Non-animal protein sources are thought to have ‘low protein quality’.

It’s true that they contain less of some important amino acids (protein building blocks), such as lysine and methionine, which could potentially limit muscle growth [Volpi 2011, Gorissen 2016].

However, it’s easy to compensate for this by making smart food combinations, so that one protein source makes up for the other.

For example, tofu and tempeh don’t contain a lot of methionine, but a Greek yogurt (peanut/sriracha/garlic) sauce can make up for that, since it’s higher in methionine.

More specifically: a 70 kg man/woman will optimize their amino intake for a meal if they combine 100 g tempeh with a peanut-powdered sauce made with 150 g low fat Greek yogurt (or quark).

Have a look at the image cheat sheet to see which protein sources you may want to combine to get a meat-like amino acid profile.

For a more precise calculator on protein source combinations, and recipe examples, check out our past article: https://stijnvanwilligen.com/en/how-to-get-enough-protein-as-a-flexitarian-vegetarian-or-vegan#calculator