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Salmon protein, farmed and wild

Raw farmed Atlantic salmon is 208 calories per 100 g. Raw wild Atlantic is 142. The protein is almost identical — 20.4 g against 19.8 g — so the entire 66-calorie gap is fat, and which fish you bought matters more than how you cooked it.

Per 100 gCaloriesProteinCarbsFat
Atlantic, farmed, raw20820.4 g0.0 g13.4 g
Atlantic, wild, raw14219.8 g0.0 g6.3 g
Atlantic, farmed, cooked dry heat20622.1 g0.0 g12.3 g

The farmed–wild difference is fat, not protein

Farmed salmon carries 13.4 g of fat per 100 g against 6.3 g in wild — more than double. Farmed fish are fed a controlled, energy-dense diet and do not swim rivers, and it shows in the flesh. Neither number is a problem; salmon fat is largely where the omega-3 content lives. But if you logged a wild fillet against a farmed entry you are 66 calories per 100 g out, which on a 200 g fillet is a meaningful miss in either direction.

Most supermarket Atlantic salmon is farmed. Wild is usually labelled as such, usually Pacific, and usually costs more.

Cooking barely moves it

Farmed salmon goes from 208 to 206 calories per 100 g cooked by dry heat, with protein rising from 20.4 to 22.1 g. Compared with chicken breast, which gains nearly 40% on its raw protein figure, salmon holds water far better. Weighing raw or cooked matters less here than it does with poultry.

Portions

ServingWeightCaloriesProteinCarbsFat
3 oz85 g17717.4 g0.0 g11.4 g
0.5 fillet198 g41240.4 g0.0 g26.6 g

Farmed Atlantic, raw.

A 3 oz portion — the figure most nutrition guidance uses — is 85 g, so about 17.4 g of protein and 177 calories for farmed. Half a fillet at 198 g is 412.

Source: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy release 2018-04. Figures are per 100 g as published; serving weights are USDA’s own. Records used: Fish, salmon, Atlantic, farmed, raw (FDC 175167), Fish, salmon, Atlantic, wild, raw (FDC 173686), Fish, salmon, Atlantic, farmed, cooked, dry heat (FDC 175168).

Common questions

How much protein is in salmon?

Raw farmed Atlantic salmon is 20.4 g per 100 g and wild is 19.8 g. Cooked farmed rises to 22.1 g as water leaves.

Is wild salmon lower in calories than farmed?

Yes, substantially. USDA lists 142 calories per 100 g raw for wild Atlantic against 208 for farmed. The difference is fat — 6.3 g against 13.4 g.

How many calories in a salmon fillet?

USDA puts half a raw farmed fillet at 198 g, about 412 calories. A 3 oz (85 g) portion is about 177.

Does salmon lose protein when cooked?

No. Per 100 g it gains, from 20.4 g to 22.1 g, because some water is lost. Salmon holds water better than chicken, so the shift is smaller.

Compare it with

FoodPer 100 gProteinThe page
Ground beef254 raw17.2 g80/20 against 93/7, and what draining removes
Greek yogurt59 kcal10.2 gNonfat against whole, and what straining does
Cottage cheese81 kcal10.5 gAgainst Greek yogurt, matched fairly

All twenty-four are on the food macros index.

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