6 Affordable Proteins You've Overlooked For Too Long

Getting more protein in your diet can be an eternal struggle depending on your personal taste preferences, but doing so is vital to keeping your body healthy both inside and out. The many benefits of protein include aiding in digestion, regulating hormones, building and repairing tissue, and keeping your muscles, bones, skin, and cartilage in working order. With so many simple ways to add a protein boost to your favorite meals, you can find different flavors and foods that work best for you, though they aren't always the most affordable options. With rising costs at the grocery store and concerns about supply chains, it's time to start looking around for affordable sources of protein that you might have overlooked thus far. By choosing from cheaper goods like sunflower seeds, lentils, quinoa, nutritional yeast, garbanzo beans, and flaxseeds, you have the building blocks of many delicious and nutritious meals at a considerably more accessible price point.

Albeit an underrated way to add more protein to your diet, turning to seeds, beans, grains, and other plant-based proteins deserves much more attention. The versatility of these proteins allows you to either augment a favorite recipe with extra protein or build a meal based around these specific protein sources. What's more, many of these items can be bought as bulk dry goods, which have a longer shelf life than other protein-rich foods such as meats, cheeses, and vegetables. This means you can stock up on your favorite affordable proteins and use them for longer.

In addition to being a great source of protein, other health benefits of sunflower seeds include immune system support, minimizing inflammation, and improving energy levels. Seeds from the sunflower plant are also rich in B vitamins, potassium, and zinc. You can roast sunflower seeds for snacking or add them to a number of different dishes to ramp up your protein intake. For even easier use, sunflower seeds can be ground into a protein-rich powder, like Kate Naturals' Sunflower Lecithin Powder (available on Amazon), perfect for cooking and baking or adding to smoothies and shakes.

For more sunflower seed-forward dishes, consider using the seeds in soups or salads to amp up the protein content, or you can even using sunbutter in a dip or spread. Similar to peanut butter, sunbutter is the product of sunflower seeds that have been ground into a paste. It is also an ideal replacement for those with a peanut allergy. The myriad of uses for sunflower seeds in breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks makes it an ideal protein to store in your pantry anytime you want to add some much needed crunch nutrients to your food.

One of the biggest advantages to lentils is the many different varieties available to use in your cooking. Whether they are brown, yellow, green, French green, red, or black, lentils are a great source of protein among other nutrients. Lentils are also high in fiber, potassium, and iron, and contain the most folate out of any other plant-based foods. They can be bought dried and kept in your pantry to soak to prepare for use in a number of dishes. For ease of use, you can also buy lentils fully cooked either in a pouch or a can, like Westbrae Natural Organic Lentils, at an affordable price.

While many lentil recipes are geared towards savory dishes, you can still get creative in pairing just about any of your favorite flavors for a well-seasoned dish. With just one pot, you can make a simple lentil curry using your robust aromatics and warming spices to serve over rice. Lentils are an excellent addition to soups and stews to "beef up" (pardon the pun) your protein content as well. Any way you choose to enjoy lentils, you can be sure that your meal will both taste wonderful and be good for you.

This simple whole grain is packed with nutrients, essential vitamins, and a hearty helping of protein. Quinoa comes in red, white, black, or a tricolor version of all three. Each one has noticeable differences in taste and texture, with white quinoa being the most versatile and commonly available of the bunch. It can be used in a great deal of different dishes ranging from sweet to savory and everything in between. Quinoa also makes a perfect base in protein bowls to which you can add vegetables, sauces, and other ingredients for a well-rounded and wholesome meal.

Pairing quinoa with other affordable proteins such as other seeds and legumes is an excellent idea, particularly if you've stocked up on a variety of these dry goods. Lentils and quinoa go especially well together, and you can dress up a bowl of this dynamic duo with your favorite seasonings. On the sweeter side, try making a quinoa pudding by simmering a mixture of plant-based milk, cinnamon, maple syrup, salt, and vanilla extract on the stovetop for an unforgettable sweet treat.

Filled with B vitamins, potassium, fiber, and more, nutritional yeast certainly lives up to its name and is a shelf-stable protein that you should always keep in your pantry. With a wide variety of uses and applications, this naturally cheesy flavored powder makes an excellent ingredient for vegan cheese or a topping for popcorn and other healthy snacks among other uses. It is often mistaken for brewers yeast because both come from the same saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strain, however, the two are processed differently. You'll also want to look for fortified nutritional yeast rather than unfortified nutritional yeast to get the added essential nutrients and vitamins that make this food item so beneficial. From there, it's simply a matter of discovering different recipes to enhance with a sprinkle or more.

You can blend nutritional yeast with plant-based milk, vegan butter, flour, and spices to make an amazing mac and cheese. This also works as the base for a nutrient-rich cheese dip to which you can add your favorite vegetables and seasonings for more wholesome flavor and nutrition. A hearty shake of nutritional yeast on top of a kale Caesar salad or even mixed into a rich tomato soup will amp up the taste with a nutty and cheesy finish that's entirely plant-based. Nutritional yeast also makes a great filler for mixing into meatballs and burgers, whether made with meat or a plant-based alternative, to stretch your mixtures farther and keep your meals more affordable and healthy.

Like lentils, garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas) can either be bought in bulk as a dry good or pre-cooked in a can, making this an especially affordable source of protein that you can stock up on and keep in your pantry. In addition to being a great source of protein, garbanzo beans also contain such essential nutrients as fiber, iron, potassium, and zinc. What's more, they're the base ingredient for a number of unforgettable hummus recipes and so much more. Whether mashed into a dip, mixed into a dense bean salad, or roasted in the oven and sprinkled with savory herbs and spices, these are the little chickpeas that could.

A simple hummus recipe is a must-have mezze food. You can use it as a luscious dip for pita chips and celery sticks or spread it across a sheet of lavash for a mouthwatering falafel wrap. Speaking of falafel, chickpeas are the main ingredient in this fried vegetarian delicacy guaranteed to keep you full and satisfied. Mixing chickpeas with lentils is also a great way to maximize your protein intake and vary the flavors and textures by making burgers, soups, stews, and more.

Made of 18% protein, flax seeds are also rich in fiber and Omega-3 fats. These nutrient-filled seeds are easy to add to many different dishes and can be ground up into a flax seed meal for a substance that's even more useful to mix into smoothies and shakes, sprinkle into soups and salads, or steep into a tasty tea. Flax seeds also go well when combined with other plant-based proteins such as lentils, garbanzo beans, and nutritional yeast among others.

One of the simplest ways to include flax seeds in your diet is by mixing them into a protein-packed smoothie with bananas and peanut butter. For this, you can grab a bag of Now Foods Organic Golden Flax Seed Meal, or your preferred brand, to make sure the flax seed meal fully homogenizes into your smoothie. To mix your favorite plant proteins together, consider making a batch of flax seed crackers and using these to dip into a garbanzo bean-based hummus. There's no limit to your creativity in the kitchen with the right choices of affordable proteins and a taste for healthy and satisfying food.