The cheapest protein for boxers, ranked

Good boxing nutrition does not have to be expensive. We took official UK shop prices and worked out which everyday foods give you the most protein, and the most training energy, for the least money. The answer is not glamorous: dried pulses, milk and eggs beat steak, salmon and prawns comfortably. Each food's average UK shop price divided by its protein, or energy, content per 100 g, giving a price per 100 g of protein and per 1,000 kcal. Sources: ONS average prices (January 2025) and DEFRA Family Food (FYE 2023/24), both under the Open Government Licence.

Cheapest protein, pound for pound

What it costs to buy 100 g of protein (roughly a large chicken breast's worth) from each food.

#	Food	Cost per 100 g protein	Source
1	Dried pulses (lentils, chickpeas, beans) dry weight; £2.78/kg	£1.16	DEFRA
2	Whole milk 4 pints = 2272 ml, £1.51	£1.96	ONS
3	Peanuts ~225 g pack, £1.51	£2.62	ONS
4	Semi-skimmed milk 2 pints = 1136 ml, £1.24	£3.11	ONS
5	Canned pulses (drained) ~405 g can, ~245 g drained, £0.66	£3.36	ONS
6	Baked beans UK average price paid; value multipacks cheaper still	£3.45	DEFRA
7	Chicken breast boneless, raw, £8.01/kg	£3.48	ONS
8	Cheddar cheese £9.11/kg (DEFRA cross-check £8.26/kg)	£3.59	ONS
9	Canned tuna ~160 g can, ~110 g drained, £1.01	£3.67	ONS
10	Turkey mince raw, £9.06/kg	£3.94	ONS
11	Eggs £3.45/dozen, ~50 g edible/egg	£4.56	ONS
12	Beef mince raw, £8.68/kg	£4.62	ONS
13	Gammon raw, £9.14/kg	£5.08	ONS
14	Bacon raw back, £9.40/kg	£5.53	ONS
15	Pork sausages raw, £6.84/kg	£5.70	ONS
16	Beef roasting joint raw, £13.02/kg	£6.20	ONS
17	Yoghurt UK average; plain or Greek in a big tub is far better value	£7.12	DEFRA
18	Beef steak raw, £18.54/kg	£8.83	ONS
19	Salmon fillet raw, £19.43/kg	£9.52	ONS
20	Frozen prawns cooked, £17.45/kg	£10.91	ONS
21	White fish fillet raw cod/haddock, £20.63/kg	£11.46	ONS
22	Lamb chops raw, £19.56/kg	£11.51	ONS

Lower is better value. Cost per 100 g of protein, from each food's average UK price and its protein content per 100 g.

Why two lists?

If you rank every food purely by price per 100 g of protein, flour, pasta and bread float to the top: they cost very little and carry a small amount of protein. True on paper, but misleading, because nobody eats bread as a protein source. So recognised protein foods (meat, fish, eggs, dairy, pulses and nuts) stay in the protein ranking above, and the starchy staples go in a separate fuel ranking below, judged on the cost of their energy.

Cheapest fuel, pound for pound

What it costs to buy 1,000 kcal of training energy from each staple.

#	Food	Cost per 1,000 kcal	Source
1	Self-raising flour 1.5 kg, £0.85	£0.16	ONS
2	Dry pasta 500 g, £0.89	£0.51	ONS
3	Porridge oats £2.31/kg	£0.62	DEFRA
4	White bread ~775 g loaf, £1.35	£0.74	ONS
5	Basmati rice premium; DEFRA all-rice avg £2.04/kg	£0.77	ONS
6	Dried pulses dry weight; £2.78/kg	£0.87	DEFRA
7	Whole milk 4 pints, £1.51	£1.01	ONS
8	Peanuts ~225 g pack, £1.51	£1.12	ONS
9	White potatoes raw, £0.89/kg	£1.16	ONS
10	Baked beans UK average price paid	£2.02	DEFRA

Lower is better value. Useful for fuelling hard training cheaply, not for making weight.

How we worked this out

For every food we took its average UK shop price and divided by how much protein, or energy, it actually contains, to get a price per 100 g of protein and a price per 1,000 kcal. The prices are official and open: Office for National Statistics average prices for January 2025, the most recent the ONS publishes per item, for most foods; and DEFRA Family Food for the financial year ending 2024 for dried pulses and oats (which the ONS no longer prices separately), and for yoghurt and baked beans (where the ONS only lists a single-serve pack that overstates what people actually pay). Both are published under the Open Government Licence. Protein and energy figures are per 100 g of the food as you buy it (raw meat, dry pasta and so on), from the same UK Government CoFID 2021 dataset used across these rankings.

Two honest caveats. Shop prices move over time, so treat the exact pounds and pence as a guide. What stays steady is the order, which food is better value than which. And the items shown are common shop versions: the cheapest form is often cheaper still. A whole chicken beats chicken breast, dried beans beat canned, a big tub of yoghurt beats a single pot, and value multipacks beat a single tin.

For the full data sources and scoring method, see our methodology page.

Common questions

What is the cheapest source of protein for boxers?

Dried pulses such as lentils, chickpeas and beans are the cheapest, at about £1.16 to buy 100 g of protein, followed by milk, peanuts and eggs. Lean meat and fish are more expensive per gram of protein, and salmon, prawns and lamb are the dearest here.

Are these food prices up to date?

They are official UK averages: Office for National Statistics average prices for January 2025 (the most recent the ONS publishes per item) and DEFRA Family Food for the financial year ending 2024. Shop prices rise over time, so treat the exact pounds and pence as a guide. What stays steady is the order, which food is better value than which.

Is cheap protein good enough for boxing?

Yes. Milk, eggs, pulses and chicken are high quality, complete or easily combined proteins. You do not need expensive cuts of meat to train and recover well. The job is to hit your protein target consistently, and the value list shows the cheapest ways to do that.

General information for boxers, not medical or dietary advice. For a plan built around you, speak to a registered dietitian or your GP. Prices from the UK Government ONS Shopping Prices Comparison Tool and DEFRA Family Food, used under the Open Government Licence.

New to boxing nutrition? Start with our free 10-week course, see what Mike Tyson ate in his prime, or book a free trial session.