How many calories are in okra?
Eight raw okra pods, three inches each, weigh 95 g and carry 31 calories. Raw okra runs 33 calories per 100 g, which is roughly a cup of whole pods. That is one of the lowest counts in the produce aisle, and 3 g of the 7.1 g of carbohydrate in those eight pods is fiber.
You'd need to walk about 6 minutes to burn the 31 calories in an 8-pod (95 g) serving.
How long does it take to burn off okra?
An 8-pod (95 g) serving is 31 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 31 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 6 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 4 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 4 min |
| Jogging | 4 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 7 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 (95 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Okra quick facts
- US servings, from one ounce to a full cup
- Boiled, frozen, pickled and fried okra
- Fiber is the row worth logging
- How does okra compare?
- Most popular okra brands
- FAQ
Okra quick facts
The record behind these numbers is SR Legacy 169260, "Okra, raw". It is the right starting point because it is the okra people actually pick up: whole green pods, uncut, before anything happens in a pan. USDA also attaches two household measures to that record — one cup and eight pods, three inches long — so the serving math is theirs, not ours.
Cooked, frozen, pickled and fried okra all have their own USDA records, and they land in very different places. Those are further down the page as separate sections, because the preparation is what moves the number, not the vegetable.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 8 pods (95 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 33 | 31 | — |
| Total fat | 0.19 g | 0.2 g | 0% |
| Saturated fat | 0.03 g | 0.0 g | 0% |
| Carbohydrate | 7.45 g | 7.1 g | 3% |
| Dietary fiber | 3.2 g | 3.0 g | 11% |
| Total sugars | 1.48 g | 1.4 g | — |
| Protein | 1.93 g | 1.8 g | 4% |
| Sodium | 7 mg | 7 mg | 0% |
% 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 rows you will see on a packaged label are missing here on purpose: added sugars and trans fat. The SR Legacy edition does not publish either value for raw vegetables, so guessing them would be worse than leaving them out. Cholesterol is a clean zero, and potassium is worth a mention — 299 mg per 100 g, or 284 mg in eight pods, which is 6% of the Daily Value.
US servings, from one ounce to a full cup
Okra is one of the few vegetables where the cup and the weight agree almost exactly. A cup of whole raw pods comes out at 100 g, so the per-cup figure and the per-100-g figure are the same 33 calories. Sliced okra behaves differently: the rings pack looser and shorter, so half a cup of slices comes to about 50 g, which is our own scaling of the USDA 100 g figure rather than a USDA household measure.
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 9 kcal |
| 1/2 cup sliced | 50 g | 17 kcal |
| 8 pods, 3 inches long | 95 g | 31 kcal |
| 1 cup whole pods | 100 g | 33 kcal |
| 4 oz raw | 113 g | 37 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 33 kcal |
The eight-pod and one-cup lines are USDA household measures attached to record 169260. The ounce lines and the half-cup line are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings — useful when you are weighing on a kitchen scale rather than scooping.
The practical takeaway: you can eat a genuinely large pile of raw or plainly cooked okra and stay under 50 calories. Four ounces, which fills a side plate, is 37 calories. That is the entire reason okra earns its place in a calorie-controlled dinner, and also the reason the frying pan undoes it so quickly.
Boiled, frozen, pickled and fried okra
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw pods | 33 kcal | 8 pods (95 g) | 31 kcal |
| Boiled, no salt | 22 kcal | 1/2 cup slices (80 g) | 18 kcal |
| Boiled, salted water | 22 kcal | 1/2 cup slices (80 g) | 18 kcal |
| Frozen, unprepared | 30 kcal | 1/3 of a 10 oz package (95 g) | 29 kcal |
| Frozen, boiled, no salt | 29 kcal | 1/2 cup slices (92 g) | 27 kcal |
| Pickled | 48 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 14 kcal |
| Fried | 219 kcal | 1 oz (28 g) | 62 kcal |
Boiled okra is lighter per gram, not lighter per pod. It falls to 22 calories per 100 g, but that is because the pods absorb water and get heavier for the same food, not because calories evaporate. Half a cup of boiled slices, 80 g, is 18 calories.
Salt is the only thing salted water changes. Boiled with salt and boiled without salt are both 22 calories per 100 g with identical fat, carbohydrate and protein. The gap is sodium: 241 mg per 100 g against 6 mg. Same pot, same calories, forty times the sodium.
Frozen okra is barely behind fresh. Unprepared frozen okra is 30 calories per 100 g and 29 once boiled. Blanching before freezing costs a little fiber — 2.2 g against 3.2 g raw — but nothing that matters at this calorie level. A third of a standard 10 oz bag, 95 g, is 29 calories.
Pickled okra trades calories for sodium. At 48 calories per 100 g it is heavier than raw, mostly from 6.1 g of sugars in the brine. The number to watch is 950 mg of sodium per 100 g. That is about two-fifths of a teaspoon of table salt per 100 g, in something most people treat as a garnish.
Fried okra is a different food. At 219 calories per 100 g it is nearly seven times raw okra, and 12.84 g of that 100 g is fat against 0.19 g raw. A 1 oz taste is 62 calories; a 4 oz side is about 248 calories by our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure. Sodium runs 316 mg per 100 g.
Store brands follow the same split. Plain cut okra in a can or bag sits where the USDA raw and frozen records sit — Goya Cut Okra is 24 calories per 100 g and Key Food Cut Okra 30 — while breaded freezer okra jumps: Pictsweet Farms Crunchy Breaded Okra is 148 calories per 100 g, 130 in its 88 g labeled serving, and carries 716 mg of sodium per 100 g. Read the front of the bag for the word "breaded" and you already know which column you are in.
Fiber is the row worth logging
Most vegetables under 35 calories per 100 g are mostly water and very little else. Okra is the exception. Its 3.2 g of fiber per 100 g is 11% of the 28 g Daily Value the FDA uses on the Nutrition Facts label, delivered for 33 calories. Very few foods buy a tenth of a day's fiber that cheaply.
The other rows are quiet in the best way. Total fat is 0.19 g, saturated fat 0.03 g, sodium 7 mg — a rounding error against the 2,300 mg daily limit. If you are tracking sodium, raw, frozen or unsalted-boiled okra costs you essentially nothing, while pickled okra at 950 mg per 100 g takes two-fifths of the day's limit out of a 100 g helping.
Okra counts toward the vegetables group on MyPlate, where a cup of raw or cooked pods counts as one cup-equivalent. If you are watching calories, the useful rule is simple: keep it raw, boiled, roasted or frozen and it stays under 35 calories per 100 g; the moment breading and oil are involved, treat it as a fried side and budget for it.
How does okra compare?
| Food | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okra, raw | 33 kcal | 4 oz (113 g) | 37 kcal |
| Mung bean sprouts, raw | 30 kcal | 4 oz (113 g) | 34 kcal |
| Rutabaga, boiled | 30 kcal | 4 oz (113 g) | 34 kcal |
| Beets, canned | 30 kcal | 4 oz (113 g) | 34 kcal |
Our take: on calories alone this is a tie — the other three all sit at exactly 30 per 100 g, three calories under okra, which is noise on a plate. What separates them is what comes with the calories. Mung bean sprouts win on protein at 3.04 g per 100 g against okra's 1.93 g, but they are watery and add no bulk to a cooked dish. Beets and rutabaga bring slightly less carbohydrate than okra's 7.45 g, 7.14 g and 6.84 g, and almost no fat in either case. For a filling side at the same price, okra is the pick, because it is the one you can roast whole and eat as pieces rather than as a spoonful.
Most popular okra 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) |
|---|---|
| Pictsweet Farms Crunchy Breaded Okra | 148 cal |
| Key Food Cut Okra | 30 cal |
| Goya Cut Okra | 24 cal |
| Allens Cut Okra | 16 cal |
| Fairway Cut Okra | 30 cal |
| Pictsweet Breaded Okra | 112 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Okra FAQs
How many calories are in 1 cup of okra?
A cup of whole raw pods weighs 100 g and holds 33 calories. That cup also brings 3.2 g of fiber, 7.45 g of carbohydrate and 1.93 g of protein. Sliced okra packs looser, so half a cup of slices is closer to 50 g and 17 calories.
How many calories in 8 okra pods?
Eight raw pods three inches long weigh 95 g and come to 31 calories. That is a USDA household measure for raw okra, so no scaling is involved. Eight pods also carry 3.0 g of fiber, 284 mg of potassium and 7 mg of sodium.
Is okra good for weight loss?
At 33 calories per 100 g with 3.2 g of fiber, okra adds bulk to a plate for almost nothing. A full cup is 33 calories and covers 11% of the Daily Value for fiber. The catch is the cooking: breaded and fried, the same 100 g becomes 219 calories.
How many carbs are in okra?
Raw okra has 7.45 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, and 3.2 g of that is fiber, leaving about 4.25 g of net carbs. Eight pods come to 7.1 g total. Total sugars are only 1.48 g per 100 g, so almost none of the carbohydrate is sweet.
How much fiber does okra have?
Raw okra carries 3.2 g of fiber per 100 g, which is 11% of the 28 g Daily Value in a food that costs 33 calories. Eight pods give 3.0 g. Boiling drops it to 2.5 g per 100 g, and breaded fried okra falls to 1.6 g.
How many calories in fried okra?
Fried okra runs 219 calories per 100 g, so a 1 oz taste is 62 calories and a 4 oz side is about 248 by our own arithmetic from the USDA figure. Breading and frying oil add 12.84 g of fat per 100 g, against 0.19 g in raw pods.
Does boiling okra change its calories?
Boiled okra drops to 22 calories per 100 g from 33 raw, because the pods take on water and get heavier per calorie. Half a cup of boiled slices, 80 g, is 18 calories. Salting the cooking water leaves the calories identical but pushes sodium from 6 mg to 241 mg per 100 g.
Is frozen okra as low in calories as fresh?
Frozen okra is 30 calories per 100 g unprepared and 29 once boiled, against 33 for fresh raw pods. The blanching before freezing costs a little fiber, 2.2 g against 3.2 g. A third of a 10 oz package, 95 g, comes to 29 calories.
Similar foods
- Broccoli — 55 cal per cup chopped
- Bamboo Shoots — 41 cal per cup sliced
- Onion — 46 cal per cup sliced
- Bell Pepper — 31 cal per medium
- Bell Pepper — 24 cal green, 31 red
- Cabbage — 22 cal per cup chopped
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the okra for you, breading and all.
