Meat and poultry
How much protein is in beef jerky?
An ounce of beef jerky has about 9.4 g of protein.
That's 33 g of protein per 100 g, or 8.1 g for every 100 calories.
Protein per serving
| Serving | Weight | Protein | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 9.4 g | 116 |
| 1 large piece | 20 g | 6.6 g | 82 |
| 100 g | 100 g | 33 g | 410 |
How beef jerky compares
Other meat and poultry, ranked by how much protein you get per 100 calories.
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Protein per 100 calories |
|---|---|---|
| Turkey breastmeat only, roasted | 30 g | 21 g |
| Rotisserie chickenbreast meat | 28 g | 20 g |
| Deli turkeysliced turkey breast, low salt | 22 g | 20 g |
| Chicken breastskinless, roasted | 31 g | 19 g |
| Pork tenderloinlean, roasted | 26 g | 18 g |
| Sirloin steaktop sirloin, lean, broiled | 30 g | 16 g |
| Pork chopcenter loin, lean, broiled | 27 g | 15 g |
| Chicken thighskinless, roasted | 25 g | 14 g |
| Ground turkey93% lean, cooked | 27 g | 13 g |
| Ground beef90% lean, cooked patty | 25 g | 12 g |
| Ground chickencooked crumbles | 23 g | 12 g |
| Hamsliced deli ham | 17 g | 10 g |
| Ground beef (80/20)80% lean, cooked patty | 24 g | 9.8 g |
| Chicken wingsroasted, with skin | 24 g | 9.4 g |
| Ground lambbroiled | 25 g | 8.8 g |
| Baconbaked | 36 g | 6.5 g |
How it fits into a meal
For building muscle, Schoenfeld and Aragon's 2018 review of the research suggests about 0.4 g of protein per kilogram of body weight at each meal, spread over at least four meals a day. At 170 lb (77 kg), that's about 31 g a meal. An ounce of beef jerky covers about 30% of that.
Work out your own daily and per-meal target with the protein calculator.
Nutrition data: USDA FoodData Central ("Snacks, beef jerky, chopped and formed", FDC ID 167536). Actual values vary by brand, recipe and cooking method, so treat these numbers as close estimates.