Pulled pork calories come to 418 for 1 cup (249 g) and 168 per 100 g, based on the USDA row for pulled pork in barbecue sauce. The sauce is the story: that cup also brings 1,658 mg of sodium, 72% of the daily value, plus 37.8 g of sugars.
418kcal
1 cup · 249 g, in barbecue sauce
31%protein
33 gProtein
47 gCarbs
11 gFat
How to burn off 418 kcal
—Walking, brisk
—Jogging
—Cycling, moderate
—Swimming
Skip the math. BodyPal counts these calories from your steps and workouts automatically.
Nutrition facts
In barbecue sauce · per 249 g
Calories
418 kcal
Protein
33 g
Carbohydrate
47 g
Fat
11 g
Saturated fat
3.5 g
Cholesterol
87 mg
Sodium
1658 mg
Potassium
759 mg
Iron
3.1 mg
Source: USDA FoodData Central
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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 →
Pulled pork: calories, protein and sodium by serving
Percent of daily value uses the FDA reference of 2,000 kcal a day.
Serving
kcal
Protein
Carbs
Fat
Sodium
% DV kcal
1 cup (249 g)
418
32.8 g
46.7 g
11 g
1,658 mg
21%
5 oz portion (142 g)
239
18.7 g
26.6 g
6.3 g
946 mg
12%
3 oz portion (85 g)
143
11.2 g
15.9 g
3.8 g
566 mg
7%
100 g
168
13.2 g
18.7 g
4.4 g
666 mg
8%
3 × 1 cup (249 g)
1,255
98.5 g
4,975 mg
5 × 1 cup (249 g)
2,092
164.2 g
8,292 mg
A 3 oz scoop is 143 calories, a cup is 418
Pulled pork rarely gets weighed. It gets piled onto a bun, spooned over rice or heaped onto a plate, and the total swings with the scoop. A 3 oz portion (85 g) is 143 calories, a 5 oz portion (142 g) is 239, and a full cup (249 g) lands at 418, or 21% of the daily calorie value.
Seconds add up fast. Two cups come to 837 calories, and three cups reach 1,255. At a cookout where the tray stays out all afternoon, a second and third helping can slip by without much thought, and the sauce makes each one go down easily. Five cups, the kind of amount a small group might share, hold 2,092 calories in total.
If you are tracking, the 3 oz line is the useful anchor. It still delivers 11.2 g of protein for 143 calories, just 7% of the daily calorie value. Measuring one cup once at home, then judging later servings against it, gets most people close enough to log with confidence.
Carbs, not fat, supply most of the calories
Pork has a reputation as a fatty meat, but this version flips the script. Carbs supply 45% of the calories, protein 31% and fat only 24%. Per 100 g that works out to 18.7 g of carbs, 13.2 g of protein and 4.4 g of fat.
Most of those carbs are sugar. Of the 18.7 g of carbs in 100 g, 15.2 g are sugars, while fiber is just 1.2 g. That is the barbecue sauce talking: the plain pork cuts on this site list 0 g of carbs. A cup carries 37.8 g of sugars, which is more sugar than protein by weight.
Protein is still solid. A cup gives 32.8 g, which is 66% of the daily value, and saturated fat stays modest at 1.4 g per 100 g. The trade-off is simple. Every forkful of protein arrives with a sweet glaze attached, so the meat behaves partly like a meat and partly like a sauce.
Sodium is the row to watch
At 666 mg per 100 g, pulled pork in sauce carries 29% of the daily sodium value in a modest serving. A cup pushes that to 1,658 mg, or 72%. Even the 3 oz portion has 566 mg, a quarter of the day at 25%.
Two cups take sodium to 3,317 mg, past the 2300 mg daily value used on this page. Three cups hit 4,975 mg. Since this dish usually arrives with sides, a bun and maybe extra sauce, the meat alone can use up most of the day's sodium budget before anything else is counted.
If you watch sodium, portion size is the main lever. Serving extra sauce on the side helps too, though these numbers already reflect pork that has been sauced. Plain roast pork lists 353 mg per 100 g, roughly half, so a homemade version with a lighter hand on the sauce sits somewhere in between.
Build the plate around the meat, not the bun
Pulled pork works best as the protein anchor of a meal rather than the whole meal. A 5 oz portion gives 18.7 g of protein for 239 calories, which leaves room for vegetables and a starch of your choice. Slaw, a green salad or roasted vegetables add volume and fiber that the meat lacks, since that portion has only 1.7 g of fiber.
The bun and the squeeze bottle are where totals creep. The meat already brings 21.6 g of sugars per 5 oz, so adding more sauce at the table stacks sugar on sugar. If you want the sandwich, one bun with one measured portion keeps the numbers readable.
Packaged versions from Kirkland Signature, Jack Daniel's or Home Chef Kitchen vary in sauce and seasoning, so check the label against these USDA numbers. BodyPal can log pulled pork from a photo, which helps when the portion came off a shared tray rather than a scale.
How does pulled pork compare?
Here is how pulled pork in barbecue sauce stacks up against roast pork, pork chop and plain pork, per 100 g and per usual serving.
Verdict: For the fewest calories per 100 g, pulled pork wins at 168, but for protein per calorie roast pork is the better pick with 26.6 g at 181 calories and 0 g of carbs. Pork chop is close behind at 27.5 g of protein, while plain pork at 273 calories is the one to portion carefully.
Most popular pulled pork brands in the United States
Ranked by popularity in the BodyPal database
# Productkcal / 100 g
1Comfort Creek Foods Pulled Pork With Barbeque Sauce1 can · 127 g118 kcal
2Home Chef Kitchen BBQ Pulled Pork8.5 oz · 241 g104 kcal
4Kirkland Signature Smoked Pulled Pork3 oz · 84 g274 kcal
5Nalley Sandwich Creations Pulled Pork In BBQ Sauce5 oz · 142 g120 kcal
6Signature Select Pulled Pork5 oz · 140 g207 kcal
7Daily Chef Pulled Pork2 oz · 56 g268 kcal
8Jim Beam Pulled Pork With Bourbon BBQ Sauce1/3 cup · 80 g175 kcal
Sauce is what moves the label numbers: plain smoked pulled pork reads higher per 100 g than the sauced figure above, while tubs and cans packed in barbecue sauce read lower. Source: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Pulled pork FAQs
How many calories are in pulled pork?
One cup of pulled pork in barbecue sauce is 418 calories, and 100 g is 168 calories. A 3 oz portion is 143 calories.
Is pulled pork good for weight loss?
A 3 oz portion is 143 calories with 11.2 g protein, but the barbecue sauce brings 15.2 g sugars per 100 g, so a full cup reaches 418 calories and 37.8 g sugars.
Pulled pork vs roast pork: which has fewer calories?
Pulled pork in barbecue sauce is 168 calories per 100 g and roast pork is 181, so a 249 g cup of pulled pork is 418 calories.
How much protein is in pulled pork?
13.2 g per 100 g, which works out to 32.8 g in a cup (249 g) and 11.2 g in a 3 oz portion.
Is pulled pork high in calories?
Not per gram: pulled pork in barbecue sauce has 168 calories per 100 g, less than roast pork at 181 or plain pork at 273. The catch is portion size, since a cup is 418 calories and two cups reach 837.
How many calories are in 3 oz of pulled pork?
A 3 oz portion (85 g) has 143 calories, 7% of the daily value. It also brings 11.2 g of protein, 3.8 g of fat, 15.9 g of carbs and 566 mg of sodium.
How much fat is in pulled pork?
Pulled pork has 4.4 g of fat per 100 g, with 1.4 g of that saturated. A cup holds 11 g of fat, and fat supplies only 24% of the calories, less than carbs or protein.
How many calories does pulled pork have per 100 g?
Pulled pork in barbecue sauce has 168 calories per 100 g, 8% of the daily value. That 100 g also carries 13.2 g of protein, 18.7 g of carbs, 15.2 g of sugars and 666 mg of sodium.
What are the macros in a cup of pulled pork?
One cup (249 g) has 418 calories with 32.8 g of protein, 46.7 g of carbs and 11 g of fat. By calories, that splits into 45% carbs, 31% protein and 24% fat.
