Protein in Fava Beans / Broad Beans: Protein, Calories, and Meal Ideas

Quick Answer

Cooked fava beans, also listed as broad beans, have about 7.6 g protein per 100 g. A practical 170 g cooked serving gives about 12.9 g protein and roughly 187 calories. That makes fava beans a moderate-protein vegan legume: useful for protein, fiber, and meal volume, but not as protein-dense as tofu, tempeh, seitan, or protein powder.

• 170 g cooked fava beans / broad beans: about 12.9 g protein.
• 100 g cooked fava beans / broad beans: about 7.6 g protein.
• Protein class: moderate by weight because 7.6 g per 100 g falls in the 5-14.9 g range.
• Protein quality: partial plant protein, so fava beans work best with grains, rice, wheat, corn, soy foods, seeds, or other legumes across the day.
• Best format for this guide: cooked beans. Dry beans, fresh immature broad beans, canned beans, salted beans, fried snacks, and restaurant dishes can differ.

Fava beans protein by serving size

Use cooked edible weight when comparing fava beans to other legumes. Dry fava beans absorb water during cooking, so dry weight and cooked weight are not interchangeable.

Types of Fava beans and broad beans

Fava beans and broad beans usually refer to the same plant, but nutrition tracking changes by maturity, water content, cooking method, and added ingredients.

Broad beans vs Fava beans

Broad beans and fava beans are two common names for the same food. In search and nutrition tracking, the bigger difference is not the name; it is whether the beans are fresh, dried, cooked, canned, salted, fried, or mixed into a recipe.

• Use this page for cooked edible fava beans / broad beans.
• Use dry-bean values when tracking dry beans before soaking and cooking.
• Use label values for canned, frozen, salted, seasoned, fried, or packaged versions.

Fava beans vs other legumes and plant proteins

Fava beans are useful, but they are a protein-and-carb legume rather than a lean protein isolate. Compare them with other plant foods by cooked or ready-to-eat weight.

Best vegan meal pairings

Fava beans are strongest in meals when they add protein, fiber-rich carbohydrates, and volume beside another protein or grain. A 170 g serving can be meaningful, but a 25-40 g protein meal usually needs a second protein anchor.

• Pair fava beans with rice, whole wheat pita, bulgur, couscous, quinoa, corn, or oats for practical complementary-protein meals.
• Add tahini, olive oil, or avocado when calories need to be higher, but track those additions separately.
• Use tofu, tempeh, seitan, edamame, soy milk, or pea protein when the meal target is 30-40 g protein.
• For vegetarian meals, fava beans also pair well with Greek yogurt, curd, cottage cheese, paneer, eggs, or whey if those fit your diet.

Safety note: Favism and G6PD deficiency

Fava beans are not appropriate for everyone. People with favism or glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency can have serious reactions to fava beans. If this applies to you, avoid fava beans unless a qualified clinician has specifically cleared them for you.

• Do not use this nutrition page as medical clearance for fava beans.
• Ask a qualified clinician before eating fava beans if you have known or suspected G6PD deficiency, favism, or a prior reaction.
• Choose other legumes such as lentils, chickpeas, black beans, lima beans, cannellini beans, or adzuki beans when fava beans are not medically appropriate.

Related videos and images to add

Use the images and videos below to understand the exact serving size, different bean forms, and practical ways to cook fava beans.

For Weight Loss or Calorie Control

Fava Beans / Broad Beans can work for weight loss or maintenance when the serving is measured and the rest of the plate is planned. The easiest approach is to decide the protein target first, then add carbs, fats, and sauces around that target. For this page's representative serving, 170 g cooked fava beans / broad beans gives about 12.9 g protein. If your meal target is 30 g protein, that is roughly 2.3 typical servings, or about 394.7 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

Fava beans support muscle-gain meals best as a carb-and-fiber legume paired with higher-protein foods such as tofu, tempeh, seitan, edamame, eggs, fish, poultry, or Greek yogurt. When using fava beans / broad beans 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 fava beans / broad beans 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

Fava Beans / Broad Beans 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 Fava bean bowl with rice, herbs, lemon, and tofu, Broad bean salad with whole-grain pita and tahini sauce, Fava bean stew with vegetables and seitan, and similar meals where the protein portion is measured before sauces and toppings are added.