How many calories are in beef for stew?
A 4 oz package portion of raw beef for stew, 113 g, carries 145 calories, and the cut runs 128 calories per 100 g. That is the number on the meat you actually hold at the counter, before any liquid, flour or oil goes into the pot. Braising changes the weight, not the total.
You'd need to walk about 29 minutes to burn the 145 calories in a 4 oz (113 g) raw serving.
How long does it take to burn off beef for stew?
A 4 oz (113 g) raw serving is 145 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 145 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 29 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 18 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 21 min |
| Jogging | 17 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 32 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 (113 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Beef for stew quick facts
- US servings from one ounce to a pound
- Braised stew beef weighs less and counts more
- Choice versus select grade
- Protein is the reason to buy this cut
- How does beef for stew compare?
- Most popular beef for stew brands
- FAQ
Beef for stew quick facts
The record that matches the tray in your cart is SR Legacy 171206, "Beef, chuck for stew, separable lean and fat, all grades, raw". US stores sell stew beef as chuck cut into cubes with no grade printed on the front, and the label serving is almost always 4 oz raw. That is why the all-grades raw row leads this page instead of a cooked one.
Everything below is per 100 g of raw cubes and per that 4 oz (113 g) pack serving.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 4 oz raw (113 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 128 | 145 | — |
| Total fat | 4.48 g | 5.1 g | 6% |
| Saturated fat | 1.86 g | 2.1 g | 11% |
| Carbohydrate | 0.16 g | 0.2 g | 0% |
| Dietary fiber | 0 g | 0 g | 0% |
| Total sugars | 0 g | 0 g | — |
| Protein | 21.75 g | 24.6 g | 49% |
| Sodium | 80 mg | 90 mg | 4% |
% 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 →
There is no added sugars row here because the SR Legacy edition does not publish added sugars for this record at all. It hardly matters: plain, unmarinated beef reads 0 g of total sugars, so there is nothing for an added-sugars line to hold. Two rows worth knowing sit outside the table. Cholesterol is 64 mg per 100 g, or 72 mg in the 4 oz serving, which is 24% of the Daily Value. Potassium is 367 mg per 100 g, or 415 mg per serving, 9% of the Daily Value.
US servings from one ounce to a pound
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz raw | 28.4 g | 36 kcal |
| 3 oz raw | 85 g | 109 kcal |
| 4 oz raw, pack serving | 113 g | 145 kcal |
| 8 oz raw | 226.8 g | 290 kcal |
| 1 lb raw | 453.6 g | 581 kcal |
| Per 100 g raw | 100 g | 128 kcal |
Only the 4 oz line is a USDA household measure. The 1 oz, 3 oz, 8 oz and 1 lb rows are our own arithmetic scaled from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings, which is worth saying out loud because a pound of stew beef is how this meat is actually bought. That pound is 581 calories and about 98.7 g of protein for the whole pot, before you add potatoes, carrots or a splash of oil.
One trap is specific to this cut. Recipes call for pounds, apps ask for ounces, and the tray in the store is rarely a round number, so people log "1 lb" for a 1.3 lb pack. Weigh what you open, not what the recipe wanted.
Store brands drift more than the USDA cut does. Across four national retail packs of raw stew beef in the USDA Branded database, the labels run from 115 to 196 calories per 100 g, a spread of 81 calories on the same product name. If your pack prints a number, that number beats the generic one.
Braised stew beef weighs less and counts more
Cook the cubes and the per-100-g number nearly jumps by half. Braised chuck for stew, all grades is 191 calories per 100 g against 128 raw. Nothing was added. Water left.
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical piece | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw, all grades | 128 kcal | 4 oz, 113 g | 145 kcal |
| Braised, all grades | 191 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 162 kcal |
| Braised, choice | 194 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 165 kcal |
| Braised, select | 186 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 158 kcal |
Read the first two rows together and the whole confusion dissolves. Four ounces raw is 145 calories; three ounces of that same meat after braising is 162. The pieces shrank, the energy stayed. Protein concentrates the same way, from 21.75 g per 100 g raw to 32.41 g per 100 g braised.
So pick a side and stay there. Weighing raw is easier if you portion the pack before it goes in the pot. Weighing cooked is easier if you make a big batch on Sunday and serve out of it all week, and then the braised row is the one you want.
Choice versus select grade
USDA publishes the same cut at three grades, and the difference is smaller than the packaging suggests.
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical piece | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Choice, raw | 130 kcal | 4 oz, 113 g | 147 kcal |
| All grades, raw | 128 kcal | 4 oz, 113 g | 145 kcal |
| Select, raw | 124 kcal | 4 oz, 113 g | 140 kcal |
Seven calories separate choice from select over a 4 oz serving. Marbling is what you are paying for, and marbling is fat: 4.81 g per 100 g in choice against 3.99 g in select. Neither number is going to change how your week goes. The grade stamp is the least useful thing on the package for anyone counting.
Protein is the reason to buy this cut
A 4 oz raw serving delivers 24.6 g of protein, 49% of the Daily Value, while spending 6% of the fat allowance and 11% of the saturated fat allowance. Those percentages come from the FDA's Daily Values for the Nutrition Facts label, based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Half your protein target for a sixteenth of your fat is an unusually good trade for a braising cut.
Sodium barely registers: 90 mg per serving, 4% of the Daily Value. Almost all the salt in beef stew arrives later, from broth, bouillon and canned tomatoes, so if you are watching sodium the meat is not the row to police.
The one number that climbs is cholesterol, at 72 mg per serving, 24% of the Daily Value. MyPlate's protein foods guidance suggests rotating seafood, beans and lean meats across the week rather than leaning on any one source, which is a reasonable way to read that row without giving up the stew.
How does beef for stew compare?
| Cut | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beef for stew, raw | 128 kcal | 4 oz raw, 113 g | 145 kcal |
| Top loin steak, select, raw | 191 kcal | 4 oz raw, 113 g | 216 kcal |
| Ground beef, 93% lean, baked | 192 kcal | 3 oz cooked, 85 g | 163 kcal |
| Round, lean only, broiled | 191 kcal | 3 oz cooked, 85 g | 162 kcal |
Our take: raw stew beef is the lightest of the four per gram at 128 calories per 100 g, and the other three land within one calorie of each other at 191, 192 and 191. But two of them are already cooked, which is most of why they look heavier. The honest comparison is steak against stew beef, both raw and both 4 oz: 216 calories against 145, a real 71-calorie gap that comes from the fat in the loin. If you are trimming calories, buy the stew cubes and braise them long. If you want the biggest protein hit per bite, the cooked rows win, because cooked meat is denser meat.
Most popular beef for stew 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) |
|---|---|
| Simply Balanced Beef for Stew (Target) | 196 cal |
| Grass Run Farms 100% Grass Fed Beef for Stew | 196 cal |
| Thousand Hills 100% Grass Fed Beef for Stew | 125 cal |
| Star Markets Angus Beef for Stew | 115 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Beef for stew FAQs
How many calories are in 4 oz of beef for stew?
145 calories in 4 oz of raw beef for stew, which weighs 113 g. That is the USDA household serving for chuck cut into stew cubes, at 128 calories per 100 g. It also brings 24.6 g of protein, 5.1 g of fat and 90 mg of sodium before anything else goes in the pot.
Is stew beef counted raw or cooked?
Count 128 calories per 100 g if you weigh it raw and 191 per 100 g if you weigh it braised. The difference is water, not energy: 4 oz raw at 145 calories and 3 oz cooked at 162 are close to the same piece of meat. Pick one and stay with it.
How much protein is in stew meat?
24.6 g of protein in 4 oz of raw stew beef, or 49% of the Daily Value in one serving. Per 100 g raw the figure is 21.75 g. Braised, the same cut concentrates to 32.41 g per 100 g, so a 3 oz cooked portion carries about 27.5 g by our own arithmetic.
How many calories in a pound of stew beef?
581 calories in 1 lb of raw beef for stew, which is 453.6 g at 128 calories per 100 g. That is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not a USDA serving. A pound also carries about 98.7 g of protein, enough for four 4 oz portions.
Is beef for stew the same as chuck roast?
Mostly yes: USDA files the record as chuck for stew, at 128 calories per 100 g raw. The cubes in the tray are chuck trimmed and diced, so a chuck roast you cube yourself lands in the same place. Store packs vary more, from 115 to 196 calories per 100 g.
Does choice vs select change the calories?
Barely: 130 calories per 100 g for choice against 124 for select, a gap of 6. Over a 4 oz serving that is 147 against 140, seven calories. Braised, the spread is 194 against 186 per 100 g. The grade on the package moves your day less than the scale does.
Is stew beef a lean cut?
By the numbers, yes: 4 oz raw is 5.1 g of total fat, 6% of the Daily Value, and 2.1 g of saturated fat, 11% of it. Protein in the same serving is 24.6 g, 49% of the Daily Value. The one row that climbs is cholesterol, at 72 mg, 24% of the Daily Value.
How much does 1 lb of stew beef weigh after cooking?
581 calories go into the pot with 1 lb of raw cubes. USDA does not publish a cooking yield for this cut, so weigh the meat after braising. Taking the braised row of 191 calories per 100 g at face value, those calories land in roughly 300 g of cooked beef, our own arithmetic.
Similar foods
- Snow Cone — 256 cal per snow cone
- Chicken Chow Mein — 288 cal per cup
- Egg Foo Yung — 108 cal per patty
- Half And Half — 20 cal per tbsp
- Shrimp Lo Mein — 242 cal per cup
- Lasagna — 286 cal per piece
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the pot and BodyPal counts the beef for you, raw cubes or braised.
