Beef stew calories come to 194 for 1 cup (196 g) of canned stew, or 99 per 100 g. That is modest for a hearty meal. The number to notice is sodium: the same cup carries 760 mg, 33% of the daily value, while delivering only 8.6 g of protein.
194kcal
1 cup · 196 g, canned entree
18%protein
8.6 gProtein
15 gCarbs
10.8 gFat
How to burn off 194 kcal
—Walking, brisk
—Jogging
—Cycling, moderate
—Swimming
Skip the math. BodyPal counts these calories from your steps and workouts automatically.
Nutrition facts
Canned entree · per 196 g
Calories
194 kcal
Protein
8.6 g
Carbohydrate
15.4 g
Fat
10.8 g
Saturated fat
4.3 g
Cholesterol
25 mg
Sodium
760 mg
Potassium
319 mg
Iron
4.9 mg
Source: USDA FoodData Central
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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 →
Beef stew: calories, protein and sodium by serving
Percent of daily value uses the FDA reference of 2,000 kcal a day.
Serving
kcal
Protein
Carbs
Fat
Sodium
% DV kcal
1 cup (196 g)
194
8.6 g
15.4 g
10.8 g
760 mg
10%
Stew meat only (85 g)
162
27.5 g
0 g
5.8 g
57 mg
8%
100 g
99
4.4 g
7.9 g
5.5 g
388 mg
5%
3 × 1 cup (196 g)
582
25.9 g
2,281 mg
5 × 1 cup (196 g)
970
43.2 g
3,802 mg
One cup is 194 calories, but nobody stops at one
The label serving is 1 cup (196 g), which gives 194 calories and 10% of the daily value for energy. That is a light lunch by any measure. The trouble is that stew is served in bowls, not measuring cups, and a real bowl often holds two or three cups.
Two cups (392 g) come to 388 calories with 17.3 g of protein. Three cups (588 g) reach 582 calories and 25.9 g of protein. Eat your way through 5 cups (980 g), roughly a large pot shared badly, and you are at 970 calories. The calories climb in a straight line, so the bowl size matters more than anything in the recipe.
If you are counting, measure the ladle once. Find out whether your usual scoop is one cup or closer to two, and log that number every time. A stew that looks like a 194-calorie dinner can quietly become a 388-calorie one.
Fat supplies half the calories, protein less than a fifth
The calorie split for canned beef stew is 50% fat, 32% carbs and 18% protein. Per 100 g that works out to 5.5 g of fat, 7.9 g of carbs and 4.4 g of protein, with 2.2 g of saturated fat. For a dish named after the beef, the meat is a minor player in the energy count.
Compare that with the beef itself. Stew meat on its own, 85 g, has 162 calories and 27.5 g of protein, which is 55% of the daily value. It has zero carbs and just 5.8 g of fat. The canned stew dilutes that meat with gravy, potatoes and carrots, so a full cup gives only 8.6 g of protein, or 17% of the daily value.
That is the trade. Stew is filling and low in calories per gram because so much of it is liquid and vegetables. It is not a strong protein source unless you eat a lot of it, and eating a lot of it brings the sodium with it.
Sodium is the row to watch
Canned beef stew carries 388 mg of sodium per 100 g. One cup holds 760 mg, which is 33% of the 2300 mg daily value. That is a third of a day's sodium in a single 194-calorie serving.
It scales fast. Two cups bring 1,521 mg. Three cups bring 2,281 mg, almost the entire daily value in one meal. The meat is not the source: stew meat alone has 57 mg per 85 g, only 2% of the daily value. The salt comes from the canned broth and seasoning.
If you watch sodium, treat the can as one portion of a meal rather than the whole meal, and keep the rest of the day's food lower in salt. The other rows are quiet. Fiber is 1.8 g per cup, sugars 3.4 g, and potassium 163 mg per 100 g, none of which stands out against the daily values.
Stretch the stew, don't double it
At 99 calories per 100 g, beef stew is easy to fit into most days. The smarter move is to bulk up the plate around a single cup instead of reaching for a second. Fresh vegetables, a green salad or plain cooked grains add volume without adding to the 760 mg of sodium already in the bowl.
If you want more protein, add lean cooked beef or another unsalted protein to the pot. Stew meat on its own brings 27.5 g of protein in 85 g with very little sodium, so mixing some in raises the protein share without pushing the salt higher.
Brands such as Dinty Moore, Spartan and Guaranteed Value all sell canned versions, and their labels are worth a glance since recipes differ. If you eat stew often, BodyPal can log it from a photo, which helps when the bowl size changes from night to night.
How does beef stew compare?
Here is how canned beef stew stacks up against beef goulash, beef cube and corned beef hash, per 100 g and per usual serving.
Verdict: For the fewest calories, beef stew wins at 99 per 100 g, ahead of goulash at 119 and corned beef hash at 164. For protein, beef cube is the clear pick with 28.8 g per 100 g, though at 187 calories it costs about 1.9 times the energy of stew.
Most popular beef stew brands in the United States
Ranked by popularity in the BodyPal database
# Productkcal / 100 g
1Dinty Moore Beef Stew1 cup · 213 g75 kcal
2Certified Hereford Beef Stew Meat113 g195 kcal
3Dinty Moore Beef Stew, 15 oz1 cup · 236 g85 kcal
4Spartan Original Beef Stew with Fresh Potatoes and Carrots1 cup · 236 g81 kcal
5Guaranteed Value Chunky Beef Stew with Potatoes and Carrots1 cup · 236 g81 kcal
Canned stews hold more broth and vegetables per 100 g than the raw stew meat product in this list, so their label numbers land lower. Source: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Beef stew FAQs
How many calories are in a cup of beef stew?
One cup (196 g) is 194 calories, which works out to 99 calories per 100 g.
Is beef stew good for weight loss?
A cup is 194 calories with 8.6 g protein, 10.8 g fat and 15.4 g carbs. The same cup carries 760 mg sodium.
Beef stew vs beef goulash: which is lighter?
Beef stew has 99 calories per 100 g and beef goulash 119, so the stew is 20 calories lighter per 100 g.
How much protein is in beef stew?
4.4 g per 100 g, so about 8.6 g in a 196 g cup. Braised stew beef on its own has 32.4 g protein per 100 g.
How much sodium is in a cup of beef stew?
One cup (196 g) of canned beef stew has 760 mg of sodium, 33% of the daily value. Two cups bring 1,521 mg, so portion size drives the total quickly.
How many calories are in 2 cups of beef stew?
Two cups (392 g) of canned beef stew have 388 calories and 17.3 g of protein. Three cups climb to 582 calories, so a large bowl adds up faster than it looks.
How many calories are in the beef from beef stew?
Stew meat on its own has 162 calories per 85 g, with 27.5 g of protein and zero carbs. The gravy and vegetables in canned stew dilute that, so a full cup has only 8.6 g of protein.
Is beef stew high in fat?
Canned beef stew has 5.5 g of fat per 100 g and 10.8 g per cup, with 2.2 g of saturated fat per 100 g. Fat supplies 50% of its calories, more than carbs or protein.
How much fiber is in beef stew?
A cup of canned beef stew has 1.8 g of fiber, or 0.9 g per 100 g. That is a small amount for a dish with potatoes and carrots, so pair it with extra vegetables if fiber matters to you.
