Chicken breast calories per 100 g: raw vs cooked

One hundred grams of raw skinless, boneless chicken breast has 120 kcal and 22.5 g of protein (USDA FDC 171077¹). One hundred grams of roasted breast meat has 165 kcal and 31.0 g of protein (USDA FDC 171477²). The oven did not add calories. The meat lost water, so 100 g of cooked chicken is a smaller, denser piece than 100 g of raw. Log a raw weight against a raw entry and a cooked weight against a cooked entry, and both routes give close answers.

Per 100 g: raw, roasted, grilled

All rows are USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, breast meat only, no skin. Each entry is linked.

The “with added solution” row is the enhanced chicken some packs carry, injected with a salty liquid and labeled as such. USDA lists it as a separate food with less protein per 100 g (FDC 171509⁴). If your pack mentions a solution, the plain raw line overstates the protein slightly.

150 g and 200 g portions

Grams ÷ 100 × the per-100 g value. Raw figures use FDC 171077¹, roasted figures use FDC 171477². USDA lists 4 oz of raw breast as 113 g¹.

The two columns are not the same piece of meat. A 200 g roasted portion started out as a much bigger raw breast.

Why cooked chicken has more calories per 100 g

Water leaves the meat as it cooks, and the protein and fat stay. USDA’s cooking-yield table lists baked or roasted chicken breast at an average of 72% of its raw weight, with a range of 61% to 82% across samples (USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, 2012, p. 37⁶).

An illustration with those averages, not a measurement of your oven: 200 g of raw breast is 240 kcal¹. At a 72% yield it comes out at about 144 g⁶, and 144 g of roasted breast is about 238 kcal². Same chicken, two ways of logging, nearly the same number. The wide yield range is why a longer roast or a thin cutlet can move the cooked weight more than you expect.

Which weight should you log?

• You cook for yourself. Weigh raw and use the raw entry. Cooking loss varies from batch to batch⁶, and the raw weight does not.
• You batch cook. Weigh the whole raw pack, cook it, and weigh all the cooked meat. Divide the raw calories by the cooked grams to get kcal per gram of your batch. Or use the roasted entry for each cooked portion.
• Someone else cooked it. Use a cooked entry that matches the method, and add the oil or sauce separately. One tablespoon of olive oil is 13.5 g and about 119 kcal (FDC 171413⁷).

The mistake to avoid is mixing them. Raw grams against the roasted entry overstate the calories by about 37% (165 ÷ 120). Cooked grams against the raw entry understate them by about 27% (120 ÷ 165). Both ratios come straight from the two USDA entries^1,2.

How much protein is in a portion?

About 45 g in 200 g of raw breast, or 31 g in 100 g roasted^1,2. A 2015 review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found a modest effect of higher-protein meals on fullness, but no clear effect on how much people ate at the next meal. The authors suggest meals with at least about 25 to 30 g of protein (Leidy et al., 2015⁸). With chicken breast that is roughly 110 to 135 g raw, or 80 to 100 g roasted. More on protein in a whole day of meals: protein and fullness.

Weighing makes the log closer, not exact

People tend to record less than they eat, even when they weigh. In a small controlled study, women trained to keep a seven-day weighed food record still under-recorded their intake by about 429 kcal a day on average compared with energy expenditure measured by doubly labeled water. Dietitians under-recorded by about 223 kcal (Champagne et al., 2002⁹). A scale helps most with the dense foods that are easy to misjudge, and the weekly trend tells you more than any single entry. How to use one without turning meals into a weigh-in: kitchen scale for portion control.

If you need a scale

As an Amazon Associate, Lean Wisely earns from qualifying purchases. This pick is based on the listed specs and the product page, not a test in our kitchen. Any digital scale with 1 g steps and a tare button does the job.

The Etekcity food kitchen scale is a flat stainless model listed at 11 lb / 5 kg, with 1 g steps and a tare button. It suits weighing a raw breast on a plate or a batch of cooked chicken in a bowl. It is a poor fit for a wide pot, because the display sits in the platform and a large bowl can cover it.

In short

Raw chicken breast is 120 kcal and 22.5 g protein per 100 g. Roasted is 165 kcal and 31 g. Pick one state, weigh it, and log it against the matching USDA entry. Mixing raw grams with a cooked entry is the error that adds up.

Common questions

Is boiled chicken breast lower in calories than roasted?

Per 100 g, USDA’s stewed breast entry is 151 kcal and 29.0 g protein, against 165 kcal for roasted (FDC 171478⁵). Part of the difference is water: simmered breast keeps more of its weight, about 77% on average in USDA’s yield table⁶.

Should I count cooked chicken as the raw weight?

No. Use the cooked weight with a cooked entry, or the raw weight with a raw entry. The numbers only line up when the weight and the entry describe the same state.

Sources

1. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC 171077: Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, raw. 120 kcal, 22.5 g protein, 2.62 g fat per 100 g; 4 oz = 113 g.
2. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC 171477: Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat only, cooked, roasted. 165 kcal, 31.02 g protein, 3.57 g fat per 100 g.
3. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC 171534: Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, cooked, grilled. 151 kcal, 30.54 g protein per 100 g.
4. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC 171509: Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, with added solution, raw. 108 kcal, 20.32 g protein per 100 g.
5. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC 171478: Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat only, cooked, stewed. 151 kcal, 28.98 g protein per 100 g.
6. Showell B.A. et al. USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry. USDA ARS Nutrient Data Laboratory, December 2012, p. 37: chicken breast, baked or roasted, mean yield 72% (61–82%); poached, simmered or stewed 77% (70–88%).
7. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC 171413: Oil, olive, salad or cooking. 884 kcal per 100 g; 1 tablespoon = 13.5 g.
8. Leidy H.J. et al. The role of protein in weight loss and maintenance. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2015;101(6):1320S–1329S. PMID 25926512.
9. Champagne C.M. et al. Energy intake and energy expenditure: a controlled study comparing dietitians and non-dietitians. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2002;102(10):1428–1432. PMID 12396160.