Calorie charts for common foods
How many calories are in an apple, a chicken breast or a cup of rice? These charts give approximate values for everyday foods in the servings people actually eat, with the macros that matter most for each group.
The charts
Where the numbers come from
Values are rounded from the US Department of Agriculture's FoodData Central database, the reference most food labels and calorie counters build on. Where foods vary a lot by brand, recipe or preparation, we give a range rather than a single number and say why. Cooked foods are listed cooked, because that is how most people weigh and eat them; we say so in each table.
How to use them
The charts are for quick answers and sanity checks: to compare two foods, to estimate a meal when you have no label, or to check that an entry in your calorie counter is in the right range. For anything you eat every day, the label on the package or a verified entry in your app will be closer than any general table, because brands and portions differ.
A few rules make every chart more useful:
- Check the serving. A "cup" of cooked pasta and a restaurant plate of pasta are very different amounts.
- Raw and cooked differ. Rice and pasta gain water when cooked; meat loses it. Match the entry to how you weighed the food.
- Fat changes everything. A tablespoon of oil or butter adds 100 to 120 calories to whatever it touches.
- Ranges are honest. A banana can be 90 or 135 calories depending on its size. Pick the row that matches what you have.
Related
For how to count meals made from these foods, see our counting methods. For the apps that do the counting for you, see the 2027 report and the app report cards.