Protein Bowl: Recipe with 40 grams of protein

Protein is THE macronutrient par excellence when it comes to building muscle. Only with the help of the protein building blocks, the amino acids, can your muscle fibers thicken and your biceps “grow”. Therefore, for everyone who wants to build muscles and define their body: you don’t just have to really work hard in the gym, but also when eating. Keyword: calorie surplus. Your meals should be one thing above all: high in protein. This provides your muscles with enough “building and repair material” – the basis for more muscle mass.

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According to the recommendation of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, you should consume 1.4 and 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. For example, if you weigh 80 kilograms, that would be 112 to 160 grams of protein per day. You can read here how many meals you should eat a day and whether large or small portions are better. Small spoiler: You can theoretically build muscle with just one or two large meals a day, as long as you cover your protein needs at the end of the day – studies have even proven this.

Putting together a protein bowl – this is how it works!

In order to pack as much protein as possible into a meal, you simply have to combine healthy protein sources with each other. To make it edible and not disgusting, we have put together an example recipe for you: our protein bowl with over 40 grams of protein per bowl.

Ingredients for 1 serving

• 60g quinoa
• 1 handful of cauliflower (frozen or fresh)
• 1⁄4 cucumber
• 1 handful of cherry tomatoes
• Salt & pepper & paprika powder
• 120g chicken breast
• 1 tsp rapeseed oil
• 2 tbsp chickpeas, canned
• 50g avocado
• Dressing: 1 teaspoon linseed oil + 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar + 1 splash of lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Cook quinoa in salted water or vegetable broth according to package instructions. You can easily cook cauliflower, whether fresh or frozen, in the same pot.
2. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces or, if you like, you can fry the fillet whole. Season the meat with salt, pepper and paprika, then fry in rapeseed oil.
3. Instead of simply adding the chickpeas straight into the bowl, you can briefly fry them in the pan together with the meat.
4. Meanwhile, cut the cucumber and tomatoes into pieces. Mix with salt and pepper and serve together or individually in the bowl.
5. Put the quinoa in a bowl (shallow bowl) with the cauliflower, raw vegetables and chicken, top with avocado.
6. Pour the dressing (plus salt and pepper) over raw vegetables and quinoa so that it is not too dry.

Eat immediately or prepare several portions and distribute them in meal prep containers.

Nutritional values: 637 calories, 42g protein, 47g carbohydrates, 30g fat

You don’t have to commit to certain ingredients, you can always swap them out and vary your diet: rice or couscous instead of quinoa, kidney beans instead of chickpeas, ground beef instead of chicken, add an egg, cottage cheese or low-fat quark as a dip – the choice is yours .

By the way: Studies have shown that you can also build muscle mass efficiently with a purely plant-based diet. Vegan protein sources also increase protein synthesis in the muscles – in combination with the right muscle-building training – i.e. the formation of new proteins in the muscle cells. You can therefore also make a vegan protein bowl. You can prepare quinoa, chickpeas and raw vegetables as described above, then fry 100 grams of natural or smoked tofu and make a soy-based herb curd to go with it.

Doesn’t the bowl have way too much protein?

You previously thought that your body could only absorb and utilize around 30 grams of protein per meal? No, your body doesn’t waste such important resources, it can absorb significantly more, but studies have actually shown that an amount of 20 to 30 grams of protein per serving is ideal for building muscle can be used – but that the rest is used for other important processes in the body and is not simply excreted. In addition, numerous factors, such as other macronutrients in the same meal (such as carbohydrates), influence protein absorption. According to the study mentioned above, 0.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight is optimal for building muscle (80 kilos for men: 32 grams per meal/snack).

It’s best to combine plant and animal protein sources in one meal – this way you get the benefits of both protein sources. The more different, protein-rich foods you eat, the higher the chance that you will absorb all the essential amino acids for optimal muscle building every day. There are delicious recipe inspirations in our cookbook:

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30 protein meals for more muscles

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Sources mentioned:

Jaeger, R. et al. (2017) International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 14, 20 (2017). doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0177-8

Schoenfeld, BJ. et al. (2013) The effect of protein timing on muscle strength and hypertrophy: a meta-analysis. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition vol. 10.1 53. 3 Dec. 2013, doi:10.1186/1550-2783-10-53

Schoenfeld, BJ, Aragon, AA (2018) How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition vol. 15 10. 27 Feb. 2018, doi:10.1186/s12970-018-0215-1

Monteyne, A.J. et al. (2023) Vegan and Omnivorous High Protein Diets Support Comparable Daily Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis Rates and Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy in Young Adults. The Journal of nutrition vol. 153.6 (2023): 1680-1695. doi:10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.02.023

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