Free tool from The Optimized Performance Lifestyle
Protein Plate Builder
Build a meal from real foods and see whether it does the job: enough protein for your body weight, enough leucine to switch on muscle building, and all nine essential amino acids.
Built by a private chef and strength coach, from USDA food data.
Built October 2026 · Data: USDA FoodData Central
How the numbers are worked out
Food values are from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy).
Daily target. Training seriously or building muscle: about 1 g of protein per pound of body weight per day, roughly 2.2 g per kg. The most-cited estimate of where the benefit levels off is about 1.6 g/kg (Morton and colleagues, Br J Sports Med, 2018), but its confidence interval runs up to 2.2, so the tool uses the upper end as a target with margin built in. Fat loss: the same 1 g per pound, but of goal weight if you carry a lot of body fat. Protein needs rise in a calorie deficit; the International Society of Sports Nutrition (2017) puts them at 2.3 to 3.1 g per kg of lean mass for trained lifters, which lands close to 1 g per pound of body weight for most people. General health with little or no training: 0.8 g/kg (about 0.36 g per pound), the US RDA, rising to 1.2 g/kg from 65, the top of the range recommended by the PROT-AGE study group (J Am Med Dir Assoc, 2013).
Per-meal target. The daily target divided by your meals, with a floor: Moore and colleagues (J Gerontol A, 2015) found that muscle protein synthesis leveled off at about 0.24 g per kg per meal in young men and about 0.40 g/kg in older men, so no meal target drops below 0.25 g/kg under 40 or 0.40 g/kg from 65. No study has measured the ages in between, so 40 to 64 uses 0.30 g/kg, an estimate between the two measured groups.
Leucine and amino acids. The leucine figure is a rule of thumb from the same body of research: roughly 2.5 g per meal, about 2.75 g from 40 and 3 g from 65. The amino acid check compares the plate with the FAO 2013 reference pattern for adults. It uses composition only and does not adjust for digestibility, which is somewhat lower for most plant proteins. USDA lists no amino acid breakdown for Greek yogurt, so its profile is estimated from milk protein; a few foods whose USDA amino acid figures look unreliable are left out of this tool.
Worked examples
Protein per meal: what common plates actually deliver
| Plate | Protein | Calories from protein | Leucine | Essential amino acids |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lentils alone | 18 g | 31% | 1.3 g | Short on methionine + cysteine (94%) |
| Lentils with brown rice | 23 g | 20% | 1.7 g | All nine covered |
| Three eggs and toast | 21 g | 29% | 1.8 g | All nine covered |
| Greek yogurt with almonds | 29 g | 39% | 2.6 g | All nine covered |
| Salmon with quinoa | 46 g | 32% | 3.5 g | All nine covered |
| Chicken breast with rice | 39 g | 40% | 3.0 g | All nine covered |
| Oats with milk | 13 g | 19% | 1.2 g | All nine covered |
| Cod with broccoli (lean, for fat loss) | 43 g | 73% | 3.4 g | All nine covered |
| Egg-white omelet with blueberries | 22 g | 39% | 1.9 g | All nine covered |
| Black beans with corn | 21 g | 22% | 1.8 g | All nine covered |
Percentages compare the plate's amino acid profile with the FAO reference pattern for adults; 100% means the pattern is met, and anything within 5% counts as met given the precision of the food data. Servings as listed in the tool: 1 cup cooked lentils, rice, quinoa, beans or corn; 1 large egg; 1 slice bread; 1 cup yogurt; 1 oz almonds; 6 oz salmon or cod; 4 oz chicken; 1/2 cup dry oats; 1 cup milk, broccoli or blueberries; 4 egg whites plus 1 whole egg. For fat loss, the calories-from-protein column is the one to watch: the higher it is, the more protein each calorie buys.
Reference
Protein in common foods, and which are complete proteins
| Food | Protein | Leucine | Calories | Calories from protein | Essential amino acids |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast, 4 oz cooked | 35 g | 2.6 g | 186 | 75% | Complete |
| Top sirloin steak, 6 oz cooked | 51 g | 4.1 g | 320 | 64% | Complete |
| Pork tenderloin, 4 oz cooked | 30 g | 2.5 g | 162 | 73% | Complete |
| Salmon, Atlantic, 6 oz cooked | 38 g | 3.1 g | 350 | 43% | Complete |
| Cod, 6 oz cooked | 39 g | 3.2 g | 178 | 87% | Complete |
| Tuna, canned in water, 5 oz can | 28 g | 2.1 g | 122 | 90% | Complete |
| Eggs, 2 large | 13 g | 1.1 g | 143 | 35% | Complete |
| Greek yogurt, nonfat, 1 cup | 23 g | 2.2 g | 134 | 69% | Complete |
| Cottage cheese 2%, 1 cup | 24 g | 2.4 g | 183 | 52% | Complete |
| Milk 2%, 1 cup | 8 g | 0.8 g | 122 | 26% | Complete |
| Tofu, firm, 1/2 cup | 22 g | 1.8 g | 181 | 48% | Short on methionine + cysteine |
| Tempeh, 3 oz | 17 g | 1.2 g | 163 | 42% | Short on methionine + cysteine |
| Lentils, 1 cup cooked | 18 g | 1.3 g | 230 | 31% | Short on methionine + cysteine |
| Black beans, 1 cup cooked | 15 g | 1.2 g | 227 | 27% | Complete |
| Quinoa, 1 cup cooked | 8 g | 0.5 g | 222 | 15% | Complete |
| Peanut butter, 2 tbsp | 7 g | 0.5 g | 191 | 15% | Short on lysine |
| Almonds, 1 oz | 6 g | 0.4 g | 162 | 15% | Short on lysine |
A complete protein meets the FAO 2013 adult reference pattern for all nine essential amino acids (within 5%, allowing for the precision of the food data); "short on" names the one that falls furthest below it. Values are from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy). USDA lists no amino acid breakdown for Greek yogurt, so its profile is estimated from milk protein. Pair a food that is short on one amino acid with one that covers it: lentils or tofu with grains, nuts with legumes, or any of them with dairy or eggs.
Why this exists
The number on the tub is not the number that matters
A protein total tells you how much arrived. It does not tell you whether the meal can build anything. Muscle protein synthesis needs every essential amino acid present at once, and it needs enough leucine to switch the process on. A plate can hit a protein number and still be short on both.
That is the part most protein calculators skip and the part a kitchen can fix. Grains run short on lysine; many legumes run short on the sulfur amino acids. Put them on the same plate and each covers the other. Eggs, dairy, meat and fish cover all nine on their own. The builder shows which case you are in and what to add.
The per-meal view matters because the body does not bank amino acids for later the way it stores fat. Spreading protein across the day in meals large enough to cross the threshold does more than one large serving at dinner.
Questions
Common questions
How much protein should I eat per meal?
For anyone training seriously, a common target is about 1 g of protein per pound of body weight a day (roughly 2.2 g/kg), split across your meals: for a 180 lb person eating four meals, about 45 g per meal. Whatever the daily total, each meal needs enough protein to switch on muscle building. Moore and colleagues (J Gerontol A, 2015) found the response leveled off at about 0.24 g per kg per meal in young men and about 0.40 g/kg in older men.
How much leucine does a meal need?
Roughly 2.5 g per meal is a common rule of thumb, nearer 3 g from about 65. A 4 oz chicken breast with a cup of rice provides about 3 g of leucine; oats with a cup of milk provide about 1.2 g, well short of the mark. Values are from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy).
Do plant proteins need to be combined in the same meal?
It helps. Grains run short on lysine and many legumes run short on the sulfur amino acids, so each covers the other's gap. A cup of cooked lentils on its own reaches 94% of the FAO 2013 adult reference pattern for methionine plus cysteine; add a cup of brown rice and all nine essential amino acids meet the pattern. Eggs, dairy, meat and fish cover all nine on their own.
How much protein should I eat when losing fat?
About 1 g per pound of body weight a day, using goal weight rather than current weight if you carry a lot of body fat. Protein needs rise in a calorie deficit: the International Society of Sports Nutrition (2017) puts them at 2.3 to 3.1 g per kg of lean mass for trained lifters. Protein density matters too: 6 oz of cod with a cup of broccoli gets 73% of its calories from protein, against 19% for oats with milk.
Go further
The system behind the plate
The Optimized Performance Lifestyle is the full system: how much protein across the day, how to build meals around training, recovery and sleep. 127 pages, 16 chapters. A Private Chef's System for Nutrition, Recovery and Peak Living.
Get The Optimized Performance Lifestyle →
EAAs vs BCAAs → · Glycine → · Protein powder → · Food vs. capsule calculator →
This page is information, not medical advice. If you have kidney disease or another condition that limits protein, follow your doctor's advice.