Enter your raw chicken breast weight and cooking method to get exact protein, calories, fat, and carbs — including cooked weight after shrinkage and a full method comparison.
Enter raw weight — the calculator applies cooking shrinkage automatically.
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Chicken breast is one of the most popular protein sources in fitness and nutrition because it delivers an exceptional amount of complete protein with very little fat. A skinless grilled chicken breast provides approximately 31g of protein per 100g cooked — one of the highest protein-to-calorie ratios of any whole food.
Chicken breast is a complete protein, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids your body cannot synthesize on its own. It is particularly rich in leucine, the amino acid that most directly triggers muscle protein synthesis, making it an ideal food for anyone focused on muscle building or body composition.
The cooking method you use significantly affects the calorie and fat content of chicken breast, even though protein stays relatively stable per gram of meat. Here is what changes between methods:
Grilling and baking with minimal added oil produce the leanest result: approximately 165 cal and 31g protein per 100g cooked. Both methods drive off water through dry heat, giving about 25% shrinkage. Grilling adds a slight char and smoky flavor; baking is more hands-off. These methods are ideal for meal prep at scale.
Air frying circulates hot air around the chicken, producing a crispy exterior similar to frying with minimal added oil. Nutritionally, air-fried chicken is nearly identical to grilled — about 167 cal and 31g protein per 100g cooked. It is an excellent option for those who enjoy texture without the extra fat of pan-frying.
Cooking in water or stock adds no fat whatsoever, giving poached chicken the lowest fat content at 2.9g per 100g cooked. The trade-off is slightly lower calorie density (150 cal per 100g) due to water absorption during cooking. This method produces incredibly tender chicken and is ideal for meal prep salads, shredded chicken dishes, and soups.
Pan-frying in oil or butter adds significant fat compared to dry-heat methods. Skinless pan-fried chicken breast averages around 187 cal and 7.4g fat per 100g cooked. The actual calorie count depends heavily on how much oil is used and how much is absorbed. Using a non-stick pan with minimal oil (or a light spray) can significantly reduce the calorie difference.
Deep-fried unbreaded chicken absorbs considerable oil, reaching approximately 219 cal and 12g fat per 100g cooked. Adding breading further increases calories to 246 cal per 100g while simultaneously diluting protein density — breaded chicken has only about 22g protein per 100g versus 31g for grilled. The coating adds carbohydrates (around 14g per 100g) that are absent in all other preparation methods.
Chicken breast loses water during cooking, which means the cooked weight is always lower than the raw weight. This is critical to understand for accurate calorie and protein tracking:
When tracking calories and protein, always weigh your chicken before cooking (raw) or use a food database value that specifies “cooked” weight. Mixing up raw and cooked weights is one of the most common tracking errors — raw chicken has fewer calories per gram than cooked chicken because raw chicken contains more water.
For example, logging 200g of raw chicken as 200g cooked would overestimate your protein intake by about 25%. This calculator eliminates that confusion by taking your raw input and converting it to the accurate cooked nutrition automatically.
Chicken skin is composed almost entirely of fat, adding significant calories without meaningful protein. Per 100g of cooked chicken, leaving the skin on adds approximately:
For a large 250g raw breast (about 188g cooked when grilled), choosing skin-on over skinless adds approximately 94 calories and 10.5g of fat to your meal. For fat loss goals, skinless is almost always preferable. For bulking phases or higher calorie needs, skin-on chicken is a convenient and tasty way to increase calorie density.
The most consistent tracking approach is to weigh chicken before cooking and use “raw” database entries. This eliminates variability from different cooking methods and ensures you are comparing apples to apples every day.
Estimating chicken weight by eyeballing portion sizes is notoriously inaccurate. Studies show people routinely underestimate protein portions by 20-30%. A digital kitchen scale that costs less than $15 will give you consistent, accurate results every time.
If you cook multiple chicken breasts at once for meal prep, weigh the total raw weight before cooking, then divide by the number of servings. Use this calculator to find the nutrition per serving based on your raw portion size.
Plain chicken breast contains no carbohydrates. However, many marinades, glazes, and sauces add significant sugar and calories. BBQ sauce can add 50-100+ calories per serving. Olive oil marinades add fat. This calculator covers plain chicken breast — log any added sauces or marinades separately for a complete picture.
Use the chicken breast calculator alongside these tools for a complete nutrition picture:
A typical 6 oz (170g) raw boneless skinless chicken breast yields about 128g cooked when grilled, providing roughly 40g of protein and 212 calories. Per 100g cooked, grilled chicken breast contains approximately 31g of protein and 165 calories.
Cooking method changes the calorie and fat content more than protein. Grilled and baked chicken breast have about 31g protein per 100g cooked, while deep-fried or breaded chicken can drop to 22-27g protein per 100g because breading dilutes the protein density.
A 100g serving of grilled skinless chicken breast contains approximately 165 calories, 31g of protein, 3.6g of fat, and 0g of carbohydrates.
Chicken breast loses about 20-25% of its raw weight during cooking. Grilled, baked, and air-fried chicken loses around 25%. Poached, boiled, pan-fried, and deep-fried loses about 20%. This calculator applies shrinkage automatically when you enter raw weight.
Leaving the skin on adds approximately 50 calories and 5.6g of fat per 100g of cooked chicken. Skin contains almost no additional protein.
Grilled or baked skinless chicken breast provides approximately 8.8g of protein per cooked ounce (28g). Air-fried is similar at about 8.7g per ounce. Deep-fried drops to around 7.6g per ounce due to added fat.