How many calories are in a chicken drumette?
Four baked chicken drumettes come to about 72 g of meat and skin once the bones are out, and that plate carries 183 calories. Roasted wing meat runs 254 calories per 100 g, so a single drumette lands near 46. The bones you leave on the plate add nothing to the count.
You'd need to walk about 37 minutes to burn the 183 calories in a four-drumette serving (72 g).
How long does it take to burn off 183 kcal of chicken drumette?
A four-drumette serving (72 g) is 183 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 183 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 37 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 23 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 26 min |
| Jogging | 22 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 41 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 (72 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Chicken drumette quick facts
- US servings, from one drumette to a four-ounce pack
- Baked, stewed, fried and frozen drumettes
- Cholesterol, not sodium, is the number to watch
- How does a chicken drumette compare?
- Most popular chicken drumette brands
- Chicken drumette FAQs
Chicken drumette quick facts
A drumette is the meaty upper section of the chicken wing, the piece that looks like a miniature drumstick in a party tray. USDA does not file it separately, so the record that fits is SR Legacy 173630, "Chicken, broilers or fryers, wing, meat and skin, cooked, roasted". That row covers meat and skin without bone, which is exactly what ends up in your mouth, and roasting is the way most drumettes leave a home oven or an air fryer.
The serving below is four drumettes, roughly 72 g of edible meat. That weight is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure rather than a USDA household portion, and it matches how people actually eat them: a handful, not a scale reading.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 4 drumettes (72 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 254 | 183 | — |
| Total fat | 16.87 g | 12.1 g | 16% |
| Saturated fat | 4.98 g | 3.6 g | 18% |
| Carbohydrate | 0 g | 0 g | 0% |
| Dietary fiber | 0 g | 0 g | 0% |
| Total sugars | 0 g | 0 g | — |
| Protein | 23.79 g | 17.1 g | 34% |
| Sodium | 98 mg | 71 mg | 3% |
% 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 USDA does not publish added sugars for this record — the SR Legacy edition has no such field, and plain roasted chicken has none to declare anyway. Any sugar in a wing basket comes from the glaze, and that gets counted separately. Two more numbers worth having: four drumettes carry 102 mg of cholesterol and 153 mg of potassium, which work out to 34% and 3% of the Daily Value.
US servings, from one drumette to a four-ounce pack
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 drumette, bone removed | 18 g | 46 kcal |
| 1 oz | 28 g | 71 kcal |
| Four drumettes, a small plate | 72 g | 183 kcal |
| 3 oz cooked | 85 g | 216 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 254 kcal |
| 4 oz, the frozen-pack serving | 112 g | 284 kcal |
Only the 3 oz line is a USDA portion. The single drumette at 18 g, the 1 oz conversion, the four-piece plate and the 4 oz pack figure are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g number, scaled straight down. Eighteen grams is edible meat and skin only; with the bone still in, one drumette weighs closer to 28 g on a kitchen scale, and that extra weight is not food.
This is where wing math goes wrong. People weigh a plate of cooked drumettes bones and all, then log the whole number as meat. Ten bone-in drumettes on the scale can read 280 g while the edible part is closer to 180 g — a 250-calorie gap in the wrong direction. Weigh the bones after you eat, subtract, and log the difference.
Baked, stewed, fried and frozen drumettes
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical piece | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roasted, meat and skin | 254 kcal | 4 drumettes (72 g) | 183 kcal |
| Stewed or simmered | 249 kcal | 1 wing, bone removed (40 g) | 100 kcal |
| Fried, flour-coated | 321 kcal | 1 wing, bone removed (32 g) | 103 kcal |
| Fried, battered | 324 kcal | 1 wing, bone removed (49 g) | 159 kcal |
| Frozen glazed barbecue, microwaved | 248 kcal | 3 oz (85 g) | 211 kcal |
| Store-bought frozen drumettes | 188 kcal | 4 oz (112 g) | 211 kcal |
Stewing is the quiet winner. Simmered wing meat lands at 249 calories per 100 g against 254 roasted, close enough to call a tie, but the water pulls sodium down from 98 mg to 67 mg per 100 g. Nobody makes a party platter this way, and that is the only reason it is not the default answer.
Frying costs less than its reputation suggests until batter enters the picture. Flour-coated wing meat sits at 321 calories per 100 g, battered at 324 — about 28% above roasted. The sodium tells the more interesting story: 77 mg per 100 g with a flour dusting, 320 mg once a wet batter is involved. That is 3.3 times the plain roasted figure, and it comes from the coating, not the chicken.
The frozen bag is the number that confuses shoppers most. A pack such as Family Favorites Chicken Drumettes declares 188 calories per 100 g and 211 for its 4 oz (112 g) serving, well under the 254 for roasted meat. The label is counting raw weight with bone and moisture included; that 112 g shrinks in the oven, and what comes out is denser than what went in. Log the cooked weight, not the pack weight.
Cholesterol, not sodium, is the number to watch
Four plain drumettes carry 71 mg of sodium — 3% of the Daily Value, less than a tenth of a teaspoon of table salt. That is remarkably little for a food with a salty reputation. The same four pieces carry 102 mg of cholesterol, 34% of the Daily Value, and 3.6 g of saturated fat, 18%. The Dietary Guidelines put the saturated fat ceiling at under 10% of daily calories, which is about 22 g on a 2,000-calorie day, so one plate of drumettes uses roughly a sixth of it.
The protein column is the reason to keep them anyway: 17.1 g in 183 calories, a third of a day's Daily Value for protein from a snack-sized plate. That density is why chicken sits at the center of the MyPlate protein foods group. If you are watching sodium, plain baked drumettes are a better pick than almost anything else that arrives in a basket — the risk lives in the sauce cup, not in the meat.
How does a chicken drumette compare?
| Cut | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken drumette, roasted | 254 kcal | 3 oz cooked, 85 g | 216 kcal |
| Dark meat, roasted | 253 kcal | 3 oz cooked, 85 g | 215 kcal |
| Wing, frozen glazed barbecue | 248 kcal | 3 oz cooked, 85 g | 211 kcal |
| Light meat, fried in flour | 246 kcal | 3 oz cooked, 85 g | 209 kcal |
Our take: these four land within 8 calories of each other per 100 g, and the spread at 3 oz is seven calories — 216 down to 209. Skin-on chicken is skin-on chicken, whichever part of the bird it came from, and swapping cuts to save calories is wasted effort. Protein is where they separate: the drumette has the least of the four at 23.79 g per 100 g, while flour-fried light meat has the most at 30.45 g, and it does that on fewer calories. For weight loss, breast meat still wins on protein per calorie. For satisfaction on a Friday night, the drumette costs you almost nothing extra — seven calories over the light-meat line at 3 oz.
Most popular chicken drumette 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) |
|---|---|
| Family Favorites Chicken Drumettes | 188 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Chicken drumette FAQs
How many calories are in one chicken drumette?
One roasted drumette carries about 46 calories, based on roughly 18 g of meat and skin once the bone is out. That is our own arithmetic from the USDA figure of 254 calories per 100 g. Skin on, sauce off. Two of them still sit under 100 calories.
Is a drumette the same as a drumstick?
No — a drumette is the upper section of the chicken wing, about 18 g of edible meat once the bone is out, while a drumstick is a whole leg piece and a different USDA record. This page uses the wing record: 254 calories per 100 g, 46 calories for one drumette. Same bird, different cut, different numbers.
How many calories in 4 baked chicken drumettes?
Four baked drumettes come to 183 calories, counting about 72 g of meat and skin. They bring 17.1 g of protein, 12.1 g of fat and no carbohydrate at all. Add a barbecue glaze or a blue cheese dip and the total climbs well past that figure.
Are chicken drumettes high in protein?
Yes — 17.1 g of protein in four drumettes, which is 34% of the Daily Value from only 183 calories. Per 100 g the roasted meat gives 23.79 g. Fried in flour it reaches 26.11 g, though the calories rise to 321 per 100 g at the same time.
How many calories in fried chicken drumettes?
Flour-fried wing meat runs 321 calories per 100 g and battered wing meat 324, against 254 roasted. One flour-coated piece with the bone removed, 32 g, is 103 calories; one battered piece at 49 g is 159. The coating adds weight as well as calories.
Do chicken drumettes have carbs?
Zero — plain roasted drumettes carry 0 g of carbohydrate, 0 g of fiber and 0 g of sugar per 100 g. Carbs only appear when something is added: flour-fried wing meat holds 2.39 g per 100 g, battered wing meat 10.94 g, and frozen glazed barbecue wings 3.84 g.
How much sodium is in chicken drumettes?
Four roasted drumettes hold 71 mg of sodium, only 3% of the Daily Value and less than a tenth of a teaspoon of table salt. Battered and fried wing meat is a different story at 320 mg per 100 g, over three times the 98 mg in plain roasted meat.
Are chicken drumettes healthier than wingettes?
Per gram they are identical: USDA files both under one wing record at 254 calories, 23.79 g of protein and 16.87 g of fat per 100 g. A drumette simply carries more meat per piece, near 18 g, so a plate of drumettes usually totals more than the same count of flats.
Similar foods
- Shot Of Tequila — 97 cal per shot (1.5 fl oz)
- Martini — 241 cal per drink
- Cosmopolitan — 224 cal per cocktail
- Prosecco — 135 cal per glass
- Cider — 202 cal per can or bottle (12 fl oz)
- Beer — 155 cal for 12 fl oz can
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the drumettes for you, skin and glaze included.
