Broccoli calories, raw and by the cup
Raw broccoli is 34 calories per 100 g. A cup chopped is 91 g, so about 31 calories. It is one of the few foods where a rough guess costs you almost nothing — and the one where measuring by volume goes furthest wrong.
Per 100 g, raw
| Serving | Weight | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 spear (about 5" long) | 31 g | 11 | 0.9 g | 2.1 g | 0.1 g |
| 0.5 cup, chopped or diced | 44 g | 15 | 1.2 g | 2.9 g | 0.2 g |
| 1 cup chopped | 91 g | 31 | 2.6 g | 6.0 g | 0.3 g |
| 1 NLEA serving | 148 g | 50 | 4.2 g | 9.8 g | 0.5 g |
| 1 stalk | 151 g | 51 | 4.3 g | 10.0 g | 0.6 g |
| 1 bunch | 608 g | 207 | 17.1 g | 40.4 g | 2.2 g |
Raw. A "cup" of broccoli depends entirely on how finely it is cut.
A cup is not a weight
USDA lists a cup of chopped raw broccoli at 91 g and a half-cup at 44 g, but those figures assume a particular chop. Florets left whole pack loosely; finely chopped broccoli packs tight; steamed broccoli collapses. The same cup measure can hold anywhere from 70 to 160 g of the same vegetable.
Here that hardly matters. The full 90 g range is about 31 calories — less than the error bar on a mis-measured tablespoon of peanut butter. Broccoli is where you can stop weighing and spend the attention on something dense.
The protein claim, honestly
Broccoli gets cited as a protein source at 2.8 g per 100 g, and per calorie that ratio genuinely is high — better than milk. Per plate it is not: reaching 20 g of protein from broccoli means eating 710 g of it, roughly eight cups. It is a good vegetable and a bad protein strategy. Use chicken breast or eggs for that and let broccoli do what it is for.
Fiber and volume
2.6 g of fiber per 100 g, and a very large amount of food for very few calories. That is the whole argument for it when you are eating at a deficit — a plate that looks and feels like a meal for the calorie cost of half a banana.
Source: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy release 2018-04. Figures are per 100 g as published; serving weights are USDA’s own. Records used: Broccoli, raw (FDC 170379).
Common questions
USDA puts a cup of raw chopped broccoli at 91 g, which at 34 calories per 100 g is about 31 calories.
2.8 g per 100 g. The protein-per-calorie ratio is high, but reaching 20 g of protein would take about 710 g of broccoli.
Very little. Steaming or boiling mainly changes water content and volume, and the totals are small enough that the difference is not worth tracking.
Not really. The realistic range for a cup is about 31 calories wide. Spend that attention on oils, nut butters and grains instead.
Compare it with
| Food | Per 100 g | Protein | The page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egg | 143 kcal | 12.6 g | Every size — a jumbo is 66% heavier than a small |
| Chicken breast | 120 raw | 22.5 g | Raw against cooked, and which to weigh |
| Turkey breast | 147 kcal | 30.1 g | Leaner than chicken, by a small real margin |
All twenty-four are on the food macros index.
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