Microwave popcorn calories come to 465 for a standard 87 g bag of butter-flavor popcorn, popped, and 535 per 100 g. The number to notice is the bag itself: most people eat a whole one, and that single bag carries 23% of a 2000-calorie day plus 664 mg of sodium.
465kcal
1 bag · 87 g, butter flavor, popped
6%protein
7.3 gProtein
50 gCarbs
26 gFat
How to burn off 465 kcal
—Walking, brisk
—Jogging
—Cycling, moderate
—Swimming
Skip the math. BodyPal counts these calories from your steps and workouts automatically.
Nutrition facts
Butter flavor, popped · per 87 g
Calories
465 kcal
Protein
7.3 g
Carbohydrate
50 g
Fat
26 g
Saturated fat
12.7 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
664 mg
Potassium
342 mg
Iron
1.8 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 →
Microwave popcorn: 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 bag (87 g)
465
7.3 g
49.8 g
26.3 g
664 mg
23%
Light bag (85 g)
348
10.1 g
60.9 g
8.6 g
651 mg
17%
1 cup popped (7.9 g)
42
0.7 g
4.5 g
2.4 g
60 mg
2%
100 g
535
8.4 g
57.3 g
30.2 g
763 mg
27%
3 × 1 bag (87 g)
1,396
21.9 g
1,991 mg
5 × 1 bag (87 g)
2,327
36.5 g
3,319 mg
One bag is 465 calories, and it rarely stays one bag
A regular butter-flavor bag weighs 87 g popped and lands at 465 calories, which is 23% of the 2000-calorie daily value. That is a light lunch's worth of energy in something most people treat as a side to a movie. It also brings 7.3 g of protein and 8.7 g of fiber, so it is not empty, just dense.
The cup is the honest unit. One cup of popped kernels weighs only 7.9 g and comes to 42 calories, 2% of the daily value. The trouble is that a bag holds many cups, and nobody measures cups out of a bag on the couch. If you want a smaller portion, pour some into a bowl and fold the bag shut before you sit down.
Totals climb fast when bags stack up. Two bags make 931 calories, three reach 1,396, and five bags hit 2,327, which is more than the full daily value on its own. A shared bag at a party is one thing. A bag each for movie night, plus a second round, is how a snack quietly becomes the biggest meal of the evening.
Fat supplies about half the calories
Popcorn kernels are a grain, yet in the microwave version fat does most of the work. Of the calories, 51% come from fat, 43% from carbs and just 6% from protein. Per 100 g that is 30.2 g of fat, 57.3 g of carbs and 8.4 g of protein. The fat comes from the oil and butter flavoring in the bag; the USDA reference here is a regular butter flavor made with palm oil.
Saturated fat is the part to notice. Per 100 g there is 14.6 g of it, set against a daily value of 20 g. In a single bag, total fat reaches 26.3 g, about a third of the 78 g daily value. That is why the light bag and the plain popped kernels in the compare table look so different.
The upside is fiber. At 10 g per 100 g and 8.7 g per bag, it is the redeeming row, and sugar is close to zero at 0.3 g per 100 g. So the bag is not a sugar problem. It is a fat problem with a decent fiber count attached.
Sodium is the row to watch
Each regular bag carries 664 mg of sodium, 29% of the 2300 mg daily value. Per 100 g the figure is 763 mg, or 33% of the daily value. That is a lot for a snack that most people eat on top of a full dinner.
Multiply and it gets serious. Two bags bring 1,328 mg, three bring 1,991 mg, and five bags reach 3,319 mg, well past the daily value. Even a single cup has 60 mg, so grazing from the bowl all evening adds up the same way the calories do.
If you watch sodium, the light bag does not rescue you: it still has 651 mg, 28% of the daily value. The better lever is the amount. Splitting one bag between two people cuts the sodium along with the calories, and a salty snack sits better next to a lower-sodium dinner than after a salty one.
The light bag cuts fat, not salt
Light microwave popcorn is the clearest swap the data supports. An 85 g light bag comes to 348 calories, 17% of the daily value, compared with 465 for the 87 g regular bag. Nearly all of the saving is fat: 8.6 g in the light bag against 26.3 g in the regular one.
The light version also gives you more of the useful rows. It has 10.1 g of protein, 20% of the daily value, and 11.4 g of fiber, while carbs rise to 60.9 g. Sodium barely moves, 651 mg against 664 mg, so the light label is about calories and fat only.
Brands on this page such as Pop Weaver, Act II Butter Lovers and Lidl Butter Organic sell different flavors and bag sizes, so check the label weight before you assume a bag is 87 g. If you snap a photo of the bag or the bowl, BodyPal can log it for you. Pairing the snack with something lean and low in salt keeps the rest of the day easier to balance.
How does microwave popcorn compare?
Here is how microwave popcorn stacks up against plain, buttered and popped popcorn, per 100 g and per usual serving.
Verdict: For weight loss pick plain popped popcorn: it has 387 calories per 100 g, 31 per cup, and only 8 mg of sodium per 100 g. Buttered popcorn at 530 and generic popcorn at 518 sit close to the microwave bag, so switching among those saves almost nothing.
Most popular microwave popcorn brands in the United States
Ranked by popularity in the BodyPal database
# Productkcal / 100 g
1Pop Weaver Microwave Popcorn1 bag · 65 g477 kcal
2Act II Butter Lovers Microwave Popcorn1/2 bag · 42.5 g424 kcal
Bag labels are measured per unpopped kernels and oil, so they do not line up with the popped weights above. Source: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Microwave popcorn FAQs
How many calories are in a bag of microwave popcorn?
A regular 87 g bag of butter-flavor microwave popcorn is about 465 calories. That works out to 42 calories per cup popped.
Is microwave popcorn good for weight loss?
A full butter bag is 465 calories with 26.3 g of fat, while a light bag of the same size is 348 calories with 8.6 g of fat. One butter bag also carries 8.7 g of fiber.
Microwave popcorn vs popped popcorn: which has more calories?
Butter-flavor microwave popcorn has 535 calories per 100 g, against 387 for plain popped popcorn.
How much fat and sodium are in microwave popcorn?
One 87 g bag has 26.3 g of fat, of which 12.7 g is saturated, plus 664 mg of sodium.
Does microwave popcorn have a lot of calories?
Yes, by snack standards: one regular 87 g bag has 465 calories, 23% of the 2000-calorie daily value. Per cup it is a modest 42 calories, so the bag size, not the popcorn itself, drives the total.
How many calories are in a cup of microwave popcorn?
One cup of popped microwave popcorn weighs 7.9 g and has 42 calories, with 2.4 g of fat and 60 mg of sodium. That is 2% of the daily calorie value, which makes cups the easiest way to portion it.
How many calories are in a light bag of microwave popcorn?
An 85 g light bag has 348 calories, against 465 for a regular 87 g bag. Fat drops to 8.6 g from 26.3 g, but sodium stays high at 651 mg.
How many calories are in 100 g of microwave popcorn?
Microwave popcorn has 535 calories per 100 g, with 30.2 g of fat, 57.3 g of carbs, 8.4 g of protein and 10 g of fiber. That is 27% of the daily calorie value in a weight a little above one bag.
Are microwave popcorn calories counted for the popped bag?
Yes. The 465 calories describe 87 g of butter-flavor popcorn, popped, as you would eat it. The oil and flavoring already in the bag are part of that number, so nothing extra needs adding unless you pour on butter.
