Highest Protein Nuts and Seeds

The shelf's quiet protein stack: hulled hemp seeds open at 31.6g per 100g, roasted pumpkin kernels take second at 29.8g, and peanuts — technically a legume that eats like a nut — hold third at 26g. Almonds in their many forms occupy the 21.4–21g belt, pistachios hold the 20g mark, and the whole pumpkin seeds and flaxseed bring up the rear at 18.6 and 18.3g — the latter carrying 27.3g of fiber alongside.

How this ranking works

Every nut and seed row in the database with a real Arabic name enters, ranked by protein per 100g, descending, under the family scope rules (no spice rows, no dried/powder forms). Salted, roasted and raw versions of the same seed are separate measured rows — the sodium belongs to the roasting pan, not the seed.

The table: top 20

#	Food	Protein (g / 100g)	Calories (kcal/100g)
1	Seeds, hemp seed, hulled	31.6	553
2	Seeds, pumpkin and squash seed kernels, roasted, without salt	29.8	574
3	Peanuts	26	567
4	Nuts, almonds, blanched	21.4	590
5	Nuts, almonds, oil roasted, with salt added, smoke flavor	21.4	607
6	Nuts, almonds, oil roasted, lightly salted	21.2	607
7	Nuts, almonds, oil roasted, with salt added	21.2	607
8	Nuts, almonds, oil roasted, without salt added	21.2	607
9	Nuts, almonds	21.1	579
10	Almonds	21	579
11	Nuts, almond butter, plain, with salt added	21	614
12	Nuts, almond butter, plain, without salt added	21	614
13	Nuts, pistachio nuts, raw	20.2	560
14	Seeds, sunflower seed kernels, oil roasted, without salt	20.1	592
15	Nuts, mixed nuts, oil roasted, with peanuts, lightly salted	20	607
16	Nuts, mixed nuts, oil roasted, with peanuts, with salt added	20	607
17	Nuts, mixed nuts, oil roasted, with peanuts, without salt added	20	607
18	Pistachios	20	562
19	Seeds, pumpkin and squash seeds, whole, roasted, without salt	18.6	446
20	Seeds, flaxseed	18.3	534

Source: the Alkemos food database — the same rows each food’s page shows (per-100g values; every name links to that food’s full page).

Reading the table

Seeds beat the classic nuts

The podium is all seeds: hemp 31.6g, pumpkin kernels 29.8g, then peanuts at 26g. They also bring the family's better fiber numbers — pumpkin kernels carry 6.5g — while walnuts and cashews miss the twenty entirely on protein, whatever their other virtues.

The calorie column is the deal

The rows run 446–614 kcal per 100g — half a day's budget for many diets. A 30g handful of hemp seeds delivers about 9g of protein for about 166 kcal. Useful? Yes. Free? Never — the table says so plainly.

Almond butter counts too

The almond-butter rows sit at 21g — grinding changes nothing about the protein, only the eating speed. That is the practical warning of this family: a spoon slides down faster than a chewed handful, and the calorie column does not pause with you.

Common questions

Can nuts be my main protein source?

As a base, the math fights you: reaching 120g of protein from almonds alone means roughly 570g of them — over 3,300 kcal before anything else on the plate. As a contributor — 8g per peanut handful — they are excellent; pair them with the legume and dairy tables for the heavy lifting.

Are roasted nuts lower in protein than raw?

The rows barely differ — raw pistachio 20.2g versus the roasted forms within a gram. Roasting's real costs are added oil and salt in some rows, visible in the calorie and sodium columns of each linked page. Home-roasting dry keeps the row's numbers closest.

Why is the peanut in a nuts table?

Botanically it grows underground as a legume, but it is bought, stored and eaten exactly like its shelf neighbors, and the database's nut category reflects that kitchen reality. Nutritionally it earns the seat honestly: 26g of protein per 100g, third on the table.

Turn these tables into a plan: the Macro Calculator splits your daily budget into grams — free, no account needed.

New to this topic? Start from the curated High Protein Foods collection — the hand-picked staples — then come back for the full ranking.