How many calories are in green bean casserole?
A 1-cup serving of green bean casserole, 230 g on the plate, is 129 calories. Per 100 g the dish runs 56 calories, which makes it one of the lighter things on a Thanksgiving table. The number that deserves attention is not the calories at all. It is the 727 mg of sodium sitting in that same cup.
You'd need to walk about 26 minutes to burn the 129 calories in a 1-cup (230 g) serving.
How long does it take to burn off 129 kcal of green bean casserole?
A 1-cup (230 g) serving is 129 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 129 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 26 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 16 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 18 min |
| Jogging | 15 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 29 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 (230 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Green bean casserole quick facts
- US servings, from one ounce to a full cup
- Store-bought tubs and trays
- Sodium is the row to watch
- How does green bean casserole compare?
- Most popular green bean casserole brands
- Green bean casserole FAQs
Green bean casserole quick facts
The figures here come from the USDA FNDDS record 2710040, "Green bean casserole". It is the only USDA entry for the finished dish as it reaches the table: green beans, a creamy mushroom sauce, and a crisp topping, already combined. That matters, because it means the topping is counted for you. You are not looking at plain beans with the sauce to be added later.
Supermarket tubs and deli trays are a different recipe with a different fat and salt load, so they get their own section further down rather than being blended into this table. One dish, one record, no averaging between sources.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 cup (230 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 56 | 129 | — |
| Total fat | 2.21 g | 5.1 g | 7% |
| Saturated fat | 0.51 g | 1.2 g | 6% |
| Carbohydrate | 7.05 g | 16.2 g | 6% |
| Dietary fiber | 1.9 g | 4.4 g | 16% |
| Total sugars | 2.03 g | 4.7 g | — |
| Protein | 1.96 g | 4.5 g | 9% |
| Sodium | 316 mg | 727 mg | 32% |
% 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 label rows are missing on purpose. USDA does not publish added sugars or trans fat for mixed dishes in this FNDDS release, so those lines would be guesses rather than data. Cholesterol is negligible at 2 mg a cup, 1% of the Daily Value, and potassium comes in at 467 mg, 10% of the FDA Daily Values. The fiber row is the quiet win: 4.4 g in one cup is 16% of a day's target for a side dish that costs 129 calories.
US servings, from one ounce to a full cup
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 16 kcal |
| Half cup | 115 g | 64 kcal |
| Three-quarter cup | 173 g | 97 kcal |
| One cup, the usual holiday scoop | 230 g | 129 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 56 kcal |
The 1-cup line at 230 g is the household measure USDA publishes for this record, and it is the one to log if you took a normal serving spoon to the dish. USDA also lists an "unspecified quantity" portion at 115 g, which happens to land on the same weight as a half cup: 64 calories.
The half cup, three-quarter cup and 1 oz rows are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings. They are useful because casserole is rarely served in a measured scoop. A shallow spoonful from the corner of the pan is closer to a half cup than a full one, and a second helping usually splits the difference at three-quarters.
Here is the cup trap. Green bean casserole is loose and wet, so a cup of it weighs 230 g, far more than a cup of a dry side like stuffing. If you log "1 cup" from a generic entry built on a lighter food, the calories will be wrong in both directions depending on which food the entry was built from. Weight beats volume every time with a casserole.
Store-bought tubs and trays
| Version | Per 100 g | Label serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homemade, as served (USDA FNDDS) | 56 kcal | 1 cup (230 g) | 129 kcal |
| Reser's Fine Foods | 71 kcal | 1/2 cup (127 g) | 90 kcal |
| The Pioneer Woman | 98 kcal | 1/2 cup (102 g) | 100 kcal |
| Green Giant | 101 kcal | 2/3 cup (109 g) | 110 kcal |
| Whole Foods Market deli | 103 kcal | 1 cup (195 g) | 201 kcal |
| Taylor Farms tray | 143 kcal | 1 cup (140 g) | 200 kcal |
| Archer Farms (Target) | 164 kcal | 0.5 cup (110 g) | 180 kcal |
The spread across the branded records is the single most useful thing on this page. Archer Farms at 164 calories per 100 g is 2.3 times as dense as Reser's at 71, and both are sold as the same dish under the same name. Line up the half-cup servings and it gets blunter: 180 calories from the Target tub, 90 from the Reser's tub. Same words on the front, double the calories.
Density is doing the work here, not portion size. Two of these trays pour a full cup into the serving suggestion, and the two cups land a calorie apart: 201 calories at Whole Foods against 200 at Taylor Farms, but Taylor Farms gets there in 140 g while Whole Foods needs 195 g. The Taylor Farms scoop is smaller and heavier per bite, which is exactly the kind of thing you cannot see once it is on the plate.
Every one of these is denser than the USDA homemade record. Making it at home is not automatically virtuous, but the classic recipe is mostly beans and thinned soup, and the ready-made versions lean harder on cream and oil to survive a week in a refrigerated case.
Sodium is the row to watch
One cup of green bean casserole carries 727 mg of sodium, 32% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value. To put it in kitchen terms, that is roughly a third of a teaspoon of table salt in a side dish nobody thinks of as salty. It arrives through the condensed soup and the salted crisp topping, with the beans themselves contributing almost none of it.
Do the holiday math. Three cups over the course of an afternoon is 2,181 mg of sodium, 95% of a full day, on 387 calories. The calories stay in snack territory while the salt runs nearly to the daily limit, and that is before the turkey, the gravy and the rolls. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans put most adults well above the sodium target already; this dish is a quiet contributor rather than an obvious one.
The flip side is real, though. The vegetable group is the one most Americans fall short on, and 4.4 g of fiber for 129 calories is a better trade than almost anything else on a holiday table. If you are watching sodium, take a half cup at 363 mg and 64 calories. If you are watching calories, take the full cup and skip something denser.
How does green bean casserole compare?
USDA does not publish a household gram weight for the three neighboring dishes below, so the honest comparison is per 100 g rather than per serving.
| Dish | Per 100 g | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green bean casserole | 56 kcal | 1.96 g | 7.05 g | 2.21 g |
| Vegetable stew | 47 kcal | 1.41 g | 10.07 g | 0.24 g |
| Ratatouille | 67 kcal | 1.09 g | 5.77 g | 4.73 g |
| Squash casserole with rice and tomato sauce | 83 kcal | 2.32 g | 14.9 g | 1.66 g |
Our take: of these four vegetable sides, only vegetable stew is lighter per 100 g, and it gets there by carrying almost no fat at all. Green bean casserole sits in a good spot, a third lighter than the squash casserole and still under ratatouille, which surprises people who assume the creamy dish must be the heaviest. Judge it on salt, not calories. If the choice is between a cup of this and a cup of squash casserole, take the green beans; if the choice is between a second cup and a glass of water, take the water.
Most popular green bean casserole 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) |
|---|---|
| Green Giant Green Bean Casserole | 101 cal |
| Archer Farms Green Bean Casserole | 164 cal |
| Taylor Farms Green Bean Casserole | 143 cal |
| Whole Foods Market Green Bean Casserole | 103 cal |
| The Pioneer Woman Green Bean Casserole | 98 cal |
| Reser's Fine Foods Green Bean Casserole | 71 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Green bean casserole FAQs
How many calories are in 1 cup of green bean casserole?
A 1-cup serving weighs 230 g and carries 129 calories, since the USDA figure is 56 calories per 100 g. That is a modest number for a holiday side dish. The beans are mostly water, and the sauce and topping add fat rather than bulk.
How many calories are in a half cup of green bean casserole?
Half a cup, 115 g, is 64 calories. That is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure rather than a listed USDA serving, though the USDA unspecified-quantity portion uses the same 115 g weight. Sodium at that size is about 363 mg, 16% of a day.
How much sodium is in green bean casserole?
One cup carries 727 mg of sodium, 32% of the FDA Daily Value of 2,300 mg. That is roughly a third of a teaspoon of table salt. It comes from the condensed soup and the salted crisp topping rather than from the green beans themselves.
How many carbs are in green bean casserole?
One cup has 16.2 g of carbohydrate, 6% of the Daily Value, including 4.4 g of fiber and 4.7 g of total sugars. Per 100 g that works out to 7.05 g. The fiber share is unusually generous for a creamy side dish.
How much protein is in green bean casserole?
One cup delivers 4.5 g of protein, 9% of the Daily Value. This is a vegetable side, not a protein source, and the small amount present comes from the beans and the dairy in the sauce. The turkey or ham next to it does the heavy lifting.
Is green bean casserole healthy?
One cup is 129 calories with 4.4 g of fiber, 16% of the Daily Value, which is a strong return for the calories. The catch is 727 mg of sodium, 32% of a day. If you are watching sodium, a half cup at 363 mg is the better pick.
Does store-bought green bean casserole have more calories than homemade?
Usually yes: the USDA homemade record is 56 calories per 100 g, while branded tubs and trays run from 71 to 164 per 100 g. Archer Farms lists 180 calories for a half cup against 90 for the Reser's half cup. Read the label, not the dish name.
How many calories in green bean casserole with fried onions?
Still 129 calories a cup. The USDA record for green bean casserole already includes the crisp fried-onion topping baked into the dish, so there is nothing extra to add and no reason to log it twice. Only onions scattered on top after serving count as an addition.
Similar foods
- Carrot — 53 cal per cup chopped
- Onion — 46 cal per cup sliced
- Broccoli — 55 cal per cup chopped
- Bamboo Shoots — 41 cal per cup sliced
- Papaya salad — 190 cal per plate
- Bell Pepper — 31 cal per medium
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the casserole for you, topping and all.
