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17 High-Protein Snacks Under 200 Calories
The 4pm problem is not willpower. It is that the only things within reach are made of sugar and flour, they cost 300 calories, and forty minutes later you are hungry again.
Protein is what fixes it. It is the most filling of the three macronutrients, it blunts the hunger hormone ghrelin, and in a calorie deficit it is what protects the muscle you are trying to keep. A snack with 15-20 g of protein does a completely different job from a snack with 2 g, even at identical calories.
Every snack below needs no cooking - no hob, no oven, no recipe. The macros are close approximations for the quantities given; brands vary, so scan the barcode or photograph the plate and let the app give you your real numbers.
Fridge snacks
1. Greek yoghurt with berries
The benchmark. Non-fat Greek yoghurt is around 17 g of protein per 170 g pot, and the berries add fibre and enough sweetness that it does not feel like health food.
About 140 calories | 18 g protein | 12 g carbs | 0 g fat
2. Cottage cheese with pineapple
Cottage cheese is mostly casein, which digests slowly - genuinely useful when the next meal is three hours away, or you are heading to bed.
About 150 calories | 16 g protein | 12 g carbs | 3 g fat
3. Two hard-boiled eggs with hot sauce
Boil six on Sunday and they will be gone by Thursday. Hot sauce is essentially free calories and makes them worth eating.
About 155 calories | 13 g protein | 1 g carbs | 11 g fat
4. Turkey slices rolled around cucumber
Ninety seconds of assembly, more protein per calorie than almost anything else on this list. Add a smear of mustard.
About 110 calories | 18 g protein | 3 g carbs | 2 g fat
5. Smoked salmon on cucumber rounds
Feels like something you would be handed at a party. 60 g of smoked salmon on thick cucumber slices, with a squeeze of lemon and black pepper.
About 110 calories | 13 g protein | 2 g carbs | 5 g fat
6. Light mozzarella sticks with cherry tomatoes
Two light string-cheese sticks and a handful of tomatoes. The most child-friendly entry here, and it survives a lunchbox.
About 145 calories | 14 g protein | 6 g carbs | 7 g fat
7. Cold cooked prawns with lemon and chilli
Pre-cooked prawns are one of the best protein-per-calorie foods in the shop. 100 g with lemon juice and chilli flakes.
About 105 calories | 24 g protein | 0 g carbs | 1 g fat
8. Edamame with sea salt
Buy them frozen, defrost a cup, salt them. Plant protein plus a useful amount of fibre, and podding them slows you down enough to notice you are full.
About 190 calories | 18 g protein | 15 g carbs | 8 g fat
Desk-drawer snacks that need no fridge
9. Tuna pouch on rice cakes
A no-drain pouch and two rice cakes. Unglamorous, keeps for months in a drawer, and it is 25 g of protein for the price of a biscuit.
About 180 calories | 25 g protein | 15 g carbs | 2 g fat
10. Beef jerky
Thirty grams of decent jerky, ideally something without a sugar glaze. Zero preparation, and it does not care how warm your bag is.
About 100 calories | 12 g protein | 5 g carbs | 2 g fat
11. A protein shake with water
Not exciting, extremely effective. One scoop, a shaker, cold water. Take it about half an hour before you would normally raid the vending machine.
About 125 calories | 25 g protein | 3 g carbs | 2 g fat
12. Roasted chickpeas
The crunchy, salty snack that is not crisps. Look for 15-20 g of protein per 100 g on the packet.
About 160 calories | 8 g protein | 20 g carbs | 5 g fat
13. A protein bar worth eating
Most are chocolate bars in gym clothing. The rule: at least 15 g of protein and under 200 calories, or it is confectionery with a marketing budget.
About 190 calories | 20 g protein | 18 g carbs | 6 g fat
14. Roasted soybeans or lupini beans
Shelf-stable, savoury, and unusually high in protein for something you can eat by the handful. Watch the portion - they are easy to keep eating.
About 150 calories | 14 g protein | 10 g carbs | 7 g fat
For a sweet craving
15. Chocolate protein pudding
A scoop of casein or chocolate whey with just enough water or milk to make a thick paste. Stir hard, chill for ten minutes, eat with a teaspoon. Tastes like dessert, behaves like protein.
About 130 calories | 24 g protein | 4 g carbs | 2 g fat
16. Overnight oats with skyr
25 g of oats, 150 g of skyr, a splash of milk, left in the fridge overnight. Sweeten with cinnamon or a few berries.
About 195 calories | 20 g protein | 20 g carbs | 3 g fat
17. Frozen banana slices with high-protein yoghurt
Half a sliced banana frozen on a tray, stirred through 150 g of vanilla high-protein yoghurt. The nearest thing to ice cream that still counts as a protein snack.
About 180 calories | 17 g protein | 24 g carbs | 1 g fat
How to choose a good high-protein snack
If you take nothing else from the list, take these four rules:
- At least 10 g of protein, ideally 15-20. Below that it is a snack with a protein-adjacent label.
- Aim for 10 calories or fewer per gram of protein. Greek yoghurt at 140 calories for 18 g passes easily. A "protein" cookie at 300 calories for 10 g does not.
- Add water or fibre. Yoghurt, cottage cheese, vegetables and pulses are bulky, and bulk is what actually makes you feel full.
- Buy it before you need it. The 4pm decision is made in the supermarket on Sunday, not at your desk on Wednesday.
Where snacks fit in your day
Snacks are not extra. They come out of the same daily budget as everything else, which is exactly why the high-protein ones earn their shelf space: two of these cost around 300 calories and keep you genuinely full through the afternoon, where one pastry costs the same and buys you an hour.
Work out how much protein you should be eating with the protein calculator, and where your daily calories should sit with the calorie deficit calculator. Then keep the log honest without typing: photograph the snack and CalorTracker's AI identifies it and fills in the macros, or scan the barcode on a bar or a pot and take the label's numbers directly.
Start tracking free - snap it, log it, get back to your afternoon.
Hungry earlier in the day too? Try 20 healthy 400-calorie breakfast ideas, or 10 high-protein breakfasts under 400 calories.