Fish and seafood
How much protein is in sardines?
A 3.75 oz can of drained sardines has about 23 g of protein.
That's 25 g of protein per 100 g, or 12 g for every 100 calories.
Protein per serving
| Serving | Weight | Protein | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 can (3.75 oz) | 92 g | 23 g | 191 |
| 2 sardines | 24 g | 5.9 g | 50 |
| 100 g | 100 g | 25 g | 208 |
How sardines compares
Other fish and seafood, ranked by how much protein you get per 100 calories.
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Protein per 100 calories |
|---|---|---|
| Shrimpcooked | 24 g | 24 g |
| Canned tunalight, in water, drained | 19 g | 23 g |
| Tuna steakyellowfin, cooked | 29 g | 23 g |
| CodAtlantic, cooked | 23 g | 22 g |
| Lobstercooked | 19 g | 21 g |
| Tilapiacooked | 26 g | 21 g |
| Halibutcooked | 23 g | 20 g |
| CrabAlaska king, cooked | 19 g | 20 g |
| Scallopssteamed | 21 g | 19 g |
| Canned salmonpink, drained | 23 g | 17 g |
| Rainbow troutfarmed, cooked | 24 g | 14 g |
| Catfishfarmed, cooked | 18 g | 13 g |
| SalmonAtlantic, farmed, cooked | 22 g | 11 g |
| MackerelAtlantic, cooked | 24 g | 9.1 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. A 3.75 oz can of drained sardines covers about 73% of that.
Work out your own daily and per-meal target with the protein calculator.
Nutrition data: USDA FoodData Central ("Fish, sardine, Atlantic, canned in oil, drained solids with bone", FDC ID 175139). Actual values vary by brand, recipe and cooking method, so treat these numbers as close estimates.