High Protein breakfast, lunch, and snacks
It seems you can’t open social media these days without hearing about the importance of protein in your diet. I am constantly looking for ways to add healthy, quality protein to my diet and while including things like chicken or steak at dinner might be simple, finding ways to get 30g+ of protein in those morning and mid-day meals can be more of a challenge.
So, I’ve put together a list of some of my favorite high protein daytime meals for easy reference.
Breakfast Meals
Protein Shake: step up your protein shakes by adding an extra scoop and some protein power add-ins. I personally use Arbonne, but whatever you us is fine. One serving (two scoops) of my protein is 24g so I add a third scoop to jump it up to 36g. Then I add a tbsp. of almond butter and a tsp. of chia seeds for another 5ish grams bringing the shake to just over 40 grams of protein.
Egg Waffle: If you follow me on IG then you’re probably familiar with my love affair with my waffle iron I scored at Savers :). This egg waffle is my go-to when I’m craving a savory and/or warm dish. I add four pasture raised eggs with 1/4 cup Good cottage cheese, 2-3 Amylu breakfast sausages, spinach and seasonings. (I use garlic powder, salt, pepper, and turmeric). Blend it up and throw it on the waffle iron. The whole meal comes together in about 5 minutes with minimal clean up (no messy egg pans here)! You can grab the full recipe here. (You can easily just make this a pan omelet or scramble as well).
Protein Waffles: This time we’re using our waffle iron as intended and it’s super simple. Just add a couple scoops of your favorite protein powder in with your favorite pancake mix (we like Birch Benders or Kodiak Cake), some almond butter, vanilla, and egg and some olive oil and voila! You have a delicious and high protein waffle.
More: overnight oats, mini egg frittatas, crustless quiche, and breakfast tacos on Siete tortillas are all options I love too!
Waffle Omelet
Enjoying my waffle omelet with my green drink.
Snacks
Who doesn’t love snacks!? Snack get a bad wrap in my opinion. We all love a little something to munch on in the car or between meals. It’s all about making them what I call “productive”. Focus on fresh, whole foods and incorporating protein will bring your snacks up to pros status!
Tuna salad dip: I love mixing a pouch or can of wild caught tuna with some minced red onion, cucumber, greek yogurt, and dill for a yummy dip. You can easily swap in chicken here as well. Serve with bell peppers, carrots, or your favorite healthy chip!
Meatballs: I love prepping a big serving of meatballs with ground beef, turkey, or chicken and eating a couple as a quick, high protein snack.
Chia pudding: Chia pudding is about as simple and healthy as it gets. Some don’t love the texture but if you like creamy, panacotta type desserts, this is perfect for you! Just add 2 tbsp. chia seeds and 1 scoop protein powder with 1/2 cup of milk and let set over night. When you’re ready to eat it, you can top it with nuts, berries, nut butter, or more chia seeds!
Protein Balls: you can check out all my faves here!
Protein cookie dough is my guilty pleasure and I eat it several times a week for dessert. There are a lot of variations out there but this is my go-to. Mix 2 scoops vanilla protein powder with about 1-2 tbsp. milk of choice, 1 tbsp. nut butter, small handful of mini dark chocolate chips, and a sprinkle of seal salt. Start with a small amount of milk and add to your desired consistency. I like my a little dry and chunky but you can add more milk for a creamier version.
You can check out a few other snack inspirations here.
These may not be the prettiest meatballs but they are so easy and yummy! Perfect for dinner or a snack.
Lunch
Personally, I find lunch the hardest meal to not only get protein in but simply just to eat. I’m usually in full work mode and don’t want to be bothered with stopping to make food. More often than not I end up just making another protein shake, omelet, or heating up leftovers- but here are a few easy lunches to add to your rotation.
Pesto chicken quinoa bowl or some variation of this one. Grab any leftover meat and grains you have on hand, add some tomatoes or other veggies and you’ve got yourself a bowl!
Wraps: I love grabbing some leftover chicken or an Amylu chicken burger, hummus, and spinach and throwing it in a Joseph’s wrap. With leftover meat, you can serve hot or cold. If you’re trying one of the Amylu chicken burgers (I highly recommend the Greek ones if you can find them), I just warm them up in the air fryer for about 5-7 minutes.
Chickpea salad sandwich: I LOVE this chickpea salad recipe! You can use it in a sandwich or wrap, as a dip, or on a salad. It’s so good! You’ll get about 20g protein for half a cup of chickpeas plus a little from add-ins like mayo and avocado.
Sweet potatoes nachos: This one is a little more demanding but oh so worth it! I make these a lot on weekends. Just slice a sweet potato into 1/4 inch rounds and bake with some avocado oil, salt, pepper, and garlic salt for 25 minutes, tossing halfway through. Top with cheese, onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, beans, chickens, ground turkey or any of your favorite nacho toppings and pop back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes. Serve with avocado or a simple guac. 1/2 cup of sweet potatoes is about 2g of protein so make sure you’re topping with about 4 oz. of chicken or ground meat to make this high protein.
Craving a salad for lunch? This is one of my favorite, especially in the spring and summer months!
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Xoxo- Whit