How Many Calories Are in Hot and Sour Soup?
A 1-cup serving of hot and sour soup weighs 245 g and carries 96 calories. Per 100 g the soup runs 39 calories, which makes it one of the lightest things on a Chinese takeout menu. The catch sits in a different row: that same cup brings 921 mg of sodium.
You'd need to walk about 19 minutes to burn the 96 calories in a 1-cup (245 g) serving.
How long does it take to burn off 96 kcal of hot and sour soup?
A 1-cup (245 g) serving is 96 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 96 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 19 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 12 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 14 min |
| Jogging | 11 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 21 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 (245 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Hot and sour soup quick facts
- US servings, from a half cup to a takeout pint
- Restaurant cup, can, dry mix and ramen cup
- Sodium is the row that moves, not calories
- How does hot and sour soup compare?
- Most popular hot and sour soup brands
- FAQ
Hot and sour soup quick facts
The record used here is USDA FNDDS 2707136, "Soup, hot and sour", from the 2021-2023 survey release. It describes the soup people actually order: a thickened, vinegar-and-pepper broth with tofu, egg ribbons, wood ear mushrooms and shredded pork, ladled out of a takeout container or a restaurant tureen. The serving attached to it is the standard US cup, 245 g.
That is the version searchers hold in their hands, so it drives every number on this page. A second USDA record, SR Legacy 174808, describes the same restaurant soup with identical values per 100 g but a smaller 233 g cup; it gets its own row further down.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 cup (245 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 39 | 96 | — |
| Total fat | 1.21 g | 3.0 g | 4% |
| Saturated fat | 0.23 g | 0.6 g | 3% |
| Carbohydrate | 4.35 g | 10.7 g | 4% |
| Dietary fiber | 0.5 g | 1.2 g | 4% |
| Total sugars | 0.42 g | 1.0 g | — |
| Protein | 2.58 g | 6.3 g | 13% |
| Sodium | 376 mg | 921 mg | 40% |
% 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 →
There is no added sugars row and no trans fat row on this page, because USDA does not publish either value for this restaurant-style soup record. Two nutrients that do appear are worth pulling out of the fine print: a cup carries 51 mg of cholesterol (17% of the Daily Value), most of it from the egg and pork, and 135 mg of potassium (3%). Per 100 g those are 21 mg and 55 mg.
Notice how small the macros are in absolute terms. Ten grams of carbohydrate and three grams of fat in a whole cup is what a broth built on cornstarch and a spoonful of oil looks like. The protein is the surprise: 6.3 g, more than you get from a slice of bread, for under a hundred calories.
US servings, from a half cup to a takeout pint
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28.4 g | 11 kcal |
| 1/2 cup | 122.5 g | 48 kcal |
| 1 cup | 245 g | 96 kcal |
| 1 takeout pint, 2 cups | 490 g | 191 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 39 kcal |
Only the 1-cup line is a USDA household measure. The ounce, the half cup and the pint are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings, scaled straight from 39 calories per 100 g.
The pint is the line that matters at dinner. Order soup for one at a Chinese restaurant and it usually arrives as a small bowl, roughly a cup. Order it to go and the container is a pint, which is two cups, and most people finish it without thinking of it as a double portion. That is still only 191 calories, which is less than a single egg roll, so the calorie side of the trade is generous.
Measure by volume rather than weight when you can. Soup is one of the few foods where a household cup is honest: the broth fills the cup completely, so 245 g and 8 fluid ounces line up closely. Solid foods almost never behave that way.
Restaurant cup, can, dry mix and ramen cup
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese restaurant cup | 39 kcal | 1 cup, 233 g | 91 kcal |
| Canned with chicken, store brand | 49 kcal | 1 1/4 cup, 245 g | 120 kcal |
| Canned with pork | 24 kcal | 1 can, 411 g | 99 kcal |
| Hot and sour egg flower mix, dry | 308 kcal | 2 tbsp, 13 g | 40 kcal |
| Hot and sour ramen-style cup | 339 kcal | 1 container, 56 g | 190 kcal |
The restaurant record and the main record are the same soup with the same 39 calories per 100 g. The five-calorie gap between 91 and 96 comes entirely from the size of the cup, 233 g against 245 g. If your app shows one number and a menu shows the other, nobody is wrong; the bowl changed, the recipe did not.
Cans move in both directions. A store-brand hot and sour with chicken, shiitake and bamboo lists 49 calories per 100 g and 120 for its 1 1/4 cup serving, a little richer than restaurant soup. A canned hot and sour with pork runs thinner at 24 calories per 100 g, so even the whole 411 g can is only 99 calories. Supermarket labels sit in the same band: a ShopRite hot and sour is 110 calories a cup, and a hot and sour broth from New Seasons is just 44 for a 6 fl oz mug.
The dry mix is the number that fools people. At 308 calories per 100 g it looks nearly eight times heavier than the soup, and it is, because you are reading powder rather than broth. Made up, a 13 g scoop delivers 40 calories, roughly the same as a small bowl of the real thing. Log the packet, not the powder weight.
The ramen-style hot and sour cup is a different food wearing the same flavor. At 339 calories per 100 g, one 56 g container is 190 calories, about double a cup of soup, because you are eating fried noodles as well as broth.
Sodium is the row that moves, not calories
One cup delivers 921 mg of sodium against the FDA Daily Value of 2,300 mg, so 40% of a day's allowance arrives in 96 calories. In kitchen terms, that is a little under half a teaspoon of table salt dissolved in your bowl. Finish a takeout pint and you are at 1,842 mg, 80% of the Daily Value, before the entree lands.
Soy sauce, vinegar and the seasoned broth base do that, and none of them add meaningful calories. CDC guidance on sodium is aimed at exactly this pattern: most of the salt Americans eat is already in restaurant and packaged food, not shaken on at the table. If you are watching sodium, the useful move is ordering the cup rather than the pint, or splitting the pint with someone.
The rest of the label reads well. Saturated fat is 0.6 g a cup, 3% of the Daily Value, which is unusually low for anything on a takeout menu. Protein is 6.3 g, 13%, and fiber 1.2 g, 4%. Starting a meal with a broth-based soup is the kind of habit MyPlate points people toward when they want the plate to feel full without the calories climbing.
How does hot and sour soup compare?
| Soup | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot and sour soup | 39 kcal | 1 cup, 245 g | 96 kcal |
| Wonton soup | 33 kcal | 1 cup, 245 g | 81 kcal |
| Egg drop soup | 27 kcal | 1 cup, 245 g | 66 kcal |
| Pho with meat | 77 kcal | 1 cup, 245 g | 189 kcal |
Cup weights for the three neighbors are our own arithmetic from their USDA 100 g figures, held at 245 g so the comparison is like for like.
Our take: for weight loss, egg drop soup is the lightest starter here at 66 calories a cup, and it is the only soup in this table more than 25 calories under hot and sour. For staying full, hot and sour brings the most protein of the three starters here, 6.3 g a cup against 2.8 g for egg drop and 5.9 g for wonton. Pho with meat is not a starter at all; at 189 calories a cup it is a meal, and a large bowl of it is dinner. Order hot and sour when it replaces part of the entree, and keep it to one cup if salt is the number you track.
Most popular hot and sour soup 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) |
|---|---|
| Great Value Hot & Sour Soup with Chicken | 49 cal |
| ShopRite Hot & Sour Soup | 45 cal |
| New Seasons Hot & Sour Broth | 25 cal |
| La Choy Hot & Sour Soup with Pork | 24 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Hot and sour soup FAQs
How many calories are in a cup of hot and sour soup?
A 1-cup (245 g) serving has 96 calories, from the USDA FNDDS record for hot and sour soup at 39 calories per 100 g. That cup also carries 6.3 g of protein and 10.7 g of carbohydrate. Some restaurant records pour a smaller 233 g cup, which lands at 91 calories.
How many calories in a bowl of hot and sour soup from a Chinese restaurant?
A restaurant cup of 233 g comes to 91 calories. A full soup bowl of roughly two cups, 490 g, works out to 191 calories, which is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not a USDA serving. The recipe never changes; only the container does.
How much sodium is in hot and sour soup?
A 1-cup serving carries 921 mg of sodium, 40% of the FDA Daily Value of 2,300 mg. Per 100 g the soup holds 376 mg. A takeout pint doubles the cup to 1,842 mg, or 80% of a day, which is more than many entrees on the same menu.
Is hot and sour soup healthy?
At 96 calories, 6.3 g of protein, 1.2 g of fiber and only 0.6 g of saturated fat per cup, it is one of the lighter starters on a takeout menu. Sodium is the weak spot at 921 mg a cup. If you are watching salt, one cup beats a pint.
How many carbs are in hot and sour soup?
A 1-cup serving holds 10.7 g of carbohydrate, 4% of the Daily Value, with 1.2 g of that as fiber and 1.0 g as total sugars. Per 100 g the soup has 4.35 g. Cornstarch thickening supplies most of it, which is why the broth pours glossy rather than thin.
How much protein is in hot and sour soup?
A 1-cup serving supplies 6.3 g of protein, 13% of the Daily Value, from the egg, tofu and shredded pork. Per 100 g that is 2.58 g. For 96 calories the ratio is strong: wonton soup gives 5.9 g per cup, and egg drop only 2.8 g.
Hot and sour soup vs egg drop soup calories?
Egg drop soup is lighter: 66 calories in a 245 g cup against 96 for hot and sour, because it runs 27 calories per 100 g rather than 39. Hot and sour pays for that gap with protein, 6.3 g a cup against 2.8 g, and with more sodium.
How many calories are in a pint of takeout hot and sour soup?
A pint holds about two cups, 490 g, and comes to 191 calories, our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure rather than a USDA serving. Sodium scales with it: 1,842 mg, or 80% of the Daily Value. The pint stays cheap in calories and expensive in salt.
Similar foods
- Tom yum soup — 191 cal per bowl
- Clementine — 35 cal per clementine
- Ceviche — 158 cal per cup
- Pomegranate — 72 cal for 1/2 cup arils
- Clam Chowder — 237 cal per cup
- Chinese Chicken and Broccoli — 206 cal per cup
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the bowl and BodyPal counts the soup for you, cup or pint.
