How many calories are in an asada taco?
An asada taco is 243 calories. One taco weighs 100 g in USDA's survey data, so the per-taco figure and the per-100-gram figure are the same number here, which makes the arithmetic easy and the ordering treacherous. Two tacos are 486 calories. A 50 g street taco is 121.5.
You'd need to walk about 49 minutes to burn the 243 calories in one taco (100 g).
How long does it take to burn off an asada taco?
One taco (100 g) is 243 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 243 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 49 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 30 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 35 min |
| Jogging | 29 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 54 min |
Times are for a 155 lb adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (100 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Asada taco quick facts
- One taco is exactly 100 grams
- US servings, from a street taco to a large one
- What cheese and a flour tortilla cost
- The protein is the reason to order it
- Why one database says 123 calories
- How does an asada taco compare?
- FAQ
Asada taco quick facts
USDA publishes no record called carne asada. What it publishes is FNDDS 2708530, "Taco, meat, no cheese", and that is the line behind every figure on this page: meat on a tortilla, with onion, cilantro and salsa, and nothing melted over the top. That is the taco a taqueria hands you.
There was a second candidate, and the choice between them is worth a sentence. FNDDS 2708515, "Taco, corn tortilla, beef, cheese", names the tortilla but adds cheese; 2708530 names the filling correctly but leaves the tortilla unstated. Six calories separate them per 100 g. The saturated fat does not: picking the cheese line would have overstated it by 16% on every serving below.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 taco (100 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 243 | 243 | 12% |
| Total fat | 13.18 g | 13.18 g | 17% |
| Saturated fat | 3.867 g | 3.867 g | 19% |
| Carbohydrate | 15.94 g | 15.94 g | 6% |
| Dietary fiber | 2.2 g | 2.2 g | 8% |
| Total sugars | 0.31 g | 0.31 g | — |
| Protein | 15.15 g | 15.15 g | 30% |
| Sodium | 359 mg | 359 mg | 16% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Two rows a packaged label would carry are absent, and for the same reason. USDA reports no added sugars and no trans fat figure for any of its taco lines, so writing zeros there would be inventing data rather than reporting it. Total sugars carry no Daily Value on a US label either, which is why that cell is a dash rather than a percentage.
Three more numbers come off the same record and never make it onto a calorie chart: 44 mg of cholesterol, 220 mg of potassium and 40 mg of calcium per taco, plus 1.69 mg of iron. The corn tortilla is doing most of the calcium work there.
One taco is exactly 100 grams
Look at the table above again. The two number columns are identical, and that is not a typo.
USDA's household measures for this record are 50 g for a miniature taco, 100 g for a small or regular one, 120 g for a cup of taco meat and tortilla, and 150 g for a large. The regular taco lands on 100 g exactly, so per-serving and per-100-gram collapse into one figure of 243 calories. Few handheld foods on the American menu are this tidy.
The tidiness is also the trap. Because one taco equals 100 g, people assume a taco order scales the way a sandwich does, and it does not. Tacos are ordered in threes. Three street tacos weigh 150 g and come to 364.5 calories — the same as a single large taco, and nobody who has eaten three small tortillas feels they have eaten one big thing.
Two regular tacos, the standard plate, reach 486 calories before rice, beans or a drink. That is the number to log, and the only way to get it right is to count objects rather than estimate grams.
US servings, from a street taco to a large one
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28.35 g | 68.9 |
| 1 street (mini) taco | 50 g | 121.5 |
| 1 taco, USDA small or regular | 100 g | 243 |
| 1 cup, taco meat and tortilla | 120 g | 291.6 |
| 3 street tacos | 150 g | 364.5 |
| 1 large taco | 150 g | 364.5 |
| 2 tacos | 200 g | 486 |
USDA's own household measures for this record are the 50, 100, 120 and 150 g ones; the 1 oz row and the two- and three-taco rows are our own scaling of the same 243-per-100-gram figure.
The two 150 g rows are the useful pair. A large taco and a three-taco street order are the same weight and the same 364.5 calories, so the only thing separating them is how full you feel afterwards. If a big taco satisfies you and three small ones leave you ordering a fourth, the large one is the cheaper habit.
The cup row exists because USDA lists it, and it is the measure to avoid. Taco meat and tortilla scooped into a measuring cup is 120 g and 291.6 calories, but nobody eats a taco that way; the cup is a laboratory convenience that turns into a logging error the moment somebody picks it off a dropdown menu because it sounds American.
Raw against cooked does not apply here. This record describes a finished taco, meat already grilled and chopped, so every figure on the page is the food as it reaches the plate. Weigh the meat before it hits the heat and you are measuring a different thing entirely.
What cheese and a flour tortilla cost
| Version | Per 100 g | Serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asada taco, no cheese (this page) | 243 | 1 taco (100 g) | 243 |
| With cheese, corn tortilla | 249 | 1 taco (105 g) | 261.5 |
| With cheese, flour tortilla | 257 | 1 taco (105 g) | 269.9 |
| With beans, no cheese | 205 | per 100 g | 205 |
| Hard-shell beef taco, fast food | 226 | 1 taco (69 g) | 155.9 |
| Soft beef taco, fast food | 206 | 1 taco (102 g) | 210.1 |
Cheese is the cheapest thing on this list in calories and the most expensive in everything else. Adding it takes a taco from 243 to 249 calories per 100 g, a gap of six calories that no one would bother logging. Saturated fat goes from 3.867 g to 4.489 g in the same step, up 16%, which moves the Daily Value from 19% to 22%, and sodium goes from 359 mg to 375 mg. The calorie column simply cannot see that trade. The percentage column can.
The tortilla swap is the bigger decision, and it is not a calorie decision either. A flour tortilla with the same beef and cheese runs 257 calories per 100 g against 249 for corn, worth eight calories. Sodium jumps from 375 mg to 444 mg, an 18% increase, and fiber falls from 2.1 g to 1.3 g. Against the FDA Daily Values that is a real move in the wrong direction on two rows at once, for a difference in calories you would never notice. Corn wins, and not narrowly.
Beans behave the way people hope and then quietly do not. A taco with beans and no cheese is 205 calories per 100 g against 243, and fiber climbs from 2.2 g to 3.4 g. Per gram that looks like a clear win. The catch is that beans add weight rather than replacing meat, so the taco in your hand is heavier and the saving per object is far smaller than the saving per 100 g suggests. Density improved; the plate did not shrink.
Both fast-food rows are here as a reality check. A hard-shell taco is 226 calories per 100 g but only a 69 g object, so it lands at 155.9 calories, and the soft version is 210.1. They are smaller foods more than lighter ones.
The protein is the reason to order it
One taco delivers 15.15 g of protein, which is 30% of the 50 g Daily Value, while spending 12% of a 2,000-calorie day and 17% of the day's total fat. Very little street food returns that ratio.
Put it beside the drive-through version and the gap is stark. The fast-food hard-shell beef taco carries 8.86 g of protein per 100 g — close to half — because a good deal of its weight is shell and lettuce rather than meat. MyPlate counts protein foods in ounce-equivalents, and a taco whose filling is mostly beef does more for that column than a taco whose filling is mostly crunch.
The row that deserves your attention is sodium. One taco is 359 mg, or 16% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, which is unremarkable. Three tacos is not unremarkable, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans keep sodium among the nutrients Americans overconsume in every edition. The tortilla choice above is the easiest lever on this page for anyone who cares about that number.
Fiber is modest but real: 2.2 g per taco, 8% of the Daily Value, almost all of it from the corn. Sugar barely registers at 0.31 g.
Why one database says 123 calories
Search a food log for "carne asada tacos" and there is a decent chance you will land on a retail record listing 123 calories per 100 g. That is roughly half the figure on this page, and the difference is not a disagreement between sources.
The record in question is a supermarket tray whose declared serving is half a container weighing 554 g. A taco cannot be half as calorie-dense as a taco. What that number describes is a tray in which rice and sides share the weight with the tacos, so the average per 100 g falls through the floor. Log it as a taco and you will undercount every time by a wide margin.
This is the general shape of the problem with branded taco data, and it is why this page uses a survey record instead. USDA's branded taco results are meal kits, simmer sauces, taco cups, carne asada beef jerky and marinated flank steak sold without a tortilla — none of them the food you are holding. There is no clean packaged asada taco to quote, so none is quoted.
How does an asada taco compare?
| Item | Per 100 g | Serving | Calories | Protein / Carbs / Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asada taco, no cheese | 243 | 1 taco (100 g) | 243 | 15.2 / 15.9 / 13.2 g |
| Taco with cheese, corn tortilla | 249 | 1 taco (105 g) | 261.5 | 16.2 / 16.1 / 14.6 g |
| Taco with cheese, flour tortilla | 257 | 1 taco (105 g) | 269.9 | 17.5 / 19.8 / 12.9 g |
| Fish taco | 275 | 1 taco (100 g) | 275 | 11.6 / 23.0 / 15.3 g |
| Hard-shell beef taco, fast food | 226 | 1 taco (69 g) | 155.9 | 6.1 / 13.7 / 8.8 g |
Every line is a USDA record for a taco, so this is a fair fight rather than a lineup of unrelated foods. Per 100 g they span 226 to 275, a spread of under a quarter. Per object they span 155.9 to 275, and the gaps widen: the fast-food taco falls furthest behind, and it does so because it weighs 69 g rather than because it is less dense per gram.
Our take: the asada taco is the one to order if you want protein at a low calorie cost, at 15.2 g in a 243-calorie object, and the corn tortilla keeps sodium and fiber both on the right side. The fish taco is the surprise of the table — 275 calories in a 100 g taco, the biggest number in either column, because batter and sauce add carbohydrate and fat while the fish supplies 11.6 g of protein against beef's 15.2 g. If you are counting objects at a taco truck, order the asada and stop at two.
Asada taco FAQs
How many calories are in an asada taco?
243 calories in one taco, which USDA weighs at 100 g, so the per-taco and per-100-gram figures are the same number. That taco carries 15.15 g of protein, 13.18 g of fat, 15.94 g of carbohydrate and 359 mg of sodium. Two tacos come to 486 calories.
How many calories are in 2 asada tacos?
486 calories, at 243 for each 100 g taco. That is 12% of a 2,000-calorie day per taco and 24% for the pair, before rice, beans or a drink. Three street tacos weigh less at 150 g and come to 364.5 calories.
How many calories are in a street taco?
121.5 calories for one 50 g mini taco, exactly half a regular one. Three of them weigh 150 g and total 364.5 calories, which is the same as a single large taco. Street tacos disappear faster than they count, so the order size matters more than the recipe.
How much protein is in an asada taco?
15.15 g in one 100 g taco, which is 30% of the 50 g Daily Value while using only 12% of a 2,000-calorie day. A fast-food hard-shell beef taco carries 8.86 g per 100 g, close to half, because shell and lettuce make up more of its weight.
Are asada tacos a healthy choice?
One taco is 243 calories with 15.15 g of protein, 2.2 g of fiber and 359 mg of sodium, 16% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value. The protein-per-calorie ratio is the strongest thing about it. Sodium is the row that adds up once an order reaches three tacos on flour tortillas.
Asada taco or al pastor: which has fewer calories?
Two calories separate them: USDA's pork taco on a corn tortilla is 251 calories per 100 g and the beef equivalent with cheese is 249. Fat is where they differ, at 14.5 g against 13.94 g per 100 g. Order by taste rather than by number.
Corn or flour tortilla: which taco has fewer calories?
Corn, but only just: 249 calories per 100 g against 257 for flour, with the same beef and cheese. Sodium is the real gap at 375 mg against 444 mg, up 18%, and fiber falls from 2.1 g to 1.3 g on flour. Corn wins on both rows that matter.
How many carbs are in an asada taco?
15.94 g in one 100 g taco, 6% of the 275 g Daily Value, of which 0.31 g is sugar and 2.2 g is fiber. That makes it one of the lower-carbohydrate handheld foods: a fish taco holds 22.99 g per 100 g and a flour-tortilla taco 18.87 g.
Similar foods
- Top Sirloin Steak — 413 cal per 6 oz steak
- Tempura shrimp — 109 cal for 6 large shrimp
- Chicken — 203 cal for 3 oz roasted
- Roast Chicken — 203 cal per 3 oz
- Street Taco — 125 cal per street taco
- Caesar Chicken Wrap — 643 cal per wrap
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the tacos, not the grams.
