How many calories are in pork chorizo?
One medium link of pork chorizo, pan-fried, weighs 80.4 g and carries 278 calories. Per 100 g the cooked sausage runs 346 calories, with 28.1 g of fat and 983 mg of sodium. It is one of the densest things you can put in a skillet, and the cup measure is where the day's numbers really move.
You'd need to walk about 56 minutes to burn the 278 calories in one medium link (80.4 g).
How long does it take to burn off pork chorizo?
One medium link (80.4 g) is 278 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 278 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 56 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 35 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 40 min |
| Jogging | 33 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 1 hr 2 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 (80.4 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Pork chorizo quick facts
- US servings from one ounce to a cup
- Raw pan-fried and by the cup
- Sodium and saturated fat are the rows to watch
- How does pork chorizo compare
- Most popular pork chorizo brands
- FAQ
Pork chorizo quick facts
The row behind every number here is USDA Foundation 332864, "Sausage, pork, chorizo, link or ground, cooked, pan-fried". Chorizo is almost never eaten raw, so the cooked record is the honest one: it matches what comes out of the skillet, crumbled into eggs or spooned over rice. The raw record sits in the variants table further down for anyone weighing straight from the package.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 link, medium (80.4 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 346 | 278 | — |
| Total fat | 28.1 g | 22.6 g | 29% |
| Saturated fat | 9.45 g | 7.6 g | 38% |
| Carbohydrate | 2.63 g | 2.1 g | 1% |
| Protein | 19.3 g | 15.5 g | 31% |
| Sodium | 983 mg | 790 mg | 34% |
| Cholesterol | 107 mg | 86 mg | 29% |
| Potassium | 435 mg | 350 mg | 7% |
% 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 →
Three label rows are missing on purpose. USDA does not publish dietary fiber, total sugars or added sugars for this Foundation record, so those lines are left out rather than filled with zeros; a seasoned pork sausage is a meat-and-spice product, and any sugar in it comes from the cure, not the recipe. The 790 mg of sodium in a single link is roughly a third of a teaspoon of table salt.
US servings from one ounce to a cup
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28.35 g | 98 kcal |
| 1 link, medium | 80.4 g | 278 kcal |
| 4 oz cooked | 113 g | 391 kcal |
| 1 cup, ground | 185 g | 640 kcal |
| 1 link, long | 186 g | 644 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 346 kcal |
The medium link, the long link and the cup are USDA household measures for this record. The ounce and the 4 oz portion are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings, because that is how most people weigh crumbled sausage.
Look at the gap between the second row and the fourth. A cup of cooked ground chorizo is 2.3 times a medium link, 640 calories against 278, and it disappears into a skillet of potatoes without looking like much. This is the single most common way chorizo gets under-logged: people picture a link, then scoop with a measuring cup. If you are cooking for a crowd, weigh the pan once and divide, rather than guessing per plate.
One more practical note. Chorizo is usually a flavor base, not the protein of the meal. An ounce, 98 calories, is enough to season a two-egg scramble or a bowl of beans, and that ounce still delivers 279 mg of sodium and 8 g of fat.
Raw pan-fried and by the cup
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical piece | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw pork chorizo | 296 kcal | 1 link, 4 in (60 g) | 178 kcal |
| Pan-fried link, medium | 346 kcal | 80.4 g | 278 kcal |
| Pan-fried link, long | 346 kcal | 186 g | 644 kcal |
| Cooked ground, by the cup | 346 kcal | 1 cup (185 g) | 640 kcal |
| Cacique pork chorizo, label | 271 kcal | 2.5 oz (70 g) | 190 kcal |
| Reynaldo's pork chorizo, label | 171 kcal | 2.5 oz (70 g) | 120 kcal |
Raw reads lower per 100 g than cooked, 296 against 346, and that trips people up every time. Nothing is added in the pan. Water leaves, the remaining weight concentrates, and 100 g of finished chorizo is simply denser in everything than 100 g of the raw stuff. The rule is boring but it works: weigh at one stage and log the matching row. Raw package weight against a cooked USDA row will overstate your day by roughly a sixth.
Brands are their own story. Across USDA's branded records for US supermarket chorizo, the labels run from 171 calories per 100 g for Reynaldo's up to 321 for V&V Supremo, with Cacique and El Mexicano between them at 271 and 300. That is nearly a twofold spread behind two identical words on the front of the tube. When the package is in your hand, its own panel beats the generic number; the USDA row is for the taqueria plate and the restaurant burrito where no label exists.
Sodium and saturated fat are the rows to watch
Calories are not the interesting part of chorizo. Sodium is. One medium link is 790 mg, 34% of the FDA Daily Value of 2,300 mg. A cup of the cooked ground version is 1,819 mg, 79% of the day, before the tortilla, the cheese or the salsa join in. If you are watching sodium, the link is the portion that keeps the total workable.
Saturated fat is the second row. A medium link carries 7.6 g, 38% of the 20 g Daily Value, and a cup carries 17.5 g, 87%. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans put the ceiling at less than 10% of daily calories from saturated fat, so a cup of chorizo is close to the whole allowance on a 2,000-calorie day.
The upside is real too. That same medium link brings 15.5 g of protein, 31% of the Daily Value, and only 2.1 g of carbohydrate. As a protein food it is efficient per bite and expensive per gram of sodium, which is exactly why it works better as a quarter of the plate than as the plate.
How does pork chorizo compare
| Sausage | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pork chorizo, pan-fried | 346 kcal | 1 oz (28.35 g) | 98 kcal |
| Polish sausage, pork and beef | 301 kcal | 1 oz (28.35 g) | 85 kcal |
| Bologna, beef | 299 kcal | 1 oz (28.35 g) | 85 kcal |
| Bratwurst, smoked | 297 kcal | 1 oz (28.35 g) | 84 kcal |
Our take: chorizo is the heaviest of the four per 100 g, and the other three sit within four calories of each other, so the choice between kielbasa, bologna and bratwurst barely registers while the switch to chorizo costs about 15% more per ounce. It earns some of that back on protein, 19.3 g per 100 g against 12.2 g for the closest rival, more than half again as much. For weight loss, an ounce of chorizo as seasoning beats three ounces of any of them as a main. For satiety at a set calorie budget, the protein edge makes chorizo the better pick of this group, as long as the sodium fits your day.
Most popular pork chorizo 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) |
|---|---|
| Cacique Ranchero Pork Chorizo | 271 cal |
| Cacique Pork Chorizo | 271 cal |
| Reynaldo's Pork Chorizo | 171 cal |
| V&V Supremo Pork Chorizo Mexican-Style | 321 cal |
| V&V Supremo Original Picante Pork Chorizo | 321 cal |
| El Mexicano Pork Chorizo | 300 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Pork chorizo FAQs
How many calories are in pork chorizo?
278 calories in one medium pan-fried link of 80.4 g, and 346 calories per 100 g. Raw chorizo from the package reads lower per 100 g, 296, because the water has not cooked off yet. Weigh it at one stage or the other and stay there.
How many calories in 1 oz of pork chorizo?
98 calories in 1 ounce (28.35 g) of cooked pork chorizo, our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure rather than a USDA serving. That ounce also carries 279 mg of sodium and 8 g of fat, which is why chorizo works better as a flavor base than as the main protein.
How many calories in a cup of cooked chorizo?
640 calories in 1 cup of cooked ground chorizo, 185 g on the scale. That single cup also brings 1,819 mg of sodium, 79% of the Daily Value, and 17.5 g of saturated fat. Most recipes stretch a cup across four or six servings rather than one plate.
Does chorizo lose calories when you cook it?
Not on a per-gram basis: 296 calories raw becomes 346 per 100 g pan-fried, because water leaves the pan and concentrates what stays. The link itself gets lighter as it cooks, so weigh it at the stage you plan to log and match the USDA row to it.
How much sodium is in pork chorizo?
790 mg in one medium pan-fried link, 34% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, and 983 mg per 100 g. A cup of cooked ground chorizo runs 1,819 mg, 79% of the day. If you are watching sodium, the single link is the portion that keeps the number manageable.
How much protein is in pork chorizo?
15.5 g of protein in one medium link and 19.3 g per 100 g, which is 31% of the Daily Value for a single link. Chorizo carries more protein per 100 g than Polish sausage, bologna or bratwurst, but it also carries the most fat of the four, 28.1 g.
Is pork chorizo keto friendly?
2.1 g of carbohydrate in one medium link, 2.63 g per 100 g, so pork chorizo sits comfortably in a low-carb pattern on carbs alone. Fat does the heavy lifting at 22.6 g per link. Sodium, at 790 mg, is the number that limits how many links land on the plate.
How many calories in Cacique pork chorizo?
190 calories in a 2.5 oz (70 g) label serving of Cacique pork chorizo, or 271 per 100 g, well under the 346 per 100 g USDA lists for generic pan-fried chorizo. Brands vary hugely: Reynaldo's reads 171 per 100 g, V&V Supremo 321. Log the package you actually bought.
Similar foods
- Coconut — 283 cal per cup, shredded
- Brie — 95 cal per oz
- Falafel — 170 cal for 3 patties
- Summer Sausage — 203 cal for 4 slices
- Sausage Link — 75 cal per link
- Coconut Shrimp — 250 cal for 4 shrimp
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the skillet and BodyPal counts the chorizo for you, link or cup.
