Bacon vs sausage: which has more protein?

Full comparison · Protein · Calories

Bacon has more protein: 39 g per 3.5 oz (100 g) of bacon vs 18.5 g in sausage (2.1× as much).

Protein per 3.5 oz (100 g)

USDA FoodData Central.

	Bacon	Sausage
Per 3.5 oz (100 g)	39 g	18.5 g
Per serving	44.2 g in 4 oz (113 g)	6.5 g in 1 patty (1.2 oz, 35 g)
Per 100 calories	8.2 g	5.7 g
To get 30 g of protein	2.7 oz (77 g), about 0.7 × 4 oz	5.7 oz (162 g), about 4.6 × 1 patty

Protein per calorie

Per 100 calories, bacon gives 8.2 g of protein and sausage 5.7 g. This is the number that matters when you are fitting protein into a calorie budget, and it can rank foods differently from grams per 3.5 oz (100 g).

What the numbers don't tell you

Looking for the lesser evil at breakfast? They come out close, because both are processed meat. WHO puts each 1.8 oz (50 g) of processed meat eaten daily at about 18 percent higher colorectal cancer risk. A 2026 umbrella review linked the same amount to 72 percent more stomach cancer, at low to very low certainty. In pooled stomach cancer studies, most of them case-control, bacon went with 37 percent higher risk and sausage with 33 percent.

For diabetes, 31 cohorts with nearly 2 million adults tied each 1.8 oz (50 g) of processed meat a day to 15 percent higher incidence. For bacon, two slices a day went with about double the rate, graded high quality in an umbrella review of observational studies.

USDA says to cook raw pork sausage to 160 °F (71 °C), and eating raw or undercooked meat went with 1.2 to 1.3 times the risk of Toxoplasma infection. CDC lists sausages among choking hazards for young children. If you are pregnant, 65 or older, or immunocompromised, CDC advises eating fermented or dry sausages only reheated to 165 °F (74 °C) or steaming hot. The EMSAM patch label, at 9 mg/24 h or more, says to avoid aged and fermented sausages.

These risks were measured per daily amount, so how often you eat either matters more than which.

Per ounce, this bacon has about twice the protein of this sausage. UK composition data point the same way, with grilled back bacon at 23.2 g per 3.5 oz (100 g) against 11.9 g in pork sausages, though those were weighed raw. The same ounce of bacon here also carries about twice the sodium.

Evidence behind this note

Level E WHO states that processed meat such as bacon and sausage is carcinogenic to humans and that every 1.8 oz (50 g) portion eaten daily raises colorectal cancer risk by about 18 percent. WHO Q and A, Carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat
Level C Observational data link each extra 50 g per day of processed meat to 17 percent higher colorectal cancer risk and 72 percent higher gastric cancer risk. Front Public Health, 2026
Level C No randomized trial has measured disease outcomes for processed meat, and every dose response estimate behind the cancer numbers rests on low to very low certainty evidence by GRADE. Front Public Health, 2026
Level C Pooling 12 cohort and 30 case-control studies, higher sausage intake went with 33% higher gastric cancer risk, and for red meat the association held only in case-control studies. PLoS One, 2013
Level C Observational data link each 50 g per day of processed meat to 15 percent higher incidence of type 2 diabetes over a median 10 years. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, 2024
Level C Two rashers of bacon a day went with roughly double the rate of type 2 diabetes, and that estimate was graded high quality. BMJ, 2019
Level E USDA FSIS says uncooked sausages made with ground beef, pork, lamb or veal should be cooked to 160 °F (71 °C), and those made with ground turkey or chicken to 165 °F (74 °C). USDA FSIS, Sausages and Food Safety
Level C Observational data link eating raw or undercooked meat, including sausages and salami, to 1.2 to 1.3 times the risk of Toxoplasma gondii infection compared with thoroughly cooked meat. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis, 2021
Level E The CDC lists hot dogs, meat sticks and sausages among potential choking hazards for young children. CDC, Infant and Toddler Nutrition: Choking Hazards
Level E To prevent Listeria infection, CDC advises pregnant women, adults 65 and older and people with a weakened immune system to avoid unheated fermented or dry sausages and hot dogs, and to eat them only reheated to 165 F (74 C) or until steaming hot. US CDC, Preventing Listeria Infection
Level E The FDA label for transdermal selegiline (EMSAM) at 9 mg/24 h or more tells patients to avoid air dried, aged and fermented sausages and salamis, including hard salami and mortadella. EMSAM (selegiline transdermal system), FDA-approved label, sections 2.3 and 7.2 (Table 5)
Level E By the UK composition table, grilled back bacon has 287 calories, 21.6 g fat and 23.2 g protein per 3.5 oz (100 g), while raw pork sausages have 309 calories, 25.0 g fat and only 11.9 g protein. CoFID 2021, Public Health England, codes 19-500 and 19-510

Written from the studies and agency guidance we hold for both foods, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.

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Rankings and guides

Where the numbers come from

Bacon: USDA FoodData Central, Pork, cured, bacon, cooked, microwaved, FDC ID 168321 · all forms of bacon
Sausage: USDA FoodData Central, Pork sausage, FDC ID 2706191 · all forms of sausage

Each food is one USDA entry, chosen as it is usually eaten. Other cuts, brands and preparations differ; the links show them. % DV uses FDA Daily Values for adults. How we verify.