Meat · Non-veg

Protein in mutton

Mutton (goat meat, leg) has 22.1 g of protein in every 100 g, raw. Here's what that means for your day, how it compares, and how to count it right.

The short answer

100 g of mutton (raw) has 22.1 g of protein and 160 kcal.1 That's about 44% of the 50 g of protein ICMR-NIN suggests a day for a 60 kg adult.2

22.1 gprotein per 100 g
160kcal per 100 g
56%of calories from protein
91 gfor 20 g protein

Nutrition in 100 g of mutton

Per 100 gAmount
Energy160 kcal (669 kJ)
Protein22.1 g ± 0.6
Fat7.9 g
Carbohydrate0 g
Fibre0 g
Water68.9 g
Raw, per 100 g. IFCT 2017 food code O003 (“Goat, legs”), averaged across 6 regions of India. ± is the spread between samples.

These figures are for raw mutton, edible part, without bone. Cooking drives out water, so cooked meat has more protein per 100 g than raw. Weigh it raw for an accurate count.

How much mutton for your protein?

The amounts below are worked out from IFCT's figure of 22.1 g per 100 g. To see how mutton fits into a whole day, add it in the day builder.

To getEat aboutCalories
10 g of protein45 g (raw weight)72 kcal
20 g of protein91 g (raw weight)146 kcal
30 g of protein136 g (raw weight)218 kcal

How mutton compares

Mutton has more protein per 100 g than 92% of the 542 foods in IFCT 2017. Here it is beside the other meat we cover:

MeatProtein / 100 gkcalFrom protein
Mutton22.1 g16056%
Mutton liver20.3 g12666%
Pork19.4 g17944%
Per 100 g, raw. “From protein” is the share of calories that comes from protein.

Other foods with similar protein: seer fish (22.3 g), whole urad (22 g), chicken breast (21.8 g), hilsa (21.8 g), horse gram (21.7 g). For more protein per 100 g, try soybean (37.8 g), tuna (24.5 g), masoor dal (24.4 g). See every food on one protein chart.

Protein quality

Meat has complete protein: all the essential amino acids in good proportions.3 Organ meats such as liver are also rich in iron and vitamin A.

Common questions

How much protein is in 100 g of mutton?

22.1 g, according to the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 from ICMR-NIN. That's for raw mutton, per 100 g of the edible part. 100 g also gives 160 kcal.

How much mutton gives 20 g of protein?

About 91 g (raw weight). That's roughly 40% of the 50 g a day ICMR-NIN suggests for a 60 kg adult.

Is mutton a good source of protein?

56% of its calories come from protein, and it has more protein per 100 g than 92% of the 542 foods in IFCT 2017. Meat has complete protein: all the essential amino acids in good proportions.

Is this for raw or cooked mutton?

Raw, edible part, without bone. Cooking drives out water, so 100 g cooked has more protein than 100 g raw. If you weigh it cooked, your count will come out low.

References

  1. Longvah T, Ananthan R, Bhaskarachary K, Venkaiah K. Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR), Hyderabad. nin.res.in. Read through the open-data copy by Subhajit Sahu (ifct2017, MIT licence).
  2. ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition. Nutrient Requirements for Indians: Recommended Dietary Allowances and Estimated Average Requirements. 2020. nin.res.in
  3. WHO/FAO/UNU Expert Consultation. Protein and amino acid requirements in human nutrition. WHO Technical Report Series 935, 2007. who.int