Several vegetables pack a surprising amount of protein, especially legumes and beans, which can deliver 12 to 21 grams per cooked cup. Even non-legume vegetables like green peas, Brussels sprouts, and asparagus contribute meaningful amounts. Here’s a practical breakdown of the best options and how to get the most from them.
Legumes and Beans: The Protein Heavyweights
If you’re looking for vegetables that rival meat in protein content, legumes are your best bet. A single cooked cup of these delivers double-digit grams of protein:
- Edamame: 18.4 g per cup (prepared from frozen)
- Lentils: 17.9 g per cup (boiled)
- Pinto beans: 15.4 g per cup (boiled)
- Mung beans: 14.2 g per cup (boiled)
- Fava beans: 12.9 g per cup (boiled)
- Lima beans: 11.6 g per cup (boiled)
Chickpeas deserve a special mention at 21.3 g per 100 g dried, though they’re typically eaten in smaller portions than a full cup. For context, a chicken breast has roughly 25 to 30 g of protein, so a cup of lentils or edamame gets you more than halfway there from plants alone.
Edamame stands out for another reason: it’s a soy product, which makes it one of the few plant foods containing all nine essential amino acids. Most other beans and lentils are “incomplete” proteins, meaning they’re lower in one or two amino acids your body needs. This isn’t a problem in practice. Eating a variety of plant proteins throughout the day fills in the gaps without any careful planning.
Green Peas, Corn, and Potatoes
Starchy vegetables sit in an interesting middle ground. They’re not as protein-dense as legumes, but they contribute more than most people realize, especially since they tend to show up in larger portions.
Green peas are the star of this group at about 8.6 g per cooked cup. Raw green peas are even higher, close to 7.9 g per cup, making them one of the most protein-rich non-legume vegetables you can eat. Sweet corn provides around 4 to 5 g per cup depending on preparation (canned vacuum-packed corn sits at about 5 g, frozen kernels closer to 4.2 g). A large baked russet potato with the skin delivers roughly 7.9 g, though a medium potato comes in closer to 4.3 g. The skin matters: it contains a meaningful portion of the potato’s total protein and fiber.
Cruciferous Vegetables and Asparagus
Brussels sprouts and asparagus won’t replace beans in your protein count, but they’re notably higher than most other green vegetables. A cup of boiled Brussels sprouts provides 5.6 g of protein, and a cup of boiled asparagus delivers 5.3 g. For vegetables that are mostly water and fiber, that’s significant, especially when they’re part of a larger meal.
These vegetables also come with very few calories relative to their protein content. If you’re trying to increase protein without adding a lot of energy to your diet, Brussels sprouts and asparagus are efficient choices compared to starchier options like corn or potatoes.
Leafy Greens and Mushrooms
Spinach and kale are often marketed as protein-rich, but the numbers are modest. Raw spinach contains 2.86 g per 100 grams, and raw kale is nearly identical at 2.92 g per 100 grams. Since a cup of raw leafy greens weighs only about 30 to 70 grams, you’d need to eat a lot of salad to make a real dent in your protein intake. Cooking helps: a cup of cooked spinach (which is several cups of raw spinach wilted down) concentrates the protein into a more meaningful amount, roughly 5 g.
Mushrooms are technically fungi, not vegetables, but they show up in the same part of your plate. White button mushrooms contain about 3 g per 100 grams, and oyster mushrooms are close behind at 2.75 g. They’re a nice bonus, not a primary source.
Complete vs. Incomplete Protein
Your body needs nine essential amino acids from food, and not all vegetables supply them equally. The complete plant proteins, the ones with all nine, include soy-based foods (edamame, tofu, tempeh), quinoa, amaranth, and hemp seeds. Most beans, lentils, and other vegetables are incomplete, meaning they’re low in one or more essential amino acids.
This used to cause a lot of anxiety about “protein combining” at every meal. That’s outdated advice. Your body pools amino acids throughout the day, so eating lentils at lunch and rice at dinner covers your bases just as well as eating them together. The only people who need to think carefully about this are those eating a very limited range of foods.
Cooking Makes Protein More Accessible
Raw vegetables aren’t always the best choice for protein absorption. Cooking breaks down compounds called antinutritional factors, particularly tannins and phytic acid, that interfere with how well your body digests and absorbs plant protein. Research on fava beans found that cooking significantly increased protein digestibility by reducing these compounds. The same principle applies broadly to legumes, beans, and many other vegetables.
This means that while raw peas or spinach are perfectly fine, boiling or steaming your beans and lentils isn’t just a texture preference. It genuinely makes more of their protein available to your body. Canned beans, which are pre-cooked, offer the same benefit.
How Much Protein You Actually Need
The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans now recommend 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. That’s 50 to 100 percent more than the old minimum recommendation. For a 70 kg (154-pound) person, that translates to 84 to 112 grams daily.
Reaching that number on vegetables alone is possible but takes effort. Two cups of lentils and a cup of edamame would give you about 54 grams, roughly half a day’s needs at the higher end. Most people eating a plant-heavy diet combine high-protein vegetables with grains, nuts, seeds, and sometimes dairy or eggs to hit their targets comfortably. Prioritizing legumes over leafy greens as your primary protein vegetables makes the math much easier.