Chicken Breast Protein and Calories

Chicken breast protein by weight

Chicken breast is one of the leanest protein foods there is: about three-quarters of its calories come from protein. Here's how much protein you get at common weights, cooked and raw:

How much protein is in 4 oz of chicken breast?

About 35 grams in 4 oz of cooked chicken breast, or 25.5 grams if you weighed it raw. For most adults, 4 ounces covers a third to half of a day's protein; check your own target with the macro calculator.

How much protein is in 8 oz of chicken breast?

About 70 grams in 8 oz of chicken breast, cooked. That's more protein than many people eat in a whole day from other foods, which is why 8oz chicken breast protein is a favorite number for lifters. Raw, 8 oz of chicken has about 51 grams.

Protein in 100 g, 150 g and 200 g

Per 100 grams, cooked chicken breast has 31 g of protein and 165 calories; raw, 22.5 g and 120 calories. So 150 g cooked has about 46.5 g of protein and 200 g has about 62 g.

Chicken breast calories by cooking method

Cooking adds calories only when it adds fat. Grilling, baking and boiling barely change anything per ounce of cooked meat; leaving the skin on does. For how ounces of meat convert to grams of protein, see how many grams in an ounce of protein.

How many calories in a grilled chicken breast, then? Use the grilled or baked row: USDA's "roasted" values are the standard for dry-heat cooking, and grilled chicken breast calories land at about 47 per ounce. Boiled chicken breast calories are a little lower, about 43 per ounce, because some fat and juices go into the water. So for boiled chicken breast nutrition, 4 ounces has 171 calories, 32.9 g of protein and 3.4 g of fat. Whatever the method, baked chicken has no carbs unless it's breaded or sauced. Breaded and deep-fried chicken is a different food: the coating and the oil can double the calories, so check the package or the restaurant's nutrition facts.

4 oz chicken breast nutrition

Full nutrition for 4 oz (113 g) of grilled or baked chicken breast, skinless, from USDA FoodData Central:

• Calories: 187
• Protein: 35.2 g
• Fat: 4.0 g, of which 1.1 g saturated
• Carbohydrate: 0 g
• Cholesterol: 96 mg
• Sodium: 84 mg (before any salt or seasoning)
• Potassium: 290 mg
• Iron: 1.2 mg

Chicken breast has no carbs and no fiber, so pair it with vegetables, beans or whole grains to round out the meal.

8 oz chicken breast nutrition

Double everything: 8 oz of cooked chicken breast has 374 calories, 70.3 g of protein, 8.1 g of fat (2.3 g saturated), 193 mg of cholesterol and 168 mg of sodium before seasoning. How many calories is 8 oz of chicken breast weighed raw? 272, with 51 g of protein.

Chicken breast nutrition by portion: quick answers

All cooked values are for grilled or baked chicken breast without skin; raw values are for raw, skinless breast.

1 ounce of chicken breast

1 ounce of cooked chicken breast has about 47 calories and 8.8 g of protein. It's a handy unit for scaling: multiply by your portion in ounces.

2 oz chicken breast nutrition

2 oz of cooked chicken breast has 94 calories and 17.6 g of protein; raw, 68 calories and 12.8 g. So 2oz chicken breast protein is about the same as two large eggs and a glass of milk combined. How much is 2 oz of chicken? About a third of a cup, diced, or two thin slices.

3 oz chicken nutrition

3 ounces of chicken breast, cooked, is the standard serving: 140 calories, 26.4 g of protein and 3 g of fat. That covers the calories in 3 oz of grilled chicken breast as well as baked.

3.5 ounces of chicken breast (100 g)

3.5 ounces is very close to 100 grams: 165 calories and 31 g of protein cooked, or 120 calories and 22.5 g raw.

4 oz chicken breast: calories, protein and macros

A 4 ounce chicken breast portion, cooked, has 187 calories and 35.2 g of protein. The 4oz chicken breast macros are about 35 g protein, 4 g fat and 0 g carbs, so the calories in 4 oz of grilled chicken breast and of baked chicken breast are the same 187. How much protein in 4 ounces of chicken breast weighed raw? 25.5 g, with 136 calories. 4 oz of chicken is 113 grams.

5 oz chicken breast nutrition

How many calories in 5 oz chicken breast? 234 cooked, with 43.9 g of protein. Raw, 5 ounces has 170 calories and 31.9 g of protein.

6 ounces of chicken breast

How many calories in 6 oz of chicken breast? 281 for cooked chicken breast, grilled or baked, with 52.7 g of protein and 6 g of fat. Raw, 6 oz has 204 calories and 38.3 g of protein.

7 oz chicken breast protein

7 oz of cooked chicken breast has 61.5 g of protein and 327 calories. That's about what you get from one large supermarket breast once it's cooked.

8 oz chicken breast nutritional value

8 oz of cooked chicken breast: 374 calories, 70.3 g of protein, 8 g of fat and no carbs. Those are the 8 oz chicken breast macros whether it's grilled or baked. Half a pound (8 ounces) of raw chicken breast has 272 calories and 51 g of protein.

9 oz, 10 oz, 12 oz and 16 oz

9 oz of chicken breast protein comes to 79 g cooked (421 calories). 10 ounces of chicken breast has 88 g of protein and 468 calories, 12 ounces of chicken breast has 105 g and 561 calories, and a full pound (16 oz) cooked has 141 g of protein and 748 calories.

Chicken breast protein in grams

So the protein in 150g chicken breast, cooked, is about 46.5 g, and protein in 200g chicken breast cooked is about 62 g. Raw, the same 150 g has 33.8 g and 200 g has 45 g; 400g of chicken breast protein comes to 90 g raw or 124 g cooked.

How much chicken for 30, 50 or 100 grams of protein?

• 30 grams of protein: about 97 g (3.4 oz) of cooked chicken breast
• 50 grams of protein: about 161 g (5.7 oz) cooked
• 100 grams of protein: about 323 g (11.4 oz) cooked
• 150 grams of protein: about 484 g (17 oz) cooked

Few people need 150 grams of protein a day from chicken alone, but it shows the scale: chicken breast is about 31% protein by weight once cooked. Lean sirloin comes close at 30%; see steak protein by the ounce. Building a high-protein day for abs? See our diet for abs sample day.

1 cup of chicken

One cup of chopped or diced cooked chicken breast weighs about 140 g and has 231 calories and 43 g of protein.

Raw or cooked: which weight should you use?

This is where most tracking mistakes happen. Chicken loses water as it cooks, so the same piece weighs less afterward, while its protein and calories stay put. Using the USDA values, cooked chicken breast weighs about 73% of its raw weight:

• 4 oz raw cooks down to about 2.9 oz
• 8 oz raw cooks down to about 5.8 oz
• a 272 g (9.6 oz) raw breast cooks down to about 197 g (7 oz)

Either weight works, as long as you match it to the right numbers. That's what the "I weighed it raw" box in the calculator does. If you track, weighing raw is more consistent, because cooking time doesn't change the result. Calories in 4 oz of cooked chicken breast are 187; calories in 4 oz raw are 136.

How many ounces are in a chicken breast?

"One chicken breast" isn't a fixed amount. USDA's classic measure is half a breast, bone and skin removed, which weighs 86 g (3 oz) cooked: about 142 calories and 27 g of protein. Chickens raised today are much bigger. USDA lists a boneless, skinless breast at 272 g raw, about 9.6 oz, which is closer to what you'll find at the store.

So for a big chicken breast from the supermarket, expect about 7 oz once it's cooked, with roughly 326 calories and 61 g of protein. Half a chicken breast of that size is about 3.5 oz cooked, with 164 calories and about 31 grams of protein. Two chicken breasts of that size come to about 650 calories. So how many ounces is an average chicken breast? Today, usually 8 to 10 ounces raw; a small chicken breast might be 5 or 6 ounces raw. The weight of an average chicken breast varies so much that weighing chicken breast on a kitchen scale is the only way to know.

Chicken breast serving and portion size

How many oz is a serving of chicken? The standard serving of cooked meat or poultry on U.S. nutrition labels is 3 ounces (85 grams), about the size of a deck of cards or the palm of your hand. For skinless chicken breast that's about 140 calories and 26 grams of protein. Many people eat two servings or more at a meal, which is why the 4 oz, 6 oz and 8 oz numbers above are the ones people look up.

Skin on or off?

Roasted with the skin, chicken breast has about twice the fat of skinless: 7.8 g per 100 g against 3.6 g. Chicken breast with skin calories per 4 oz are 223 instead of 187, with 33.8 g of protein and 8.8 g of fat. Skinless chicken breast nutritional information is what most labels and trackers mean by "white meat chicken". Cooking with the skin on and removing it before eating keeps the meat moist without most of the extra fat. To see how that fits a day's fat budget, use the fat intake calculator. Dark meat works the same way; see the calories in chicken thighs and drumsticks with and without skin.

Fitting chicken breast into your plan

Because it's so lean, chicken breast makes it easy to hit a protein target without using up many calories. To see what a day's protein should be, start with your calories from the TDEE calculator. For salads, bowls and wraps built around chicken, the recipe nutrition calculator adds up the whole dish. To keep a running tally, log it in the free calorie counter. How many calories in a grilled chicken sandwich? Start with 187 for 4 oz of grilled breast, then add the bread and spread from their labels; our sandwich calories page compares 14 sandwiches. For other foods, see all our food nutrition facts.

Chicken breast FAQ