Even if you are not a sportsperson or hitting the gym every day, you need protein. It is one of the most vital nutrients our body needs for proper functioning. It keeps you sated, helps in building muscle strength, aids in weight loss and keeps you energetic all day long. Ideally, protein should be consumed in abundance right at the start of the day, but not everyone has the luxury of putting in time and effort into making the perfect, nutrient-rich breakfast. If you are one of those who break into a sprint every morning and barely manage to reach the office, school or college on time, make sure you get your fill of protein and follow a protein-rich diet in the evening when you have more time in hand.
Also Read: Start Your Morning Right With These 6 High-Protein Breakfast Ideas
Add protein to your snacks to make them healthier. Image Credit: iStock
Here Are 5 Ideas For Having Protein-Rich Snacks
1. Fritters
We know you all love to have steaming fried pakodas or fritters with your evening cup of tea. Next time you start preparing the batter for your favourite snack, make sure to replace onions or potatoes with a protein-rich food. Make cottage cheese fritters or pumpkin fritters, or you can simply throw in some peas or boiled lentils in your regular batter. Apply the same ideas to another favourite – samosa – as well.
2. Chaat
A lip-smacking chaat is all you want to spice up your evenings. To make it protein-rich, add boiled chickpeas or nuts like almonds, cashews, tofu or even Brussels sprouts to it.
3. Bread Toast
If a plain bread smeared with butter or mayonnaise is your idea of a perfect mid-day meal, please carry on with it, except, replace butter and other low-nutrient foods with peanut butter or hummus made with chickpeas, or baked black beans.
4. Chips And Dips
Another popular in-between-the-meals snack that we all love to gorge on. If you just can't resist a big pack of chips, the least you can do is pair it with a healthier option of dip. Make yoghurt-based dip and suffuse it with the goodness of protein-rich foods like chia seeds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds, moong dal or mashed berries or granule nuts.
5. Protein Bars
If you like to stick to your old tea-and-biscuits routine, we would suggest you to make a slight change and replace regular biscuits or cookies with homemade protein bars. There are a number of options to make these energy bars with oats, nuts, seeds, berries and more.
(Also Read: 6 Easy-To-Make Protein-Rich Snacks You Can Have At Work
Few alterations here and there and you can make your snacking diet healthier with protein-rich foods to keep you going for the rest of the day.