How many calories are in mussels?
A 1-cup serving of steamed mussel meat, 135 g out of the shells, is 147 calories. Per 100 g the meat runs 109 calories, and a single mussel is about 16. Most of what reaches the table is shell and cooking liquid, so the number people picture is usually far too high.
You'd need to walk about 29 minutes to burn the 147 calories in a 1-cup (135 g) serving.
How long does it take to burn off mussels?
A 1-cup (135 g) serving is 147 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 147 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 29 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 18 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 21 min |
| Jogging | 17 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 33 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 (135 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Mussel quick facts
- US servings, from one mussel to a full cup
- Raw, steamed and drained mussels
- Sodium and cholesterol are the rows to watch
- How do mussels compare?
- Most popular mussels brands
- FAQ
Mussel quick facts
The row used here is FNDDS 2706350, "Mussels", the shellfish record USDA built for people describing what they ate. It is mussel meat cooked the way mussels are actually cooked — steamed or simmered open, then eaten out of the shell — and it comes with household measures, one mussel and one cup, rather than laboratory weights only.
That matters because a second USDA record for the same animal reads 172 calories per 100 g, and it is not wrong. It is drained cooked meat, squeezed of roughly 40% of its water, and it belongs further down this page. The everyday plate, and every cooked mussel-meat package on a US shelf, sits nearer 109 than 172.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 cup (135 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 109 | 147 | — |
| Total fat | 2.84 g | 3.8 g | 5% |
| Saturated fat | 0.54 g | 0.7 g | 4% |
| Carbohydrate | 4.67 g | 6.3 g | 2% |
| Dietary fiber | 0 g | 0 g | 0% |
| Total sugars | 0 g | 0 g | — |
| Protein | 15.06 g | 20.3 g | 41% |
| Sodium | 362 mg | 489 mg | 21% |
| Cholesterol | 35 mg | 47 mg | 16% |
| Potassium | 405 mg | 547 mg | 12% |
% 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 those values for the generic mussel record. Nothing is lost: total sugars are zero, and the fat here is 2.84 g per 100 g, most of it unsaturated. The Daily Values used in the last column are the FDA reference amounts printed on the Nutrition Facts label.
US servings, from one mussel to a full cup
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 mussel | 15 g | 16 kcal |
| 1 oz | 28 g | 31 kcal |
| 3 oz | 85 g | 93 kcal |
| 4 oz | 113 g | 123 kcal |
| 1 cup | 135 g | 147 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 109 kcal |
The one-mussel and one-cup lines are USDA household measures. The ounce rows are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings, and they are the ones worth memorizing, because seafood is sold and ordered by the ounce.
Every weight above is shelled meat. A pound of mussels in the shell yields far less than a pound of food, which is why a restaurant pot that looks enormous can still land near 300 calories of actual mussel. Count what comes out of the shells, not what went into the pot — the broth is a separate calculation, and butter or cream in it will outweigh the shellfish quickly.
Three ounces is the portion most people should anchor to. At 93 calories it carries roughly 12.8 g of protein and about 308 mg of sodium, both scaled from the USDA 100 g values rather than read off a USDA serving.
Raw, steamed and drained mussels
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical portion | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steamed mussels, shelled | 109 kcal | 1 cup (135 g) | 147 kcal |
| Mussels, 3 oz serving | 109 kcal | 3 oz (85 g) | 93 kcal |
| Raw blue mussels | 86 kcal | 1 cup (150 g) | 129 kcal |
| Cooked, moist heat, drained | 172 kcal | 3 oz (85 g) | 146 kcal |
| Frozen cooked mussel meat, retail | 90 kcal | 100 g | 90 kcal |
| Cooked mussels in the shell, retail | 170 kcal | 100 g | 170 kcal |
Raw is the trap. Buy 3 oz of raw shucked meat and you are logging 73 calories, our own scaling of the USDA raw figure of 86 per 100 g; cook the same meat and the identical 3 oz on your plate is 93. Weigh before cooking and the cooked meat carries about 27% more calories than the raw weight suggests. Weigh after, or use the cooked row.
The 172-calorie record is the other trap, and it is the number competing pages usually copy. It is blue mussels cooked by moist heat and then drained, with roughly 40% of the water gone, so 100 g of it is a much bigger pile of mussels than 100 g off your plate. Both records are correct; they describe different states of the same food, not different sources.
Retail packages settle the argument. Cooked mussel meat sold frozen in US stores labels out between 90 and 106 calories per 100 g — Alvor Seafood at 90, Pier 33 Gourmet at 98, Next Wave of Bantry at 106 — which lands just below the 109 figure and nowhere near 172. Packs sold cooked in the shell, like Panapesca at 170 per 100 g, look higher only because the label weight includes shell, so a package number near 170 is not comparable to meat.
Sodium and cholesterol are the rows to watch
Calories are not the interesting part of a mussel. Sodium is. A 1-cup serving carries 489 mg, 21% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, and none of it has been added — it is seawater held in the meat. Roughly a fifth of a teaspoon of table salt is already in the bowl before the broth is poured. If you're watching sodium, mussels cooked in wine or water are a very different item from mussels finished in a salted, clam-juice-based broth.
Cholesterol comes next: 47 mg in a cup, 16% of the Daily Value, moderate for shellfish. Protein is the payoff, at 20.3 g a cup, 41% of the 50 g Daily Value, from a food with 3.8 g of fat and 0.7 g of saturated fat in the same serving. Potassium adds 547 mg, 12% of its Daily Value.
That protein-to-calorie ratio is why mussels sit in the seafood group at MyPlate, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest about 8 oz of seafood per week for adults. Two 4 oz servings of mussel meat gets you there for 246 calories total — our own arithmetic from the USDA figure, and less than most single sandwiches.
How do mussels compare?
| Shellfish | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mussels, steamed | 109 kcal | 3 oz (85 g) | 93 kcal |
| Clams, steamed or boiled | 109 kcal | 3 oz (85 g) | 93 kcal |
| Shrimp, grilled | 110 kcal | 3 oz (85 g) | 94 kcal |
| Scallops, grilled | 108 kcal | 3 oz (85 g) | 92 kcal |
Our take: on calories these four are the same food. Two calories separate the lightest from the heaviest across a 3 oz serving, so choosing scallops over mussels to save calories is wasted effort. Protein is where they split — clams lead at 18.57 g per 100 g and shrimp follow at 17.26 g, against 15.06 g for mussels — so for pure protein per calorie, clams win narrowly. For weight loss, pick by what you'll actually finish a plate of; for satiety per dollar, mussels are usually the cheapest of the four by a wide margin.
Most popular mussels 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) |
|---|---|
| Pier 33 Gourmet Fully Cooked Mussels | 98 cal |
| Pier 33 Gourmet Mussels | 94 cal |
| Panapesca Cooked Blue Mussels in Shell | 170 cal |
| Next Wave of Bantry Cooked Mussel Meat | 106 cal |
| Alvor Seafood Cooked Mussel Meat | 90 cal |
| Wixter Seafood New Zealand Mussel Meat | 101 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Mussel FAQs
How many calories are in mussels?
Mussels run 109 calories per 100 g of shelled, steamed meat, so a 1-cup serving of 135 g is 147 calories. That is the meat you actually eat, with the shells discarded. A 3 oz portion lands at 93 calories, backed by 15.06 g of protein per 100 g.
How many calories in 1 cup of mussels?
A 1-cup serving weighs 135 g and carries 147 calories, along with 20.3 g of protein, 6.3 g of carbohydrate and 3.8 g of fat. The row to notice is sodium: 489 mg, or 21% of the Daily Value, before any broth, butter or salted cooking liquid joins the bowl.
How many calories in 3 oz of mussels?
Three ounces of steamed mussel meat is 93 calories at 85 g on the scale. Protein works out near 12.8 g and sodium near 308 mg, both scaled from the USDA 100 g figures rather than read off a USDA serving. The same 85 g weighed raw would be only 73 calories.
How much protein is in mussels?
Mussels carry 15.06 g of protein per 100 g, so a 1-cup serving delivers 20.3 g, which is 41% of the 50 g Daily Value. The older USDA record for drained cooked meat reads higher at 23.8 g per 100 g, because roughly 40% of the water has cooked out of it.
Are mussels high in cholesterol?
A 1-cup serving has 47 mg of cholesterol, 16% of the 300 mg Daily Value, from 35 mg per 100 g. That is moderate for a shellfish portion, and it arrives with only 0.7 g of saturated fat per cup. Current Dietary Guidelines set no numeric cholesterol cap, but advise keeping intake low.
Are mussels high in sodium?
Yes, comparatively. A 1-cup serving delivers 489 mg of sodium, 21% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, and 362 mg sits in every 100 g of the meat itself. That is about a fifth of a teaspoon of table salt, already present before the broth, and it is the main reason to skip salting the pot.
How many calories in one mussel?
One mussel of shelled meat weighs about 15 g and is 16 calories. A dozen comes to roughly 196 calories from 180 g of meat, which is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure rather than a USDA serving. Shells add weight to the pot but nothing to the count.
Are mussels good for weight loss?
A 3 oz portion is 93 calories with about 12.8 g of protein, so mussels fill a protein slot cheaply in calorie terms. The catch is sodium, near 308 mg for that portion. If you're watching sodium, steam them in wine or water and leave the salted broth in the pot.
Similar foods
- Tuna steak — 185 cal per steak, 6 oz
- Chicken Tikka Masala — 257 cal per cup
- Turkey deli meat — 89 cal for 3 slices
- Pork And Beans — 273 cal per cup
- Masoor Dal — 207 cal per cup cooked
- Mexican rice — 279 cal per cup
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the bowl and BodyPal counts the mussels for you, shells and all.
