Ground coffee calories come to 2 for a 1 cup (240 g) mug brewed black with no sugar, and just 1 per 100 g. Look past the beans. Black coffee barely moves your daily total. The cream, syrup or sugar you stir in decides what the cup really costs, and those additions can outweigh the coffee many times over.
2kcal
1 cup · 240 g, brewed, black, no sugar
73%protein
0.3 gProtein
0 gCarbs
0 gFat
How to burn off 2 kcal
—Walking, brisk
—Jogging
—Cycling, moderate
—Swimming
Skip the math. BodyPal counts these calories from your steps and workouts automatically.
Nutrition facts
Brewed, black, no sugar · per 240 g
Calories
2 kcal
Protein
0.3 g
Carbohydrate
0 g
Fat
0 g
Saturated fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
5 mg
Potassium
118 mg
Iron
0 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 →
Ground coffee: 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
1 cup (240 g)
2
0.3 g
0 g
0 g
5 mg
0%
Large (600 g)
6
0.7 g
0 g
0.1 g
12 mg
0%
Espresso shot (60 g)
5
0.1 g
1 g
0.1 g
8 mg
0%
100 g
1
0.1 g
0 g
0 g
2 mg
0%
3 × 1 cup (240 g)
7
0.9 g
14 mg
5 × 1 cup (240 g)
12
1.4 g
24 mg
Even five cups stay at 12 calories
Most foods get expensive as the portion grows. Brewed black coffee doesn't. A standard 1 cup (240 g) mug lands at 2 calories, a Large (600 g) cup comes to 6, and 2 × 1 cup (240 g) adds up to only 5. Mug size is close to irrelevant when the coffee is plain.
Push it further and the pattern holds. Three standard cups total 7 calories with 0.9 g of protein. Five cups, a full 1,200 g of liquid, reach just 12 calories and 24 mg of sodium. That is a heavy coffee day, and it still makes no real dent in a 2000-calorie daily value.
The Espresso shot (60 g) behaves a little differently. It comes from a separate USDA row and lists 5 calories for a small volume, because espresso is a more concentrated extraction. Even so, a double or a triple stays in single digits per shot. If you log coffee, the portion you need to get right is what you add, not the brew.
Protein supplies 73% of a near-zero total
The calorie split looks dramatic on paper: 73% from protein, 27% from fat and 0% from carbs. Keep the scale in mind. Those shares describe about 1 calorie per 100 g, so they say more about the trace compounds that leach out of the grounds than about any real nutrition.
Per 100 g, brewed coffee carries 0.1 g of protein, 0 g of carbs, 0 g of fat and 0 g of sugars. A 1 cup (240 g) mug delivers 0.3 g of protein, which works out to 1% of the daily value. Fiber is 0 g too, since the grounds stay in the filter. You are drinking flavored water with caffeine, not a food.
This is why black coffee fits almost any eating pattern on numbers alone. Low-carb, low-fat and calorie-counted plans can all absorb it without adjustment. The macros only start to matter once milk, creamer, sugar or flavored syrup enter the cup, and then they come from those additions, not from the coffee.
Sodium stays near 0% of the daily value
Brewed coffee lists 2 mg of sodium per 100 g. A 1 cup (240 g) mug carries 5 mg, which rounds to 0% of the 2300 mg daily value. A Large (600 g) serving reaches 12 mg, still only 1%. If you watch sodium, plain coffee is not where it hides.
Potassium is the one mineral row with a visible number, at 49 mg per 100 g. Against a 4700 mg daily value that is a small contribution, but it is more than the coffee offers in calories, protein or sodium. Cholesterol and saturated fat both sit at 0.
The picture changes with what you pour in. Coffee creamer lists 67 mg of sodium per 100 g and coffee candy 125 mg, so flavored products carry more of it than the brew itself. For a cup that stays at the bottom of the sodium column, keep it black or use a small splash of plain milk.
The add-ins are the real calorie decision
Think of black coffee as a zero you build on. A single 1 tbsp (15 g) pour of coffee creamer brings 20 calories, ten times the coffee in a standard mug. A 2 Tbsp (30 g) serving of coffee syrup adds 80, almost all of it from carbs, since the syrup is 66.7 g of carbs per 100 g.
Neither choice is wrong. They just belong in your log. If you drink several cups a day with creamer or syrup in each, the additions can become a meaningful share of daily calories while the coffee itself stays at a handful. Measuring the creamer once, rather than guessing, tells you what your usual pour really is.
Brands sold as ground coffee, from Eight O'Clock Arabica Ground Coffee to Cafe Najjar Ground Coffee, brew into the same near-zero drink. Flavored blends like Super Coffee Vanilla Enhanced Ground Coffee are worth checking on their own labels. BodyPal can log your cup from a photo, which makes it easier to catch the creamer along with the coffee.
How does ground coffee compare?
Here is brewed ground coffee next to three common coffee add-ons and treats, compared per 100 g and per usual serving.
Verdict: For weight loss, keep the coffee black: at 1 calorie per 100 g it sits far below coffee creamer at 136, coffee syrup at 267 and coffee candy at 375. If you need some richness, a 1 tbsp (15 g) splash of creamer at 20 calories is a smaller cost than a 2 Tbsp (30 g) pump of syrup at 80.
Most popular ground coffee brands in the United States
6Earth & Star Dark Roast Ground Coffee4 tbsp · 21 g0 kcal
7Cafe Najjar Ground Coffee5 g500 kcal
Bag labels are measured on the dry grounds, while the numbers above are for the brewed drink they make. Source: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Ground coffee FAQs
How many calories are in a cup of coffee made from ground coffee?
About 2 calories in an 8 fl oz cup (240 g) brewed black, because brewed coffee is 1 calorie per 100 g.
Is black coffee good for weight loss?
A 240 g cup is 2 calories and 0 g of carbs, so the drink itself is close to nothing; what goes in it matters more, since coffee creamer is 136 calories per 100 g.
Ground coffee or coffee creamer: where do the calories come from?
Brewed coffee is 1 calorie per 100 g and coffee creamer is 136 calories per 100 g, so a 2.5 g pour of creamer adds about 3 calories.
How much protein and carbs are in brewed coffee?
A 240 g cup has 0.3 g of protein and 0 g of carbs, plus about 118 mg of potassium.
How many calories are in a large cup of black coffee?
A Large (600 g) cup of brewed black coffee has 6 calories. It also carries 0.7 g of protein and 12 mg of sodium, which is 1% of the daily value, so even a big mug barely registers.
How many calories are in a shot of espresso?
An Espresso shot (60 g) has 5 calories, based on a separate USDA espresso row. It lists 0.1 g of protein, 1 g of carbs and 8 mg of sodium, with 0 g of sugars.
How many calories are in 5 cups of coffee a day?
Five 1 cup (240 g) servings of black coffee, 1,200 g in total, come to 12 calories. They add 24 mg of sodium and 1.4 g of protein, small numbers for a full day of coffee.
Does black coffee have sugar or carbs?
Brewed black coffee has 0 g of sugars and 0 g of carbs per 100 g, and a 1 cup (240 g) mug lists 0 g of each. Any sugar in your cup comes from what you add to it.
How much potassium is in brewed coffee?
Brewed coffee has 49 mg of potassium per 100 g. Measured against the 4700 mg daily value that is a small amount, though it is the most notable mineral row in plain black coffee.
