Quick answer: A chicken or steak bowl with rice, pinto beans and cheese lands in the 53–58g protein range. That's more protein than most people get in a full day, in one Moe's order, for around 690 calories.
If you eat at Moe's with any kind of fitness or recovery goal in mind, the menu is friendlier than it looks. Moe's doesn't market itself as a high-protein chain, but the combination of decent meat portions, beans that quietly pack in 8–9g protein, and cheese as a no-fuss top-off adds up fast. You can hit 50g of protein here without doing anything weird.
The trick is knowing which add-ons are actually earning their calories.
What each protein option really gives you
Start with the obvious . the meats and tofu:
| Protein | Calories | Protein | Fat | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 200 | 30g | 8g | 240mg |
| Steak | 250 | 28g | 14g | 280mg |
| Pork | 240 | 26g | 12g | 260mg |
| Ground Beef | 280 | 24g | 18g | 320mg |
| Tofu | 120 | 12g | 7g | 80mg |
Chicken wins on protein-per-calorie, which is why it shows up in basically every build I'd recommend for high-protein goals. Steak is right behind it but costs you an extra 50 calories and 6g fat . fine if your calorie ceiling is comfortable, noticeable if it isn't. Ground beef is the worst choice on paper for high-protein eating, though it's hardly a bad food; it's just that you're paying 280 calories for 24g of protein when chicken would get you 30g for 200.
Tofu looks like an also-ran at 12g, but hold that thought. When you layer it with beans, cheese and other small-protein ingredients, a tofu bowl can finish in the low 30s for protein . not elite, but enough for a plant-based lunch that actually holds you.
The beans are doing more work than you think
A lot of people treat the beans at Moe's like filler. That's a mistake. Look at the numbers:
- Black beans: 130 calories, 8g protein, 6g fiber, 1g fat
- Pinto beans: 140 calories, 9g protein, 7g fiber, 1g fat
Nine grams of protein for 140 calories is roughly what you get from a plain Greek yogurt cup. But the beans also bring 6–7g of fiber, which nothing else on the Moe's line (except guacamole) comes close to matching. On any high-protein build, skipping beans is leaving free protein on the counter.
There's a secondary benefit that doesn't show up on a nutrition label: pairing chicken with beans gives you what food scientists call a "complete" amino acid profile. Chicken alone already covers all nine essentials, but layering in beans pushes the leucine and lysine content higher, which is useful if you're specifically training for muscle retention or growth. It's not a magic trick . it's just how food works . but it's worth knowing.
The toppings that add real protein
The only toppings that meaningfully move the protein needle are:
- Cheese . 110 cal, 7g protein. The best protein-for-calories option among the toppings.
- Queso . 80 cal, 4g protein. Fine, but cheese is more efficient.
- Guacamole . 160 cal, 2g protein. You're paying for the fat and fiber here, not the protein.
- Pico de gallo . 10 cal, 0g protein. Free flavor, not a protein source.
Cheese is the only one I'd add specifically for protein purposes. Queso contributes some, but at 80 calories per serving you're better off putting that calorie budget into more beans or a second scoop of protein (if your location will do it, which varies).
Three builds that actually hit 50g+
These aren't hypotheticals . they're combinations of real Moe's ingredients using the published numbers.
The maximum: A chicken burrito with rice, pinto beans and cheese lands at around 57g protein for roughly 960 calories. That's the highest single-serving protein number you can pull off a Moe's menu without double-protein tricks. The tortilla adds another 8g of protein on top of the fillings, which is why this edges out the bowl version. Downside: 960 calories is a lot, and the sodium is rough.
The efficient one: A steak bowl with rice, pinto beans and cheese gives you 53g protein for about 690 calories. You lose the 8g from the tortilla but save roughly 300 calories. For most people watching total intake, this is the better deal.
The balanced one: A chicken bowl with rice, black beans, cheese and pico hits 50g protein for around 650 calories . plus 15g fiber and a more manageable sodium count than the pinto-bean builds. This is the one I'd recommend to someone asking "what's a solid high-protein Moe's order?" without any further qualification.
You can plug any of these into the calculator to see the full macro split before you order.
How to get protein without going calorie-heavy
The thing nobody tells you about high-protein fast casual is that it's easy to over-deliver. If you're hitting 57g protein at 960 calories, that's technically a lot of protein, but your protein efficiency is terrible . about 5.9g per 100 calories. Most people trying to hit protein goals also want to stay under a calorie ceiling.
Here's how the efficiency looks across builds:
- Chicken only → ~15g protein per 100 calories
- Chicken + black beans → ~11.5g per 100
- Chicken bowl (rice + beans + cheese) → ~7.7g per 100
- Full chicken burrito, everything loaded → ~5.9g per 100
Notice the big drop when you move from "chicken + beans" to "chicken + beans + rice + cheese + tortilla." Rice and the tortilla are the biggest efficiency killers. If protein-per-calorie is your priority, the sweet spot is a bowl with chicken, beans, cheese, and maybe one premium topping . nothing more.
A plain chicken bowl with black beans and pico clocks in around 460 calories and 46g protein. That's about 10g protein per 100 calories, which is genuinely excellent for a restaurant meal. Not every build has to maximize protein . but if it's what you came for, that's the version to order.
The small stuff that adds up
A few things I've noticed while plugging builds into the calculator:
- Pinto > black beans for pure protein (9g vs 8g), but black beans have slightly more fiber and, honestly, taste better in most builds. I'd take black beans unless I was specifically squeezing out an extra gram.
- Queso vs cheese for protein: cheese wins clean (7g vs 4g) and has fewer additives. Use queso for flavor, not macros.
- Double protein . some Moe's locations will do it for an upcharge, some won't. If you're trying to hit 60g+ protein in one meal, ask. The difference between "chicken" and "double chicken" is the difference between 50g and 80g protein in a single bowl.
Before you walk in
A chicken bowl with rice and pinto beans is an almost embarrassingly good high-protein meal. It's real food, it comes out fast, it doesn't cost thirty dollars, and it delivers a protein profile that rivals most of the prepackaged "fitness meal" kits people pay a premium for. You don't need to get cute with it . just don't skip the beans.
For related reading, see how this compares against the lowest-calorie Moe's builds and the Moe's macro tracking guide. The calculator will give you the full breakdown for any combination you want to try.