The Saltiest (and Least Salty) High-Protein Foods
A "high-protein" label says nothing about how much salt rides along with that protein. So we measured the sodium in every product we grade and divided it by its protein — milligrams of sodium per gram of protein — across 172 branded high-protein foods, using the USDA nutrition panels behind every Labelgrade.
The short answer
The average protein food on our shelf carries about 18 mg of sodium per gram of protein. But the spread is enormous: the saltiest deliver about 100 mg per gram of protein — roughly 15× the cleanest options. The salt bombs are predictable — jerky and meat sticks, deli and cured meats, canned soups, and sauced frozen meals — while the cleanest proteins are the plain whole foods: eggs, unflavored dairy, and no-salt-added canned fish. And 16% of products pack 400 mg or more of sodium in a single serving, with the worst single serving at 791 mg — about 34% of the FDA's entire daily limit before you've eaten anything else.
The saltiest protein foods (per gram of protein)
Ranked by milligrams of sodium per gram of protein — how much salt you swallow for the protein you're actually after.
| Product | Sodium / g protein | Sodium / serving | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hebrew National Beef Franks | 100 mg/g | 500 mg | F |
| Nathan's Famous Beef Cocktail Franks | 97 mg/g | 680 mg | F |
| Slim Jim Original Snack Sticks | 88 mg/g | 530 mg | F |
| Amy's Black Bean Vegetable Enchilada | 79 mg/g | 791 mg | C+ |
| Oscar Mayer, Deli Fresh, Blackened Turkey Breast | 62 mg/g | 560 mg | F |
| Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie | 59 mg/g | 650 mg | C+ |
| Old Trapper Old Fashioned Beef Jerky, Old Fashioned | 55 mg/g | 600 mg | F |
| Banza Shells + Vegan Cheddar Chickpea Mac & Cheese | 48 mg/g | 371 mg | D |
| Great Value Chicken Nuggets | 48 mg/g | 430 mg | D |
| Applegate The Great Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dog | 47 mg/g | 280 mg | D |
| Jack Link's Premium Cuts Beef Jerky Original Hickory Smokehouse | 45 mg/g | 540 mg | F |
| Stouffer's Lasagna with Meat & Sauce (96 oz tray) | 45 mg/g | 760 mg | C+ |
The most sodium in one serving
Highest absolute sodium per labeled serving — the single-sitting salt load.
| Product | Sodium / serving | % of daily limit | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amy's Black Bean Vegetable Enchilada | 791 mg | 34% | C+ |
| Stouffer's Lasagna with Meat & Sauce (96 oz tray) | 760 mg | 33% | C+ |
| Nathan's Famous Beef Cocktail Franks | 680 mg | 30% | F |
| Lean Cuisine Spaghetti with Meatballs | 670 mg | 29% | B- |
| Amy's Cheese Tortellini Bowl | 661 mg | 29% | B- |
| Annie's Super Mac Shells & Real Aged Cheddar | 660 mg | 29% | F |
| Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie | 650 mg | 28% | C+ |
| Old Trapper Old Fashioned Beef Jerky, Old Fashioned | 600 mg | 26% | F |
| Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Beef Merlot | 576 mg | 25% | B- |
| Field Roast Smoked Apple & Sage Plant-Based Sausages | 560 mg | 24% | F |
The cleanest protein foods (least sodium per gram)
Protein with little or no salt riding along.
| Product | Sodium / g protein | Sodium / serving | Sodium grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| House Foods Organic Tofu | 0 mg/g | 0 mg | A+ |
| Kite Hill Artisan Almond Milk Yogurt, Peach | 0 mg/g | 0 mg | A+ |
| Quaker Old Fashioned Oats | 0 mg/g | 0 mg | A+ |
| Wonderful Pistachios (No Salt / In-Shell) | 0 mg/g | 0 mg | A+ |
| Nasoya Organic Tofu Cubed Super Firm | 1 mg/g | 5.1 mg | A+ |
| Lightlife, Organic Three Grains Tempeh | 1 mg/g | 10.1 mg | A+ |
| GoMacro Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip MacroBar | 1 mg/g | 10 mg | A+ |
| Vega One All-in-One Nutritional Shake, Vanilla Chai | 1 mg/g | 19.8 mg | A+ |
| Ascent Native Fuel Whey Protein, Cappuccino | 2 mg/g | 40 mg | A- |
| Kind Fruit & Nut Delight Bar | 2 mg/g | 10 mg | A+ |
Sodium per gram of protein, by category
| Category | Avg sodium / g protein | Products |
|---|---|---|
| Meat Sticks / Jerky | 52 mg/g | 3 |
| Frozen Meals | 46 mg/g | 5 |
| Other Snacks | 40 mg/g | 6 |
| Frozen Appetizers & Hors D'oeuvres | 34 mg/g | 5 |
| Cheese | 27 mg/g | 10 |
| Cottage Cheese | 24 mg/g | 5 |
| Plant-Based Meat | 22 mg/g | 3 |
| Cereal | 16 mg/g | 8 |
| Canned Tuna | 15 mg/g | 3 |
| Other Meats | 13 mg/g | 4 |
| Energy, Protein & Muscle Recovery Drinks | 11 mg/g | 5 |
| Protein Shakes (Ready-to-Drink) | 11 mg/g | 10 |
| Milk/Milk Substitutes | 11 mg/g | 20 |
| Canned Fish | 11 mg/g | 5 |
| Snack, Energy & Granola Bars | 9 mg/g | 20 |
| Yogurt | 6 mg/g | 4 |
| Protein Powder | 5 mg/g | 7 |
| Greek Yogurt | 4 mg/g | 8 |
Cured, canned, and sauced categories top the table; plain dairy, eggs, and no-salt-added fish sit at the bottom. The pattern mirrors the grades: the more a protein is processed, seasoned, or shelf-stabilized, the more sodium it tends to carry per gram of the thing you bought it for.
How we measured it
"Sodium per gram of protein" is the labeled sodium (mg) divided by the labeled protein (g) for one serving, from the USDA nutrition panel behind each Labelgrade. Ratio rankings cover products with at least 5 g of protein per serving so condiments and broths don't distort the board. Sodium is one of the six dimensions in the overall grade (15% of the weighting). High sodium isn't automatically unhealthy — but it's a real trade-off most labels don't help you see. Full method: labelgrade.com/methodology. Pairs with our processing report and added-sugar report.
Cite this analysis
Free to cite with attribution to Labelgrade (labelgrade.com). Writers covering sodium, blood pressure, or packaged food are welcome to use the figures above — please link to this page. For a custom cut, reach us via the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which high-protein foods have the most sodium?
Across the 172 branded high-protein foods we graded, jerky and meat sticks, deli and cured meats, canned soups, and sauced frozen meals carry the most sodium per gram of protein — the saltiest run about 100 mg of sodium for every gram of protein, roughly 15× the cleanest options (plain dairy, eggs, unsalted canned fish).
How much sodium per gram of protein is reasonable?
The average across our catalog is about 18 mg of sodium per gram of protein. Whole-food proteins (eggs, plain Greek yogurt, milk, unsalted tuna) sit in the low single digits to ~20 mg/g; processed and cured products climb to 50–100+ mg/g. The FDA daily limit is 2,300 mg, so a single 791-mg serving can be 34% of your day's sodium before anything else.
Is high sodium in protein foods actually bad?
Sodium is an essential electrolyte, and active people lose more of it — so it is not automatically "bad." But most people already exceed the daily limit, and high sodium is linked to elevated blood pressure. The point of this report is simply to make the trade-off visible: some protein sources deliver their protein with a fraction of the salt.
What are the lowest-sodium high-protein foods?
Plain, unsalted whole foods: eggs, plain Greek yogurt and cottage cheese, unflavored milk, and no-salt-added canned fish. They top the sodium dimension because the protein arrives with little or no added salt.
Can I cite this analysis?
Yes — free to cite with attribution to Labelgrade (labelgrade.com). Every product links to a full fact sheet with the nutrition panel and the six-dimension grade.