Calories in chicken breast
Skinless chicken breast has 120 kcal (502 kJ) per 100 g raw and 165 kcal (690 kJ) per 100 g once it is roasted. The cooked figure is higher only because the water has gone.
Updated 21 October 2026. Sources named on the page.
Key factCalories in chicken breast is 120 kcal per 100 g raw, 165 cooked (502 kJ per 100 g raw).
- Raw and cooked, side by side
- Serves from a palm-sized piece to a whole breast
- Protein, fat and kJ, per 100 g and per serve
- Where the numbers come from
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Calories in chicken breast, per 100 g and per serve
Per 100 g of: Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, raw; and Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat only, cooked, roasted.
Per 100 g
| Per 100 g | kcal | kJ | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| chicken breast (raw) | 120 | 502 | 22.5 g | 2.6 g | 0 g |
| chicken breast (cooked) | 165 | 690 | 31 g | 3.6 g | 0 g |
chicken breast next to similar foods, per 100 g
| Food | kcal | kJ | Protein | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken thigh (cooked) | 179 | 749 | 24.8 g | 8.2 g |
| Turkey breast (cooked) | 147 | 615 | 30.1 g | 2.1 g |
| Pork loin / chop (raw) | 198 | 828 | 19.7 g | 12.6 g |
| Tuna in springwater (drained) | 86 | 360 | 19.4 g | 1 g |
| Egg, boiled | 155 | 649 | 12.6 g | 10.6 g |
Common serves
| Serve | Weight | kcal | kJ | Protein | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A palm-sized piece, cooked | 120 g | 198 kcal | 828 kJ | 37.2 g | 4.3 g |
| A large cooked breast | 172 g | 284 kcal | 1,187 kJ | 53.4 g | 6.1 g |
| A whole raw breast | 272 g | 326 kcal | 1,366 kJ | 61.2 g | 7.1 g |
| 100 g of the cooked meat | 100 g | 165 kcal | 690 kJ | 31 g | 3.6 g |
Sources: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, April 2018, fdc 171077 and fdc 171477
Values for chicken breast vary by brand and how it is cooked. Check the pack. General information, not medical advice.
Why cooked chicken shows more calories than raw
A breast loses water in the oven or pan, so the same meat weighs less and each 100 g holds more of it. Nothing was added. If you weigh the chicken before it goes in, use the raw row. If you weigh it on the plate, use the cooked row.
Weigh it the same way every time
Most of the mistakes with chicken come from mixing the two weights. A 170 g raw breast is closer to 110 g on the plate, so logging the raw weight against the cooked row counts about a third too many calories.
What it is mostly made of
Skinless breast is mostly protein with very little fat, which is why it appears in so many plans. Skin, oil, crumbs and sauce are where the extra calories come from, and they are the part worth logging separately.
Weigh one raw fillet, then reuse the number
Packs of breast fillets are sold by weight, and two fillets in a pack often come to around half a kilo. Put one raw fillet on kitchen scales once and note the number; every later meal can use it without scales.
Crumbs, glazes and sauces are separate lines
A crumbed schnitzel is a different food from a plain breast, because the coating soaks up oil in the pan. The same goes for a sticky glaze or a creamy sauce. Log the plain chicken from this page, then add the coating or sauce as its own item to see where the calories come from.
Breast next to thigh and mince
Thigh meat carries more fat than breast, which is why the comparison table shows a higher figure for thigh even though both are chicken. Mince made from breast sits close to the breast figure, while mince made with skin and thigh sits closer to the thigh. When a pack does not say, the cut named on the front is the best clue.
Batch cooking for the week
If you roast several breasts at once, weigh the whole tray before and after. The after weight divided into containers gives the cooked weight per meal, and the calories are the raw total split the same way. That removes the guesswork about how much water was lost.
Questions
How many calories are in one chicken breast?
A large roasted breast of about 172 g, with the skin off, is roughly 284 kcal. A whole raw breast of about 272 g is roughly 326 kcal.
Is chicken breast higher in calories when it is cooked?
Per 100 g, yes, because the water cooks out. The whole piece has the same calories before and after; it just weighs less.
Does the skin change the number?
Yes. These figures are for skinless meat. Skin adds fat, so a breast cooked with the skin on and eaten has more.
How much cooked chicken do you get from 100 g of raw?
About 73 g by these figures, because 120 kcal raw against 165 kcal cooked per 100 g means the water that cooks out is most of the weight lost. It varies with how long it cooks.
How many calories are in 200 g of cooked chicken breast?
About 330 kcal, which is 1,381 kJ, with 62 g of protein.
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