How many grams of protein in an egg? A large egg has about 6.3 grams, according to USDA FoodData Central. That figure comes from USDA’s entry for a whole, raw, fresh egg, which lists 12.6 g of protein per 100 g and weighs a large egg at 50 g.

Cooking barely moves that number. What it does change, in one small human study, is how much of the protein your body actually absorbs.

Protein in an egg by size

USDA lists a portion weight for every carton size, from small to jumbo. Multiply each weight by 12.6 g per 100 g and you get the protein per egg.

Source: USDA FoodData Central, Egg, whole, raw, fresh (FDC 171287); Egg, white, raw, fresh (FDC 172183); Egg, yolk, raw, fresh (FDC 172184). Per-egg values calculated from USDA portion weights and rounded to 0.1 g.

The gap between a small and a jumbo egg is about 3 g of protein. If you buy jumbo eggs and track protein from a recipe written for large ones, every two eggs add roughly 3 g you did not count.

The white and yolk rows add up neatly: 33 g plus 17 g is the same 50 g as a whole large egg, and 3.6 g plus 2.7 g lands on the same 6.3 g.

Egg white vs yolk: where the protein sits

The white carries more of the protein, about 3.6 g of the 6.3 g in a large egg. That is the half of the story that gets repeated.

The other half is density. Gram for gram, the yolk is richer in protein, 15.9 g per 100 g against 10.9 g for the white. The white wins on total only because it is roughly twice as heavy.

So the common advice to “eat the whites for protein” is incomplete. Drop the yolk and you lose about 43 percent of the egg’s protein along with it.

Video: Mike Roussell, PhD

There are reasons people still choose whites, mostly about the fat and cholesterol that sit in the yolk. Those are separate questions from protein, and they belong in a conversation with your doctor if you have a heart or cholesterol condition.

Does cooking change the protein in an egg?

Cooking does not create or destroy protein in any meaningful amount. USDA lists a hard-boiled egg at 12.6 g per 100 g, the same as raw, and a large hard-boiled egg at the same 50 g.

The per-100 g figures for other methods drift because of water and added ingredients, not because heat removes protein. A fried egg loses water and weighs less, and a scrambled egg usually picks up milk and fat.

Source: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy entries 173424 (hard-boiled), 172186 (poached), 173423 (fried), 172185 (omelet) and 172187 (scrambled). USDA marks the fried, omelet and scrambled values as recipe-derived. Per-egg values calculated and rounded to 0.1 g.

Every method lands between about 6.1 g and 6.5 g for one large egg. The omelet and scrambled rows are heavier because USDA’s recipes include other ingredients, so a little of that protein comes from the milk rather than the egg.

If you fry in oil, the oil adds fat and calories but no protein. Our explainer on what seed oils are and what the research says covers the cooking fats most people reach for.

Raw vs cooked eggs: how much protein you absorb

The label number is the same raw or cooked, but absorption is not. A 1998 study in the Journal of Nutrition by Evenepoel and colleagues measured how much egg protein five ileostomy patients absorbed by the end of the small intestine.

The researchers reported true ileal digestibility of 90.9 percent for cooked egg protein and 51.3 percent for raw. In their summary, heat treatment significantly enhanced how much egg protein was digested. You can read the abstract on PubMed.

Five people is a small sample, so treat the exact percentages as a measurement from one study rather than a fixed rule. The direction, though, is clear: drinking raw eggs for protein is a poor trade.

It also carries a food safety cost. The FDA says fresh eggs, even with clean, uncracked shells, may contain Salmonella, and advises cooking eggs until both the yolk and the white are firm. Its full guidance is on the FDA egg safety page.

Counting egg protein in a real day

For a quick estimate, use 6 g per large egg and adjust for size from the table. Two large eggs come to about 12.6 g, and three come to about 18.9 g.

If you separate eggs for baking or a white-only omelet, count 3.6 g per large white. A carton of liquid egg whites lists its own figures on the Nutrition Facts panel, and that label is the number to use for that product.

People who track protein closely for training often stack eggs with supplements. If that is you, our look at whether creatine causes hair loss walks through the single study behind that worry.

Eggs also show up on a lot of lists about breakfast and stress hormones. Our guide to cortisol triggering foods separates what the research supports from what it does not.

How much protein you personally need depends on your age, body size, health and activity level. For a target that fits your situation, check with your doctor or a registered dietitian.

Frequently asked questions

How many grams of protein are in 2 eggs?

Two large eggs have about 12.6 g of protein, based on USDA’s 6.3 g per large egg. Two extra large eggs come to about 14.1 g, and two jumbo eggs to about 15.9 g.

Does a hard-boiled egg have more protein than a raw egg?

No. USDA lists both at 12.6 g of protein per 100 g, so a large egg carries about 6.3 g either way. Cooking does make that protein easier to digest, according to a 1998 study in the Journal of Nutrition.

Is there more protein in the egg white or the yolk?

The white has more in total, about 3.6 g against 2.7 g for the yolk of a large egg. The yolk is denser, though, with 15.9 g of protein per 100 g compared with 10.9 g for the white.