Paneer vs Egg: nutrition per 100 g

Weight for weight, paneer is the richer protein food: 18.9 g per 100 g against 13.3 g in raw whole egg, covering 35 per cent of a man's daily requirement against 25 per cent. But paneer is also much richer in energy, 258 kcal against 135 kcal, about 1.9 times as much, because it carries more fat, 14.8 g against 9.2 g. Measured against calories, egg delivers more protein per kcal, which is why it is a favourite with people trying to lose weight while keeping protein up. Egg is also wetter, 76.5 g of water per 100 g against 52.0 g in paneer.

Paneer's fat is mostly saturated: 8.85 g per 100 g, about three times the 2.96 g in egg. Egg's fat is more evenly spread, with 3.48 g monounsaturated and 1.15 g polyunsaturated, and it contains 76 mg of DHA, the long-chain omega-3 fat found mainly in fish and eggs. Egg also has 366 mg of cholesterol per 100 g, the highest of the 253 foods with a value in IFCT 2017, almost all of it in the yolk. For most healthy people, the saturated fat in the whole diet matters more than cholesterol from eggs, but anyone with a heart condition should follow their doctor's advice on both.

Paneer has 476 mg of calcium per 100 g, about 9.7 times the 49 mg in egg, ranking 11th of 242 foods and covering 48 per cent of an adult's daily need. It also has more zinc, 2.74 mg against 1.23 mg, and more phosphorus. Egg has about twice the iron, 1.82 mg against 0.9 mg, more potassium and more selenium, 40.4 micrograms against 23.1. Egg is much higher in sodium, 123 mg against 18 mg, though both amounts are modest next to a pinch of added salt.

Egg brings vitamins that paneer lacks in these tables. It has 198 micrograms of retinol, the ready-made form of vitamin A, and 1.47 mg of vitamin E against 0.02 mg in paneer. It has twice the riboflavin, 0.19 mg against 0.1 mg, and four times the vitamin B6. Paneer has more folate, 93 micrograms against 49. In the kitchen, eggs become bhurji, omelettes, egg curry and anda paratha in minutes, while paneer goes into tikka, bhurji, palak paneer and matar paneer, and is the default protein for vegetarian households.