Calories in Granulated Sugar: 16 kcal [24 Heaped Teaspoon], and It Adds Up
There are 16 calories in a level teaspoon of granulated sugar, and 394 in 100 g. Small number, relentless habit: two sugars in each of three teas is 96 calories a day, roughly 670 a week, and almost nobody writes it down. The bowl by the kettle is the most under-logged food in Britain.
On this page
- Granulated sugar nutrition at a glance
- The spoon table
- Where the spoons hide
- Halving the habit
- One shelf, one sugar
- The brown sugar upgrade that isn't
- Most popular granulated sugar brands
- FAQ
Granulated sugar nutrition at a glance
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per level teaspoon (~4 g) | %RI* per teaspoon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 394 kcal / 1,648 kJ | 16 kcal / 67 kJ | 1% |
| Protein | 0 g | 0 g | – |
| Carbohydrate | 100 g | 4 g | 2% |
| of which sugars | 100 g | 4 g | 4% |
| Fat | 0 g | 0 g | – |
| Fibre | 0 g | 0 g | – |
| Salt | 0 g | 0 g | – |
*%RI = percentage of the reference intake for an average adult (2,000 kcal; 70 g fat, 260 g carbohydrate, 90 g sugars, 50 g protein, 6 g salt).
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 →
There is nothing in granulated sugar except sugar. No fat, no protein, no fibre, no salt: 100 g of carbohydrate delivering 394 kcal, full stop. That simplicity cuts both ways. It makes the counting trivial, and it means every spoon is energy with no passenger nutrients attached.
The spoon table
| Amount | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Level teaspoon | ~4 g | 16 kcal |
| Heaped teaspoon | ~6 g | 24 kcal |
| Two level teaspoons | ~8 g | 32 kcal |
| Two heaped teaspoons | ~12 g | 48 kcal |
| Tablespoon | ~12.5 g | 49 kcal |
| 500 g bag | 500 g | 1,970 kcal |
Notice the heaped row. The spoon most people actually take from the bowl is heaped, and it carries half as many calories again as the level one they log. "Two sugars" can honestly mean anything from 32 to 48 calories per mug depending on the wrist.
The bag row is there for scale. A 500 g bag of granulated holds 1,970 calories, close to a full day's reference intake, which is worth remembering when a baking weekend empties one.
Where the spoons hide
Tea is the big one. One sugar in each of four mugs is 64 calories a day; two sugars makes it 128. The cup of tea itself is nearly free, so the sugar routinely triples the drink's cost without changing how it looks in a diary.
Coffee follows the same pattern, with a twist: milky drinks such as a latte already carry milk sugars, so the added spoon lands on top of a drink that was never really zero. Then there is the sprinkle economy, half a spoon over porridge here, a dusting on grapefruit there. None of it feels like eating. All of it is.
Halving the habit
If you are trying to cut back, the maths is friendly, because the habit is so repetitive. Dropping from two level sugars to one across four daily mugs saves 64 calories a day, about 450 a week, with no other change to your diet. Going from heaped to level saves a third of each spoon on its own.
The NHS free sugars guidance gives the target: no more than 30 g a day for adults, which is about seven level teaspoons across everything, drinks, cereal, sauces included. A two-sugars-per-mug habit can spend that entire allowance on tea alone. Reading labels catches the rest, since most free sugars arrive pre-stirred.
One shelf, one sugar
| Sugar | Per 100 g | Per level teaspoon |
|---|---|---|
| Granulated | 394 kcal | 16 kcal |
| Caster | 394 kcal | 16 kcal |
| Icing | 393 kcal | 16 kcal |
| Brown (soft) | 380 kcal | 15 kcal |
The verdict: for anything stirred into a hot drink, granulated is the right buy and the cheapest; the premium sugars exist for baking texture, not for your waistline. Caster is the identical sucrose milled finer, a distinction that matters in a sponge and not at all in tea, as our caster vs granulated head-to-head sets out.
The brown sugar upgrade that isn't
"Brown sugar is the healthier swap." Soft brown runs 380 kcal per 100 g against granulated's 394, a saving of one calorie per teaspoon. The molasses trace brings flavour, not nutrition worth naming, and the body treats both as the same free sugars. If the swap makes tea taste better, enjoy it; it is not a health decision.
"A spoon of sugar is too small to matter." Sixteen calories is small. Sixteen calories five times a day, every day, is 560 a week, and it is precisely the kind of intake that never appears in anyone's food diary. Habits are where small numbers go to multiply.
Most popular granulated sugar 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. Both round to the same place for the same reason the whole page does: sugar is sugar.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Belbake Granulated Sugar (Lidl) | 401 kcal |
| Tate & Lyle Pure Cane Granulated Sugar | 400 kcal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories are in a teaspoon of sugar?
A level teaspoon of granulated sugar is 16 kcal at roughly 4 g; a heaped teaspoon is nearer 24 kcal. The difference sounds trivial until it repeats across every hot drink of the day, which is exactly what a sugar habit does. Level the spoon and the number you log is the number you drank.
How many calories are in a tablespoon of sugar?
About 49 kcal, based on a tablespoon holding around 12.5 g. Recipes and cereal bowls are where tablespoons appear, and two of them carry nearly 100 calories. For anything beyond a single spoon, weighing sugar is more honest than counting spoonfuls.
How many calories are two sugars in tea?
Two level teaspoons add 32 kcal to the mug; two heaped ones add about 48. Across four teas a day that is 128 to 192 calories from sugar alone, several times the cost of the tea and milk underneath it. It is usually the easiest saving in the whole diet.
Are granulated and caster sugar the same calories?
Yes, both are 394 kcal per 100 g and 16 per level teaspoon, because they are the same refined white sucrose in different crystal sizes. Caster dissolves faster, which bakers care about. In a hot drink even that difference disappears within seconds of stirring.
How many calories are in a sugar cube?
A standard cube weighs about 4 g, the same as a level teaspoon, so 16 kcal. Cubes are actually the better tool for a habit you want to control: they cannot be heaped, so two cubes is always 32 calories rather than the 48 a generous spoon can smuggle in.
How much sugar a day is okay?
The NHS advises adults to stay under 30 g of free sugars a day, which is about seven level teaspoons or 118 kcal. That budget covers everything: the bowl by the kettle, cereal, biscuits, sauces and soft drinks. A fizzy drink can spend the whole allowance in one can.
Does granulated sugar contain fat or protein?
No. It is 100 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, all of it sugars, with 0 g fat, 0 g protein, 0 g fibre and 0 g salt. All 394 of its calories per 100 g come from sucrose. Nutritionally it is energy and nothing else, which is why guidance treats it as the first thing to trim.
Is brown sugar lower in calories than white?
Barely: 380 kcal per 100 g against 394, which works out at about one calorie per teaspoon. The gap comes from moisture in the brown sugar, not from anything subtracted. Swap for the caramel flavour if you like it; the calories will not notice.
How many calories are in a 500 g bag of sugar?
A 500 g bag of granulated sugar holds 1,970 kcal, and a kilo bag 3,940. Nobody eats a bag at a sitting, but the number explains how a weekend of baking or a heavy squash habit moves the scales: the bag empties one 16-calorie spoon at a time.
Similar foods
- Caster sugar — 16 kcal per level teaspoon
- Cheddar cheese — 125 kcal per 30 g piece
- Hummus — 92 kcal per 30 g
- Chia seeds — 58 kcal a tablespoon
- Honey — 20 kcal a teaspoon
- Mozzarella — 159 kcal per half ball
Count the spoons without the maths
BodyPal catches the sugar in your mug and your bowl from one photo, so the habit by the kettle finally shows up in the diary.
