Meal Planning for Muscle Building on a Budget

According to Empower's 2025 research of 2,200 Americans, the average person spends $50 per week specifically on protein products. Gen Z spends $75. Millennials spend $67. And 52% say protein products have noticeably increased their weekly grocery bill.

You can build muscle on a budget by choosing whole food protein sources over premium-marketed products. Dry lentils and beans cost about $0.01 per gram of protein. Protein bars cost $0.10-0.15. The cheapest protein sources on the planet are plant-based, and you don't need supplements, protein-enhanced snacks, or specialty foods to hit your macro targets.

The fitness industry has convinced people that building muscle requires expensive food. It doesn't. According to LendingTree, 40% of millennials and Gen Z have gone into credit card debt from fitness and nutrition spending. That's not dedication. That's marketing working as intended.

This is the table the supplement industry doesn't want you to see.

Protein Source	Cost per gram of protein	Protein per serving	Cost per serving
Dry lentils	$0.01	18g per cup (cooked)	$0.18
Dry beans (black, pinto)	$0.01	15g per cup (cooked)	$0.15
Peanut butter	$0.03	7g per 2 tbsp	$0.21
Tofu (firm)	$0.05	20g per half block	$1.00
Seitan (homemade)	$0.05	25g per 100g	$1.25
Budget protein powder	$0.06	25g per scoop	$1.50
Tempeh	$0.10	20g per half package	$2.00
Protein bars	$0.10-0.15	20g per bar	$2.50
Pre-made protein shake	$0.15-0.20	30g per bottle	$4.50

Sources: Plenteousveg, FlavoryCooking, ProteinPowder.com

Lentils are 10-15x cheaper per gram of protein than protein bars. Rice and beans together form a complete protein with all nine essential amino acids, and a bowl costs about $0.25-0.49 for 30g of protein.

According to a University of Oxford study in The Lancet Planetary Health, plant-based diets are 21-34% cheaper than standard diets in high-income countries. The ISSN recommends 1.4-2.0g of protein per kilogram of body weight for muscle building. For a 170 lb (77 kg) person, that's 108-154g per day. Use our free macro calculator to get your exact protein, calorie, and macro targets for muscle building. You can hit those numbers with lentils, beans, tofu, and peanut butter for well under $5 a day in protein costs.

For a detailed breakdown of how to hit 150g+ protein on a plant-based diet, I wrote a full guide with nutrient tracking.

Americans spend $56-68 per month on supplements according to a MyProtein survey. That's $670-816 per year on powders, bars, vitamins, and whatever the latest fitness influencer is selling.

Harvard Health puts it bluntly: "Don't waste time (or money) on dietary supplements." For most healthy adults, supplements provide no clear benefit when food already covers the same nutrients.

Protein bars are the worst offenders. According to industry cost analysis, only 15-20% of a protein bar's retail price is actual ingredients. The rest is production (10%), packaging (8-12%), marketing (25-30%), and distribution (20-25%). One major brand spent $18 million on Instagram influencer marketing in a single year. You're paying for that.

DIY protein bars from bulk protein powder cost about $0.85 per bar. Store-bought: $2.50-3.50. That's a 4x markup for a wrapper and a marketing budget.

Here's my take: if you're eating enough whole food protein (lentils, beans, tofu, tempeh, seitan, peanut butter), you don't need protein powder at all. If you want the convenience of a shake, buy budget protein powder and skip the bars. The only supplements worth considering on a plant-based diet are B12 and possibly creatine. Everything else is optional.

The hard part of muscle building on a budget isn't knowing that lentils are cheap. It's turning cheap ingredients into meals you want to eat, seven days a week, while still hitting your protein targets.

That's what MealThinker does. Tell it your macro goals and it plans meals around what's already in your kitchen. No buying specialty ingredients for one recipe and watching the rest go to waste. According to Penn State research, the average household wastes 31.9% of the food it buys. For someone on a tight budget, that's money in the trash.

MealThinker knows your pantry and builds meals from what you have. Bought a big bag of lentils? It'll spread those across the week in different meals so you're not eating the same lentil soup five nights in a row. It tracks your protein automatically, so you don't need MyFitnessPal or a spreadsheet. See a full day of AI-planned muscle building meals to get the idea.

Building muscle shouldn't put you in debt. The food is cheap. The nightly decision of what to cook is what costs you.

Try MealThinker free for 7 days. No credit card required.

How much does a muscle building diet cost per week?

A muscle building diet can cost as little as $60-75 per week if you focus on whole food protein sources like dry lentils ($0.01/g protein), beans ($0.01/g), tofu ($0.05/g), and peanut butter ($0.03/g). According to Empower research, Americans spend $50/week on protein products alone, but most of that goes to premium-marketed items that aren't necessary. Whole foods are cheaper and more nutritious than supplements.

What are the cheapest high-protein foods for muscle building?

Dry lentils and beans are the cheapest protein sources available at roughly $0.01 per gram of protein. Other affordable options include peanut butter ($0.03/g), tofu ($0.05/g), and homemade seitan ($0.05/g). Rice and beans together form a complete protein with all essential amino acids for about $0.25-0.49 per serving with 30g of protein.

Do you need protein powder to build muscle?

No. Protein powder is a convenience, not a necessity. If you eat enough whole food protein sources (lentils, beans, tofu, tempeh, peanut butter), you can hit the ISSN-recommended 1.4-2.0g per kilogram of body weight without any supplements. Protein powder can help if you struggle to hit targets through food alone, but budget powder ($0.06/g) works the same as premium brands ($0.12+/g).

Can you build muscle on a plant-based diet affordably?

Yes. A University of Oxford study published in The Lancet Planetary Health found that plant-based diets are 21-34% cheaper than standard diets in high-income countries. Plant-based protein sources (lentils, beans, tofu) are among the cheapest proteins per gram available. For a complete guide, see high-protein vegan meal planning with AI.

How much protein do you need per day to build muscle?

The International Society of Sports Nutrition recommends 1.4-2.0g of protein per kilogram of body weight for muscle building. For a 170 lb (77 kg) person, that's 108-154g per day. You don't need to hit the upper end unless you're an advanced athlete. For most people, 1.6g/kg is a good target. MealThinker can calculate your targets and plan meals that hit them automatically.