Fish & Seafood Nutrition Guide & Calorie Comparison
Calories, protein, carbs and fat for 23 fish & seafood, all per 100 g so you can compare them directly.
Foods listed
23
Median kcal / 100 g
81
mean 100
Calorie range
44โ209
per 100 g
Avg protein / 100 g
17.5 g
๐ฅฌ Lowest calorie
Squid (calamari)
44 kcal / 100 g
๐ช Most protein
Anchovies
26.9 g / 100 g
โ๏ธ Best protein per calorie
Fish
24.4 g / 100 kcal
Fish & Seafood nutrition table (per 100 g)
The table lists every fish & seafood 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 0.44 kcal/g (squid (calamari), frozen, tubes only, very low) to 2.09 kcal/g (sea bass, chilean, frozen, wild caught, medium). That means 300 calories buys you 682 g of squid (calamari) but only 144 g of sea bass โ the same calories, a 5ร difference in the amount on your plate.
You can eat a large volume of this for very few calories, which makes it useful for filling out a meal in a deficit. 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 fish & seafood for your goal
Every pick below is just the table above sorted a different way โ 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 Squid (calamari) (44 kcal/100 g), Fish (56 kcal/100 g) and Lobster (59 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 Fish (24.4 g protein per 100 kcal), Tuna (24.2 g protein per 100 kcal) and Halibut (23.6 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 Crustaceans (0 g net carbs/100 g), Fish (0 g net carbs/100 g) and Fish (0 g net carbs/100 g). 23 of the 23 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 โ Sea bass (209 kcal/100 g), Anchovies (206 kcal/100 g) and Fish (197 kcal/100 g) โ are the easiest way to add calories without adding bulk to a meal. More at high-calorie foods.
How many fish & seafood 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.
- 22 of 23 โ High protein (โฅ 10 g/100 g) ยท see the full list
- 10 of 23 โ Low sodium (โค 140 mg/100 g) ยท see the full list
- 23 of 23 โ Keto-friendly (โค 5 g net carbs/100 g) ยท 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 โ 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 โ 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
- ๐ช High-Protein Foods โ ranked by grams of protein per 100 g.
- ๐ฅฌ Low-Calorie Foods โ ranked by calories per 100 g, lowest first.
- ๐พ High-Fibre Foods โ ranked by grams of dietary fibre per 100 g.
- ๐ฅ Low-Carb Foods โ ranked by grams of carbohydrate per 100 g, lowest first.
- ๐ Low-Fat Foods โ ranked by grams of fat per 100 g, lowest first.
- ๐ฅ High-Calorie Foods โ ranked by calories per 100 g, highest first.
- ๐ซ Low-Sugar Foods โ ranked by grams of total sugars per 100 g, lowest first.
- ๐ง Low-Sodium Foods โ ranked by milligrams of sodium per 100 g, lowest first.
Browse other food categories
- ๐ฅฆ Vegetables calories โ 80 foods, median 33 kcal/100 g
- ๐ Fruits calories โ 44 foods, median 61 kcal/100 g
- ๐พ Grains & Pasta calories โ 41 foods, median 367 kcal/100 g
- ๐ฅ Dairy & Eggs calories โ 40 foods, median 297 kcal/100 g
- ๐ซ Beans & Legumes calories โ 20 foods, median 132 kcal/100 g
- ๐ฅ Nuts & Seeds calories โ 19 foods, median 622 kcal/100 g
- ๐ฅฉ Beef calories โ 15 foods, median 164 kcal/100 g
- ๐ Poultry calories โ 11 foods, median 153 kcal/100 g
- ๐ฅ Pork calories โ 7 foods, median 168 kcal/100 g
- ๐ญ Deli & Sausages calories โ 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.
Fish & Seafood nutrition FAQ
How many calories are in fish & seafood?
Across the 23 fish & seafood in this database the average is 100 calories per 100 g. The range runs from 44 kcal (squid (calamari), frozen, tubes only) up to 209 kcal (sea bass, chilean, frozen, wild caught) per 100 g.
Which fish & seafood are lowest in calories?
Squid (calamari), frozen, tubes only (44 kcal per 100 g), Fish, pollock, raw (56 kcal per 100 g), Lobster, tail only, frozen, wild caught (59 kcal per 100 g) are the lowest-calorie options in this category. See the full low-calorie foods list.
Which fish & seafood have the most protein?
Anchovies, canned in olive oil, with salt, drained leads this category with 26.9 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 fish & seafood give the most protein per calorie?
Fish, cod, Atlantic, wild caught, raw has the best protein-to-calorie ratio in this category at 24.4 g of protein per 100 calories (16.1 g protein and 66 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 fish & seafood?
From 44 kcal per 100 g (squid (calamari), frozen, tubes only, 0.44 kcal/g โ very low energy density) up to 209 kcal per 100 g (sea bass, chilean, frozen, wild caught, 2.09 kcal/g โ medium). The median is 81 kcal and the mean is 100 kcal per 100 g.
Are these fish & seafood calories raw or cooked?
Each entry states its own preparation in the food name โ "raw", "cooked", "canned", "pan-broiled" and so on โ 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.