The protein powerhouses that answer the question that every vegan is asked
It is not just pulses and tofu
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Your support makes all the difference.One of the first questions you’ll be asked if you’re on a vegan diet is ‘how do you get your protein?’
“If I had a coin for every time people ask me: how do you get your protein? I would be so rich by now,” says plant-based nutrition coach and personal trainer Gigi Grassia.
“There are still a lot of misconceptions about having protein and vegans not being able to get all the nutrients they need from food – which I think the scientific literature is really clear about, there is no question at all. But somehow there are a lot of myths circulating online around that, which if you are not a nutritionist or an expert in nutrition and food is a bit difficult to navigate.”
As a PT and ultra-marathon runner who also happens to be a vegan, getting enough protein to properly fuel herself is a priority for Grassia, 32.
“It’s one of the three macronutrients we need – we have protein, fats and carbohydrates,” London-based Grassia explains. “It’s really helpful not only to build muscle and repair tissue if we exercise, but protein is present almost everywhere in our body – so we really need enough of it.”
The vegan diet has something of a PR problem, with Grassia adding: “Culturally, we are brought up thinking that the only way to get protein is meat or dairy. But the fact is, building blocks of protein are called amino acids. We have nine amino acids that our body cannot produce by itself and it needs to get through nutrition, and that can be through a meat-based diet, or an omnivore diet, or a plant-based diet. All plants have essential amino acids in different amounts.”
Most of us are well aware that protein can help build muscle, but it isn’t just for gym rats – if you don’t get enough, Grassia suggests you might suffer from “fatigue” and lower “energy levels”.
Whether you’re going all-in on a vegan diet in 2025, are dabbling with Veganuary, or just want to incorporate a few more plant-based meals into your week, it’s easy to make sure you’re getting enough protein…
Hero protein-rich ingredients
Putting protein-rich ingredients front and centre in your meals will make all the difference – think tofu, tempeh, beans and more.
“The first time I tried tofu, I was like: ‘This tastes like cardboard, why do people like it? I don’t understand’,” Grassia remembers.
“But tofu is like a white canvas, like a sponge – it’s really there to become the enhancer of your favourite flavours. It’s really versatile – a lot of people don’t know that tofu can be eaten ‘raw’, because how you buy it in the supermarket it’s already cooked. Technically, you could slice it and eat it, but it’s not really nice.”
That’s why you can slip tofu into your meals in more innovative ways, Grassia says.
“I do a lot of pasta sauces – take it and blend it with veggies or sundried tomatoes and olives, and you create this really nice pasta sauce – or in stir-fries, or soups as well. Any dish you can name, you can have a use for it.”
Lean into protein-rich cuisines
A lot of Grassia’s inspiration comes from her upbringing in northern Italy, and these dishes are seen in her debut cookbook, Plant Protein – including a recipe for minestrone soup (packed full of beans and nutritional yeast), gnocchi made from tofu and smoked tofu carbonara.
However, she adds: “Being Italian can be quite limiting sometimes, because we think our food is the best and there is nowhere else to go… But there really is a world to explore.”
From her travels and living in places such as China and South America, Grassia has tried lots of other cuisines – and some, she says, lend themselves incredibly naturally to a protein-rich, plant-based diet.
Take Indian food: “It’s traditionally a cuisine that uses a lot of pulses – so lentils, beans… It’s already high in protein. And if you mix with that a bit of nutritional yeast and a little bit of tofu as well, you can really bring up the protein. Cuisines that use a lot of pulses are a really good base [for protein-rich vegan dishes].”
Find hidden protein powerhouses
Pulses and tofu are favoured by vegans: but what about the lesser-known protein powerhouses? Nutritional yeast is a big one for Grassia, who admits it’s “not very appealing by the look of it” as it resembles “food for fish”, but “it’s really rich in vitamins and micronutrients in general, and has so much protein.
“100 grams of nutritional yeast has around 50 grams of protein – it’s huge. It’s very versatile – you can use it in soups, you can use it in stir-fries as a sauce, you can add a tablespoon or two in your meal, or sprinkle it on top of pasta.”
She was also surprised to learn how much protein is in soba noodles – which is why she has recipes in her cookbook for speedy coconut and lime noodle soup, as well as a spicy soba noodle salad with crispy tempeh.
“If you’re trying to have a high-protein diet, a lot of it is about knowing which food to choose,” she explains. “For example, when having a good bowl of pasta, try to [choose] a pasta that’s made from durum wheat instead of mixed-flour pasta, because mixed flour has a blend of flours that doesn’t have as much protein as durum wheat.
“A lot of it is about choosing what food to have.”
Plant Protein: 80 Healthy And Delicious High-Protein Vegan Recipes by Gigi Grassia is published by Greenfinch, priced £22. Photography by Kimberly Espinel. Available January 2.