Chicken Protein per 100g: Breast, Thigh, Leg, Raw vs Cooked

Raw, skinless chicken breast has about 22.5 g of protein per 100 g, and cooked (roasted) breast has about 31 g per 100 g, according to USDA FoodData Central. The chicken didn't gain protein. It lost water, so the same protein sits in less weight. Skinless thigh and leg are a bit lower, about 19–20 g raw and 24–25 g cooked.

Most of the confusion about chicken protein comes down to one question: did you weigh it before or after cooking?

How much protein is in each cut of chicken?

All figures below are from USDA FoodData Central for broiler chicken, per 100 g of meat (no bone). "Roasted" is USDA's oven-roasted entry, with no added oil counted.

USDA entries used: breast raw and roasted; breast with skin raw and roasted; thigh raw and roasted; thigh with skin raw and roasted; drumstick raw and roasted; leg raw and roasted.

What does the Indian food table say?

ICMR-NIN's IFCT 2017 lists raw, skinless Indian poultry at 21.8 g protein per 100 g for breast, 18.2 g for thigh, 19.4 g for leg and 17.4 g for wing. That's close to USDA on protein. IFCT's samples carry more fat, though: 9.0 g per 100 g in breast (about 168 kcal), compared with 2.6 g in USDA. Different databases measure different birds and trims, so treat any number as approximate. This post uses USDA for the main table because it has both raw and cooked values for each cut.

Why does cooked chicken have more protein per 100 g?

Cooking pushes water out of the meat. The protein stays behind, so each gram of cooked chicken holds more of it.

Compare USDA's two breast entries: 22.5 g per 100 g raw, 31.0 g per 100 g roasted. If almost all the protein stays in the meat, that implies 100 g of raw breast cooks down to roughly 72–73 g. For skinless thigh and drumstick the same maths gives about 79–80 g. Real kitchens vary with heat, time and how much juice ends up in the pan.

That's why the weighing question matters:

• Weighed raw, 200 g breast: about 45 g protein, 240 kcal
• Weighed cooked, 200 g breast: about 62 g protein, 330 kcal
• 250 g raw breast ends up around 180 g cooked, and still has about 56 g protein

Use raw values for raw weight and cooked values for cooked weight. Mixing them is how people end up 30% off. To log a full chicken curry with its oil and gravy, use the Indian food calorie counter.

Protein in 150 g, 200 g and 250 g of chicken

All skinless, USDA values. Add oil or butter separately: each teaspoon (about 5 g) is about 45 kcal and no protein.

Bone-in and curry cut

The tables are for meat only. Curry cut and drumsticks include bone, and often skin, which you pay for and weigh but don't eat. If you cook curry cut, the simplest fix is to weigh your portion of meat after taking it off the bone and use the cooked values.

Skin on or skin off?

Taking the skin off changes calories far more than protein.

For roasted breast, USDA shows 29.8 g protein and 197 kcal per 100 g with skin, against 31.0 g and 165 kcal without. For thigh, it's 23.3 g and 232 kcal with skin, against 24.8 g and 179 kcal without. So skinless thigh saves you about 53 kcal per 100 g and gives slightly more protein.

ICMR-NIN's Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 point out that most animal foods provide a lot of saturated fat and advise choosing lean cuts. They also recommend sautéing, steaming, grilling, boiling or baking instead of frying.

Chicken vs paneer vs eggs: which gives more protein?

Per 100 g, chicken wins, and it wins clearly on protein per calorie.

Two boiled eggs give about the protein of 43 g of cooked chicken breast. Paneer brings about three times the calories of chicken breast for each 10 g of protein, mostly from fat. For the full breakdown on paneer, see paneer protein per 100 g.

All three are high-quality proteins. ICMR-NIN's guidelines name flesh foods, eggs and milk as good sources of quality protein. So the choice is mostly about calories, price and what you'll actually eat.

How much chicken do you need in a day?

Start from your protein target, not from the chicken. ICMR-NIN's RDA is 0.83 g of protein per kg of body weight a day for healthy adults, about 54 g for a 65 kg person. People who lift weights usually do better higher: a 2018 meta-analysis by Morton et al. found that gains in muscle mass from training levelled off at around 1.6 g per kg a day.

For a single meal, about 20 g of good-quality protein is a sensible target. A 2009 study by Moore et al. in young men found muscle protein synthesis after resistance exercise was maximally stimulated at 20 g. That's only about 65 g of cooked breast, or 90 g raw.

For non-vegetarians, ICMR-NIN's 2024 guidelines suggest about 700–900 g a week of fish, poultry or lean meat. That's roughly 100–130 g a day, which already gives 20–40 g of protein depending on the cut. Rice, roti, dal and curd cover much of the rest. Work out your own total with the protein calculator.

If budget matters, chicken breast is usually cheaper per gram of protein than paneer: divide the price per kg by the grams of protein in a kg to compare.

Quick checklist

• Raw skinless breast: about 22.5 g protein and 120 kcal per 100 g (USDA)
• Cooked skinless breast: about 31 g protein and 165 kcal per 100 g
• Cooked weight is lower, so cooked values per 100 g look higher; use the right one
• 200 g raw breast is about 45 g protein; 250 g raw is about 56 g
• Thigh and leg: about 19–20 g raw and 24–25 g cooked, with more fat
• Skin adds calories, not protein
• Chicken gives far more protein per calorie than paneer, and more than eggs
• Weigh curry cut meat off the bone

Useful links

• USDA FoodData Central (chicken entries linked in the table above)
• IFCT 2017, Indian Food Composition Tables (ICMR-NIN)
• Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 (ICMR-NIN)
• Morton et al. 2018, protein and muscle gain meta-analysis
• Moore et al. 2009, protein dose after resistance exercise

This is general information, not medical advice. If you have kidney disease, gout, are pregnant or are under 18, check your protein needs with a doctor or registered dietitian.