How many calories are in beans?
A 1-cup serving of cooked pinto beans, the everyday bean in most American kitchens, is 244 calories, and beans run 143 calories per 100 g once they are boiled. That same cup carries 15.4 g of fiber and 15.4 g of protein, which is why beans sit in two MyPlate food groups at once.
You'd need to walk about 49 minutes to burn the 244 calories in a 1-cup (171 g) serving.
How long does it take to burn off beans?
A 1-cup (171 g) serving is 244 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 244 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 (171 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Bean quick facts
- US servings from a tablespoon to a full cup
- How the bean varieties stack up
- Canned and baked beans change the math
- Dry beans versus cooked beans
- Fiber is the row to watch here
- How do beans compare?
- Most popular beans brands
- FAQ
Bean quick facts
The number on this page comes from SR Legacy 175200, "Beans, pinto, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt". Pinto is the most-eaten bean in the United States, and the person searching is almost always looking at a bowl of cooked beans rather than a bag of dry ones or an open can. That record also ships with a real USDA cup measure of 171 g, so the serving column below is not guesswork.
There is no added sugars row in the table. The SR Legacy edition does not carry added sugars at all, and plain beans boiled in water have nothing added to them anyway.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 cup (171 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 143 | 244 | — |
| Total fat | 0.65 g | 1.1 g | 1% |
| Saturated fat | 0.14 g | 0.2 g | 1% |
| Carbohydrate | 26.22 g | 44.8 g | 16% |
| Dietary fiber | 9 g | 15.4 g | 55% |
| Total sugars | 0.34 g | 0.6 g | — |
| Protein | 9.01 g | 15.4 g | 31% |
| Sodium | 1 mg | 2 mg | 0% |
% 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 more rows are worth naming in passing: cholesterol is 0 mg, and potassium is 436 mg per 100 g, or 746 mg in the cup, which is 16% of the Daily Value. The sodium figure is the one people misread. Beans boiled without salt are 2 mg a cup. Everything salty about beans arrives later, from the can, the pot or the sauce.
US servings from a tablespoon to a full cup
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 tbsp | 10.6 g | 15 kcal |
| 1 oz | 28.35 g | 41 kcal |
| 1/2 cup | 85.5 g | 122 kcal |
| 1 cup | 171 g | 244 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 143 kcal |
The cup and the tablespoon are USDA household measures on record 175200. The half cup, the ounce and the 100 g line are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings, which is why the half cup weighs exactly half of the USDA cup.
That half cup is the number most people actually need. A scoop of beans next to rice, or the beans in a burrito bowl, is closer to 85 g than to a full 171 g cup, and 122 calories reads very differently in a food log than 244 does. Beans are also dense enough that a heaped cup can run over the listed weight, so if you are logging them often, a scale beats a measuring cup.
How the bean varieties stack up
Every row below is the same preparation: mature seeds, boiled, no salt. The spread between the lightest and the heaviest is 16 calories per 100 g, which is small enough that swapping black beans for pinto in a recipe barely moves your day.
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical piece | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kidney beans, boiled | 127 kcal | 1 oz (28.35 g) | 36 kcal |
| Black beans, boiled | 132 kcal | 1 oz (28.35 g) | 37 kcal |
| White beans, boiled | 139 kcal | 1 oz (28.35 g) | 39 kcal |
| Navy beans, boiled | 140 kcal | 1 oz (28.35 g) | 40 kcal |
| Pinto beans, boiled | 143 kcal | 1 oz (28.35 g) | 41 kcal |
The ounce servings are our own scaling from each USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings. Read the table for the differences that are not calories instead. Navy beans lead on fiber at 10.5 g per 100 g against 9 g for pinto and 6.3 g for white beans. White beans lead on protein at 9.73 g per 100 g, the highest of the five boiled rows here. Kidney beans are the lightest at 127 calories per 100 g because they hold the most water after boiling.
Canned and baked beans change the math
Canned beans are a different food to log, and not for the reason most people assume.
| Version | Per 100 g | Serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canned kidney beans, with liquid | 81 kcal | 1 cup (256 g) | 207 kcal |
| Canned pinto beans, with liquid | 82 kcal | 1 cup (240 g) | 197 kcal |
| Baked beans, canned, plain or vegetarian | 94 kcal | 1 oz (28.35 g) | 27 kcal |
Here is the cup trap. A cup of canned kidney beans measured with its liquid weighs 256 g, which is 85 g more than a cup of boiled pinto, and it still comes in 37 calories lower at 207. The packing liquid is heavy and nearly calorie-free, so the can looks lighter per 100 g than it really is once you drain it.
Sodium is the row that actually changes. Canned kidney beans with the liquid carry 256 mg of sodium per 100 g against 1 mg for boiled pinto, which works out to roughly 655 mg in that 256 g cup by our own arithmetic, or about 28% of the Daily Value. That is around a quarter teaspoon of table salt in one cup of beans.
Baked beans are the sweet outlier: 7.96 g of total sugars per 100 g against 0.34 g in plain boiled pinto, plus 343 mg of sodium per 100 g, because the sauce is doing the work. Brand cans track that. Heinz Baked Beans are 100 calories per 100 g, or 130 for the 0.5 cup (130 g) label serving, and Heinz Homestyle Baked Beans are 115 per 100 g, or 150 for the same 130 g serving.
Dry beans versus cooked beans
This is where most bean logs go wrong. Dry pinto beans are 347 calories per 100 g; the same beans boiled are 143. Nothing was removed and nothing was added except water, which multiplies the weight roughly two and a half times for the same calories.
Raw kidney beans tell the same story with a bigger number: 337 calories per 100 g, 22.53 g of protein and 15.2 g of fiber, so a 1-cup measure of dry kidney beans at 184 g is 620 calories. That is one cup that will become several cups on the plate.
The rule is simple. Log what you are eating, in the state you are eating it. If you weigh the beans dry before the pot, use a dry row; if you weigh them out of the pot or the can, use a cooked or canned row. Dry brand rows follow the same logic, which is why Goya Black Beans, sold dry, are 341 calories per 100 g and 150 for their 0.25 cup (44 g) label serving.
Fiber is the row to watch here
A cup of cooked pinto beans delivers 15.4 g of dietary fiber. Against the FDA Daily Value of 28 g, that is 55% of a day's fiber from one side dish, and it beats the same cup's protein contribution of 31% DV. Very few foods people log at 244 calories do that.
Fiber also explains why beans behave the way they do in a calorie budget. At 143 calories per 100 g, a cup of beans is a heavy, filling volume of food for the number, which is the practical case for using them in place of a lighter but less filling starch. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans treat beans, peas and lentils as members of both the vegetable group and the protein group, so a cup of them can count toward either target depending on how the rest of your plate looks.
If you are watching sodium rather than calories, the direction is clear: boiled beans at 2 mg a cup are the better pick, and the can is the thing to check.
How do beans compare?
| Bean | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinto beans, boiled | 143 kcal | 1 cup, 171 g | 244 kcal |
| Canned kidney beans, with liquid | 81 kcal | 1 cup, 256 g | 207 kcal |
| Canned pinto beans, with liquid | 82 kcal | 1 cup, 240 g | 197 kcal |
| Raw kidney beans | 337 kcal | 1 cup, 184 g | 620 kcal |
Our take: for weight loss, the canned cup wins on paper at 197 to 207 calories, but only because it is a third water by weight, and it brings the sodium with it. For staying full, the boiled cup at 244 calories and 15.4 g of fiber is the better trade, and it is the version we would log by default. The raw row exists only for people measuring beans before they cook them, and at 620 calories a cup it is the single easiest way to more than double your own numbers by accident.
Most popular beans brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Heinz Baked Beans | 100 cal |
| Heinz Homestyle Baked Beans | 115 cal |
| Goya Black Beans (dry) | 341 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Bean FAQs
How many calories are in 1 cup of cooked beans?
One cup of cooked beans is 244 calories for pinto, the USDA row closest to what most Americans are eating. Black beans run 132 calories per 100 g and kidney beans 127, so a same-size cup of either lands lower. Weigh the beans cooked, not dry, and the number holds.
How much protein is in a cup of beans?
A cup of cooked pinto beans holds 15.4 g of protein, which is 31% of the Daily Value. It comes with 44.8 g of carbohydrate, so beans work as a protein food and a starch in the same spoonful. White beans are the protein leader among the boiled rows here at 9.73 g per 100 g.
How much fiber is in a cup of beans?
That cup carries 15.4 g of dietary fiber, or 55% of the 28 g Daily Value, from 9 g per 100 g. Navy beans are higher still at 10.5 g per 100 g, and white beans lower at 6.3 g. One cup of beans covers more than half a day of fiber on its own.
Do canned beans have more calories than dried beans?
No, far fewer by weight: canned kidney beans with their liquid are 81 calories per 100 g against 337 for raw kidney beans. The difference is water, not ingredients. Canned beans read low because the packing liquid counts in the weight; drained, they sit closer to the boiled rows near 127 to 143.
Do you count beans dry or cooked for calories?
Count them cooked: dry pinto beans are 347 calories per 100 g and the same beans boiled are 143, so using a dry row for a cooked portion more than doubles the entry. Weigh after cooking and use a boiled row such as USDA 175200.
How many calories are in half a cup of black beans?
About 113 calories for 85.5 g of cooked black beans, our own arithmetic from the USDA figure of 132 calories per 100 g rather than a USDA serving. The equivalent half cup of pinto beans is 122 calories. The gap between these two at this size is roughly nine calories.
Are baked beans high in calories?
Not especially: canned plain baked beans are 94 calories per 100 g, or 27 for a single ounce, which is below boiled pinto at 143. Sugar and sodium are the real difference, at 7.96 g of total sugars and 343 mg of sodium per 100 g against 0.34 g and 1 mg for plain beans.
Does rinsing canned beans lower sodium?
Draining and rinsing removes some of the liquid that carries the sodium, and that liquid is where it sits: 256 mg per 100 g in canned kidney beans with liquid, against 1 mg per 100 g in beans boiled without salt. USDA does not publish a rinsed row, so we will not put a number on the drop.
Similar foods
- Toor Dal — 348 cal per cup
- Lasagna — 286 cal per piece
- Shrimp Pad Thai — 294 cal per cup
- Chicken Chow Mein — 288 cal per cup
- Half And Half — 20 cal per tbsp
- Snow Cone — 256 cal per snow cone
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the bowl and BodyPal counts the beans for you, cup or half cup.
