How many calories are in an old fashioned donut?
A medium old fashioned donut weighs 54 g and carries 234 calories. Per 100 g the plain cake ring runs 434 calories, one of the densest things in the bakery case. The cracked crust that makes it crunchy is also what soaks up frying oil, and that shows up in the fat row rather than the sugar row.
You'd need to walk about 47 minutes to burn the 234 calories in one medium donut (54 g).
How long does it take to burn off 234 kcal of old fashioned donut?
One medium donut (54 g) is 234 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 234 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 47 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 29 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 33 min |
| Jogging | 28 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 52 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 (54 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Old fashioned donut quick facts
- US servings from one ounce to a 4-inch ring
- Glazed frosted and bite-sized versions
- Saturated fat is the row to watch
- How does an old fashioned donut compare?
- Most popular old fashioned donut brands
- Old fashioned donut FAQs
Old fashioned donut quick facts
The record behind every number here is SR Legacy 174990, "Doughnuts, cake-type, plain (includes unsugared, old-fashioned)". Its description says "old-fashioned" in as many words, which is unusual for a USDA entry and makes the choice easy: this is the unglazed cake donut with the split crust, not a raised ring and not a coated one.
The serving below is USDA's own household measure for a medium donut, 3-1/4 inches across at 54 g. Bakery counters and supermarket packages both run a little heavier than that, which matters more than you would expect — see the servings table.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 medium donut (54 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 434 | 234 | — |
| Total fat | 24.93 g | 13.5 g | 17% |
| Saturated fat | 11.11 g | 6.0 g | 30% |
| Carbohydrate | 47.06 g | 25.4 g | 9% |
| Dietary fiber | 1.7 g | 0.9 g | 3% |
| Total sugars | 18.15 g | 9.8 g | — |
| Protein | 5.31 g | 2.9 g | 6% |
| Sodium | 477 mg | 258 mg | 11% |
| Cholesterol | 10 mg | 5 mg | 2% |
| Potassium | 134 mg | 72 mg | 2% |
% 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 package label are missing here. The SR Legacy edition does not publish added sugars or trans fat for any cake donut record, so those lines are left out rather than written as zero. Total sugars have no Daily Value assigned by the FDA, which is why that cell stays blank.
The sodium is easy to miss in something sweet: 258 mg is about a tenth of a teaspoon of table salt, and 11% of a day's allowance from a single donut.
US servings from one ounce to a 4-inch ring
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 123 kcal |
| One small donut | 40 g | 174 kcal |
| One doughnut stick | 52 g | 226 kcal |
| One medium donut, 3-1/4 in | 54 g | 234 kcal |
| One large donut, 4 in | 71 g | 308 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 434 kcal |
Every row above is a USDA household measure for this record, including the ounce, so none of it is estimated on our side.
Here is the part worth remembering. The recipe never changes across that table — same dough, same fryer, same crust. Yet the small 40 g donut is 174 calories and the 4-inch one is 308, a spread of 134 calories with no ingredient swapped. Choosing a size does more for your day than choosing plain over frosted.
Supermarket packages tend to sit above USDA's medium. Franz lists 230 calories for a 57 g donut and First Street 240 for the same weight, both close to the USDA figure. Store bakery rings are the outlier: one national grocery brand's glazed old fashioned weighs 95 g and lists 410 calories. That is a large donut wearing the same name.
Glazed frosted and bite-sized versions
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical piece | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plain, unglazed | 434 kcal | one medium donut, 54 g | 234 kcal |
| Sugared or glazed | 426 kcal | one medium donut, 45 g | 192 kcal |
| Chocolate-coated or frosted | 452 kcal | one medium donut, 43 g | 194 kcal |
| Donut holes | 434 kcal | one hole, 14 g | 61 kcal |
| Doughnut stick | 434 kcal | one stick, 52 g | 226 kcal |
Glazed. The surprise is that glazing makes the donut lighter per gram, not heavier: 426 calories per 100 g against 434 for plain. The sugar shell displaces a little of the fried dough underneath, and the fat figure follows it down, 22.9 g per 100 g versus 24.93 g. USDA's glazed record carries no total sugars value, so that one comparison cannot be made honestly and is left alone.
Chocolate frosted. At 452 calories per 100 g this is the densest of the three donut records, and its sugar climbs to 26.65 g per 100 g — nearly half again the plain donut's 18.15 g. But the standard frosted piece is 43 g, so it lands at 194 calories, forty below a plain medium. Density and total are not the same question.
Holes and sticks. Both are the plain dough, so they inherit 434 calories per 100 g. A 14 g hole works out to 61 calories, which is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure rather than a USDA serving. Four of them come to roughly 244 — more than the whole donut they were cut from. Packaged versions agree: one store brand lists 220 calories for four holes, another 240 for five. The stick, at 52 g, is a medium donut in a different shape at 226 calories.
Saturated fat is the row to watch
Most people budget a donut against sugar. The numbers say to budget it against saturated fat.
A medium old fashioned delivers 6.0 g of saturated fat, 30% of the Daily Value, while its carbohydrate is only 9% DV and its sodium 11% DV. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans put the ceiling for saturated fat at under 10% of daily calories, which is about 22 g on a 2,000-calorie day. One donut is more than a quarter of that before breakfast finishes.
It is also the row where the coated versions do better per piece. Scaling the USDA 100 g values to the serving weights above — our own arithmetic, not USDA servings — the glazed 45 g donut comes to about 2.7 g of saturated fat and the frosted 43 g one to about 5.8 g, both under the plain medium's 6.0 g. Smaller pieces win again.
If you want the donut and the day to still work, the practical move is the small 40 g size at 174 calories, paired with something that brings protein. MyPlate treats pastries as a refined-grain choice with added fats, which is exactly what the fat and fiber rows show: 13.5 g of fat against 0.9 g of fiber.
How does an old fashioned donut compare?
| Item | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old fashioned donut, plain | 434 kcal | one medium donut, 54 g | 234 kcal |
| Cake donut, chocolate-coated | 452 kcal | one donut, 43 g | 194 kcal |
| Cake donut, sugared or glazed | 426 kcal | one donut, 45 g | 192 kcal |
| Chocolate wafer cookies | 433 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 123 kcal |
Our take: the plain old fashioned is the heaviest item on this list per serving, and only the chocolate-coated record is denser per gram — the "plain" label buys you nothing. The comparison that actually teaches something is the wafer cookie, which matches the donut almost exactly on calorie density, 433 against 434, on 14.2 g of fat per 100 g instead of 24.93 g. Same calories, very different fat. If you are choosing a pastry for the morning, choose by weight first and by topping second; if you are choosing by what the calories are made of, the donut is the fattier deal.
Most popular old fashioned donut 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) |
|---|---|
| Franz Old Fashioned Donuts | 404 cal |
| Freshness Guaranteed Old Fashioned Donut Holes | 393 cal |
| Favorite Day Glazed Old Fashioned Donuts | 432 cal |
| First Street Old Fashioned Donuts | 421 cal |
| Prairie City Bakery Old Fashioned Donut Holes | 436 cal |
| Our Specialty Old Fashioned Donuts | 468 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Old fashioned donut FAQs
How many calories are in an old fashioned donut?
234 calories for a medium 3-1/4-inch donut weighing 54 g, at 434 calories per 100 g. A large 4-inch ring is 308 calories and a small 40 g donut is 174. The USDA record covers the plain unglazed cake donut, which is what most bakeries call old fashioned.
How many calories in a glazed old fashioned donut?
192 calories for a medium glazed cake donut of 45 g, from a USDA record at 426 calories per 100 g. Glazed is slightly lighter per gram than plain because the sugar coating displaces some fried dough, but store versions run bigger: one 95 g glazed donut lists 410 calories.
Is an old fashioned donut healthier than a glazed donut?
Not really: plain runs 434 calories per 100 g against 426 for glazed, so unglazed is the denser of the two, not the lighter one. The plain record also carries more fat, 24.93 g per 100 g versus 22.9 g. What glazing adds is a sugar shell USDA does not report in that record.
How much sugar is in an old fashioned donut?
9.8 g of total sugars in a medium 54 g donut, or 18.15 g per 100 g. That is well below the frosted version, which reaches 26.65 g per 100 g. USDA's SR Legacy edition does not report added sugars separately for any cake donut record, so only total sugars can be quoted.
How many carbs are in an old fashioned donut?
25.4 g of carbohydrate in a medium 54 g donut, which is 9% of the Daily Value. Only 0.9 g of that is fiber. For a fried pastry the carb load is modest, and the fat row carries more weight: 13.5 g and 17% DV, with 30% DV saturated fat.
How many calories in old fashioned donut holes?
About 61 calories for one 14 g hole, scaled from the plain cake donut's 434 calories per 100 g — our own arithmetic from the USDA figure, not a USDA serving. Four come to roughly 244. Packaged holes land close: one store brand lists 220 calories for four, another 240 for five.
How much fat is in a cake donut?
13.5 g in a medium 54 g old fashioned donut, 17% of the Daily Value, with 6.0 g of it saturated at 30% DV. Per 100 g the plain cake donut carries 24.93 g of fat. That is close to double a chocolate wafer cookie, which sits at almost the same calorie density.
How many calories in a chocolate frosted old fashioned donut?
194 calories for a medium 43 g chocolate-coated cake donut, from a USDA record at 452 calories per 100 g. That is the densest of the three cake donut records, but the piece is smaller than a plain medium, so it still lands 40 calories below one.
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Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the donut for you, crust and glaze and all.
