How Many Calories in a Bag of Crisps?
123 calories hide in the standard 25 g packet — 493 per 100 g once the frying oil has done its work. But how many calories in a bag of crisps really depends on which bag: a grab bag runs 160, and a sharing bag emptied solo is a 740-calorie event.
You'd need to walk about 25 minutes to burn the 123 calories in a standard 25 g bag.
How long does it take to burn off a bag of crisps?
A standard 25 g bag is 123 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb
| Activity | Time to burn 123 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 25 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 15 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 18 min |
| Jogging | 14 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 27 min |
Times are for a 154 lb (11 st) adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (25 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Crisps quick facts
- Bag sizes: standard, grab and share
- Low-fat crisps: what you actually save
- How do crisps compare with other snacks?
- Most popular crisp brands
- FAQ
Crisps quick facts
Figures are for potato crisps fried in sunflower oil — the standard style sold in multipacks.
| Nutrient | Standard bag (25 g) | Per 100 g | RI%* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 123 kcal / 515 kJ | 493 kcal / 2,063 kJ | 6% |
| Protein | 1.6 g | 6.2 g | 3% |
| Carbohydrates | 14.0 g | 55.8 g | 5% |
| – of which sugars | 0.2 g | 0.9 g | under 1% |
| Fat | 7.2 g | 28.8 g | 10% |
| – of which saturates | 0.6 g | 2.5 g | 3% |
| Fibre | 1.1 g | 4.4 g | – |
| Salt | 0.38 g | 1.51 g | 6% |
*RI% = one standard bag's share of an adult's daily reference intake, based on 2,000 kcal.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from CoFID, the UK government’s Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified August 2026. How we verify our data →
Two things stand out. Fat delivers more than half the calories — that's the frying oil, and it's why crisps run nearly 500 kcal per 100 g while the potato they came from runs about a fifth of that. And the salt: 1.51 g per 100 g means crisps are salty, but a single 25 g bag still only spends 6% of the NHS 6 g daily limit.
Bag sizes: standard, grab and share
- Standard bag (25 g): 123 kcal — the multipack size.
- Grab bag (32.5 g): 160 kcal — the meal-deal size, 30% more than it looks.
- Share bag (150 g): 740 kcal — six standard bags in one foil sack.
That last conversion is the one to memorise. A share bag is not "a bigger bag of crisps"; it's six bags wearing one label, and eaten across a film it costs more than most dinners. Decant a portion into a bowl and put the bag away — the packet, not the crisp, is where the damage scales.
(alt: "BodyPal app scanning a bag of crisps showing calories and macros")
Low-fat crisps: what you actually save
(alt: "Standard vs low-fat crisps calories comparison")
Low-fat crisps come in at 458 kcal per 100 g against the standard 493. That's a 7% saving — about 9 kcal on a 25 g bag, or 35 per 100 g. Roughly one Biscoff biscuit, spread across four bags of crisps.
The label isn't lying; the crisps do carry less fat. It's just that a fried potato slice can only shed so much oil and still be a crisp. If the choice is between low-fat crisps and standard ones, take whichever tastes better. If the goal is a real calorie cut, change the bag size, not the recipe — dropping from a grab bag to a standard bag saves four times what "low fat" does.
How do crisps compare with other snacks?
(alt: "Crisps vs popcorn and prawn crackers calories comparison")
| Snack | Per bag | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|
| Crisps (25 g bag) | 123 kcal | 493 kcal |
| Popcorn (30 g bag) | 141 kcal | ~470 kcal |
| Prawn crackers | – | 570 kcal |
The verdict: per gram, there's no hero here — popcorn's healthy glow evaporates at ~470 kcal per 100 g, within sniffing distance of crisps, and prawn crackers beat them both upwards. Crisps' 4.4 g of fibre per 100 g is a genuinely decent contribution towards the 30 g the NHS recommends daily, but nobody should eat crisps for fibre. Pick by portion: a 25 g bag of anything fried is a controlled 120-160 kcal; a share bag of anything is not. The same logic covers Pringles — a tube is a share bag that stacks.
Most popular crisp brands in the United Kingdom
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United Kingdom, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each label. Flavours barely move the number — the bag size does.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Walkers Prawn Cocktail | 519 kcal |
| Walkers Ready Salted | 518 kcal |
| Walkers Cheese & Onion | 514 kcal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels.
Crisps FAQ
How many calories in a packet of crisps?
123 kcal in a standard 25 g packet of fried potato crisps. The grab bag size (32.5 g) is 160 kcal. These figures are for classic sunflower-oil crisps; flavour dust changes the taste far more than it changes the calories.
How many calories in a share bag of crisps?
740 kcal for a 150 g share bag — the equivalent of six standard 25 g bags. Split four ways it's a reasonable 185 kcal each; finished alone it outscores most main courses. The bag size, not the crisp, is the real calorie decision.
How many calories in a grab bag of crisps?
160 kcal for the 32.5 g grab bag — the size sold in meal deals. It looks like one portion but carries 30% more than the standard multipack bag. If you're logging a lunchtime meal deal, the crisps are usually the second-biggest line on it.
How many calories in Walkers crisps?
Around 123 kcal for a standard 25 g bag is a reliable working figure — most classic fried crisps cluster near 493 kcal per 100 g regardless of brand. Individual flavours vary by a few calories either way, so the packet's own label settles any exact case.
Are crisps bad for you?
A 25 g bag costs 123 kcal, 7.2 g of fat and 0.38 g of salt — 6% of the daily salt limit. As a daily single bag, that fits in most diets without drama. The pattern that doesn't fit is the share bag habit: 740 kcal and 2.3 g of salt in one sitting.
Crisps or popcorn — which is lighter?
Per 100 g it's nearly a tie: crisps 493 kcal, bagged popcorn about 470. Per bag, a 25 g bag of crisps (123 kcal) actually undercuts a 30 g popcorn bag (141 kcal). Popcorn only wins when it's plain and air-popped at home — shop bags are dressed in oil and sugar.
Are low-fat crisps worth it?
458 kcal per 100 g versus 493 for standard — a saving of about 9 kcal on a 25 g bag. That's cosmetic. Choose them if you prefer them, but a smaller bag, or simply fewer bags, saves far more than the low-fat recipe ever will.
How many calories in crisps per 100 g?
493 kcal per 100 g for standard crisps fried in sunflower oil, with 28.8 g of fat, 55.8 g of carbohydrate and 1.51 g of salt. Low-fat versions run 458. For quick maths, every 10 g of crisps is roughly 50 kcal.
Similar foods
- Twix — 246 kcal per twin bar
- Snickers — 235 kcal per bar
- Bounty — 278 kcal per twin bar
- Biscoff biscuit — 38 kcal per biscuit
- Bourbon biscuit — 68 kcal each
- Maltesers — ~10 kcal per Malteser
Count the bag before it's empty
Scan the packet with BodyPal and the right bag size goes straight into your day — standard, grab or the share bag you meant to share.
