Dal, Paneer, Eggs or a Scoop: What Actually Costs Less Per Gram of Protein?
Whey on our shelf runs from 4.54 to 9.75 rupees per gram of protein. We put eggs, dal, paneer and soya chunks in the same column, and the ranking is not the one a supplement brand would print.
Dry soya chunks give you a gram of protein for roughly 29 paise. The cheapest whey we track charges 4.54 rupees for the same gram.
That is about fifteen times more for the same nutrient, and no supplement brand in India is going to publish that table.
We can, because we sell nothing. Here is every common Indian protein source in one column, what each one really costs per gram, and the three places where the tub genuinely wins anyway.
- ·Soya chunks are the cheapest protein in India by a wide margin, near 29 paise a gram
- ·Whey runs 4.54 to 9.75 rupees a gram across the tubs we track, a 2.1x spread
- ·On rupees, every common food beats every powder
- ·On calories, whey wins decisively: about 519 kcal per 100 g of protein against 1,238 for eggs
- ·On time, whey wins, and that is worth something if the alternative is skipping the meal
- ·If you do buy a tub, the gap between the cheapest and dearest is bigger than most sales
One gram of protein, ranked by what it costs
| Source | Price assumed | Protein | Per gram of protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soya chunks, dry | ₹150 / kg | 52 g per 100 g | ₹0.29 |
| Toor dal, raw | ₹160 / kg | 22 g per 100 g | ₹0.73 |
| Eggs | ₹7 each | 6.3 g per egg | ₹1.11 |
| Milk, toned | ₹60 / litre | 3.4 g per 100 ml | ₹1.76 |
| Paneer | ₹400 / kg | 18 g per 100 g | ₹2.22 |
| Curd | ₹80 / kg | 3.1 g per 100 g | ₹2.58 |
| Fermented yeast protein, cheapest | live | declared | ₹2.59 |
| Whey, cheapest we track | live | declared | ₹4.54 |
| Whey, median | live | declared | ₹5.75 |
| Whey, dearest we track | live | declared | ₹9.75 |
Supplement figures are from our live tracking across 19 Indian retailers and the brands' declared nutrition panels, checked on 16 September 2026. Food prices are indicative retail prices that vary by city, brand and season, and are printed here so you can substitute your own. Food protein values are approximate, drawn from Indian food composition data.
The ordering is the point. Every ordinary food on that list beats every powder on it, and the cheapest food beats the cheapest powder by a factor of fifteen.
The cheapest gram is not always a gram you fully use
Before anyone switches their whole diet to soya chunks, a caveat that matters.
Protein sources differ in how completely they are digested and how well their amino acid profile matches what your body needs. Whey and egg sit at the top of that scale. Soya is good for a plant source. Dal and cereals score lower, mainly because they are short on particular amino acids, which is exactly why Indian cuisine pairs them with rice and wheat.
So a gram of dal protein is not quite a gram of whey protein. The correction is real but it is not fifteen fold. It closes part of the gap in the table, nowhere near all of it, and it is largely solved by eating a mix rather than one thing.
Count the calories that arrive with the protein
This is where the tub starts earning its money, and it is the argument the rupee table hides.
Protein never arrives alone. Getting 100 g of protein from paneer also means eating the fat that comes with it. Here is what each source costs you in calories for the same 100 g of protein.
| To get 100 g of protein from | You also eat |
|---|---|
| Whey, median across our catalogue | ~519 kcal |
| Soya chunks, dry | ~663 kcal |
| Eggs | ~1,238 kcal |
| Toor dal, raw | ~1,559 kcal |
| Paneer | ~1,644 kcal |
| Milk, toned | ~1,706 kcal |
Calculated from declared nutrition panels for the supplements and from Indian food composition data for the foods. Preparation changes the food figures, particularly any oil or ghee added during cooking, which is not counted here.
The one thing whey is genuinely best at
Delivering protein without much else attached. Getting 100 g of protein from paneer costs you roughly three times the calories of getting it from whey. If you are cutting, or you are already struggling to fit your calories, that is not a small detail. It is the entire reason the product exists.
The packet price is not the plate price
Two honest adjustments in the food column's favour and against it.
Against food: dry weights flatter. Soya chunks roughly triple in weight when soaked, dal absorbs water, and nobody eats 100 g of raw dal. That does not change the cost per gram of protein, since the protein does not disappear, but it does change how much you have to eat. Getting 40 g of protein from soya chunks means about 77 g dry, which becomes a large bowl on the plate.
Also against food: cooking adds cost and calories. Oil, ghee, gas, and the time you spent. A katori of dal is not just the price of the dal.
For food: every one of these brings things whey does not. Fibre, iron, calcium, vitamins, and actual satiety. A shake is protein and little else, which is efficient and also the reason it cannot be your diet.
What 112 grams a day costs for a month
A 70 kg person training needs roughly 112 g a day. Suppose 45 g comes from your normal meals, which is where an ordinary Indian day lands, leaving about 67 g to find.
| Closing 67 g a day with | Per day | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Soya chunks | ₹19 | ₹580 |
| Toor dal | ₹49 | ₹1,470 |
| Eggs, about 11 a day | ₹74 | ₹2,230 |
| Paneer | ₹149 | ₹4,460 |
| Cheapest whey we track | ₹304 | ₹9,120 |
| Dearest whey we track | ₹653 | ₹19,600 |
Illustrative. Nobody should close a 67 g gap from a single source, and eleven eggs a day is a thought experiment rather than a plan. The point is the scale of the difference.
The realistic version is a mix: some eggs, some dal, some curd, and a scoop on the days you cannot manage the rest. That lands most people well under 3,000 rupees a month, which is a long way from the 9,000 the all-powder route implies.
Where whole food wins outright
- You are on a budget and your target is achievable from food. This is most people
- You are trying to gain weight, where the extra calories in food are a feature
- You cook at home and eat at fixed times
- You want the iron, calcium, fibre and vitamins that come with real food
Where a scoop earns its price
- You are cutting, and the calories attached to food protein are the constraint
- You genuinely have no time, and the real alternative is not eggs but nothing
- Your target is high enough that food alone means eating uncomfortably
- You travel constantly, or eat mess and canteen food you do not control
- You are vegetarian, have run out of options you enjoy, and are stuck below your target
Every one of those is a convenience argument or a calorie argument. None of them is a nutrition argument, because there is not one to make. A gram of protein from a shake does not build more muscle than a gram from an egg.
If you do buy a tub, stop paying twice the going rate
Here is the part that costs people the most money, and it has nothing to do with food.
Across the whey we track, cost per gram of protein runs from 4.54 to 9.75 rupees, with the middle of the pack near 5.75. That is a 2.1 times spread for the same nutrient, and it is far larger than any sale.
Two tubs on the same shelf, both whey, and one is delivering your protein at half the cost of the other. Nobody notices because tubs are compared on sticker price and pack size, not on the only number that matters. The economics behind those prices are in why a tub costs this much in India.
A cheap tub that is underdosed is not cheap
One more correction, and it cuts against the powder column again.
The Citizen's Protein Project, published in Medicine in 2024, analysed 36 protein supplements sold in India and found 25 of them, 69.4 percent, contained less protein than the label claimed, with shortfalls from under 10 percent to more than 50 percent.
Apply a 20 percent shortfall to a tub priced at 5 rupees a gram and you are actually paying 6.25 rupees for each gram you receive. The cost per gram on the label is only as good as the label. That is what how brands inflate the protein number on the label and the seven checks before you buy a tub are for.
Work out your own cost per gram in thirty seconds
Protein per serving, times servings per tub, divided into the price you pay. Avvatar Whey Protein 2 Kg Malai Kulfi: 28 g of protein across 57 servings is 1,596 g of protein. At 7,249 rupees that is 4.54 rupees per gram, the cheapest whey on our shelf. For food, it is price divided by the protein in what you bought. A kilo of soya chunks at 150 rupees holds about 520 g of protein, so 29 paise a gram.
Every product page on Whey2Much works the powder side out for you, and every whey we track, with live prices is sorted on it.
The straight answer
On rupees, food wins, and it is not close. Soya chunks are about fifteen times cheaper per gram of protein than the cheapest whey we track, and eggs and dal both beat every tub on the shelf.
On calories and on time, whey wins. Roughly 519 calories per 100 g of protein against 1,238 for eggs and 1,644 for paneer, delivered in the ninety seconds it takes to shake it.
So buy the tub if you are buying convenience or calorie efficiency, and know that is what you are buying. Do not buy it believing it is better protein or better value, because on the numbers it is neither.
And if you are buying one anyway, compare two tubs on cost per gram of protein first. The gap between the best and worst value whey on our own shelf is larger than the gap most people chase during a sale. If you want the shortlist, the tubs worth buying under 2,000 rupees and a sensible first tub are the two places to start.
This article is general nutrition and consumer information rather than medical or dietetic advice. It has not been written or reviewed by a registered dietitian. Supplement prices and protein figures are from our live tracking across 19 Indian retailers and the brands' own declared nutrition panels, checked on 16 September 2026, and they change daily. Food prices are indicative retail prices only: they vary substantially by city, brand, season and where you shop, they are printed alongside every calculation so you can substitute your own, and no claim is made that they are national averages. Food protein and energy values are approximate and drawn from Indian food composition data, and change with portion size and preparation, including any oil or ghee added in cooking, which is not counted here. The protein quality points refer to published digestibility and amino acid scoring methods rather than to our own testing. The label accuracy figures come from the Citizen's Protein Project published in Medicine in 2024, which analysed 36 protein supplements sold in India. Anyone with kidney disease, diabetes or any medical condition should follow their own doctor on protein intake. Whey2Much sells nothing, takes no commission and accepts no payment from any brand or retailer for inclusion, ranking or placement.
Common questions
It is worth it for convenience and for calorie efficiency, not for price. At indicative retail prices, dry soya chunks deliver a gram of protein for roughly 29 paise while the cheapest whey we track charges 4.54 rupees for the same gram. What whey buys you is speed, portability, and far fewer calories alongside the protein.
Eggs are cheaper per gram of protein and come with vitamins and fats whey does not have. Whey delivers protein with roughly 519 calories per 100 g of protein against about 1,238 for eggs, so if you are watching calories whey is the more efficient source. Both are high quality proteins and neither is a substitute for the other.
Yes, easily, provided you hit your daily protein target and train. Powder is a convenient way to reach the number, not a requirement for the result. Nothing in the research says a gram of protein from a shake builds more muscle than a gram from dal, eggs or paneer.
Dry soya chunks, by a wide margin. At around 150 rupees a kilo and 52 g of protein per 100 g, they work out to roughly 29 paise per gram of protein. Toor dal at about 73 paise and eggs at about 1.11 rupees follow. All three are far below the cheapest whey we track.
ICMR-NIN sets the adult requirement at 0.83 g per kg of body weight per day, which is about 58 g for a 70 kg adult. That is a floor to prevent deficiency. If you are training to build muscle, the research points to around 1.6 g per kg, which is roughly 112 g at the same weight.
About four. A median whey serving across the tubs we track carries 26 g of protein, and a boiled egg carries roughly 6.3 g. Four eggs also bring around 310 calories against roughly 135 for the scoop, which is the real difference between the two.
Not on its own. A standard katori of cooked dal carries roughly 5 to 7 g of protein, so hitting a 112 g target from dal alone would mean eating an unrealistic amount. Dal is a useful contributor inside a day that also includes dairy, eggs, soya or a supplement, and it is cheap protein when it is part of a mix.
There is no evidence that higher protein intakes harm healthy kidneys. A 2018 meta-analysis of 28 studies in adults without kidney disease found no difference in kidney function. Anyone with existing kidney disease, diabetes or high blood pressure should follow their own doctor on protein intake.
Nahi. Whey ek convenience hai, zaroorat nahi. Agar aap apna daily protein target khane se pura kar lete hain, to tub ki koi zaroorat nahi. Soya chunks lagbhag 29 paise per gram protein dete hain, jabki sabse sasta whey jo hum track karte hain 4.54 rupees per gram par aata hai.
Written by
Whey2Much
India's smartest supplement price comparison platform. We track real-time prices across the country's top retailers so you never overpay.
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