How many calories are in a shrimp boil?
A 1-cup serving of shelled boiled shrimp — the meat you actually pull out of the pot — is 122 calories, and plain boiled shrimp runs 90 calories per 100 g. For a plate that looks this big, that is a small number. What moves it is everything else that goes into the pot alongside the shrimp.
You'd need to walk about 24 minutes to burn the 122 calories in a 1-cup (135 g) serving.
How long does it take to burn off a shrimp boil?
A 1-cup (135 g) serving is 122 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 122 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 24 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 15 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 17 min |
| Jogging | 14 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 27 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 (135 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Shrimp boil quick facts
- US servings, from one shrimp to a full cup
- What the potatoes, corn and sausage cost you
- Crawfish boil, crab boil and the canned shortcut
- Cholesterol and sodium, not calories
- How does a shrimp boil compare?
- Most popular shrimp boil brands
- FAQ
Shrimp boil quick facts
There is no single USDA record called "shrimp boil," and that is the honest starting point. The closest thing to the food in your hand is FNDDS 2706363, "Shrimp, steamed or boiled" — shrimp cooked in water, nothing added on the plate. That is the number below. The loaded pot, with red potatoes, corn, onions and andouille, is a different record entirely, and it gets its own section further down.
One more thing about the weights. USDA reports the shelled meat, not the shell-on shrimp you tip out of the strainer. Peeling takes off roughly 40 to 50 percent of what you weighed, so a pound of shell-on shrimp lands somewhere near 8 to 9 ounces of edible meat — our own rule of thumb, not a USDA yield figure.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 cup (135 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 90 | 122 | — |
| Total fat | 1.28 g | 1.7 g | 2% |
| Saturated fat | 0.33 g | 0.4 g | 2% |
| Carbohydrate | 1.15 g | 1.6 g | 1% |
| Dietary fiber | 0 g | 0 g | 0% |
| Total sugars | 0 g | 0 g | — |
| Protein | 17.19 g | 23.2 g | 46% |
| Sodium | 248 mg | 335 mg | 15% |
% 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 are missing here: added sugars and trans fat. This FNDDS edition does not publish either for boiled shrimp, and plain shrimp in water has no sugar added to it anyway. Two rows that matter more do exist: a cup carries 215 mg of cholesterol (72% DV) and 193 mg of potassium (4% DV).
US servings, from one shrimp to a full cup
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 large/jumbo shrimp | 15 g | 14 kcal |
| 1 oz, shelled | 28 g | 26 kcal |
| 3 oz, shelled | 85 g | 77 kcal |
| 4 oz, shelled | 113 g | 102 kcal |
| 1 cup, shelled | 135 g | 122 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 90 kcal |
The 1-cup and single-shrimp lines are USDA household measures for this record. The ounce rows are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings — useful because a boil is usually portioned by the handful, not by the cup.
Here is the trap that costs people the most: counting shrimp instead of weighing them. A dozen large shrimp is about 180 g of meat and 162 calories — our own scaling of the USDA 15 g shrimp, not a USDA serving — which is more than a full measured cup. Nobody eats a level cup of shrimp at a boil table. If you take a rough count, count high.
What the potatoes, corn and sausage cost you
This is where the calories actually live. A store-made shrimp boil sold as a finished dish — shrimp, red skin potatoes, corn, caramelized onions and andouille sausage, sold by Kroger and logged in USDA's branded data as record 1996379 — is 150 calories per 100 g. Plain shrimp is 90. The garnish lifts the per-gram figure by two thirds before you have served yourself anything.
In serving terms: a labeled 1-cup portion of that mix (140 g) is 210 calories, against 122 for a cup of shrimp alone. Same cup, same visual volume, 88 calories apart. Fill half your plate with potato and sausage and the boil stops being a lean meal without ever looking like a heavy one.
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boiled shrimp, plain | 90 kcal | 1 cup, 135 g | 122 kcal |
| Store-made boil with potatoes, corn and sausage | 150 kcal | 1 cup, 140 g | 210 kcal |
| Canned shrimp | 100 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 85 kcal |
| Shrimp cocktail | 99 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 84 kcal |
| Crawfish boil (crayfish meat) | 97 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 82 kcal |
| Crab boil (crab meat) | 83 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 71 kcal |
The 3 oz figures in that table are scaled from each USDA 100 g record; only the two 1-cup rows are label or household servings.
Crawfish boil, crab boil and the canned shortcut
Swap the shrimp and the arithmetic barely twitches. Crayfish, cooked is 97 calories per 100 g, a shade above shrimp's 90 but with more protein per gram: 20.22 g against 17.19 g. A crawfish boil is not a lighter meal than a shrimp boil in any meaningful way — the difference is 5 calories on a 3 oz portion.
Crab is the leanest of the four at 83 calories per 100 g, which makes a crab boil the lowest-calorie version of this table by a small margin. Canned shrimp goes the other way, at 100 calories per 100 g, because draining the can concentrates the meat; that is also why its protein reads 20.42 g per 100 g rather than 17.19 g.
Shrimp cocktail sits at 99 calories per 100 g and is the odd one out on carbohydrate: 7.92 g per 100 g, essentially all of it from the tomato-based sauce, where plain boiled shrimp has 1.15 g. If you are tracking carbs, the sauce is the only carbohydrate in this whole family worth logging.
Cholesterol and sodium, not calories
A cup of boiled shrimp is 122 calories and 215 mg of cholesterol — 72% of the FDA's 300 mg Daily Value. No other row on the label comes close to that percentage. The calorie ceiling is nowhere near being hit when the cholesterol line is already three quarters full, and that is the single most surprising thing in this record.
Sodium is the second one. Boiled shrimp already carries 335 mg per cup (15% DV) from the shrimp and the salted water, before a spoonful of seasoning touches it. A commercial crab-and-shrimp boil seasoning runs around 13,250 mg of sodium per 100 g, so a level teaspoon (4 g) adds about 530 mg — 23% DV on its own. Cup plus teaspoon is roughly 865 mg, or 38% of the day, by our arithmetic from those two USDA figures.
None of that makes a boil a bad meal. The Dietary Guidelines recommend about 8 ounces of seafood a week for adults, and 8 ounces of boiled shrimp is only 204 calories with about 39 g of protein, our own scaling of the USDA 100 g figure. If you are watching sodium, season the water lightly and salt at the table instead; if you are watching calories, the shrimp is not the problem.
How does a shrimp boil compare?
| Seafood | Per 100 g | Protein per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boiled shrimp | 90 kcal | 17.19 g | 3 oz shelled, 85 g | 77 kcal |
| Canned shrimp | 100 kcal | 20.42 g | 3 oz, 85 g | 85 kcal |
| Crayfish, cooked | 97 kcal | 20.22 g | 3 oz, 85 g | 82 kcal |
| Crab | 83 kcal | 17.88 g | 3 oz, 85 g | 71 kcal |
Our take: for weight loss, any of these four works and the choice between them is worth 14 calories at most on a 3 oz portion — pick by taste, then control the potatoes. For fullness per calorie, canned shrimp and crayfish are the better buy, both above 20 g of protein per 100 g while boiled shrimp sits at 17.19 g. And if a boil is the meal, the ranking that matters is not shrimp versus crawfish. It is shrimp alone at 90 calories per 100 g versus the loaded mix at 150.
Most popular shrimp boil 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) |
|---|---|
| Kroger Shrimp Boil | 150 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Shrimp boil FAQs
How many calories are in a shrimp boil?
A 1-cup serving of the shelled boiled shrimp itself is 122 calories, at 90 calories per 100 g. If the pot includes potatoes, corn and sausage, a labeled 1-cup portion of that mix is 210 calories, or 150 per 100 g. The shrimp is the cheap part.
How many calories in 1 cup of boiled shrimp?
122 calories for one cup of shelled boiled shrimp, which USDA weighs at 135 g. That works out to 90 calories per 100 g, or 26 calories per ounce of meat. The same cup carries 23.2 g of protein and only 1.6 g of carbohydrate.
How much protein is in boiled shrimp?
17.19 g of protein per 100 g, which is 23.2 g in a 1-cup serving — 46% of the 50 g Daily Value from 122 calories. A 3 oz portion gives about 14.6 g. Canned shrimp is denser still at 20.42 g per 100 g, because draining concentrates the meat.
Is a shrimp boil healthy?
The shrimp itself is 122 calories a cup with 23.2 g of protein and 1.7 g of fat, which is a strong ratio. Two rows need attention: 215 mg of cholesterol (72% DV) and 335 mg of sodium (15% DV) per cup, before seasoning. The sides decide the rest.
How much cholesterol is in boiled shrimp?
159 mg per 100 g, or 215 mg in a 1-cup serving — 72% of the FDA's 300 mg Daily Value. It is the highest percentage on the whole label, and it arrives with only 122 calories. A 3 oz portion carries about 135 mg, roughly 45% of the day.
Does shrimp boil seasoning add calories?
Barely any calories, but a lot of sodium. A commercial crab-and-shrimp boil blend runs about 13,250 mg of sodium per 100 g, so a level teaspoon adds roughly 530 mg — 23% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value. Paired with the shrimp's own 335 mg per cup, that is about 38% of the day.
How many calories do the potatoes, corn and sausage add?
They take the pot from 90 calories per 100 g to 150. In serving terms, a 1-cup portion of a store-made shrimp boil with red potatoes, corn, onions and andouille is 210 calories against 122 for a cup of plain shrimp — 88 calories more for the same volume.
Crawfish boil vs shrimp boil - which has fewer calories?
Shrimp, by a margin too small to matter: 90 calories per 100 g against 97 for cooked crayfish, which is 77 versus 82 on a 3 oz portion. Crawfish pays you back in protein, 20.22 g per 100 g against 17.19 g. Choose by taste, not by the calorie count.
Similar foods
- Wild Rice — 166 cal per cup, cooked
- Milk — 149 cal per cup
- Quinoa — 222 cal per cup cooked
- Rice — 205 cal per cup, cooked
- Pasta — 168 cal per cup penne
- Penne pasta — 169 cal per cup
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the shrimp, the potatoes and the sausage separately.
