Romaine lettuce calories come to 8 for 1 cup shredded (47 g) and 17 per 100 g, raw. What stands out is how little the total moves: even 5 cups add up to just 40 calories. With romaine, the dressing, cheese and croutons set the calorie count of the salad, not the leaves.
8kcal
1 cup shredded · 47 g, raw
24%protein
0.6 gProtein
2 gCarbs
0.1 gFat
How to burn off 8 kcal
—Walking, brisk
—Jogging
—Cycling, moderate
—Swimming
Skip the math. BodyPal counts these calories from your steps and workouts automatically.
Nutrition facts
Raw · per 47 g
Calories
8 kcal
Protein
0.6 g
Carbohydrate
1.5 g
Fat
0.1 g
Saturated fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
4 mg
Potassium
116 mg
Iron
0.5 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 →
Romaine lettuce: 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 shredded (47 g)
8
0.6 g
1.5 g
0.1 g
4 mg
0%
Outer leaf (28 g)
5
0.3 g
0.9 g
0.1 g
2 mg
0%
1 head (626 g)
106
7.7 g
20.6 g
1.9 g
50 mg
5%
100 g
17
1.2 g
3.3 g
0.3 g
8 mg
1%
3 × 1 cup shredded (47 g)
24
1.7 g
11 mg
5 × 1 cup shredded (47 g)
40
2.9 g
19 mg
A whole head of romaine is only 106 calories
One cup of shredded romaine (47 g) has 8 calories, and a single outer leaf (28 g) has 5. Those are the amounts people actually eat, and neither one shows up on a day's budget: the cup counts as 0% of the daily value for calories. Even a whole head (626 g) comes to only 106 calories, about 5% of the daily value.
Making the salad bigger hardly changes the total. Two cups (94 g) come to 16 calories, three cups (141 g) to 24, and a large bowl of five cups (235 g) to 40. That five-cup bowl takes real time to eat. The greens are almost never why a salad runs high.
So weighing romaine isn't worth much effort. Guessing 2 cups when you ate 3 puts you off by 8 calories, which is too small to matter for most tracking. Measure the toppings carefully instead and let the leaves be a rough estimate.
Carbs supply 63% of romaine's small total
Per 100 g, romaine has 3.3 g of carbs, 1.2 g of protein and 0.3 g of fat. Carbs account for 63% of the calories, protein for 24% and fat for 13%. Those shares sound significant until you remember they are shares of 17 calories.
The carbs here are mostly not sugar. Of the 3.3 g, fiber accounts for 2.1 g and sugars for 1.2 g, so there is barely any starch. Saturated fat and cholesterol are both 0, and fat as a whole is a trace at 0.1 g per cup.
Protein looks decent as a share of calories, but the grams are small: 0.6 g in a cup and 7.7 g in a whole head, which is 15% of the daily value. Romaine is not a protein source. Think of it as volume and crunch, and get your protein from whatever you put on it.
Fiber and potassium matter more than the calories
A cup of shredded romaine has 1 g of fiber, and a whole head has 13.1 g, compared with a daily value of 28 g. Per 100 g you get 2.1 g of fiber for 17 calories, which is a lot of fiber for very little energy. If you're trying to eat more fiber without adding calories, romaine is an easy place to start.
Potassium is the other row worth reading: 247 mg per 100 g, compared with a daily value of 4700 mg. Sodium is at the opposite end, with 8 mg per 100 g and 4 mg per cup, which rounds to 0% of the 2300 mg daily value.
If you watch sodium, plain romaine costs you almost nothing. The salt in a salad comes from dressing, cheese, cured meats, olives and croutons, so check those labels. The leaves aren't the issue.
Your toppings decide what the salad costs
Romaine is crisp, sturdy and mild, so it works as a base, not a meal. On its own, 3 cups (141 g) give you 24 calories and 1.7 g of protein, which isn't much to build a lunch on.
To turn it into a meal, add a protein like chicken, eggs, beans or tuna, then a measured amount of fat from an oil-based dressing, avocado, nuts or cheese. Measure the dressing. It can easily add more calories than the whole bowl of greens. Romaine also holds up well in wraps, on burgers and as lettuce cups, where it stands in for bread or tortillas.
Bagged options such as Earthbound Farm Organic Pre-Washed Hearts of Romaine Lettuce or Good & Gather Shredded Romaine Lettuce mainly save you the washing and chopping. If you don't want to weigh a mixed salad, BodyPal can log the bowl from a photo.
How does romaine lettuce compare?
Here is how romaine stacks up against cos lettuce, lettuce leaves and asparagus, per 100 g and per usual serving.
Verdict: If you want the fewest calories, lettuce leaves edge ahead at 15 per 100 g, but romaine has much less sodium, at 8 mg versus 28 mg. If you want more protein for your calories, choose asparagus, which has 2.4 g per 100 g for 22 calories.
Most popular romaine lettuce brands in the United States
Bagged and hearts-of-romaine packs are the same raw leaf, so their label numbers land within a few calories of the 17 per 100 g above. Source: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Romaine lettuce FAQs
How many calories are in romaine lettuce?
A cup of shredded romaine is 8 calories and 100 g is 17 calories. A whole 626 g head comes to 106 calories.
Is romaine lettuce good for weight loss?
At 17 calories per 100 g, a 47 g cup adds 8 calories and about 1 g of fiber to a meal, so a large salad base stays under 20 calories.
Romaine lettuce vs lettuce leaves: which is lower in calories?
Romaine is 17 calories per 100 g and plain lettuce leaves 15, a gap of 2 calories per 100 g. A cup of either is under 10 calories.
How much protein and carbs are in romaine lettuce?
Per 100 g romaine has 1.2 g protein and 3.3 g carbs, of which 2.1 g is fiber and 1.2 g sugars. A 47 g cup is 0.6 g protein and 1.5 g carbs.
How many calories are in one romaine lettuce leaf?
An outer romaine leaf (28 g) has 5 calories, with 0.3 g of protein, 0.9 g of carbs and 0.6 g of fiber. Smaller inner leaves weigh less, so they have even fewer calories.
How many calories are in 1 cup of romaine lettuce?
One cup of shredded romaine (47 g) has 8 calories. It also gives you 0.6 g of protein, 1.5 g of carbs, 1 g of fiber and 4 mg of sodium, which counts as 0% of the daily value for both calories and sodium.
How many calories are in a whole head of romaine lettuce?
A whole head of romaine (626 g) has 106 calories, which is 5% of the daily value. It also has 7.7 g of protein, 20.6 g of carbs, 13.1 g of fiber and 50 mg of sodium.
What are romaine lettuce nutrition facts per 100 g?
Per 100 g, raw romaine has 17 calories, 1.2 g of protein, 3.3 g of carbs, 0.3 g of fat, 2.1 g of fiber, 1.2 g of sugars, 8 mg of sodium and 247 mg of potassium.
How much does romaine lettuce weigh?
A whole head of romaine weighs about 626 g, an outer leaf about 28 g, and 1 cup shredded about 47 g. Those weights match 106, 5 and 8 calories.
