Raw to Cooked Weight Calculator
Pick a food, say whether you weighed it raw or cooked, and type the weight in grams or ounces. The calculator converts it with a cooking yield from the USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry or from matching raw and cooked entries in USDA FoodData Central, and shows the calories you'd log for the raw weight and for the cooked weight. Weighed your own batch? Enter your own yield. Results are estimates, not medical advice.
Raw to Cooked Weight Calculator
Your food and its weight
Each food's yield comes from USDA data for one cooking method, shown with the result.
I weighed it
Type what your scale shows. Counter44 logs portions in grams, so the results show grams too.
Weigh a batch raw, cook it, and weigh it again right away: cooked ÷ raw × 100. 1,000 g raw that cooks to 700 g is 70%. Leave blank to use the food's yield. Needed for Other food.
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Yield used: —
Roasted. From USDA FoodData Central: raw breast, 120 kcal per 100 g (FDC 171077), divided by roasted breast, 165 kcal per 100 g (FDC 171477).
Yields: USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2 (2014), and paired raw and cooked entries in USDA FoodData Central. Each food's source is listed in the table below.
Results are estimates. Cooking yields vary with the cut, the heat and how long you cook, and USDA weighs food hot. This calculator is not medical advice.
Counter44
Calorie Tracker
Log the weight that matches your food entry
Search the food in Counter44 and log the grams that match its entry, raw or cooked. Cook the same batch often? Save it as a custom food.
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How to convert raw weight to cooked weight
A cooking yield is the cooked weight as a share of the raw weight. The USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2 (2014) defines it as "Yield (%) = 100 x (Wch / Wcr)", where the cooked weight "is recorded after the sample has been cooked (while sample is hot, after a very brief specified resting time)". The calculator uses it one of two ways:
- Weighed raw or dry: cooked weight = raw weight × yield.
- Weighed cooked: raw weight = cooked weight ÷ yield.
With the defaults, skinless chicken breast roasts at 120 ÷ 165, about 72.7%, so 200 g raw cooks to about 145 g. Going the other way, 150 g of roasted breast started as about 206 g raw. These are examples, not portion advice.
Ounces convert at 28.349523125 g each, the avoirdupois ounce in NIST Handbook 44. The results always show grams as well, because Counter44 logs portions in grams even when the app is set to Imperial units. Grams are rounded to whole numbers, ounces to 0.1 and calories to whole kcal, each once from the unrounded math, with halves rounding up. A weight that rounds to 0 shows as "under 1 g".
If you cook the same food often, measure your own yield: weigh it raw, cook it, and weigh it again right away. Cooked ÷ raw × 100 is your yield, so 1,000 g raw that cooks to 700 g is 70%. Type it under "Your own yield" (anything from 10% to 1,000%) and it replaces the food's figure. For a food that isn't on the list, pick "Other food" and enter your yield. The calculator then converts the weight, but it can't give calories without a listed food.
Cooking yields for common foods
Each food uses one of two kinds of USDA data. Meats with a row in the USDA Table of Cooking Yields (also published as a data set) use that row's measured yield. The others use a pair of USDA FoodData Central entries for the same food raw and cooked. When cooking only changes the water in a food, its calories stay put, so the yield equals the raw kcal per 100 g divided by the cooked kcal per 100 g.
| Food and method | Yield | Source | kcal per 100 g, raw → cooked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast, skinless, roasted | 72.7% | FoodData Central: raw kcal ÷ roasted kcal | 120 (FDC 171077) → 165 (FDC 171477) |
| Ground beef 80/20, browned and drained | 67% | USDA Table: 12% to 22% fat crumbles, pan-fried, 4 samples (63.7% to 71.6%) | 254 (FDC 174036) → 272 (FDC 171799) |
| Ground beef 90/10, browned and drained | 69% | USDA Table: under 12% fat crumbles, pan-fried, 4 samples (67.1% to 69.5%) | 176 (FDC 174030) → 230 (FDC 171794) |
| Ground turkey 93/7, browned | 70.4% | FoodData Central: raw kcal ÷ pan-broiled kcal | 150 (FDC 172850) → 213 (FDC 172851) |
| Top sirloin steak, broiled | 80% | USDA Table: broiled or grilled, 20 samples (69% to 87%) | 201 (FDC 168726) → 243 (FDC 168727) |
| Pork tenderloin, roasted | 77% | USDA Table: lean only, baked or roasted, 12 samples (74% to 84%) | 109 (FDC 168249) → 143 (FDC 168250) |
| Bacon, pan-fried | 32% | USDA Table: pan-fried, 1 sample (baked: 32%, 3 samples) | 393 (FDC 168277) → 468 (FDC 168322) |
| White rice, long-grain | 280.8% | FoodData Central: dry kcal ÷ cooked kcal | 365 (FDC 168877) → 130 (FDC 168878) |
| Brown rice, long-grain | 298.4% | FoodData Central: dry kcal ÷ cooked kcal | 367 (FDC 169703) → 123 (FDC 169704) |
| Pasta, dry | 234.8% | FoodData Central: dry kcal ÷ cooked kcal | 371 (FDC 169736) → 158 (FDC 169737) |
| Lentils, dry | 303.4% | FoodData Central: dry kcal ÷ boiled kcal | 352 (FDC 172420) → 116 (FDC 172421) |
Each paired-entry yield was checked against a second measure: the ratio of dry matter, everything that isn't water, in the two entries. For white rice the two agree closely, 280.8% by calories and 280.0% by dry matter. For chicken breast and pasta, dry matter runs 2.4 and 3.1 points higher, one more reason to treat every figure here as an estimate.
The calorie shortcut fails for fatty meat, which is why the meats use the Table. By calories, 80/20 ground beef would come out at 93.4% (254 ÷ 272) and bacon at 84.0% (393 ÷ 468), against measured yields of 67% and 32%. Fat that melts out takes weight with it, and the calorie ratio can't see that.
Yields also vary from batch to batch: top sirloin's 20 samples in the Table ran from 69% to 87%. The common rule of thumb, a 25% loss for all meat, doesn't fit a Table that runs from 80% for broiled top sirloin down to 32% for pan-fried bacon. Nor does the idea that brown rice doubles when it cooks: FDC's entries give nearly 3 times. A round number can be well off for the food in your pan.
Why raw and cooked calories can disagree
For chicken breast, turkey, rice, pasta and lentils, the raw and cooked figures match, because the yield comes from the two calorie entries themselves. 200 g of raw chicken breast is 240 kcal, and so is the 145 g it cooks down to. Weigh either one, log it against the matching entry, and you get the same number.
Fatty meat is different. For the Table's ground beef, "No fat was added during cooking", and the crumbles were "drained in a colander". The cooked entries describe the meat that's left. 100 g of raw 80/20 beef is 254 kcal (FDC 174036), while the 67 g of drained crumbles it makes is about 182 kcal (FDC 171799). For 90/10 beef the figures are 176 and 159 kcal, and for bacon 393 and 150 kcal.
The Table's fat change figures explain most of those gaps. It records 5.32 g of fat lost per 100 g of raw 80/20 crumbles, about 48 of the 72 kcal at the general 9 kcal per gram of fat in 21 CFR 101.9(c)(1)(i)(B). For 90/10 it's 1.39 g, about 13 of the 17 kcal. For bacon it's 28.6 g, about 257 kcal, roughly the whole 243 kcal gap. The raw and cooked entries come from different samples, so they never line up exactly. The calculator adds a note when a listed meat's two figures differ by more than 5%.
Which figure to log depends on what you ate. If you poured the fat off, the cooked weight against the cooked entry is closer. If you ate the fat, the raw weight against the raw entry is. Weighing meat raw, before it goes in the pan, is the steadiest habit, since the raw entry doesn't depend on how long it cooked or how well it drained.
For a whole dish, use the recipe calorie calculator. It spreads the raw ingredients' calories over the cooked dish's weight, the FAO method that treats the change in weight as water, and it explains how to take out oil or fat you pour away.
Logging the converted weight in Counter44
Counter44's database holds about 7,200 foods derived from USDA data, each stored per 100 g or mL. Search the food and log the grams that match the entry you pick, raw or cooked: the cooked weight for an entry that says cooked, the raw or dry weight from this page for one that says raw or dry. Portions are always in grams or mL, even with Imperial units, which is why the results here always show grams.
If you cook the same batch often, save it as a custom food with a 100 g serving and the calories this page shows under your own yield, then log cooked portions by the gram. A Recents chip repeats a food's last portion in one tap, and Quick add takes calories, with protein, carbs and fat in whole grams. Log the converted grams in Counter44.
To scale a label or an FDC entry to the grams you ate, use the food calories by weight calculator. To check a label's protein, carbs and fat against its calories, use the macros to calories calculator. Other Counter44 calculators are listed on the tools page as they are published.
This calculator and the figures on this page are estimates for planning, not medical advice. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, or have a history of disordered eating, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian before changing how you eat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about raw to cooked weight calculator
How do you convert raw weight to cooked weight?
Multiply the raw weight by the food's cooking yield, which is the cooked weight as a share of the raw weight. To go back, divide the cooked weight by the yield. The USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry defines it as "Yield (%) = 100 x (Wch / Wcr)", with the cooked weight taken while the food is still hot. Roasted skinless chicken breast keeps about 72.7% of its weight, so 200 g raw cooks to about 145 g, and 150 g cooked started as about 206 g raw. Grains and lentils soak up water, so their yields are over 100%: long-grain white rice is about 280.8%.
How much does chicken breast weigh after cooking?
About 73% of its raw weight, roasted. USDA FoodData Central lists raw skinless breast at 120 kcal per 100 g (FDC 171077) and roasted breast at 165 kcal per 100 g (FDC 171477), and 120 ÷ 165 = 72.7%. The protein figures give nearly the same ratio, 72.5%. So 4 oz (113 g) of raw breast comes out at about 82 g (2.9 oz) cooked. FDC's newer grilled and braised entries put the yield anywhere from about 70% to 80%, depending on whether you compare calories or protein, so treat any single figure as an estimate. The common rule of thumb that meat loses about 25% of its weight lands in the same range.
Why does cooked chicken have more calories per 100 g than raw?
It holds less water. FoodData Central lists raw skinless breast (FDC 171077) at 73.9 g of water per 100 g and roasted breast (FDC 171477) at 65.3 g, so each cooked gram carries more protein and more energy: 165 kcal per 100 g against 120. The portion's total doesn't change. 200 g of raw breast is 240 kcal, and so is the 145 g it cooks down to. The numbers only go wrong when a cooked weight is logged against a raw entry, or a raw weight against a cooked one.
How much does ground beef shrink, and does draining it cut calories?
In the USDA Table of Cooking Yields, browned and drained crumbles keep 67% of their raw weight with 12% to 22% fat and 69% with under 12% fat. Patties keep 63% to 77%, depending on the fat level and the cooking method. Some calories do leave with the fat: the table records 5.32 g of fat lost per 100 g of raw meat for the 12% to 22% crumbles. In FoodData Central, 100 g of raw 80/20 beef is 254 kcal (FDC 174036), while the 67 g of drained crumbles it makes is about 182 kcal at 272 kcal per 100 g cooked (FDC 171799). Bacon is the extreme case: a 32% yield and 28.6 g of fat lost per 100 g raw.
How much does rice weigh after cooking?
By FoodData Central's entries, long-grain white rice weighs about 2.8 times its dry weight once cooked (365 ÷ 130 kcal per 100 g, FDC 168877 and 168878), and long-grain brown rice about 3.0 times (367 ÷ 123, FDC 169703 and 169704). So 75 g of dry rice makes about 211 g of cooked white rice or 224 g of cooked brown rice. You'll sometimes read that brown rice only doubles, but FDC's entries don't back that up. Package directions often say 1 cup of dry rice makes about 3 cups cooked, and with FDC's cup weights (185 g dry, 158 g cooked) that's about 2.6 times. The water you use and how long you cook it move the number, so weigh your own batch for the surest figure.
How much dry pasta makes a cooked portion?
FoodData Central's dry and cooked entries (371 and 158 kcal per 100 g, FDC 169736 and 169737) give about 2.35 times the dry weight. So 57 g (2 oz) of dry pasta makes about 134 g cooked, and a 200 g bowl of cooked pasta started as about 85 g dry, 316 kcal either way. Instacart's pasta guide uses about 2.0 times for undercooked pasta, 2.25 for al dente and 2.4 for soft: the longer it boils, the more water it takes up and the heavier it gets.
My food entry is raw but I weighed it cooked. What do I log?
Convert the cooked weight to raw and log that against the raw entry. 150 g of roasted chicken breast is about 206 g raw, 248 kcal either way (USDA FoodData Central, FDC 171477 cooked and 171077 raw). For ground beef and bacon the two routes disagree, because fat leaves the meat as it cooks. 100 g of drained 80/20 crumbles is 272 kcal by the cooked entry (FDC 171799), but 379 kcal as the 149 g of raw beef it came from (FDC 174036). If you drained the fat, the cooked entry is closer. If you ate it, the raw one is. Weighing the food raw, before it goes in the pan, avoids the guesswork.
How do I find my own cooking yield and use it in Counter44?
Weigh the food raw, cook it, and weigh it again right away, since USDA weighs cooked samples hot. Yield = cooked weight ÷ raw weight × 100, so 1,000 g raw that cooks down to 700 g is 70%. Enter that under "Your own yield" and the calculator uses it in place of the food's figure. It also shows the calories in 100 g of your cooked food, counted from the raw entry. In Counter44, save that as a custom food with a 100 g serving (custom foods are unlimited on the free plan), then log cooked portions by the gram. Counter44 logs portions in grams even with Imperial units. It needs no account, and your data stays on your device.