Cocktail shrimp calories come to 84 for a 3 oz portion (85 g) and 99 per 100 g, cooked and chilled with no sauce. Nearly all of that energy is protein: 97% of the calories, or 20.4 g per portion. The shrimp is lean. The sauce is what changes the sodium and sugar rows.
84kcal
1 3 oz portion · 85 g, cooked, chilled, no sauce
97%protein
20 gProtein
0 gCarbs
0.2 gFat
How to burn off 84 kcal
—Walking, brisk
—Jogging
—Cycling, moderate
—Swimming
Skip the math. BodyPal counts these calories from your steps and workouts automatically.
Nutrition facts
Cooked, chilled, no sauce · per 85 g
Calories
84 kcal
Protein
20 g
Carbohydrate
0.2 g
Fat
0.2 g
Saturated fat
0 g
Cholesterol
161 mg
Sodium
94 mg
Potassium
220 mg
Iron
0.4 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 →
Cocktail shrimp: 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
3 oz portion (85 g)
84
20.4 g
0.2 g
0.2 g
94 mg
4%
4 large (22 g)
26
5 g
0.3 g
0.4 g
208 mg
1%
With cocktail sauce (125 g)
124
16.6 g
9.9 g
1.5 g
628 mg
6%
100 g
99
24 g
0.2 g
0.3 g
111 mg
5%
3 × 3 oz portion (85 g)
252
61.1 g
283 mg
5 × 3 oz portion (85 g)
421
101.9 g
472 mg
A 3 oz portion is an 84-calorie starter
The standard 3 oz portion (85 g) of cooked, chilled shrimp comes to 84 calories, just 4% of the daily value. Without sauce, that is the whole energy story. The same portion carries 20.4 g of protein, 41% of the daily value, with only 0.2 g of fat and 0.2 g of carbs.
Counting by the piece works too. Four large shrimp weigh about 22 g and land at 26 calories with 5 g of protein. Even on a party plate where you lose count of how many you picked up, the total stays small.
Buffet portions rarely stop at one. Two portions (170 g) total 168 calories, three portions (255 g) reach 252, and even a heaping 425 g pile, five portions' worth, only climbs to 421 calories. That last plate also brings 101.9 g of protein. Few foods let the protein grow this much faster than the calories.
Protein supplies 97% of the calories
Per 100 g, cooked shrimp holds 99 calories, 24 g of protein, 0.3 g of fat and 0.2 g of carbs. In the calorie split, protein accounts for 97% of the energy, fat for 3% and carbs for about 1%. Saturated fat sits at 0.1 g, and there is no meaningful sugar in the plain shrimp.
That profile puts cocktail shrimp among the leanest protein choices on any appetizer table. A 100 g serving covers 48% of the daily value for protein while using only 5% of the daily value for calories. If you are trying to hit a protein target without spending much of your calorie budget, these numbers are hard to beat.
The flip side is that plain shrimp brings almost nothing besides protein. On its own it is a light snack rather than a full meal, so the rest of the plate matters. Potassium is a small bonus at 259 mg per 100 g.
The cocktail sauce brings the sodium and the sugar
Plain shrimp is modest on sodium: 94 mg for a 3 oz portion, or 4% of the daily value. Dunk it in cocktail sauce and the picture changes. A 125 g serving of shrimp with sauce lists 124 calories and 628 mg of sodium, 27% of the daily value, plus 9.9 g of carbs and 3.7 g of sugars that the plain shrimp does not have.
Calories rise only modestly with the sauce. Sodium is the number that jumps. If you watch sodium, spoon a measured amount onto your plate instead of dipping into a shared bowl, or lean on lemon wedges for flavor.
Sodium also varies between shrimp entries. The USDA row behind the 4 large shrimp serving shows 208 mg for just 22 g, 9% of the daily value and more than twice the sodium of the full 3 oz portion. Packaged trays such as Aqua Star Cocktail Shrimp are worth a look at the label. Cholesterol is the other row to know: 189 mg per 100 g, against a daily value of 300 mg.
Pair it with crunch and color, not fried sides
Because the shrimp itself is so light, the rest of the plate decides how the meal adds up. Raw vegetables, a green salad or cucumber slices add volume and crunch. A slice of whole-grain bread or a few crackers supply the carbs the shrimp lacks, so the plate feels more like a meal.
At parties, the calories usually sit next to the shrimp: fried appetizers, cheese boards and creamy dips. Filling your plate with shrimp first leaves less room for them. For a lighter dinner, chilled shrimp also works as the protein on a salad or in a cold grain bowl, with the sauce kept on the side.
Shrimp platters are hard to log by eye, since the portion is usually a loose pile rather than a neat 3 oz serving. BodyPal can log the food from a photo, which saves weighing each piece at the table.
How does cocktail shrimp compare?
Here is how chilled cocktail shrimp stacks up against three other shrimp dishes, per 100 g and per usual serving.
Verdict: For weight loss and protein, cocktail shrimp wins: tempura shrimp carries 2.4 times the calories at 242 per 100 g, and shrimp stir fry still runs 116. Shrimp curry is the only dish that comes in lower, at 93, but with just 4.9 g of protein and 351 mg of sodium per 100 g it is the weaker pick for staying full.
Most popular cocktail shrimp brands in the United States
Retail cocktail shrimp trays are weighed with the cocktail sauce and a moisture brine, so their per 100 g label numbers read lower than plain cooked shrimp. Source: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Cocktail shrimp FAQs
How many calories are in cocktail shrimp?
A 3 oz portion (85 g) of cooked shrimp is 84 calories, and 100 g is 99 calories. Four large shrimp come to about 26 calories.
Is cocktail shrimp good for weight loss?
A 3 oz portion is 84 calories with 20.4 g protein and 0.2 g fat. Served with cocktail sauce, a 125 g serving is 124 calories.
Is cocktail shrimp lower in calories than shrimp curry?
Per 100 g, cocktail shrimp is 99 calories and shrimp curry is 93, a gap of 6 calories.
How much protein is in cocktail shrimp?
Cooked shrimp has 24 g protein per 100 g, so a 3 oz portion (85 g) gives 20.4 g protein for 84 calories.
How many calories are in shrimp cocktail with sauce?
A 125 g serving of shrimp with cocktail sauce has 124 calories, compared with 84 for a plain 3 oz portion. The sauce also brings 628 mg of sodium, 27% of the daily value, and 3.7 g of sugars.
How many carbs are in shrimp cocktail?
Plain shrimp has just 0.2 g of carbs per 3 oz portion, so almost all the carbs come from the sauce. With cocktail sauce, a 125 g serving has 9.9 g of carbs, including 3.7 g of sugars and 0.5 g of fiber.
How many calories are in large cocktail shrimp?
Four large cocktail shrimp (22 g) contain 26 calories and 5 g of protein. That works out to only a handful of calories per shrimp before any sauce is added, so the dip usually matters more than the count.
What are the nutrition facts for shrimp cocktail without sauce?
Per 100 g, plain cooked shrimp has 99 calories, 24 g of protein, 0.3 g of fat, 0.2 g of carbs, 111 mg of sodium, 189 mg of cholesterol and 259 mg of potassium.
Is shrimp cocktail healthy?
By the numbers it is lean: 84 calories and 20.4 g of protein per 3 oz portion, with 0.2 g of fat. The rows to watch are sodium once sauce is added, 628 mg per 125 g serving, and cholesterol at 189 mg per 100 g.
