Plant-Based Proteins
Protein in Brussels Sprouts: Protein, Calories, and Meal Ideas
Cooked Brussels sprouts are a vegan vegetable with about 3.4 g protein per 100 g serving, which is higher than many vegetables but still low compared with primary protein foods.
Protein per serving
3.4g
100 g cooked Brussels sprouts / roasted or steamed
Calories per serving
67
100 g serving
Protein per 100g
3.4g
67 calories per 100 g
Protein density
5.1g
protein per 100 calories
Brussels Sprouts Nutrition Snapshot
| Measure | Amount | Protein | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical serving | 100 g cooked Brussels sprouts / roasted or steamed | 3.4g | 67 |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 3.4g | 67 |
| Protein density | 100 calories | 5.1g | 100 |
Representative source entry: Brussels sprouts, NS as to form, cooked. These values fit cooked Brussels sprouts. Roasted, steamed, boiled, fresh, frozen, restaurant, and oil-cooked entries can vary, and added fat changes calories.
Good for weight loss? Excellent
Brussels sprouts can support weight-loss meals because they add fiber, volume, and micronutrients, but the meal still needs a separate protein anchor.
Good for muscle gain? Supportive
Brussels sprouts support muscle-gain meals with vegetables and micronutrients, but most muscle-building protein should come from legumes, soy foods, dairy, eggs, fish, meat, or protein powder.
Meal Ideas with Brussels Sprouts
Roasted Brussels sprouts with tofu and brown rice
Steamed Brussels sprouts with salmon and potatoes
Brussels sprouts chickpea bowl with tahini sauce
Brussels sprouts with lentils, quinoa, and herbs
How to Use Brussels Sprouts
Quick Answer
Cooked Brussels sprouts have about 3.4 g protein per 100 g serving. That is still a low-protein food by formal protein-density categories, but Brussels sprouts provide more protein than many vegetables and work well as a supportive side.
- Protein class: low because Brussels sprouts provide less than 5 g protein per 100 g.
- Protein quality: partial plant protein, so they should support a meal rather than anchor it.
- Best format: roasted, steamed, boiled, or sauteed sprouts paired with a higher-protein food.
100 g, 1 Cup, and Larger Servings
A 100 g serving is the cleanest comparison for Brussels sprouts protein. Larger portions can add a little more protein, but the meal still needs a clear protein anchor if your target is 25-40 g.
- 100 g cooked Brussels sprouts: about 3.4 g protein.
- 200 g cooked Brussels sprouts: about 6.8 g protein before oil, butter, cheese, or sauces.
- Brussels sprouts are higher in protein than many vegetables, but much lower than tofu, beans, lentils, eggs, fish, poultry, or dairy.
Roasted vs Steamed Brussels Sprouts
Roasted and steamed Brussels sprouts have similar protein, but calories can change quickly when oil, butter, cheese, bacon, maple syrup, honey, or creamy sauces are added.
- Use cooked weight when logging roasted, steamed, boiled, grilled, or sauteed Brussels sprouts.
- Track olive oil, butter, ghee, cheese, breadcrumbs, nuts, bacon, glaze, and sauces separately.
- Restaurant Brussels sprouts often contain more added fat than home-steamed sprouts, so label or menu data can matter.
How to Pair Brussels Sprouts for Better Protein
Brussels sprouts are best used as a micronutrient-rich vegetable beside a stronger protein source. For plant-based meals, legumes and soy foods are the easiest pairing.
- Vegan pairings: tofu, tempeh, edamame, chickpeas, lentils, black beans, seitan, quinoa, or pea protein.
- Vegetarian pairings: eggs, Greek yogurt sauce, cottage cheese, paneer, skyr, or whey.
- Omnivore pairings: chicken breast, turkey, salmon, cod, shrimp, tuna, lean beef, or pork tenderloin.
Weight Loss and Muscle Gain Notes
Brussels sprouts can support both weight-loss and muscle-gain meals, but for different reasons. They add volume, fiber, and micronutrients, while another food should provide most of the protein.
- For weight loss, roast or steam Brussels sprouts with measured oil and pair them with a lean protein anchor.
- For muscle gain, keep Brussels sprouts as the vegetable side and add rice, potatoes, pasta, or bread if the meal needs more calories.
- For vegan meal prep, pair Brussels sprouts with lentils, tofu, chickpeas, tempeh, seitan, or edamame.
How Brussels Sprouts Compares for Protein Density
Brussels Sprouts works as a plant-based protein source with about 3.4 g protein and 67 calories per 100 g. That equals 5.1 g protein per 100 calories, or about 19.7 calories per gram of protein. This density number is useful because two foods can both look high protein while one needs far more calories to deliver the same protein target.
Brussels Sprouts is less protein-dense than the related foods shown below, so portions, add-ins, and the rest of the meal matter more. Plant protein foods often bring fiber, carbohydrates, fats, or all three along with protein. That makes them useful, but it also means protein density can be very different from lean meat, fish, egg whites, or protein powder. Use the comparison table as a planning shortcut: choose the higher-density option when calories are limited, and choose the more calorie-dense option when appetite is low or muscle-gain meals need to be easier to finish.
Best Uses for Brussels Sprouts
For Weight Loss or Calorie Control
Brussels Sprouts is especially useful in a calorie deficit because the protein serving is strong relative to calories. Build the plate around the protein first, then add vegetables, fruit, potatoes, beans, or grains based on hunger and training needs. For this page's representative serving, 100 g cooked Brussels sprouts / roasted or steamed gives about 3.4 g protein. If your meal target is 30 g protein, that is roughly 8.8 typical servings, or about 882.4 g by weight. This is why weighing the first few servings is useful: it turns a vague protein food into a repeatable meal component.
For Muscle Gain or Higher-Calorie Meals
Brussels sprouts support muscle-gain meals with vegetables and micronutrients, but most muscle-building protein should come from legumes, soy foods, dairy, eggs, fish, meat, or protein powder. When using Brussels sprouts for muscle gain, the question is not only whether it contains protein; it is whether the whole meal has enough total protein, carbohydrates, and calories to support training. If you need a leaner plant option, compare against tofu, seitan, tempeh, edamame, or pea protein powder. If you need more energy, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, pasta, oats, and quinoa can help. A practical muscle-gain plate is to keep the Brussels sprouts portion consistent, then adjust rice, pasta, oats, potatoes, bread, beans, oil, nuts, or dairy up or down depending on your calorie target.
For Meal Prep and Repeatable Tracking
Brussels Sprouts is easiest to track when the serving method stays the same from week to week. Choose one default serving, log it with the matching raw, cooked, dry, drained, or label-based entry, and then build meals around that known number. Good repeatable options include Roasted Brussels sprouts with tofu and brown rice, Steamed Brussels sprouts with salmon and potatoes, Brussels sprouts chickpea bowl with tahini sauce, and similar meals where the protein portion is measured before sauces and toppings are added.
Exact Serving Conversions
Serving conversions help when your food scale, recipe, or tracking app uses a different unit than this page. For Brussels Sprouts, 1 oz is about 28.35 g and provides roughly 1.0 g protein and 19.0 calories based on the representative per-100-g values. Half of the typical serving gives about 1.7 g protein and 33.5 calories, while a double serving gives about 6.8 g protein and 134 calories.
Use gram targets when precision matters. To get 25 g protein from Brussels sprouts, you need about 735.3 g, which is roughly 492.6 calories. To get 30 g protein, use about 882.4 g and 591.2 calories. To get 40 g protein, use about 1176.5 g and 788.2 calories. These estimates are based on the USDA or representative source entry listed below, so the label on your exact product should win when there is a difference.
| Target | Approx. amount | Calories | Typical servings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25g protein | 735.3g | 492.6 | 7.4x |
| 30g protein | 882.4g | 591.2 | 8.8x |
| 40g protein | 1176.5g | 788.2 | 11.8x |
Raw, Cooked, Dry, or Label Weight?
The best tracking rule for Brussels Sprouts is simple: match the database entry to the state of the food when you weighed it. This page uses Brussels sprouts, NS as to form, cooked as the representative source entry, with the serving shown as 100 g cooked Brussels sprouts / roasted or steamed. These values fit cooked Brussels sprouts. Roasted, steamed, boiled, fresh, frozen, restaurant, and oil-cooked entries can vary, and added fat changes calories.
For plant foods, dry versus cooked weight and brand formulation matter. Beans, grains, pasta, seeds, butters, and powders should be tracked using the form you actually weighed. If you batch cook, portion after cooking only when your tracker entry is also cooked. If you weigh before cooking, use a raw or dry entry and divide the finished batch into servings after cooking. If you are eating a packaged product, the label is normally the most specific source because brands can change water, sodium, sugar, fat, fortification, and serving size.
The most reliable workflow is to choose one method and repeat it: weigh the food, choose the matching raw, cooked, dry, drained, or packaged entry, then log oils, sauces, toppings, sides, and drinks separately. This avoids the most common protein tracking error, which is accidentally counting a prepared meal as if it were a plain serving of Brussels sprouts.
Common Mistakes with Brussels Sprouts
Most mistakes with Brussels Sprouts are not about the protein number itself; they are about matching the wrong food form, ignoring preparation, or forgetting the extra ingredients that travel with the serving. Avoid these issues before comparing your intake against a daily target from the protein calculator.
- Using a generic Brussels sprouts entry when the actual food is cooked, raw, flavored, breaded, sweetened, packed in oil, or from a specific brand.
- Counting Brussels Sprouts as the entire meal even when the real calorie load comes from oil, dressing, sauce, bread, rice, tortillas, cheese, nuts, or toppings.
- Estimating by eye instead of weighing the first few times. A small portion change can move the meal by 5-15 g of protein or by a few hundred calories for calorie-dense foods.
- For plant foods, dry versus cooked weight and brand formulation matter. Beans, grains, pasta, seeds, butters, and powders should be tracked using the form you actually weighed.
- Use cooked weight when logging roasted, steamed, boiled, or sauteed Brussels sprouts.
- Treat Brussels sprouts as a supportive vegetable side, not the main protein source.
- Track oil, butter, cheese, bacon, nuts, breadcrumbs, maple glaze, and sauces separately.
- Pair with tofu, tempeh, lentils, chickpeas, eggs, fish, chicken, dairy, or seitan when the meal needs more protein.
Building a High-Protein Meal with Brussels Sprouts
Start with the protein target, not the recipe name. A light snack might only need 10-20 g protein, while a main meal often works better at 30-45 g protein depending on body size, meal frequency, and training. With Brussels Sprouts, a 30 g protein meal is approximately 882.4 g of the representative food before sides and toppings. If that portion feels too large, combine a smaller amount of Brussels sprouts with another protein from the related-food list.
A balanced plate usually needs more than protein. Pair Brussels sprouts with a fiber source, a carbohydrate source if you train or need energy, and enough fat to make the meal satisfying. For lower-calorie meals, keep sauces light and increase vegetables. For higher-calorie meals, add rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, oats, beans, dairy, nuts, seeds, avocado, or oil depending on the type of food and your goal.
If the meal is meant to be repeated, write down the exact version that worked: the grams of Brussels sprouts, the cooking method, the sides, and the sauce. That gives you a reusable meal template instead of a one-time estimate, and it makes future protein targets easier to hit without redoing the math every day.
Tracking Tips
- Use cooked weight when logging roasted, steamed, boiled, or sauteed Brussels sprouts.
- Treat Brussels sprouts as a supportive vegetable side, not the main protein source.
- Track oil, butter, cheese, bacon, nuts, breadcrumbs, maple glaze, and sauces separately.
- Pair with tofu, tempeh, lentils, chickpeas, eggs, fish, chicken, dairy, or seitan when the meal needs more protein.
Compare Similar Protein Foods
Related Calculators and Guides
Common Questions
How much protein is in 100 g of Brussels sprouts?
A 100 g serving of cooked Brussels sprouts has about 3.4 g protein. That is higher than many vegetables, but still low compared with primary protein foods.
Are Brussels sprouts high in protein?
No. Brussels sprouts are higher in protein than many vegetables, but they are still low-protein by weight because they provide less than 5 g protein per 100 g.
Are Brussels sprouts a complete protein?
Brussels sprouts are best treated as a partial plant protein. Pair them with legumes, soy foods, grains, eggs, dairy, fish, poultry, meat, or protein powder depending on your diet.
Are roasted Brussels sprouts good for weight loss?
They can be, especially when oil is measured. Brussels sprouts add fiber and volume, but a high-protein weight-loss meal still needs a separate protein anchor.
Do roasted and steamed Brussels sprouts have the same protein?
The protein is similar when portion weights match. The bigger difference is calories, because roasted versions often include oil, butter, cheese, glaze, nuts, or other toppings.
Sources reviewed
- USDA FoodData Central: Brussels sprouts, NS as to form, cooked - U.S. Department of Agriculture
- International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise - Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition