How many calories are in a chicken thigh without skin?
One medium grilled chicken thigh with the skin left on the plate weighs 70 g and carries 134 calories. Skinless thigh meat runs 192 calories per 100 g, with 24.07 g of protein and 9.91 g of fat. Eat the skin instead and the same cut jumps to 243 per 100 g.
You'd need to walk about 27 minutes to burn the 134 calories in one medium thigh (70 g).
How long does it take to burn off chicken thigh?
One medium thigh (70 g) is 134 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 134 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 27 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 17 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 19 min |
| Jogging | 16 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 30 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 (70 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Chicken thigh without skin quick facts
- US servings, from one ounce to a cup of diced thigh
- With the skin on and other thigh versions
- Protein is the headline, cholesterol is the catch
- How does a skinless chicken thigh compare?
- Most popular chicken thigh without skin brands
- FAQs
Chicken thigh without skin quick facts
The record behind this page is FNDDS 2706040, "Chicken thigh, grilled without sauce, skin not eaten". It is the one USDA row that matches what most people actually put on the plate: a thigh cooked with the skin on, then eaten without it. Rows for a whole leg or for a thigh with the skin eaten describe a different piece of meat, so they live further down the page instead of being blended in.
All of these values are cooked weight. FNDDS does not publish a raw skinless thigh record for this cut, so weigh the thigh after it comes off the heat, not before — raw meat sits heavier on the scale because it still holds the water it loses while cooking.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 medium thigh (70 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 192 | 134 | — |
| Total fat | 9.91 g | 6.9 g | 9% |
| Saturated fat | 2.51 g | 1.8 g | 9% |
| Carbohydrate | 0 g | 0.0 g | 0% |
| Dietary fiber | 0 g | 0.0 g | 0% |
| Total sugars | 0 g | 0.0 g | — |
| Protein | 24.07 g | 16.8 g | 34% |
| Sodium | 410 mg | 287 mg | 12% |
% 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 package are missing here on purpose. USDA does not publish added sugars or trans fat for this unpackaged meat record, so printing a zero would be inventing a number. Cholesterol and potassium are published: 129 mg and 262 mg per 100 g, which works out to 90 mg of cholesterol (30% DV) and 183 mg of potassium (4% DV) in one medium thigh.
The sodium is worth a second look. Plain chicken meat is not a salty food, but this record is grilled and seasoned, and 410 mg per 100 g is what USDA measured. In one medium thigh that is 287 mg, roughly what you would get from an eighth of a teaspoon of table salt.
US servings, from one ounce to a cup of diced thigh
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz, cooked | 28 g | 54 kcal |
| 1 small thigh | 65 g | 125 kcal |
| 1 medium thigh | 70 g | 134 kcal |
| 1 large thigh | 90 g | 173 kcal |
| 1 cup, cooked, diced | 135 g | 259 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 192 kcal |
Every weight in that table is a USDA household measure for record 2706040, which is why the small-to-large spread is so wide: a butcher-counter thigh is not a fixed object, and 5 g of difference between a small and a medium is 9 calories. If your recipe calls for 4 oz of cooked thigh meat, that is 113 g and about 218 calories — our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not a USDA serving.
The cup is the trap. A cup of diced cooked thigh weighs 135 g, so it lands at 259 calories, almost two medium thighs (268 calories for the pair). People log "a cup of chicken" the way they log a cup of milk, as if it were a modest amount. It is closer to a full dinner portion of meat.
With the skin on and other thigh versions
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical piece | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thigh without skin, grilled | 192 kcal | 1 medium thigh (70 g) | 134 kcal |
| Thigh with skin, grilled | 243 kcal | 1 medium thigh (80 g) | 194 kcal |
| Whole leg, drumstick and thigh, skinless | 183 kcal | 1 medium leg (120 g) | 220 kcal |
| Whole leg, drumstick and thigh, skin on | 228 kcal | 1 medium leg (140 g) | 319 kcal |
| Baked or roasted thigh, skin on | 231 kcal | 1 cup, diced (135 g) | 312 kcal |
| Stewed thigh, skin on | 227 kcal | 1 cup, diced (135 g) | 306 kcal |
| Fried breaded thigh, skinless meat, coating eaten | 231 kcal | 1 cup, diced (135 g) | 312 kcal |
The skin is the single biggest lever on this list. Same bird, same grill, same seasoning: eating the skin takes the meat from 192 to 243 calories per 100 g, adds 6.38 g of fat (9.91 g to 16.29 g), and drops the protein from 24.07 g to 22.61 g, because fat displaces meat in every gram you weigh.
The whole-leg rows surprise people. Skinless leg meat, drumstick and thigh together, is 183 calories per 100 g — leaner per gram than the thigh alone, since the drumstick is the leanest part of the dark meat. But a leg is a bigger piece of food. At 120 g it is 220 calories, well past a medium thigh's 134.
Breading changes the shape of the numbers more than the total. A fried, coated thigh with skinless meat runs 231 calories per 100 g and is the only version here that brings carbohydrate with it: 5.96 g per 100 g from the coating, against 0 g for every plain-cooked row. Its protein is also the lowest of the group at 20.14 g.
Protein is the headline, cholesterol is the catch
One medium skinless thigh is 134 calories and 16.8 g of protein — 34% of the FDA Daily Value of 50 g, from a piece of food that costs less than 7% of a 2,000-calorie day. Two of them cover more than two-thirds of the day's protein DV for 268 calories. That ratio is the reason dark meat keeps showing up in high-protein meal plans, and it is the kind of protein food the Dietary Guidelines and MyPlate put in the protein group.
The catch sits two rows down the label. That same 70 g thigh carries 90 mg of cholesterol, 30% DV — a bigger share of the daily figure than its fat (9%), its saturated fat (9%) or its sodium (12%). Dark meat concentrates cholesterol in a way that its calorie count does not advertise. If you are tracking cholesterol on a doctor's advice, the thigh is the row to watch; if you are tracking calories or saturated fat, it is one of the cheaper ways to buy 17 g of protein.
Saturated fat is the pleasant surprise. At 1.8 g per thigh, 9% DV, the skinless thigh sits close to the lean-meat range even though it is dark meat. Leave the skin on and it climbs: 4.26 g per 100 g instead of 2.51 g.
How does a skinless chicken thigh compare?
| Preparation | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thigh without skin, grilled | 192 kcal | 1 cup, diced (135 g) | 259 kcal |
| Thigh, baked or roasted, skin eaten | 231 kcal | 1 cup, diced (135 g) | 312 kcal |
| Thigh, stewed, skin eaten | 227 kcal | 1 cup, diced (135 g) | 306 kcal |
| Thigh, fried and breaded, skinless meat | 231 kcal | 1 cup, diced (135 g) | 312 kcal |
All four rows are held at the same 135 g cup so the cooking method is the only thing moving; the calories per cup are our own arithmetic from each record's 100 g figure, not USDA servings.
Our take: skinless wins, and it wins by more than the cooking method does. Baked, stewed and fried land within 6 calories of each other per cup, all around 306 to 312, while the skinless grilled thigh comes in at 259 — the lowest number in the table, per gram and per cup. If you are eating for weight loss, take the skin off and the method barely matters. If you are eating for fullness, the skinless thigh is still the better buy: it has the most protein per 100 g of the four at 24.07 g, so you get the satiety without paying for the skin.
Most popular chicken thigh without skin 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) |
|---|---|
| Signature Farms Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs | 106 cal |
| Tyson Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs | 143 cal |
| Meijer Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs | 125 cal |
| Perdue Perfect Portions Boneless Skinless Chicken Thigh Filets | 116 cal |
| Open Nature Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs | 143 cal |
| Just Bare Hand-Trimmed Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs | 116 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Chicken thigh without skin FAQs
How many calories are in a chicken thigh without skin?
134 calories in a medium grilled thigh of 70 g, at 192 calories per 100 g of skinless meat. A small thigh at 65 g is 125 calories and a large one at 90 g is 173. That medium thigh also brings 16.8 g of protein and 6.9 g of fat.
How much protein is in a skinless chicken thigh?
16.8 g of protein in a medium 70 g thigh, which is 34% of the 50 g Daily Value, and 24.07 g per 100 g of meat. Two medium thighs give you 33.6 g for 268 calories. Leaving the skin on lowers the protein slightly, to 22.61 g per 100 g.
How many calories in 1 oz of skinless chicken thigh?
54 calories per cooked ounce, which USDA lists as 28 g of meat. That ounce carries about 6.8 g of protein and 2.8 g of fat, our own arithmetic from the 100 g figures. Four ounces of cooked thigh meat weighs 113 g and comes to roughly 218 calories.
How many calories in a cup of diced skinless chicken thigh?
259 calories in one cup of cooked diced thigh, which USDA weighs at 135 g. That is nearly two medium thighs, which would be 268 calories for the pair. The cup also carries 32.5 g of protein and 13.4 g of fat, scaled from the 100 g record.
Does removing the skin after cooking still cut calories?
Yes, and by 51 calories per 100 g: 243 with the skin eaten against 192 without it. USDA's row is measured exactly that way, cooked with the skin on and eaten without it. Fat falls from 16.29 g to 9.91 g per 100 g, so most of the skin's calories never make it onto your fork.
Is a boneless skinless chicken thigh the same as a skinless thigh?
For counting purposes, yes: USDA's 134 calories is for 70 g of edible meat, with no bone in the weight. A bone-in thigh sits heavier on the scale than the meat you eat, so weigh it after you strip the bone, or the count comes out too high by whatever the bone weighs.
How much cholesterol is in a chicken thigh without skin?
90 mg in a medium 70 g thigh, 30% of the 300 mg Daily Value, and 129 mg per 100 g. That is the biggest percentage on the label after protein, larger than its fat at 9% or sodium at 12%. Dark meat concentrates more cholesterol than its calorie count suggests.
Is chicken thigh without skin healthy?
It is a lean-leaning protein food: 134 calories, 16.8 g of protein and 1.8 g of saturated fat (9% DV) per medium thigh, with zero carbohydrate. MyPlate counts it in the protein foods group. The two rows to keep an eye on are cholesterol at 30% DV and the 287 mg of sodium from the seasoning.
Similar foods
- Shrimp Fajita — 227 cal per cup
- Shrimp Shumai — 180 cal for 6 pieces
- Beef Cube Steak — 299 cal per steak
- Turkey Sandwich — 215 cal plain, 433 loaded
- T-Bone Steak — 537 cal per steak
- Meatloaf — 215 cal per slice
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the thigh for you, skin or no skin.
