A typical meal of chicken breast and white rice contains roughly 60 grams of protein, give or take depending on your portion sizes. Most of that protein comes from the chicken. A single cooked chicken breast delivers about 56 grams of protein, while a cup of cooked white rice adds around 4.6 grams. Together, they make one of the most protein-dense simple meals you can prepare.
Protein in Chicken Breast
A cooked, boneless, skinless chicken breast weighing 174 grams (about 6 ounces) contains 56 grams of protein. That works out to roughly 32 grams of protein per 100 grams of cooked meat. If you eat a smaller portion, closer to 4 ounces (113 grams), you’re looking at about 36 grams of protein.
Keep in mind that chicken shrinks significantly during cooking as it loses moisture. About 130 grams of raw chicken breast cooks down to roughly 100 grams. So if you’re weighing your chicken raw for meal prep purposes, the cooked portion will be roughly 25% lighter but contain the same total protein. Whether you weigh raw or cooked doesn’t change the protein you’re eating, it just changes the number on the scale. Most nutrition labels and databases list values for cooked chicken unless they specify otherwise.
Protein in White Rice
One cup of cooked long-grain white rice contains 4.6 grams of protein. That’s not a lot compared to chicken, but it adds up if you eat a generous serving. Two cups of rice bumps you to about 9 grams of protein from the rice alone.
Rice also triples in volume when cooked. One cup of dry rice becomes three cups of cooked rice. This matters because protein content listed for “dry” rice will look much higher per cup than cooked rice, since you’re comparing a concentrated form to a hydrated one. Always check whether a nutrition source is referring to cooked or uncooked rice before doing your math.
Protein in a Full Chicken and Rice Meal
Here’s what a few common portion combinations look like:
- One chicken breast (6 oz cooked) + 1 cup cooked rice: about 60 grams of protein
- Half a chicken breast (3 oz cooked) + 1 cup cooked rice: about 33 grams of protein
- One chicken breast (6 oz cooked) + 2 cups cooked rice: about 65 grams of protein
- 4 oz cooked chicken breast + 1 cup cooked rice: about 41 grams of protein
The chicken is doing the heavy lifting in every scenario. Rice adds a modest amount of protein, but its main job in this meal is providing carbohydrates for energy.
How Chicken Cuts Change the Numbers
Chicken breast is the leanest cut and has the highest protein density. Other cuts still provide plenty of protein, but the ratio of protein to fat shifts. Thighs contain roughly 26 grams of protein per 100 grams cooked, compared to 32 grams for breast. Drumsticks fall in a similar range. The difference per serving is moderate, maybe 5 to 10 fewer grams of protein if you swap breast for thigh, but the fat and calorie content rises more noticeably.
Skin adds fat and calories without meaningfully increasing protein. If you’re eating chicken and rice specifically to maximize protein intake, skinless breast is the most efficient option.
Brown Rice vs. White Rice
Brown rice contains slightly more protein than white rice, roughly 5.3 grams per cooked cup compared to 4.6 grams for white. The difference is small enough that it won’t change your meal’s protein profile in any meaningful way. Brown rice does offer more fiber and micronutrients, but if you’re choosing between the two purely for protein, it barely matters.
Why This Meal Works for Protein Goals
Chicken is a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids your body can’t produce on its own. Rice is not a complete protein by itself, but paired with chicken, that gap is irrelevant. The chicken covers every amino acid you need, and the rice rounds out the meal with energy and a small protein bonus.
For context, most adults need somewhere between 50 and 100 grams of protein per day depending on body weight and activity level. A single plate of chicken and rice can cover half to all of that range in one sitting, which is why it’s a staple for athletes, bodybuilders, and anyone trying to hit a protein target without complicated cooking. It’s also easy to scale: just adjust your chicken portion up or down to match your goal, since the chicken is where virtually all the protein lives.