How many calories are in cheese curds?
A 1 oz serving of cheddar cheese curds — 28 g, the amount printed on the bag — is 110 calories. Per 100 g curds run 393 calories, most of it from fat: 32.14 g per 100 g and none at all from carbohydrate. The squeak is free. The handful is not.
You'd need to walk about 22 minutes to burn the 110 calories in a 1 oz (28 g) serving.
How long does it take to burn off cheese curds?
A 1 oz (28 g) serving is 110 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 110 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 22 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 14 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 16 min |
| Jogging | 13 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 24 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 (28 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Cheese curd quick facts
- US servings from one ounce to the whole bag
- Fresh curds versus every other curd
- Fat and sodium are the rows to watch
- How do cheese curds compare?
- Most popular cheese curds brands
- FAQ
Cheese curd quick facts
There is no Foundation or SR Legacy record for fresh squeaky cheddar curds. Search USDA for "curd" and you get dry curd cottage cheese and soybean curd — two different foods that happen to share a word. So the numbers here come from a label record: FDC 2036529, "CHEDDAR CHEESE CURDS" from Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery, a Wisconsin producer whose curds are the reference point for the category.
That row is not an outlier. Of the six US cheese curd products we pulled from the USDA Branded database, five report the same 393 calories per 100 g, and the Ellsworth entry is internally consistent across fat, protein and calories. It is the closest thing to a standard curd the database has.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 393 | 110 | — |
| Total fat | 32.14 g | 9.0 g | 12% |
| Carbohydrate | 0 g | 0.0 g | 0% |
| Protein | 25 g | 7.0 g | 14% |
| Sodium | 643 mg | 180 mg | 8% |
% 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 →
Five rows you would expect are missing: saturated fat, dietary fiber, total sugars, added sugars and cholesterol. Manufacturers submit label data to USDA's Branded database field by field, and this one submitted only the fields above, so there is nothing to publish for the rest. For a cheese at 32.14 g of fat per 100 g the saturated share is certainly high — but a certain direction is not a number, and this page does not invent one. Potassium is missing for the same reason.
US servings from one ounce to the whole bag
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz, the label serving | 28 g | 110 kcal |
| 2 oz, a generous snack | 56 g | 220 kcal |
| 3 oz, a side portion | 85 g | 334 kcal |
| 4 oz basket | 113 g | 444 kcal |
| 3.5 oz single-serve bag | 100 g | 393 kcal |
Only two of those rows come from USDA: the 1 oz label serving at 110 calories, and the 100 g column the whole record is built on, which happens to match the 3.5 oz bag sold at cheese shops and gas stations across the upper Midwest almost exactly. The 2 oz, 3 oz and 4 oz lines are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings.
Here is the trap. Nobody eats an ounce of cheese curds. An ounce is roughly five or six curds, and the bag holds three and a half of those servings. Pour the bag into a bowl during a football game and the honest entry in your log is 393 calories, not 110. Cheese curds are a food where the packaging size, not the label serving, is the real unit.
Fresh curds versus every other curd
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh cheddar cheese curds | 393 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 110 kcal |
| White cheese curds | 393 kcal | 3.5 oz bag (100 g) | 393 kcal |
| Garlic and dill cheese curds | 393 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 110 kcal |
| Jalapeno cheddar cheese curds | 357 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 100 kcal |
| Dry curd cottage cheese | 72 kcal | 1 cup, dry type (145 g) | 104 kcal |
| Soybean curd cheese, tofu | 151 kcal | 1 cup (225 g) | 340 kcal |
The flavored bags cost you nothing. Garlic and dill curds land on the same 393 calories per 100 g as plain cheddar, and the jalapeno version is actually the lightest cheddar curd in the database at 357 per 100 g, because the pepper pieces displace a little cheese. White versus yellow is the same story: annatto is a coloring, so a white curd and a yellow curd are the identical 110 calories an ounce.
The one variant that genuinely moves the number is a mixed-curd bag. Wisconsin Cheese Company's mixed curds come in at 321 calories per 100 g, roughly a fifth lighter than straight cheddar, because the blend includes lower-fat cheeses. It also carries far more salt: 1,000 mg of sodium per 100 g against 643 mg for the cheddar row.
Fried curds are the elephant in the basket, and there is no USDA record for them. Battered, frozen and deep-fried curds are a different product with batter weight and fryer oil on top of the cheese, and rather than guess at a multiplier this page leaves them without a number.
Fat and sodium are the rows to watch
Cheese curds are one of the few real foods with a flat zero in the carbohydrate row. That makes them an easy fit for a low-carb or ketogenic day, and it also means every one of those 393 calories per 100 g arrives as fat or protein. The fat side dominates: 32.14 g per 100 g is 41% of the FDA Daily Value of 78 g, reached before you have eaten a quarter pound of anything.
Protein is the redeeming row. At 25 g per 100 g, a single 3.5 oz bag delivers half the 50 g Daily Value, which is more protein than most snacks in the same aisle manage. An ounce gives 7.0 g for 110 calories.
Sodium is the row people miss. A 1 oz serving is 180 mg, a modest 8% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value. The bag is 643 mg, or 28% — about a quarter teaspoon of table salt in a snack that takes four minutes to finish. If you are watching sodium, the ounce-at-a-time approach is the one that works, and MyPlate's dairy guidance is worth reading alongside it, since curds count toward the dairy group but arrive with more fat and salt than milk or plain yogurt.
How do cheese curds compare?
| Food | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheddar cheese curds | 393 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 110 kcal |
| Dry curd cottage cheese | 72 kcal | 1 cup, dry type (145 g) | 104 kcal |
| Creamed cottage cheese | 98 kcal | 4 oz (113 g) | 111 kcal |
| Soybean curd cheese, tofu | 151 kcal | 1 cup (225 g) | 340 kcal |
Our take: the table is a lesson in how far one word can stretch. A full cup of dry curd cottage cheese, 145 g of it, is 104 calories — less than a single ounce of cheese curds, and it is the only row here you can eat by the cup without thinking. Per gram, cheese curds are more than five times the dry curd cottage cheese and two and a half times the tofu. If you want the squeak, buy the smallest bag you can find and treat 1 oz as the portion. If you want curd-style protein without the calorie cost, dry curd cottage cheese wins outright, and it is one of the most-logged high-protein foods in BodyPal for exactly that reason.
Most popular cheese curds 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) |
|---|---|
| Wisconsin Cheese Company Mixed Cheese Curds | 321 cal |
| Wisconsin Cheese Company Dill Garlic Cheese Curds | 393 cal |
| Weyauwega Cheese Yellow Cheddar Cheese Curds | 393 cal |
| North Country Cheese White Cheese Curds | 393 cal |
| Dutch Farms Garlic Cheddar Cheese Curds | 393 cal |
| Cabot Creamery Cheddar Cheese Curds | 393 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Cheese curd FAQs
How many calories are in 1 oz of cheese curds?
110 calories in a 1 oz (28 g) serving, the amount printed on most bags. That ounce brings 9.0 g of fat, 7.0 g of protein and no carbohydrate at all. Curds run 393 calories per 100 g, so a small handful adds up faster than the light, squeaky bite suggests.
How many calories are in a 3.5 oz bag of cheese curds?
393 calories for a 3.5 oz (100 g) bag, the single-serve size sold at gas stations and cheese shops. That is about three and a half 1 oz servings in one sitting, plus 643 mg of sodium — 28% of the Daily Value — and 25 g of protein.
Are cheese curds keto friendly?
Yes — 0 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, which is as low as a food gets. A 1 oz serving is 110 calories with 9.0 g of fat and 7.0 g of protein, so curds fit a ketogenic day easily. Watch the total, not the carbs: the calories are dense.
How much protein is in cheese curds?
7.0 g of protein in a 1 oz serving, or 25 g per 100 g — half the 50 g Daily Value in a single 3.5 oz bag. Per calorie that is decent but not remarkable, because fat carries most of the 393 calories in that same 100 g.
Are cheese curds the same as cottage cheese?
No, and the calorie gap is large: 393 per 100 g for cheddar curds against 72 for dry curd cottage cheese. An ounce of each is 110 calories versus 20. Both start as curd, but cottage cheese stays wet and drained while cheese curds keep the fat of young cheddar.
Are white and yellow cheese curds different in calories?
No — both sit at 393 calories per 100 g. The annatto that turns cheddar orange is a coloring, not an ingredient with calories. A white 3.5 oz bag is 393 calories and a yellow 1 oz serving is 110, exactly the same math as the plain cheddar row.
How much sodium is in cheese curds?
180 mg in a 1 oz serving, 8% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, and 643 mg in a 3.5 oz bag — 28%. That bag is roughly a quarter teaspoon of table salt. Mixed-curd blends run saltier still, at 1,000 mg per 100 g in the USDA Branded listing.
Do fried cheese curds have more calories than fresh ones?
Yes, clearly more than the 110 calories in an ounce of fresh curds, though USDA publishes no record for battered and fried curds, so no honest number exists here. That 110 covers the cheese only. Batter and fryer oil are added weight and added fat on top of that.
Similar foods
- Cheese — 113 cal per slice
- Oat flour — 105 cal for 1/4 cup
- Thousand Island Dressing — 216 cal per dipping-size container
- Gouda cheese — 75 cal per slice
- Condensed Milk — 122 cal per 2 tbsp
- Honey — 64 cal per tablespoon
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the bowl and BodyPal counts the curds for you, bag size and all.
