Turkey breast protein and calories
Roasted turkey breast is 30.1 g of protein for 147 calories per 100 g. That is 0.20 g of protein per calorie, which quietly beats roasted chicken breast and makes it the leanest common meat in a supermarket.
| Per 100 g | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey breast, roasted | 147 | 30.1 g | 0.0 g | 2.1 g |
| Chicken breast, roasted | 165 | 31.0 g | 0.0 g | 3.6 g |
The margin over chicken is small but real
Chicken breast is 31.0 g of protein for 165 calories; turkey is 30.1 g for 147. Almost the same protein for 18 fewer calories per 100 g, because turkey breast carries less fat — 2.1 g against 3.6 g. Over a 200 g portion that is 36 calories. It is not a transformation. It is a free improvement if you like turkey.
| Serving | Weight | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 oz | 85 g | 125 | 25.6 g | 0.0 g | 1.8 g |
| 1 breast | 1413 g | 2077 | 425.7 g | 0.0 g | 29.4 g |
Roasted, meat only, skin removed.
Whole breast weights are absurd, and useful
USDA lists a whole turkey breast at 1,413 g — about 2,077 calories and 426 g of protein in one piece of meat. That is a week of dinners from one roasting tray, which is the actual argument for turkey over chicken: it batch-cooks at a scale chicken does not.
Deli turkey is a different food
These figures are for turkey you roasted. Sliced deli turkey is brined, often contains added water and starch, and carries substantially more sodium. It is a reasonable thing to eat and it is not this. Scan the packet.
Skin and dark meat
Meat only, skin removed. Turkey skin is fatty enough to change the figures materially, and thigh and leg meat run considerably higher in fat than breast. If you carved the bird, log what you took, not the breast number for all of it.
Source: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy release 2018-04. Figures are per 100 g as published; serving weights are USDA’s own. Records used: Turkey, whole, breast, meat only, cooked, roasted (FDC 171496), Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat only, cooked, roasted (FDC 171477).
Common questions
30.1 g per 100 g roasted, meat only, at 147 calories.
Slightly. Turkey is 2.1 g of fat per 100 g against 3.6 g for chicken, for almost identical protein — 30.1 g against 31.0 g — and 18 fewer calories.
USDA puts a whole roasted breast at 1,413 g, which is about 426 g of protein and 2,077 calories.
No. Sliced deli turkey is brined, often contains added water and starch, and is much higher in sodium. Scan the packet instead.
Compare it with
| Food | Per 100 g | Protein | The page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shrimp | 99 kcal | 24.0 g | The best protein-per-calorie ratio here |
| Canned tuna | 86 kcal | 19.4 g | In water, not oil — and drained is not the tin |
| Salmon | 208 raw | 20.4 g | Farmed against wild — a 66-calorie gap |
All twenty-four are on the food macros index.
Log it without doing this arithmetic
Scan the barcode or weigh it in grams and EatSleepRep does the conversion. The scanner is free forever, there are no ads, and every entry exports as CSV whenever you want it.