How many calories are in chicken nuggets?
A five-piece serving of chicken nuggets weighs 80 g and carries 246 calories. Per 100 g breaded nuggets run 307 calories, one of the higher numbers in the breaded-chicken aisle. A single nugget is 49. The frying oil and the breading, not the chicken, do most of that work.
You'd need to walk about 49 minutes to burn the 246 calories in a 5-nugget serving (80 g).
How long does it take to burn off chicken nugget?
A 5-nugget serving (80 g) is 246 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 246 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 49 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 31 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 35 min |
| Jogging | 29 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 55 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 (80 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Chicken nugget quick facts
- US servings from one nugget to a full cup
- Fast food nuggets versus frozen and school lunch
- Sodium keeps pace with the protein
- How do chicken nuggets compare?
- Most popular chicken nuggets brands
- Chicken nugget FAQs
Chicken nugget quick facts
The row used on this page is FNDDS 2706092, "Chicken nuggets, NFS" - the generic record for a nugget with no stated origin. It is the food most people are actually holding: something breaded and fried, bought in a bag or a box, eaten five or ten at a time. Its 80 g serving is the USDA "quantity not specified" portion, which works out to five pieces of about 16 g each.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 5 nuggets (80 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 307 | 246 | — |
| Total fat | 20.36 g | 16.3 g | 21% |
| Saturated fat | 3.57 g | 2.9 g | 14% |
| Carbohydrate | 14.93 g | 11.9 g | 4% |
| Dietary fiber | 0.9 g | 0.7 g | 3% |
| Total sugars | 0.08 g | 0.1 g | — |
| Protein | 15.92 g | 12.7 g | 25% |
| Sodium | 594 mg | 475 mg | 21% |
% 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 rows you would see on a retail bag are missing here: added sugars and trans fat. USDA does not publish either one for this record, so there is nothing honest to put in those cells. Cholesterol and potassium are published: 55 mg and 251 mg per 100 g, which come to 44 mg of cholesterol (15% DV) and 201 mg of potassium (4% DV) in the five-piece serving.
One more thing worth knowing before the tables below: fat supplies more of the calories here than protein and carbohydrate together. At 20.36 g per 100 g, fat is the reason a small piece of chicken lands near 300 calories per 100 g while plain chicken does not.
US servings from one nugget to a full cup
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 nugget | 16 g | 49 kcal |
| 1 oz | 28 g | 86 kcal |
| 5 nuggets, the USDA serving | 80 g | 246 kcal |
| 8 nuggets | 128 g | 393 kcal |
| 1 cup | 140 g | 430 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 307 kcal |
The 80 g five-piece row and the 140 g cup are USDA household measures. The one-piece, eight-piece and one-ounce rows are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings, and a 16 g piece is an average - a chunky restaurant nugget can be half again as heavy.
This is where the counting goes wrong. A cup of nuggets does not look like much in a bowl, but at 140 g it holds roughly nine average pieces and 430 calories - about 1.7 times the five-piece serving that most people picture when they say "a serving." Breaded food packs loosely, so volume measures flatter it. Counting pieces beats eyeballing a container every time.
An eight-piece order, the size most fast-food menus default to, is 128 g and 393 calories before any sauce. Ten pieces come to 160 g and about 491 calories, again our own scaling from the 100 g figure.
Fast food nuggets versus frozen and school lunch
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast food nuggets | 307 kcal | 5 nuggets (80 g) | 246 kcal |
| Frozen, baked at home | 298 kcal | 5 nuggets (80 g) | 238 kcal |
| School lunch, whole grain breaded | 270 kcal | 5 nuggets (80 g) | 216 kcal |
| Frozen precooked white meat, not reheated | 261 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 73 kcal |
| Chicken tenders or strips | 271 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 76 kcal |
| Breaded chicken patty | 287 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 80 kcal |
The headline here is how little the oven saves you. Frozen nuggets baked at home run 298 calories per 100 g against 307 for fast food - eight calories of difference across five pieces. Commercial nuggets are par-fried before they are frozen, so the fat is already in the breading when the tray goes into the oven. Baking changes the texture, not the math.
The school lunch record is the genuinely lighter one, at 270 calories per 100 g and 216 for five pieces. It gets there with whole grain breading: fat drops to 12.9 g per 100 g, about a third below fast food, while carbohydrate climbs to 22.86 g and fiber to 2.2 g. Trading fried coating for a starchier one is the only change among the cooked nugget rows that moves the calorie number much.
The lightest row per 100 g, at 261, is frozen white-meat nuggets weighed before reheating - a snapshot of the product in the bag, not on the plate. Cook them and they behave like the 298-calorie row above.
Retail freezer brands land in the same band. Tyson Chicken Nuggets are 300 calories per 100 g, or 270 for a labeled five-piece serving of 90 g, while the panko white-meat version is 235 per 100 g and 200 per serving. Roughly 65 calories per 100 g separates the heaviest bag from the lightest, which is less spread than most people expect from the packaging.
Sodium keeps pace with the protein
Nuggets get sold on protein, and the protein is real: 12.7 g in five pieces, 25% of the Daily Value, from 15.92 g per 100 g. What comes with it is salt. The same five pieces carry 475 mg of sodium, 21% of the FDA Daily Value of 2,300 mg - roughly a fifth of a teaspoon of table salt in five small pieces. Protein and sodium move together, neck and neck, at almost the same percentage.
Scale that up and it bites. A ten-piece order is about 950 mg of sodium, 41% of the day's limit, and a full cup passes 830 mg. If you are watching sodium, the nugget is an expensive way to buy protein; the protein foods group has plenty of unbreaded options that do not bring the salt with them.
Saturated fat is the quieter row. At 2.9 g per serving it is 14% of the Daily Value - noticeable, but under a fifth of the 16.3 g of total fat, since most of the fat in a fried nugget is the oil rather than the chicken. Total fat at 21% DV is the row that actually deserves the attention.
How do chicken nuggets compare?
| Food | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken nuggets | 307 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 86 kcal |
| Breaded chicken patty | 287 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 80 kcal |
| Chicken tenders or strips | 271 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 76 kcal |
| Breaded chicken fillet | 240 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 67 kcal |
Our take: nuggets are the densest of these four per gram, and the reason is surface area. A nugget is small, so more of it is coating; a breaded fillet is one large piece with a single skin of breading and lands 67 calories per 100 g lower. Tenders sit in between at 271 and carry more protein, 19.22 g per 100 g against 15.92 g for nuggets, which makes them the better pick if protein is what you came for. For losing weight, the fillet or the tenders win on both counts. For staying full on a fixed calorie budget, tenders are the one to order - same shape of meal, more protein, fewer calories per ounce.
Most popular chicken nuggets 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) |
|---|---|
| Tyson Chicken Nuggets | 300 cal |
| Tyson White Meat Chicken Nuggets | 261 cal |
| Tyson Cheesy Chicken Nuggets | 278 cal |
| Tyson Spicy Chicken Nuggets | 258 cal |
| Tyson White Meat Panko Chicken Nuggets | 235 cal |
| Fast Fixin' Chicken Nuggets | 297 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Chicken nugget FAQs
How many calories are in one chicken nugget?
One nugget is 49 calories at a typical 16 g piece, our own arithmetic from the USDA figure of 307 calories per 100 g. Nuggets vary in size, so a chunkier restaurant piece can run higher. Five of them, the USDA serving, come to 246 calories.
How many calories are in 10 chicken nuggets?
Ten nuggets at 16 g each weigh 160 g and come to about 491 calories, our own scaling from the USDA figure of 307 calories per 100 g. That order also brings roughly 25 g of protein and about 950 mg of sodium, which is 41 percent of the daily limit.
How much protein is in chicken nuggets?
Five nuggets carry 12.7 g of protein, 25 percent of the Daily Value, worked out from 15.92 g per 100 g. Per calorie that is modest: the same serving brings 16.3 g of fat and 246 calories, so nuggets are a costly way to reach a protein target.
Are baked frozen nuggets lower in calories than fast food nuggets?
Barely: frozen nuggets baked at home run 298 calories per 100 g against 307 for fast food, so five pieces are 238 versus 246, a difference of eight calories. The fat is already in the breading before the tray goes in the oven, so skipping the fryer saves almost nothing.
How much sodium is in a serving of chicken nuggets?
A five-piece serving carries 475 mg of sodium, 21 percent of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, from 594 mg per 100 g. That is roughly a fifth of a teaspoon of table salt in five small pieces. A full cup, at 140 g, pushes past 830 mg.
How many carbs are in chicken nuggets?
Five nuggets hold 11.9 g of carbohydrate, only 4 percent of the Daily Value, from 14.93 g per 100 g. Nearly all of it is breading; total sugars are 0.08 g per 100 g, a rounding error. Fiber is 0.9 g per 100 g, so the coating is refined flour rather than whole grain.
Are chicken nuggets high in saturated fat?
Five nuggets bring 2.9 g of saturated fat, 14 percent of the Daily Value, from 3.57 g per 100 g. Total fat is the bigger row at 16.3 g and 21 percent. Saturated fat is under a fifth of the total, so it is total fat that dominates a nugget, not the saturated kind.
How many chicken nuggets are in one cup?
One cup holds about nine average nuggets, weighs 140 g and comes to 430 calories, using the USDA cup measure. That is about 1.7 times the 246 calories in the five-piece serving, and it barely fills a small bowl. Cup measures flatter breaded food, so count pieces instead.
Similar foods
- Fries — 452 cal per medium fast food order
- Cannoli — 227 cal per cannoli
- Nachos — 663 cal per order
- Onion Rings — 282 cal for 8 rings
- Funnel cake — 318 cal per cake, 6-inch
- Waffle cone — 556 cal per Waffle cone with 2 scoops
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the nuggets for you, breading and all.
