How many calories are in pork ribs?
A plate of three glazed pork ribs weighs about 105 g of meat and carries 267 calories. Per 100 g, sauced ribs run 254 calories. One rib on its own, bone pulled out, is only 35 g and 89 calories. The rack looks enormous, but most of what you pick up is bone.
You'd need to walk about 53 minutes to burn the 267 calories in three ribs (105 g).
How long does it take to burn off pork ribs?
Three ribs (105 g) is 267 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 267 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 53 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 33 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 38 min |
| Jogging | 31 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 59 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 (105 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Pork rib quick facts
- US servings, from one rib to a cup of picked meat
- Country-style, center rib, raw and roasted
- Sodium is the row to watch
- How do pork ribs compare?
- Most popular pork ribs brands
- FAQ
Pork rib quick facts
The row used here is FNDDS 2705894, "Pork, ribs", from the 2021-2023 survey release. It describes ribs the way people actually eat them: cooked, glazed, sauce included. That matters more than it sounds, because the sauce is the reason this record shows 12.13 g of carbohydrate and 678 mg of sodium per 100 g, while the bare cuts in USDA's SR Legacy database show zero carbs and 52 to 72 mg of sodium.
If you are logging ribs from a barbecue joint, a smoker or a heat-and-serve rack, this is your row. The plain loin cuts further down the page are for meat you seasoned yourself.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 3 ribs (105 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 254 | 267 | — |
| Total fat | 15.12 g | 15.9 g | 20% |
| Saturated fat | 5.43 g | 5.7 g | 29% |
| Carbohydrate | 12.13 g | 12.7 g | 5% |
| Dietary fiber | 0.3 g | 0.3 g | 1% |
| Total sugars | 9.89 g | 10.4 g | — |
| Protein | 16.22 g | 17.0 g | 34% |
| Sodium | 678 mg | 712 mg | 31% |
| Cholesterol | 58 mg | 61 mg | 20% |
| Potassium | 236 mg | 248 mg | 5% |
% 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 would see on a package label are missing above: added sugars and trans fat. USDA does not publish either for this FNDDS record, so they are left out rather than guessed. Nearly all of the 9.89 g of total sugars per 100 g comes from the glaze, not from the pork.
US servings, from one rib to a cup of picked meat
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz yield, cooked, bone removed | 20 g | 51 kcal |
| 1 rib, cooked, bone removed | 35 g | 89 kcal |
| 3 ribs, one plate | 105 g | 267 kcal |
| 1 cup, cooked meat | 135 g | 343 kcal |
| 1 oz cooked meat | 28 g | 71 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 254 kcal |
Two of these come straight from USDA's household measures for this record: the single rib at 35 g and the cup of picked meat at 135 g. The 1 oz row at 20 g is USDA's yield figure, which is what an ounce of raw, bone-in rib leaves you once it is cooked and the bone is out. The three-rib plate and the 28 g ounce of finished meat are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings.
The gap between those two ounce rows is the whole problem with ribs. Weigh a rack raw and you are weighing bone. Weigh the meat you actually chew and the same ounce carries 71 calories instead of 51. A cup of picked rib meat, 135 g of it, is 343 calories before you count the second helping, which is why a rib dinner adds up faster than the piece count suggests.
Store racks land in the same neighborhood. USDA's branded records put fully cooked retail ribs between 211 and 286 calories per 100 g, with a Tony Roma's baby back rack at 236 per 100 g, or 330 calories for the 5 oz (140 g) serving on the label.
Country-style, center rib, raw and roasted
"Pork ribs" covers cuts that are not close to each other on the calorie scale. Country-style ribs come off the loin end and are meatier than a baby back. Center rib chops are loin too, sold as chops rather than a rack. And how you cook them moves the number as much as which one you buy.
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glazed cooked ribs, sauce included | 254 kcal | 3 ribs, 105 g | 267 kcal |
| Country-style ribs, braised, lean and fat | 273 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 232 kcal |
| Country-style ribs, braised, lean only | 247 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 210 kcal |
| Country-style ribs, roasted, bone-in, lean and fat | 359 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 305 kcal |
| Country-style ribs, raw, lean and fat | 189 kcal | 4 oz raw, 113 g | 214 kcal |
| Center rib chops, bone-in, raw, lean and fat | 186 kcal | 4 oz raw, 113 g | 210 kcal |
| Center rib chop, bone-in, broiled, lean only | 186 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 158 kcal |
Read the raw rows against the cooked ones and the cooking loss shows up plainly. Country-style ribs are 189 calories per 100 g raw. Braise them and the same meat is 273 per 100 g, because water leaves and fat stays. Roast them on the bone with no liquid and they hit 359, the heaviest figure anywhere on this page. Nothing was added; the meat simply got smaller.
Trimming does the opposite. Braised country-style ribs drop from 273 to 247 per 100 g when the fat cap comes off, and a broiled center rib chop eaten lean only is 186 per 100 g, tied with the raw chop as the lightest row here. A 3 oz portion of that chop is 158 calories, roughly half the roasted bone-in version at 305.
If you weigh food raw, use the raw rows. If you weigh it on the plate, use the cooked ones. Four ounces of raw country-style ribs at 214 calories and three ounces of the braised result at 232 are the same piece of meat at two moments, not two different foods.
Sodium is the row to watch
Calories are not the surprise here. Sodium is. A three-rib plate carries 712 mg, 31% of the FDA's 2,300 mg Daily Value, which works out to about a third of a teaspoon of table salt. Braised country-style ribs, cooked without sauce, list 58 mg per 100 g. The glaze multiplies the sodium in a rib by more than 11 times.
Saturated fat runs a close second. The same plate has 5.7 g, or 29% of the Daily Value, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans ask you to keep saturated fat under 10% of daily calories, about 22 g on a 2,000-calorie day. Three ribs use roughly a quarter of that.
The upside is real too. Ribs sit squarely in the protein foods group, and 17 g of protein for 267 calories is a fair trade. If you are watching sodium, ribs cooked at home without a bottled sauce give you the same protein at a fraction of the salt.
How do pork ribs compare?
| Cut | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pork ribs, glazed | 254 kcal | 3 ribs, 105 g | 267 kcal |
| Ribs, NFS | 254 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 216 kcal |
| Barbecue pork, no sauce | 249 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 212 kcal |
| Pork carnitas | 271 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 230 kcal |
Our take: on a per-gram basis these four are almost interchangeable, spread across just 22 calories per 100 g, with carnitas heaviest at 271. What separates them is what comes with the calories. Barbecue pork without sauce delivers 24.75 g of protein per 100 g against 16.22 g for glazed ribs, because sauce is displacing meat in that number. If you want the rib flavor with more protein per bite, order the meat and put the sauce on the side.
Most popular pork ribs 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) |
|---|---|
| Tony Roma's Baby Back Pork Ribs BBQ | 236 cal |
| Tony Roma's Baby Back Pork Ribs | 221 cal |
| Kingsford Half Slab St. Louis Style Pork Ribs | 214 cal |
| Kingsford Center Cut Pork Ribs Memphis Dry Rub | 224 cal |
| Jack Daniel's Pork Ribs Tennessee Honey | 211 cal |
| Burgers' Smokehouse Pork Rib Peach Bourbon | 286 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Pork rib FAQs
How many calories are in one pork rib?
One rib yields about 35 g of meat once the bone is out, and that comes to 89 calories. The rack is deceptive: most of its weight is bone. Three ribs, the usual plate, land at 267 calories, and a cup of picked meat weighing 135 g reaches 343.
How many calories in a half rack of ribs?
A half rack of six ribs is roughly 210 g of meat and about 534 calories, our own arithmetic from the USDA figure of 254 calories per 100 g rather than a USDA serving. It also carries close to 1,424 mg of sodium, well over half a day's limit.
Are pork ribs high in protein?
Three ribs give you 17 g of protein, 34% of the Daily Value, for 267 calories. That is decent but not remarkable: braised country-style ribs trimmed of fat carry 27.7 g of protein per 100 g, because there is no sugary glaze padding the weight.
How much sodium is in barbecue pork ribs?
A plate of three sauced ribs carries 712 mg of sodium, 31% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, from 678 mg per 100 g. That is about a third of a teaspoon of table salt. Braised country-style ribs without sauce sit at 58 mg per 100 g.
How many calories in 4 oz of pork ribs?
Four ounces of cooked, sauced rib meat is 113 g and about 287 calories, our own scaling from the USDA 100 g figure rather than a listed serving. It also brings roughly 766 mg of sodium. Four ounces of raw country-style ribs, by contrast, is 214 calories.
Do pork ribs have carbs?
Yes, when they are glazed: 12.13 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, 12.7 g on a three-rib plate, and 9.89 g of that per 100 g is sugar from the sauce. Pork itself has none. Braised country-style ribs record 0 g of carbohydrate.
Are pork ribs keto-friendly?
Sauced ribs are not: 12.7 g of carbohydrate on a three-rib plate is most of a strict keto day. Ribs cooked without sauce are a different story, since braised country-style ribs list 0 g of carbohydrate and 273 calories per 100 g, all from protein and fat.
How many calories in pork ribs without sauce?
Ribs without sauce run 273 calories per 100 g for braised country-style ribs with the fat left on, or 232 calories in a 3 oz serving. Trimmed lean drops to 247 per 100 g and 210 per 3 oz. Both beat the sauced version on sodium.
Similar foods
- Ribs — 267 cal for 3 ribs
- Caesar Chicken Wrap — 643 cal per wrap
- Street Taco — 125 cal per street taco
- Beef — 223 cal for 3 oz cooked
- New York Strip — 449 cal per 6 oz steak
- Asada taco — 243 cal per taco
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the ribs for you, sauce and all.
