For lacto-ovo vegetarians who eat dairy products and eggs, high quality balanced proteins aren't a problem. Excluding eggs and becoming lacto vegetarian still allows access to high-protein vitamin-rich dairy foods. Depending entirely on plant products for food--a vegan diet--presents more nutritional challenges. Plant foods provide protein with fewer types of amino acids than in animal protein. Vegetarians who include a variety of vegetable proteins in the daily diet should have no problems satisfying their protein needs.
Soy Products
Soy products offer high protein content and a variety of textures and flavors. Four ounces of firm tofu contains 11g of vegetable protein, nearly as much as in two large eggs and about 2/3 the daily amount of protein recommended by MedlinePlus. One cup of cooked whole soybeans provides 29g of protein, and tempeh--whole soybeans inoculated with a special strain of fungus--yields 42g per cup. One cup of soy milk holds 7g of protein, and 1/2 cup of cooked textured vegetable protein offers 8g.
Beans
Legumes other than soybeans don't pack as much protein per serving but still provide stable sources of this important nutrient. Three 1/2-cup servings of cooked dried beans fulfill the minimum daily requirement of protein for most adults. A single serving of cooked mature beans contains about 7.5g of vegetable protein. Exact amounts vary slightly with the variety of the bean. Mature split peas carry just over 8g per 1/2 cup, but frozen green peas drop in protein value to 4.12g per 1/2 cup.
Saitan
Just three ounces of saitan, a food made from wheat or spelt gluten, yields 31g of protein. Saitan begins as a thick dough, rinsed in water to wash away both the starch and the bran. The remaining high-protein gluten becomes more meat-like the longer it cooks and serves as the base for vegetarian mock duck.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds like cashews and sunflower seeds contain important fats, fiber and other nutrients but also provide a rich protein source. One-quarter cup of cashews has 5g of protein, compared to 6g for sunflower seeds and 8g for almonds. One ounce of peanuts yields 7.95g of protein.
Grains
Combining grains such as rice, wheat and corn with soy products, legumes and other rich protein sources turns incomplete proteins into the complex assortment of amino acids the human body needs for growth and healing. Cooked bulgur wheat has 6g of protein per cup, and brown rice falls only a little short with 5g. De-germed enriched yellow corn meal contains 11.7g of protein in every cup.
Dairy Products
Most types of cheese including mozzarella, cheddar, and provolone yield nearly the same amount of protein. In a 1 oz. serving cheese holds 28.35g of complex protein. One cup of whole milk contains 7.85 g and, if fortified with vitamins, helps prevent serious dietary deficiencies.
Eggs
Some vegetarians do eat eggs, and the nutritional benefits include 6.27g of complex protein per egg--or slightly more depending on cooking method. The white of one egg contains 3.65g of protein, and the yolk holds 2.63g.
Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables contain smaller amounts of protein than the major vegetarian protein sources. One cup of cooked spinach provides 5g of protein, and 1 cup of cooked broccoli provides 4g. A 6 oz. white potato also holds 4g. One ounce of raw Florida-grown avocado holds 0.63g of protein. One canned pear half has from 0.15 to 0.26g of protein depending on the processing method.
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