Beans, lentils and soy

How much protein is in tempeh?

Three ounces of tempeh has about 17 g of protein.

That's 20 g of protein per 100 g, or 11 g for every 100 calories.

Protein per serving

Protein and calories in common servings of tempeh, from USDA data.
ServingWeightProteinCalories
3 oz85 g17 g163
1 cup166 g34 g319
100 g100 g20 g192

How tempeh compares

Other beans, lentils and soy, ranked by how much protein you get per 100 calories.

FoodProtein per 100 gProtein per 100 calories
Tofufirm, made with calcium sulfate 17 g 12 g
Soybeansboiled 18 g 11 g
Edamamefrozen, prepared 12 g 9.8 g
Lentilsboiled 9 g 7.8 g
Split peasboiled 8.3 g 7.1 g
Kidney beansboiled 8.7 g 6.8 g
Lima beansboiled 7.8 g 6.8 g
Black beansboiled 8.9 g 6.7 g
Green peasfrozen, boiled 5.2 g 6.6 g
Pinto beansboiled 9 g 6.3 g
Soy milkwith added calcium and vitamins 2.6 g 6 g
Navy beansboiled 8.2 g 5.9 g
Refried beanscanned 5 g 5.5 g
Chickpeasboiled 8.9 g 5.4 g
Baked beanscanned, vegetarian 4.8 g 5.1 g
Hummusstore-bought 7.4 g 3.2 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. Three ounces of tempeh covers about 56% of that.

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

Nutrition data: USDA FoodData Central ("Tempeh", FDC ID 174272). Actual values vary by brand, recipe and cooking method, so treat these numbers as close estimates.