with a large share of the day's fiber. A cup of cooked lentils has 17.9 g of protein and 15.6 g of fiber; a cup of black beans has 15.2 g and 15 g.
The charts below compare 26 beans, lentils, peas and soy foods, cooked from dry, canned, and as tofu and tempeh, sorted by protein per serving. Each food links to its full nutrition page and Nutrition Facts label.
Highest-protein beans and legumes
Per cup cooked from dry, the most protein comes from lupini beans (25.8 g), lentils (17.9 g), white beans (17.4 g) and adzuki beans (17.3 g). For fiber, the leaders are navy beans (19.1 g), adzuki beans (16.8 g) and split peas (16.3 g). Soybeans sit apart from the rest: a cup of cooked soybeans has 31.3 g of protein and much more fat than other beans.
| Food | Serving | Calories | Protein | Fiber | Carbs | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lupini Beans | 1 cup (166 g) | 198 | 25.8 g | 4.6 g | 16.4 g | 7 mg |
| Lentils | 1 cup (198 g) | 230 | 17.9 g | 15.6 g | 39.9 g | 4 mg |
| White Beans | 1 cup (179 g) | 249 | 17.4 g | 11.3 g | 44.9 g | 11 mg |
| Adzuki Beans | 1 cup (230 g) | 294 | 17.3 g | 16.8 g | 57 g | 18 mg |
| Split Peas | 1 cup (196 g) | 231 | 16.3 g | 16.3 g | 41.4 g | 4 mg |
| Pinto Beans | 1 cup (171 g) | 245 | 15.4 g | 15.4 g | 44.8 g | 2 mg |
| Kidney Beans | 1 cup (177 g) | 225 | 15.3 g | 13.1 g | 40.4 g | 4 mg |
| Black Beans | 1 cup (172 g) | 227 | 15.2 g | 15 g | 40.8 g | 2 mg |
| Navy Beans | 1 cup (182 g) | 255 | 15 g | 19.1 g | 47.4 g | 0 mg |
| Great Northern Beans | 1 cup (177 g) | 209 | 14.7 g | 12.4 g | 37.3 g | 4 mg |
| Lima Beans | 1 cup (188 g) | 216 | 14.7 g | 13.2 g | 39.3 g | 4 mg |
| Chickpeas | 1 cup (164 g) | 269 | 14.5 g | 12.5 g | 45 g | 11 mg |
| Mung Beans | 1 cup (202 g) | 212 | 14.2 g | 15.4 g | 38.7 g | 4 mg |
| Black-Eyed Peas | 1 cup (171 g) | 198 | 13.2 g | 11.1 g | 35.5 g | 7 mg |
| Fava Beans | 1 cup (170 g) | 187 | 12.9 g | 9.2 g | 33.4 g | 9 mg |
Canned beans vs cooked from dry
Canned beans are packed with their liquid and usually salt. A cup of canned black beans has 922 mg of sodium, against 2 mg for black beans cooked from dry without salt. Draining and rinsing removes part of that sodium, and USDA has separate records for drained products; use the one that matches what goes into your recipe.
| Food | Serving | Calories | Protein | Fiber | Carbs | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canned Black Beans | 1 cup (240 g) | 218 | 14.5 g | 16.6 g | 39.7 g | 922 mg |
| Canned Kidney Beans | 1 cup (256 g) | 207 | 13.4 g | 11 g | 38 g | 655 mg |
| Baked Beans | 1 cup (254 g) | 239 | 12.1 g | 10.4 g | 53.7 g | 871 mg |
| Refried Beans | 1 cup (238 g) | 214 | 11.9 g | 8.8 g | 32.2 g | 881 mg |
| Canned Chickpeas | 1 cup (240 g) | 211 | 11.8 g | 10.6 g | 32.4 g | 667 mg |
| Canned Black-Eyed Peas | 1 cup (240 g) | 185 | 11.4 g | 7.9 g | 32.7 g | 703 mg |
| Canned Pinto Beans | 1 cup (240 g) | 197 | 11 g | 11 g | 36.4 g | 643 mg |
Tofu, tempeh and edamame
Tempeh, made from fermented whole soybeans, has 17.2 g of protein per 3 oz. Tofu varies with how much water it holds, from soft to extra firm, so check which record matches your product. Edamame are young soybeans, with 18.5 g of protein per cup.
| Food | Serving | Calories | Protein | Fiber | Carbs | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soybeans | 1 cup (172 g) | 296 | 31.3 g | 10.3 g | 14.4 g | 2 mg |
| Tofu | 1/2 cup (126 g) | 181 | 21.8 g | 2.9 g | 3.5 g | 18 mg |
| Edamame | 1 cup (155 g) | 188 | 18.5 g | 8.1 g | 13.8 g | 9 mg |
| Tempeh | 3 oz (85 g) | 163 | 17.2 g | n/a | 6.5 g | 8 mg |
Dry weight or cooked weight
Beans roughly double to triple in weight as they absorb water, so 100 g of dry black beans has 341 calories while 100 g cooked has 132. Use dry weights with dry records or cooked weights with cooked records, never a mix. The black-eyed peas page shows how dried, canned and frozen forms of the same legume differ.
Labeling a bean or legume product
Soybeans are one of the nine major food allergens in the US and must be declared; other beans and lentils are not on that list. For a soup, chili, hummus or bean salad, total the recipe in the recipe nutrition calculator and build the panel with the nutrition facts label generator. For meat and dairy proteins, see the protein in meat and fish chart and the dairy nutrition chart.
Source and method
All values come from USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2018), records as named on each linked food page. Beans cooked from dry are boiled without salt. Values per serving are calculated from the per-100 g values and the USDA gram weight of each serving, then rounded to 0.1 g, 1 calorie or 1 mg.
