Nuts and seeds

How much protein is in chia seeds?

An ounce of chia seeds has about 4.7 g of protein.

That's 17 g of protein per 100 g, or 3.4 g for every 100 calories.

Protein per serving

Protein and calories in common servings of chia seeds, from USDA data.
ServingWeightProteinCalories
1 oz28 g4.7 g138
100 g100 g17 g486

How chia seeds compares

Other nuts and seeds, ranked by how much protein you get per 100 calories.

FoodProtein per 100 gProtein per 100 calories
Hemp seedshulled 32 g 5.7 g
Pumpkin seedsroasted kernels 30 g 5.2 g
Peanutsdry-roasted, salted 24 g 4.2 g
Peanut buttersmooth, salted 22 g 3.7 g
Almondsraw 21 g 3.7 g
Pistachiosdry-roasted, salted 21 g 3.7 g
Flaxseedground 18 g 3.4 g
Almond butterplain 21 g 3.4 g
Sunflower seedsdry-roasted kernels, salted 19 g 3.3 g
Tahinisesame paste 17 g 2.9 g
Cashewsdry-roasted, salted 15 g 2.7 g
Almond milkunsweetened 0.4 g 2.7 g
WalnutsEnglish 15 g 2.3 g
Pecanshalves 9.2 g 1.3 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 chia seeds covers about 15% of that.

Work out your own daily and per-meal target with the protein calculator.

Nutrition data: USDA FoodData Central ("Seeds, chia seeds, dried", FDC ID 170554). Actual values vary by brand, recipe and cooking method, so treat these numbers as close estimates.