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The foods high in glutamine are the foods that carry the most protein: boiled soybeans, tempeh and cottage cheese by the cup, then braised and broiled beef, roasted chicken, pork, fish, shellfish, tofu and legumes by the usual serving. USDA FoodData Central, though, does not report glutamine at all. Its SR Legacy tables list glutamic acid, because the standard laboratory method converts glutamine to glutamic acid, as Lenders and colleagues explain in a 2009 paper. This list ranks foods by USDA glutamic acid per serving, explains what that number means and adds Lenders’ direct glutamine estimates.
Peptide Labs does not sell foods. This article is general nutrition information, not medical advice.
Key Takeaways
- USDA SR Legacy has a glutamine field, but no food carries a value; 5,029 foods carry a glutamic acid value, and that is what this list ranks.
- Lenders and colleagues report that glutamine is mostly transformed to glutamate during the acid hydrolysis used for food tables, so glutamate is overestimated and glutamine is missing.
- In USDA data, a cup of boiled soybeans, lowfat cottage cheese or tempeh supplies about 5.5 grams of glutamic acid; 3 ounces of cooked meat or fish supplies about 3 to 4 grams.
- Lenders' gene-sequence estimates put glutamine at 1% to 33% of the protein in the foods studied, about 4.8% in meat.
- FDA sets no Daily Value for glutamine, glutamic acid or any other single amino acid, so this list has no %DV column.
Foods high in glutamine: USDA glutamic acid per serving
The table uses USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy entries from the April 2018 release, each shown with its FDC ID. Per-serving figures are the per-100-gram values multiplied by the gram weight of a common USDA portion, and the list is ranked by glutamic acid per serving. FDA’s labeling rule, 21 CFR 101.9, sets a Daily Value of 50 grams for protein but none for individual amino acids, so there is no %DV to show.
| Food (USDA FDC ID) | Serving | Glutamic acid (g) | Per 100 g (g) | Protein (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soybeans, mature, boiled (174271) | 1 cup | 5.5 | 3.2 | 31 |
| Cottage cheese, lowfat 2% (172182) | 1 cup | 5.5 | 2.4 | 24 |
| Tempeh (174272) | 1 cup | 5.5 | 3.3 | 34 |
| Beef chuck arm pot roast, lean, braised (170615) | 3 oz | 4.3 | 5.0 | 28 |
| Tofu, firm, raw (172475) | 1/2 cup | 4.1 | 3.3 | 22 |
| Chicken breast, meat only, roasted (171477) | 1/2 breast | 4.0 | 4.6 | 27 |
| Beef top sirloin, lean, broiled (168634) | 3 oz | 3.9 | 4.6 | 26 |
| Pork loin chop, lean, broiled (168253) | 3 oz | 3.7 | 4.4 | 23 |
| Shrimp, cooked (171971) | 3 oz | 3.4 | 4.0 | 19 |
| Turkey, whole, roasted, meat only (171481) | 3 oz | 3.3 | 3.9 | 25 |
| Sockeye salmon, cooked (173692) | 3 oz | 3.3 | 3.9 | 23 |
| Light tuna, canned in water, drained (171986) | 3 oz | 3.2 | 3.8 | 22 |
| Edamame, frozen, prepared (168411) | 1 cup | 3.1 | 2.0 | 18 |
| Atlantic cod, cooked (171956) | 3 oz | 2.9 | 3.4 | 19 |
| Tomatoes, sun-dried (168567) | 1 cup | 2.8 | 5.2 | 8 |
| Lentils, boiled (172421) | 1 cup | 2.8 | 1.4 | 18 |
| Yogurt, plain, skim milk (170887) | 1 cup | 2.7 | 1.1 | 14 |
| Kidney beans, boiled (173740) | 1 cup | 2.5 | 1.4 | 15 |
| Parmesan, hard (170848) | 1 oz | 2.3 | 8.2 | 10 |
| Hemp seeds, hulled (170148) | 3 tbsp | 1.9 | 6.3 | 9 |
| Whole milk (171265) | 1 cup | 1.7 | 0.7 | 8 |
| Cheddar cheese (173414) | 1 oz | 1.3 | 4.7 | 6 |
| Egg, hard-boiled (173424) | 1 large | 0.8 | 1.6 | 6 |
| Gelatin, dry powder, unsweetened (169599) | 1 envelope | 0.6 | 8.8 | 6 |
| Tomato, red, ripe, raw (170457) | 1 medium | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1 |
Soy foods and a cup of cottage cheese lead the per-serving list because the portions are large; our guides to soybeans, tempeh and tofu cover their other nutrients. Among animal foods, braised chuck roast, roasted chicken breast, broiled sirloin and pork sit within a gram of each other, with shrimp, turkey, salmon and tuna just behind. Per 100 grams, USDA lists hard Parmesan at 8.2 grams, the highest value in the table, with almonds, hemp seeds and pumpkin seed kernels above 6 grams; their usual portions are small.
Why the USDA table shows glutamic acid
Lenders and colleagues, writing in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2009, explain that amino acid data for foods are obtained primarily by ion-exchange chromatography following acid hydrolysis of proteins, and that a drawback of the method is the conversion of glutamine to glutamate. Asparagine and glutamine, Lenders’ team writes, are mostly transformed to aspartate and glutamate during acid hydrolysis, so the glutamine content of food proteins is not available in nutrient databases and the glutamate figure is overestimated. A 2021 paper by Joseph and colleagues describing an AOAC official method for amino acids in nutritional formulas states the same convention directly: glutamine is determined as glutamic acid.
The USDA SR Legacy April 2018 release has a nutrient field for glutamine (nutrient number 1233), but none of its 7,793 foods carries a value, while 5,029 foods carry a glutamic acid value (nutrient number 1224). Every glutamic acid figure in the USDA table above is therefore glutamine plus glutamate counted together. A food that ranks high for glutamic acid is a food with a lot of protein; how much of that figure started out as glutamine differs from protein to protein.
Glutamine rich foods: peer-reviewed estimates
Lenders’ team instead estimated glutamine from the gene sequences of the main proteins in the foods of a 131-item questionnaire. Across those foods, glutamine ranged from 0.01 to 9.49 grams per 100 grams of food and made up 1% to 33% of total protein. For meat, the sequencing estimate of 4.8% of protein was close to the 4.4% that Kuhn and colleagues had measured with a modified biochemical technique. Lenders’ Table 2 gives these glutamine estimates per 100 grams of food, with each food’s total protein in brackets: beef 1.231 grams (25.9 grams of protein), tofu 0.603 (6.6), egg 0.559 (12.6), corn 0.406 (2.5), rice, white 0.301 (2.7) and skim milk 0.275 (3.4). For the same beef, Lenders’ table shows USDA’s conventional glutamate figure as 3.894 grams against 2.658 by sequencing.
Baxter and colleagues, in a 2004 paper in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, measured glutamine directly in commercial liquid nutritional formulas with enzymatic hydrolysis, which leaves glutamine intact. Baxter’s team found that formulas built on casein, the main milk protein, typically delivered more than 9 grams of glutamine per 100 grams of protein, approximately 40% of the combined acid-hydrolysis figure for glutamic acid, glutamine and pyroglutamic acid. Baxter’s numbers describe formulas, not the dairy foods in the table.
Glutamine foods by food group
- Meat, poultry, fish and shellfish: USDA lists roughly 3.4 to 5.0 grams of glutamic acid per 100 grams for cooked fish, shellfish, poultry, pork and beef, about 14% to 18% of their protein.
- Soy and legumes: USDA lists tempeh at 3.3 grams per 100 grams, firm tofu at 3.3 and boiled soybeans at 3.2; boiled lentils and kidney beans are near 1.4 and prepared edamame 2.0.
- Dairy and eggs: hard Parmesan leads USDA’s list at 8.2 grams per 100 grams and cheddar sits at 4.7; cottage cheese 2.4, skim-milk yogurt 1.1 and whole milk 0.7 come in large portions.
- Nuts, seeds and grains: USDA lists hemp seeds at 6.3 grams per 100 grams, almonds at 6.2 and pumpkin seed kernels at 6.1; all-purpose wheat flour has 3.5 grams per 100 grams, about 34% of its protein, which is why wheat foods carry a high share.
- Tomatoes: USDA lists sun-dried tomatoes at 5.2 grams per 100 grams and a raw tomato at 0.4, which is about 49% of the raw tomato’s 0.9 grams of protein, the highest share in this list.
Glutamic acid travels with protein, so nearly every entry in our protein foods guide also counts among these glutamine foods. The share of protein differs: in USDA data it is about 23% for hard Parmesan and lowfat cottage cheese, 18% for boiled soybeans, 15% for roasted chicken breast and 10% for unsweetened gelatin, the entry that tops our sibling list of foods high in glycine.
Glutamic acid, glutamate and MSG
FDA’s page on monosodium glutamate explains that MSG is the sodium salt of the common amino acid glutamic acid, which is naturally present in the body and in many foods, and that glutamate occurs naturally in foods such as tomatoes and cheeses. When proteins are digested, FDA writes, they release free glutamate, which is chemically the same as the glutamate in MSG; the agency’s figure for an average adult is approximately 13 grams of glutamate each day from the protein in food, against around 0.55 grams of added MSG. FDA requires added MSG to be listed in the ingredient panel as monosodium glutamate, and notes that glutamate and glutamic acid have nothing to do with gluten.
What MedlinePlus says about this amino acid
MedlinePlus lists glutamic acid and glutamine among the nonessential amino acids, which the body can produce even when food does not supply them, and also lists glutamine as conditionally essential, usually not essential except in times of illness and stress. The nine essential amino acids, such as leucine, must come from food, MedlinePlus adds; our sibling list of foods high in leucine ranks the same foods for one of them.
This list covers food only. For the supplement form and the cautions that apply, see our L-glutamine guide.
Per serving versus per 100-gram numbers
Per 100 grams shows how concentrated a food is, which is why Parmesan, nuts, seeds and sun-dried tomatoes look strong; per serving shows what a typical USDA portion supplies, which is why a cup of soybeans, cottage cheese or tempeh rises to the top. The figures belong to the specific SR Legacy entries named in the table, and all of them are glutamic acid as USDA reports it, not glutamine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which foods high in glutamine top the USDA list per serving?
In USDA SR Legacy data, a cup of boiled soybeans, lowfat cottage cheese or tempeh supplies about 5.5 grams of glutamic acid, followed by braised beef chuck (4.3), firm tofu (4.1) and roasted chicken breast (4.0).
Why does the table of foods high in glutamine show glutamic acid?
USDA’s tables come from acid hydrolysis, which Lenders and colleagues report mostly transforms glutamine to glutamate, so nutrient databases list glutamic acid and carry no glutamine value.
Which glutamine rich foods come from plants?
In USDA data, boiled soybeans, tempeh, firm tofu, edamame, lentils, kidney beans, hemp seeds, almonds and pumpkin seed kernels all appear in the list above.
Is there a %DV for this amino acid?
No. FDA’s labeling rule, 21 CFR 101.9, sets a Daily Value for protein but none for individual amino acids.
Is glutamic acid the same as MSG?
FDA describes MSG as the sodium salt of glutamic acid; digested protein releases free glutamate that is chemically the same as the glutamate in MSG.
Does glutamate in a food mean it contains gluten?
No. FDA states that glutamate and glutamic acid have nothing to do with gluten.
Questions about a label? Contact us or read our Buyer’s Guide. Food comes first; follow the label and ask a healthcare provider before starting a supplement, especially if you take medicines, are pregnant or have a health condition. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Last reviewed October 2026.
Related guides: Foods High in Leucine: USDA Values per Serving, L-Glutamine Benefits: Gut Lining Evidence, Athletes and Side Effects, High Protein Foods: USDA Values for Meat, Dairy and Plant Sources.