Feta cheese provides a moderate amount of protein, not a high amount. One ounce delivers about 4 grams of protein for 75 calories, which puts it on the lower end compared to most popular cheeses. It’s a perfectly fine protein contributor as part of a meal, but it’s not the cheese to reach for if maximizing protein is your goal.
How Feta Compares to Other Cheeses
The easiest way to see where feta lands is to line it up against other common options, all based on a one-ounce serving:
- Cottage cheese (1% milkfat): 14 g protein, 81 calories
- Part-skim mozzarella: 7 g protein, 84 calories
- Cheddar: 6 g protein, 115 calories
- Whole-milk mozzarella: 6 g protein, 85 calories
- Feta: 4 g protein, 75 calories
Feta has the fewest calories of the bunch, which is a genuine advantage. But ounce for ounce, cottage cheese packs more than three times the protein, and even whole-milk mozzarella gives you 50% more. If you’re building a salad or grain bowl and want the most protein per bite of cheese, cottage cheese or part-skim mozzarella will do more work for you.
That said, feta’s protein-to-calorie ratio is still reasonable. You get about 5.3 grams of protein for every 100 calories, which is better than cheddar’s ratio. Feta just isn’t in the same league as the leaner cheeses.
Protein Quality Is a Strength
Where feta does stand out is the quality of its protein. It contains all nine essential amino acids, the ones your body can’t make on its own. A single ounce covers 14 to 22 percent of the recommended daily intake for each essential amino acid, with particularly strong contributions of phenylalanine (22%), tryptophan (20%), and valine (17%). That makes feta a complete protein source, which matters if you’re vegetarian and relying on diverse foods to cover your amino acid needs.
Traditional feta is made from sheep’s milk or a blend of sheep and goat milk. Research comparing sheep whey protein to cow whey protein found that sheep-derived protein showed about 6% higher digestibility in simulated digestion studies. This means the protein you get from authentic feta may be slightly easier for your body to break down and absorb than protein from cow’s milk cheeses, though both are well absorbed overall.
The Sodium and Fat Tradeoff
Before loading up on feta to boost your protein intake, it’s worth knowing what else comes with it. Feta is a brined cheese, and that brine makes it one of the saltiest options in the cheese case. A single ounce contains roughly 316 milligrams of sodium, which is about 14% of the daily recommended limit. A full cup of crumbled feta (the amount you might toss across a big salad for four people) has around 1,674 milligrams, nearly three-quarters of a full day’s sodium.
Each ounce also carries about 4 grams of saturated fat. That’s comparable to many full-fat cheeses on a per-ounce basis, though feta’s lower calorie count means you’re getting less total fat per calorie than something like cheddar. If you’re watching sodium or saturated fat, feta works better as a flavor accent (crumbled sparingly) than as a primary protein source you eat in large quantities.
How to Get More Protein From Feta-Based Meals
Feta’s real value isn’t as a protein powerhouse on its own. It’s as a flavor booster that makes high-protein meals taste better. A couple of tablespoons of crumbled feta adds tang and saltiness that can make a bowl of lentils, a chickpea salad, or a quinoa dish far more satisfying. In that role, the 2 to 4 grams of protein from the feta is a bonus on top of your main protein source.
Some practical pairings that keep protein high while using feta for flavor: scrambled eggs with feta and spinach, a Greek salad with grilled chicken, roasted beet and lentil salad with feta crumbles, or a whole-grain wrap with hummus, vegetables, and feta. In each case, the feta contributes a small protein addition while the eggs, chicken, lentils, or legumes do the heavy lifting.
If you love the taste profile of feta but want more protein from your cheese specifically, consider swapping in cottage cheese for some uses. Blended cottage cheese has a similarly tangy, creamy quality and delivers dramatically more protein per serving. Some brands now sell whipped cottage cheese that works as a spread or dip in places where you might otherwise use crumbled feta.