Perdue Short Cuts Grilled Chicken: 20g Protein, Labelgrade B (77/100)

The short answer

Perdue Short Cuts Grilled Chicken Breast Strips deliver 20 g of protein in a 100-calorie, 3 oz (84 g) serving (USDA FDC 2616534) — about 24 g of protein per 100 g, essentially the density of plain cooked chicken breast. The base is real boneless skinless breast, carved and grilled rather than breaded, so there’s almost nothing diluting the protein: 1 g of total carbs, zero sugar, and effectively no saturated fat. The Labelgrade is B (77 / 100). The one thing keeping it from an A is sodium — 410 mg per serving, the structural cost of pre-cooked, resealable meat — compounded by a panel that adds soy protein concentrate, maltodextrin, and soybean oil to lock in moisture. Best-fit use: a no-cook protein to throw on a salad, fold into a wrap, or stage for the week, where ready-to-eat is worth a little added salt.

Why the B

The two grades doing real work are the A- on density and the D on sodium, and they pull in opposite directions. The density is fully earned — this is chicken breast, so it carries chicken breast’s protein-per-calorie. The sodium is the price of skipping the stove: salt is what keeps a fully-cooked strip safe, tender, and shelf-stable in a resealable pack. The C+ on ingredients and the F on fiber are honest but predictable — no animal protein has fiber, and the soy-and-maltodextrin moisture system is standard for the entire pre-cooked category.

Grilled, not breaded — and that’s the whole grade

The reason this sits a full tier above most convenience chicken is what’s not on the label: breading. A battered nugget is part meat, part wheat-and-rice coating, and that coating roughly halves the protein density while adding carbs and fat — mass-market nuggets land around 12–15 g per 100 g for exactly that reason. Short Cuts skips the batter entirely, so it keeps ~24 g per 100 g and 1 g of total carbs. Same aisle, same ready-to-eat convenience, but nearly twice the protein per gram — which is why grilled strips grade in the B band while nuggets sit at C+ to B-.

The real trade-off: convenience for sodium

Against a breast you cook yourself, this is almost the same food. A plain roasted breast runs ~31 g of protein per 100 g — denser only because it hasn’t had water added during processing — at roughly 75 mg of sodium. Short Cuts gives up a little density (~24 g) and takes on a lot of sodium (410 mg, more than five times a home-cooked breast) for one thing: you never turn on the stove. That’s a fair trade for a weeknight salad or meal-prep shortcut, and a worse one if chicken is a daily staple and you’re watching sodium. The protein quality is identical either way — same lean breast meat, just pre-seasoned and pre-cooked.

Who it’s for (and who should skip it)

This is built for zero-prep lean protein: dump it cold on a salad, roll it into a wrap, or portion the 16 oz pack into five ~20 g servings for the week. At 100 calories and 0 g sugar it slots cleanly into keto, low-carb, and high-protein-deficit plans. Two shoppers should look elsewhere: anyone on a strict low-sodium plan, since 410 mg per serving adds up fast, and anyone avoiding soy, since the soy protein concentrate and soybean oil make this a soy-containing product. For the soy-sensitive, a chicken-water-salt-only strip like Perdue’s Harvestland organic line is the cleaner swap.

Ingredients

Boneless skinless chicken breast with rib meat, water, and 2% or less of vinegar, salt, soy protein concentrate, maltodextrin, spices, garlic powder, onion powder, and soybean oil. In plain terms: real breast meat carried by a salt-vinegar-soy-maltodextrin system that holds moisture and flavor in a pre-cooked, refrigerated pack. The chicken is genuine; the rest is the engineering that makes “ready to eat” work. (Verbatim source: USDA Branded Foods entry, FDC 2616534.)

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Scope: This page applies specifically to Perdue Short Cuts Grilled Carved Chicken Breast (Family Size) (16 oz (1 lb) resealable pack) · UPC 0072745001611. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.