Edamame (young soybeans) tops the list at 18.4 grams of protein per cup, making it the highest-protein vegetable you can eat in a single serving. If you expand the definition to include legumes broadly, lentils come in a close second at 17.9 grams per cooked cup. Among non-legume vegetables, green peas, Brussels sprouts, and asparagus lead the pack, though they deliver significantly less protein per serving.
Legumes: The Protein Heavyweights
Legumes dominate the protein conversation because they simply outclass every other category of vegetable. Here’s how the top options compare per cooked cup:
- Edamame: 18.4 g protein
- Lentils: 17.9 g protein
- Pinto beans: 15.4 g protein
- Mung beans: 14.2 g protein
- Fava beans: 12.9 g protein
- Lima beans: 11.6 g protein
Chickpeas deserve a special mention. Dried chickpeas contain 21.3 grams of protein per 100-gram portion, one of the highest concentrations among legumes by weight. Once cooked and hydrated, that number drops per cup because the beans absorb water, but they’re still a reliable protein source.
Mung beans are particularly interesting. They contain roughly 27% protein by dry weight, putting them among the best plant-based protein sources overall. Sprouting mung beans lowers their calorie count while increasing the availability of free amino acids, so if you eat bean sprouts in stir-fries or salads, you’re getting a slightly different nutritional profile than from cooked whole beans.
Non-Legume Vegetables With the Most Protein
If you’re thinking of vegetables in the more traditional sense (the green things on your plate, not beans), the protein numbers are much lower but still worth knowing. Per cooked cup, green peas deliver 8.6 grams, Brussels sprouts provide 5.6 grams, and asparagus offers 5.3 grams. A medium stalk of broccoli comes in at about 4.3 grams when boiled.
Raw spinach contains roughly 2.9 grams per 100 grams, which sounds decent until you realize that 100 grams of raw spinach is a very large bowl. A typical salad serving of 30 grams has less than a gram of protein. Cooking spinach down makes it easier to eat in volume, but it still can’t compete with legumes or even peas.
Some less obvious contenders: a large ear of sweet corn has 4.7 grams, a medium baked potato (with skin) provides 4.3 grams, and a whole avocado offers about 4 grams. None of these will anchor a high-protein meal on their own, but they add meaningful amounts when combined with other foods.
Protein Quality Matters, Not Just Quantity
A common concern with plant protein is whether vegetables provide “complete” protein, meaning all nine essential amino acids your body can’t make on its own. The short answer: this is less of a problem than most people think. Research published in Circulation, the American Heart Association’s journal, found that any single unprocessed starch or vegetable eaten in sufficient quantity to meet your calorie needs provides amino acids well in excess of minimum requirements. The old advice about carefully combining rice and beans at every meal to get complete protein turns out to be unnecessary.
That said, protein digestibility does vary between plant foods. Soy-based foods like edamame score among the highest for plant protein quality, meaning your body absorbs and uses a greater percentage of the protein you eat. Chickpeas, lentils, and kidney beans score somewhat lower on digestibility scales. This doesn’t mean they’re poor sources of protein. It just means you might absorb slightly less than the number on the label suggests.
How to Get More Protein From Vegetables
The practical takeaway is that legumes are the only vegetables that can meaningfully contribute to your daily protein targets on their own. A cup of edamame or lentils gives you roughly the same protein as two eggs. Green vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, and Brussels sprouts add a few grams per serving, which adds up across a full day of eating but won’t carry a meal.
If you’re trying to maximize protein from vegetables, focus on volume and variety. A bowl with a cup of lentils, a side of peas, and some roasted broccoli could easily deliver 25 to 30 grams of protein. Pairing legumes with grains like rice or quinoa (8.1 grams per cooked cup) rounds out the amino acid profile and adds even more protein to the plate. For snacking, shelled edamame is hard to beat: high protein, low effort, and easy to keep frozen for quick preparation.