Use pulses, dairy, soy, nuts and seeds at every meal, and swap low-protein staples for versions with more protein. Besan in place of maida, a bowl of curd beside the rice and roasted chana in place of biscuits each add a few grams. A protein powder can top up a day that still falls short.
Breakfast ideas with more protein
Breakfast is often the meal lowest in protein on vegetarian days, so start there. Chana dal, the dal that besan is ground from, has 21.55 g of protein per 100 g, about twice the 10.36 g in maida.1 A besan chilla made with 50 g of besan therefore brings roughly 10.8 g of protein. A moong dal chilla from 40 g of raw dal comes close, at about 9.6 g.
Familiar dishes can take more protein without much change. Sprouted moong stirred into poha or upma, paneer in a paratha stuffing, or a bowl of curd topped with seeds all raise the protein. Milk on the side, about 200 ml of it, adds roughly 6.5 g more.1
Lunch and dinner ideas
Most Indian homes already serve dal at main meals, so the aim is the right balance with cereals. The Indian Council of Medical Research's National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) suggests pairing cereals and pulses in roughly a 3 to 1 ratio by raw weight. Each covers an amino acid the other lacks.2 Rajma or chole with rice, sambar with idli, and dal with rotis all follow this pattern.
Paneer, tofu and soy chunks add the most when a meal needs more. Firm tofu has about 17.3 g of protein per 100 g.3 A paneer bhurji or tofu stir-fry with vegetables can go with rotis, and a soy chunk pulao turns plain rice into a fuller meal.
Curd can appear at more meals too, as raita with pulao, as kadhi made from besan and curd, or as buttermilk with lunch. Each adds a few grams without changing the menu. Changing the dal from day to day also keeps meals interesting: urad in idli batter, toor in sambar, chana in chole and moong in khichdi.
Snacks that add protein
Swap biscuits and namkeen for roasted chana, groundnut chikki, a sprouts chaat or a handful of groundnuts. Twenty grams of groundnuts give about 4.7 g of protein.1 Sattu, a flour of roasted chana mixed into water, and roasted soybeans are other easy options.
Having a few of these at home and at work matters more than which one you pick. When a protein snack is close by, the afternoon gap is less likely to be filled by fried or sugary food.
Why soy counts as a complete protein
People asking "what is soy protein?" usually mean the protein in soybeans, tofu, soy milk and soy chunks. The other common question, "is soy a complete protein?", has a short answer: yes. Unlike some plant proteins, soy has all nine essential amino acids, so Harvard's Nutrition Source counts it as complete.4
Soybeans are also rich in protein. Anyone sorting the best pulses for protein by grams will find soybean first in the Indian Food Composition Tables, at 35.58 g per 100 g raw.1 A 30 g portion, soaked and cooked into a curry, gives about 10.7 g.
Adding Horlicks Protein to vegetarian meals
A protein powder can top up a meat-free day. A plant-based protein powder made from pea or soy is one option, and its label shows the source and the protein in one serving.
In Horlicks Protein powder, fermented yeast protein supplies the protein. Unflavoured adds whey protein concentrate to that. Each 36 g sachet holds 24 g of protein and 4 g of prebiotic fibre, and a single sachet a day is the brand's suggestion. The Unflavoured sachet can go into a banana smoothie made with 200 ml of milk, and the Chocolate or Coffee variant into a glass of cold milk.
To sum up, you can add protein without meat or eggs by giving every meal a pulse, dairy food, soy or nuts. Start with breakfast, using besan or moong dal chilla, sprouts, paneer or curd. Pair cereals and pulses at lunch and dinner, add paneer, tofu or soy chunks for larger amounts, and keep roasted chana or groundnuts for snacks. On days that still fall short, one Horlicks Protein sachet can cover what is missing.
Sources
1. ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition. Indian Food Composition Tables, 2017. https://www.nin.res.in/ebooks/IFCT2017.pdf
2. ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition. Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024. https://nin.res.in/dietaryguidelines/pdfjs/locale/DGI_2024.pdf
3. USDA FoodData Central. Tofu, raw, firm, prepared with calcium sulfate. FDC 172475. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-search/?query=172475&type=SR%20Legacy
4. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, The Nutrition Source. Straight Talk About Soy. https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/soy/