Beef Nutrition Guide & Calorie Comparison
Calories, protein, carbs and fat for 15 beef, all per 100 g so you can compare them directly.
Foods listed
15
Median kcal / 100 g
164
mean 175
Calorie range
122–254
per 100 g
Avg protein / 100 g
21.8 g
🥬 Lowest calorie
Beef
122 kcal / 100 g
💪 Most protein
Beef
27.7 g / 100 g
⚖️ Best protein per calorie
Beef
19.3 g / 100 kcal
Beef nutrition table (per 100 g)
The table lists every beef entry in the CalorieInsight database with its calories, macronutrients, net carbs, fibre, sodium and energy density per 100 g. Tap any name for full nutrition facts, ounce and pound conversions, and a serving calculator.
Data: USDA FoodData Central (public domain, CC0). Net carbs are total carbohydrate minus fibre. Values are for raw or as-described foods and are general information, not medical or dietary advice.
Energy density: why the same 300 calories look so different
Energy density is calories per gram, and it is the number that decides how much food you actually get for your calorie budget. Across this category it runs from 1.22 kcal/g (beef, round, eye of round roast, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, select, raw, low) to 2.54 kcal/g (beef, ribeye, steak, boneless, choice, raw, medium). That means 300 calories buys you 246 g of beef but only 118 g of beef — the same calories, a 2× difference in the amount on your plate.
Low energy density — generous portions stay modest in calories. Neither end is "good" or "bad": lower-density foods win when you want volume and fullness, higher-density foods win when you are trying to eat more calories than your appetite comfortably allows.
Best beef for your goal
Every pick below is just the table above sorted a different way — no editorial ranking, no sponsorship. Open a food to scale it to your real portion.
Eating in a calorie deficit
The lightest options here are Beef (122 kcal/100 g), Beef (123 kcal/100 g) and Beef (140 kcal/100 g). Build the bulk of a meal from these and spend the rest of your budget on protein. The full cross-category list lives at low-calorie foods.
Protein per calorie
When calories are capped, protein per calorie matters more than protein per 100 g. The leaders here are Beef (19.3 g protein per 100 kcal), Beef (19.2 g protein per 100 kcal) and Beef (15.7 g protein per 100 kcal). Compare them against every other food in the high-protein foods list.
Low carb and keto
By net carbs (total carbohydrate minus fibre), the lowest are Beef (0 g net carbs/100 g), Beef (0 g net carbs/100 g) and Beef (0 g net carbs/100 g). 15 of the 15 entries in this category come in at or under 5 g net carbs per 100 g. See also low-carb foods.
Gaining weight or bulking
The most calorie-dense entries — Beef (254 kcal/100 g), Beef (243 kcal/100 g) and Beef (232 kcal/100 g) — are the easiest way to add calories without adding bulk to a meal. More at high-calorie foods.
How many beef pass each nutrition screen
These thresholds follow the FDA's per-100 g nutrient-content conventions and are applied to the raw USDA values, so you can see at a glance what this category is good for.
- 15 of 15 — High protein (≥ 10 g/100 g) · see the full list
- 15 of 15 — Low sodium (≤ 140 mg/100 g) · see the full list
- 15 of 15 — Keto-friendly (≤ 5 g net carbs/100 g) · see the full list
How to use these numbers
Per-100 g values are the fair way to compare foods, because serving sizes differ wildly between them. Once you have picked a food, open its page and set your real portion in grams, cups or pieces — the serving calculator scales every nutrient for you.
To turn this into a plan: work out your daily target with the calorie calculator, split it into protein, carbs and fat with the macro calculator, then log what you eat in the free calorie tracker. Nothing here costs anything and no account is required.
Where these numbers come from
Every value on this page is derived from USDA FoodData Central, the reference database maintained by the US Department of Agriculture and released into the public domain (CC0). Each food page names the exact FDC record behind it so you can check the source yourself. Averages, medians, net carbs, energy density and protein-per-calorie figures are calculated from those values at build time — nothing on this page is estimated or hand-written.
Two things worth knowing when you compare rows: cooking changes the numbers (water loss concentrates calories per 100 g, added fat raises them), and USDA entries describe unseasoned foods, so anything you add in the pan is extra. Weigh food raw when you can, and use the food page's serving calculator for your actual portion.
Ranked food lists
- 💪 High-Protein Foods — ranked by grams of protein per 100 g.
- 🥬 Low-Calorie Foods — ranked by calories per 100 g, lowest first.
- 🌾 High-Fibre Foods — ranked by grams of dietary fibre per 100 g.
- 🥚 Low-Carb Foods — ranked by grams of carbohydrate per 100 g, lowest first.
- 🍚 Low-Fat Foods — ranked by grams of fat per 100 g, lowest first.
- 🥑 High-Calorie Foods — ranked by calories per 100 g, highest first.
- 🚫 Low-Sugar Foods — ranked by grams of total sugars per 100 g, lowest first.
- 🧂 Low-Sodium Foods — ranked by milligrams of sodium per 100 g, lowest first.
Browse other food categories
- 🥦 Vegetables calories — 80 foods, median 33 kcal/100 g
- 🍎 Fruits calories — 44 foods, median 61 kcal/100 g
- 🌾 Grains & Pasta calories — 41 foods, median 367 kcal/100 g
- 🥛 Dairy & Eggs calories — 40 foods, median 297 kcal/100 g
- 🐟 Fish & Seafood calories — 23 foods, median 81 kcal/100 g
- 🫘 Beans & Legumes calories — 20 foods, median 132 kcal/100 g
- 🥜 Nuts & Seeds calories — 19 foods, median 622 kcal/100 g
- 🍗 Poultry calories — 11 foods, median 153 kcal/100 g
- 🥓 Pork calories — 7 foods, median 168 kcal/100 g
- 🌭 Deli & Sausages calories — 6 foods, median 318 kcal/100 g
Or search the whole database of 321 foods on the foods index, and log anything you find in the free calorie tracker.
Beef nutrition FAQ
How many calories are in beef?
Across the 15 beef in this database the average is 175 calories per 100 g. The range runs from 122 kcal (beef, round, eye of round roast, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, select, raw) up to 254 kcal (beef, ribeye, steak, boneless, choice, raw) per 100 g.
Which beef are lowest in calories?
Beef, round, eye of round roast, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, select, raw (122 kcal per 100 g), Beef, round, top round roast, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, select, raw (123 kcal per 100 g), Beef, top sirloin steak, raw (140 kcal per 100 g) are the lowest-calorie options in this category. See the full low-calorie foods list.
Which beef have the most protein?
Beef, loin, tenderloin roast, separable lean only, boneless, trimmed to 0" fat, select, cooked, roasted leads this category with 27.7 g of protein per 100 g. Browse the full high-protein foods list to compare across every category.
Where does this nutrition data come from?
Every value comes from USDA FoodData Central, which is public domain (CC0). Viewing and logging it here is 100% free with no sign-up.
Which beef give the most protein per calorie?
Beef, round, top round roast, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, select, raw has the best protein-to-calorie ratio in this category at 19.3 g of protein per 100 calories (23.7 g protein and 123 kcal per 100 g). Protein per calorie matters more than protein per 100 g when you are eating in a deficit.
What is the calorie range across beef?
From 122 kcal per 100 g (beef, round, eye of round roast, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, select, raw, 1.22 kcal/g — low energy density) up to 254 kcal per 100 g (beef, ribeye, steak, boneless, choice, raw, 2.54 kcal/g — medium). The median is 164 kcal and the mean is 175 kcal per 100 g.
Are these beef calories raw or cooked?
Each entry states its own preparation in the food name — "raw", "cooked", "canned", "pan-broiled" and so on — because cooking changes weight and therefore calories per 100 g. Water loss concentrates calories; added fat raises them. Open any food to see exactly which USDA record it maps to.