A 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving of cooked Atlantic salmon contains about 22 grams of protein. A more typical restaurant or home-cooked fillet, around 6 ounces, delivers roughly 37 to 40 grams. The exact number shifts depending on the species, whether the fish is wild or farmed, and how you measure it.
Protein by Salmon Species
Not all salmon fillets are created equal. The species you choose makes a small but real difference in protein content. Based on USDA data for a cooked 3-ounce (85-gram) serving:
- Sockeye: 23 g protein
- King (Chinook): 22 g protein
- Pink: 21 g protein
- Atlantic (farmed): 22 g per 100 g, or roughly 19 g scaled to 3 ounces
Sockeye consistently lands at the top because it’s leaner, meaning a higher percentage of each bite is pure protein rather than fat. Pink salmon, the variety most commonly sold canned, sits slightly lower but is still an excellent source. The FDA groups Atlantic, coho, sockeye, and chinook salmon together at 24 grams of protein per cooked 3-ounce serving, with chum and pink salmon at 22 grams. The differences are modest enough that any species you enjoy eating will deliver a strong protein punch.
Raw vs. Cooked: Why the Numbers Change
If you weigh your salmon before cooking, expect the protein-per-gram figure to be lower than what nutrition labels for cooked salmon show. Cooking drives off water, which concentrates the protein into a smaller, lighter piece of fish. A 4.5-ounce raw fillet might shrink to roughly 3.5 ounces after hitting the pan, but it contains the same total protein either way. The lesson: always check whether a nutrition source is listing values for raw or cooked salmon before you plug numbers into a food tracker.
Salmon vs. Chicken Breast
Chicken breast is the go-to comparison for anyone evaluating protein sources. In a head-to-head matchup of cooked 3.5-ounce portions, chicken breast delivers 33.4 grams of protein at 187 calories, while farmed salmon provides 22.1 grams at 206 calories. Gram for gram, chicken wins on pure protein density.
That gap narrows once you factor in what else each food brings to the table. Salmon is one of the richest natural sources of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, B12, and selenium. Chicken breast offers almost none of those. If your only goal is maximizing protein per calorie, chicken is more efficient. If you’re looking at overall nutritional value per serving, salmon pulls ahead in several categories that matter for long-term health.
Complete Protein and Amino Acids
Salmon scores a perfect 100% on amino acid completeness, meaning it provides all nine essential amino acids your body can’t make on its own, and in the right proportions. It’s particularly rich in lysine and leucine, the amino acid most closely linked to muscle protein synthesis. You don’t need to combine salmon with other protein sources to get a complete amino acid profile the way you might with certain plant proteins.
What Else You Get in Every Serving
Protein is the headline, but a single 3.5-ounce serving of salmon packs a surprisingly dense nutritional profile beyond it. Wild salmon provides about 127% of your daily value for vitamin B12 (farmed salmon is close at 117%). Selenium comes in at 75% to 85% of your daily value depending on wild vs. farmed. Vitamin D, a nutrient many people run low on, hits around 66% of the daily value in a serving of farmed salmon.
Then there are the omega-3 fatty acids. A 3-ounce serving of cooked Atlantic salmon contains roughly 1.2 grams of DHA and 0.35 to 0.59 grams of EPA, the two omega-3s most strongly associated with heart and brain health. That single serving exceeds most expert recommendations for weekly omega-3 intake in one sitting.
How Much Salmon to Eat Per Week
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend 8 ounce-equivalents of seafood per week for adults eating around 2,000 calories a day. That’s roughly two standard servings. Salmon is specifically called out as a top choice because it’s high in EPA and DHA while being low in mercury compared to larger predatory fish like swordfish or king mackerel.
Two servings a week would contribute around 44 to 48 grams of protein to your weekly intake, along with meaningful amounts of vitamin D, B12, selenium, and omega-3s. For context, the daily protein recommendation for most adults falls between 46 and 56 grams, so a single salmon fillet at dinner covers close to half a day’s worth.
Quick Reference by Portion Size
Since most people don’t eat exactly 100 grams of salmon, here’s a practical breakdown using the 22 grams per 100 grams baseline for cooked Atlantic salmon:
- 3 ounces (85 g): ~19 g protein
- 4 ounces (113 g): ~25 g protein
- 6 ounces (170 g): ~37 g protein
- 8 ounces (227 g): ~50 g protein
A typical restaurant salmon fillet runs 6 to 8 ounces, so most servings you encounter in the real world land somewhere between 37 and 50 grams of protein. Canned salmon, usually pink or sockeye, offers similar protein density and is one of the most affordable ways to hit these numbers consistently.