Beef Jerky
Good quality peppered beef jerky, carbs 6g protein 33g – per 100g
A quick easy way to get a portion of protein, pop to the local store and buy some beef jerky. Low in fat, low in carbs packed with high-quality protein, beef jerky has already been trimmed of fat, dried and salt added to prevent any harmful bacteria forming.
Jerky’s one of the most portable protein snacks, take a bag with you to work and munch any time you like. No preparation needed unless you want to make it yourself.
If you love the stuff, buy it in bulk like a 1kg bag, really does help cut down the cost.
The quality of beef jerky can vary. Before you part with you’re $’s have a good read on the back of the pack and see if the jerky includes any of these:
- Does the jerky contain artificial flavours, colours, or sweeteners, quality jerky should not list any of those although monk fruit is fine.
- Is it free of MSG, not dramatically important but you’re better off without it? What’s MSG? – Monosodium Glutamate- used to preserve and enhance food. Some research has blamed MSG for a few nasty side effects such as flushing, headaches, chest pains, heart palpitations and many other so we’d suggest you try and avoid it. It seems from the research I have read, you would have to eat a very high amount of the stuff to be affected by any side effects.
- Is it free of nitrates? Can cause heart issues.
There’s not a ton of options out there, offering jerky that is free of all the artificial junk, but if you want to buy the “free from” you will have to pay that little extra. Opting for the cheaper jerky is still a great choice for a protein snack, and can be taken with you for protein on the go. Just watch the salt.
Greek yoghurt
carbs 3g protein 10g – per 100g’s
Rich and creamy Greek yoghurts are surprisingly high in protein and with options of 3 to 0% fat, it’s a great low-fat protein snack. Typically only 3% carbohydrates with around 10g of protein per 100g it’s not a bad option. Not only is it low in carbs and high in protein, Greek yoghurt is also a good source of probiotics, these are the good bacteria strains that improve digestion and protect your gut from bad bacteria. 
Apart from its nutritional weight, it tastes awesome! I like to eat it by itself, but you could always add honey or fruits like blueberries to add a little more nutrition and give the taste buds a boost.
No reason why you couldn’t have a serving of greek yoghurt as a small post workout meal, help restore glycogen levels and give you the protein needed to repair the muscle tears after a workout. I’ve added some whey protein to mine after a workout so you get 40g protein from the whey powder and another 20g from the yoghurt.
Hard Boiled Eggs
carbs 1 medium egg 1.1g protein 6-8g
Another highly portable protein snack that’s low in carbs. Hard Boiled eggs can easily be taken to work with you. Cook a few in the morning and when you feel like grabbing the midmorning bag of chips go for your egg instead.
Without protein our muscles wouldn’t grow, it is vitally important to weight trainers in particular. Eggs are without a doubt one of the best healthy options for us guys and gals lifting weights who want to gain muscle eating complete proteins.
If you don’t know what a complete protein is, it’s a protein containing all nine of the essential amino acids “Amino acids are at the basis of all life processes, as they are absolutely essential for every metabolic process. Among their most important tasks are the optimal transport and optimal storage of all nutrients (i.e. water, fat, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and vitamins). says aminoacidsd.com
Eggs pack around 6-8g of quality protein and an abundance of other vital nutrients, rich in vitamins K, E, A and B12
But what about cholesterol?
A single egg contains around 5g of fat, all of the fat is in the yolk. Many research studies suggest the cholesterol found in eggs has little to no effect on our overall cholesterol levels. The British heart foundation recommends eating 1 egg a day as part of a healthy diet. If the heart foundation recommends eating them, they must be good!
Tuna Salad
carbs 0g protein 23g -per 100g’s of tinned tuna
Tuna’s cheap, easy to prepare and packed full of protein, it’s one of the healthiest canned fish you can eat. It’s the weight trainers go-to for quality protein, it comes in real handy when you want to give your body the benefit of some real protein power. With 40g of protein per can, it’s hard to beat on price and convenience.
We’ll leave the mayo out for this salad, mayo=calories. I’m sure you all know how to prep a salad but I thought I’d include one of my favs for you to try.
Ingredients
- Diced 1/4 of an onion
- 1 can of tuna drained
- 1 celery stick diced
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs fresh lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 tomato diced
- Finely sliced or minced garlic ( half or whole clove)
- 1 tbs finely chopped parsley
Easy work! Drain the tuna and mix the ingredients in a bowl and serve.
String Cheese
carb 2.8g protein 24.3g per 100g mozzarella part skimmed string cheese
Not just a snack for kids, its a great go-to protein snack for anyone who’s strapped for time and needs a tasty dose of protein. Try to choose string cheese made from part skimmed mozzarella, buying part skimmed will cut the unwanted calories if you’re trying to lose weight. Surprisingly string cheese is unprocessed, making it a whole food but make sure you buy the 100% mozzarella variety.
Chia Seeds
Carbs 43.6g, although 85% of this is soluble fibre, protein 15.6g per 100g
Chia is an edible seed that comes from the plant Salvia hispanica. Translated Chia means strength and its a fitting name for the nutrient-filled seed. Another great source of protein if you are on a low carb diet, nearly all the carbs in chia seeds are from fibre. As well as protein Chia seeds are packed full of nutrients including
- Manganese, calcium, and potassium, all of which support healthy muscle function
- Contain antioxidants one of which is quercetin, its a flavonoid with known anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties.
- Source of plant-based omega 3, kaempferol, chlorogenic acid, and caffeic acid, all powerful antioxidants.
- Twice the iron and magnesium as a cup of spinach
- More than twice the fibre of a cup of oatmeal.
How do I eat the stuff? I can’t see any problem with adding a few tablespoons of chia into your protein shake to give an extra nutrition boost. They have a mild nutty flavour that makes them fairly easy to add to foods, try sprinkling them on cereals, rice and vegetables or you could mix with yoghurt.
Nuts
Generally, nuts are low in carbs but watch out there are a few packed with carbs, especially cashews, with around 20g of carbs in just two handfuls. The nuts lowest in carbs are Pecan with just 4g per 100g, Brazilan, Almonds and Macadamia with 5g per 100g, in 3rd place peanuts, with 7g per 100g.
Now we know the carbs, but most importantly we want to know the highest protein and lowest carb nuts in the supermarkets!!
Here’s our top 3 (net carb and protein per 100g)
- Pecan carbs 4g, protein 20g per 100g
- Brazilian carbs 4g, protein 13.5g per 100g
- macadamia carbs 5g, protein 8g per 100g
Pecans are topping the chart in a big way, with a whopping 20g of protein and a brill 4g of carbs, it’s time to go nuts for pecans! Another cool thing about nuts, they’re easy to transport, take a pack out with you anywhere, make a mix of nuts the more variety the better. Remember nuts are high in fats so a couple of handfuls for a serving is enough.
I have grown to love greek yogurt over the past year or so. I never really got it until then. Now, I mix it with honey and some lemon curd and it’s awesome. You have a great list here, beef jerky, hard-boiled eggs, are all things I love and eat regularly. It’s nice to know they are good for me too :). Tuna has always been a tough one for me. Do you know if most tuna is fresh or farmed? Great suggestions here. I also need to try Chia seeds, I have heard for years they are really good for us.
Hi Steve, good question! As far as I know, canned salmon is mostly fresh but whether that applies to all tinned fish I have no idea. I’ll do a little research and get back to you. Thanks for the comment.
This is exactly what I was searching for, thanks a lot 🙂
Unfortunately, I live in Portugal at the moment and they’re really fond of yoghurt with processed sugars in it.. I can’t for the life seem to find any low fat/low carb yoghurt, which seems to me it would have to be a pretty standard thing in any supermarket.
Anyway, I didn’t know pecan nuts are so high in protein and low in carbs. I usually eat walnuts because of their healthy fats. Would you advice replacing walnuts with pecan nuts?
Cheers!
I wouldn’t swap Sergio, walnuts contain a high amount of protein and as you say are high in healthy fats, there’s not a great difference in carbs between the two, you could always try some pecans if you find you enjoy them, have a mix of the two, variety is best.