How many calories are in steel cut oatmeal?
A 1-cup bowl of cooked steel cut oatmeal, made with water and no salt, is 166 calories. Cooked oats run 71 calories per 100 g, which is why a big-looking bowl stays light: most of what you are eating is water the grains soaked up. The dry scoop that made it is a different number entirely.
You'd need to walk about 33 minutes to burn the 166 calories in a 1-cup (234 g) cooked serving.
How long does it take to burn off 166 kcal of steel cut oatmeal?
A 1-cup (234 g) cooked serving is 166 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 166 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 33 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 21 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 24 min |
| Jogging | 20 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 37 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 (234 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Steel cut oatmeal quick facts
- US servings, from a tablespoon to a full bowl
- Dry oats, salted water, butter and instant
- Fiber and sodium are the rows that move
- How does steel cut oatmeal compare?
- Most popular steel cut oatmeal brands
- Steel cut oatmeal FAQs
Steel cut oatmeal quick facts
USDA does not publish a separate cooked "steel cut" record, and it does not need to. Steel cut and rolled oats are the same oat groat, one sliced with a blade and one pressed flat, so once they are cooked in water the numbers per 100 g land in the same place. The row used here is SR Legacy 173905, "Cereals, oats, regular and quick, unenriched, cooked with water, without salt" — the full unsalted cooked bowl, which is what a person searching this actually has in front of them.
The dry grain has its own record and its own section further down. It belongs on the bag, not in the bowl.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 cup (234 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 71 | 166 | — |
| Total fat | 1.52 g | 3.6 g | 5% |
| Saturated fat | 0.31 g | 0.7 g | 4% |
| Carbohydrate | 12 g | 28.1 g | 10% |
| Dietary fiber | 1.7 g | 4.0 g | 14% |
| Total sugars | 0.27 g | 0.6 g | — |
| Protein | 2.54 g | 5.9 g | 12% |
| Sodium | 4 mg | 9 mg | 0% |
% 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 →
There is no added sugars row because the SR Legacy edition of this record does not carry one, and oats boiled in water have nothing added to them anyway — the 0.6 g of sugar in the cup is what the grain came with. Cholesterol is 0 mg, as it is in every plain grain. Potassium comes to 164 mg per cup, about 3% of the Daily Value.
US servings, from a tablespoon to a full bowl
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 tbsp cooked | 14.6 g | 10 kcal |
| 1 oz cooked | 28 g | 20 kcal |
| 3/4 cup cooked | 175 g | 124 kcal |
| One bowl, 1 cup cooked | 234 g | 166 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 71 kcal |
The cup, the three-quarter cup and the tablespoon are USDA household measures for this record, so those weights come straight from the database. The 1 oz line is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not a USDA serving — useful only if you are weighing leftovers.
Watch the cup weight. A cup of cooked oatmeal is 234 g here, but other USDA oatmeal records put a cup at 240 g, and a diner bowl is often closer to a cup and a half. Two hundred grams of cooked oats on a kitchen scale is 142 calories; that reading is worth more than any eyeball estimate.
Dry oats, salted water, butter and instant
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry steel cut oats | 381 kcal | 1/4 cup dry (40 g) | 152 kcal |
| Cooked in water, no salt | 71 kcal | 1 cup cooked (234 g) | 166 kcal |
| Cooked in salted water | 71 kcal | 1 cup cooked (234 g) | 166 kcal |
| Cooked with fat added | 76 kcal | 1 cup cooked (240 g) | 182 kcal |
| Instant, plain, made with water | 68 kcal | 1 cup cooked (240 g) | 163 kcal |
| Instant, raisins and spice | 88 kcal | 1 packet prepared (158 g) | 139 kcal |
Dry oats look alarming at 381 calories per 100 g, and they are — dry. Nothing has been diluted yet. A quarter cup of dry steel cut oats is about 40 g and lands near 152 calories, and the brand labels agree: McCann's lists 140 per quarter cup, Flahavan's 150 per third of a cup, Country Choice 150 for a single 40 g packet. Ready-to-eat pouches are lighter per gram because they are mostly water — Rambling Oat Co.'s original classic pouch is 141 calories for 227 g, while the maple and brown sugar version is 170 and the apple cinnamon 191.
Salting the water changes nothing on the calorie line. The buttered version is the only cooked bowl in this table above 166, and it only takes a small pat of fat in the pot to get there. Instant plain oatmeal is a hair lighter per gram than the stovetop kind, which surprises people; the raisin and spice packet is the densest cooked bowl in the table at 88 calories per 100 g and still the smallest number in the calorie column, because the packet only makes 158 g of food.
Fiber and sodium are the rows that move
The fiber line is the reason this breakfast earns its place. One cup gives 4.0 g, or 14% of the Daily Value of 28 g, from a bowl that costs 166 calories. Very few breakfasts hand over a seventh of the day's fiber that cheaply, and whole grains like oats are one of the food groups MyPlate singles out for most Americans to eat more of.
Sodium is where the two USDA records split. Cooked without salt, a cup is 9 mg — effectively nothing. Cooked in salted water, the same cup is 166 mg, an eighteen-fold jump from what is otherwise the identical food at 71 calories per 100 g. That is still only 7% of the Daily Value, but it is worth knowing where it came from. If you are watching sodium, the fix is the water, not the oats.
Protein is the weak line: 5.9 g per cup, 12% of the Daily Value. Sugar is the strong one. At 0.6 g per cup, plain cooked oats have almost no sugar at all, while a raisin and spice instant packet runs 8.71 g per 100 g. The oats are not the variable in your breakfast. The brown sugar, the syrup and the second spoon of peanut butter are.
How does steel cut oatmeal compare?
| Bowl | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steel cut oatmeal, cooked in water | 71 kcal | 1 cup, 234 g | 166 kcal |
| Oatmeal, thinner, no added fat | 64 kcal | 1 cup cooked, 240 g | 154 kcal |
| Instant oats, fortified, plain | 68 kcal | 1 cup cooked, 234 g | 159 kcal |
| Instant oats, raisins and spice | 88 kcal | 1 packet, 158 g | 139 kcal |
Our take: these four are within 27 calories of each other, so the choice between them is not a calorie decision. Go by fiber and sugar instead. The plain cooked bowl gives 4.0 g of fiber and 0.6 g of sugar; the raisin packet is the lightest number in the table only because the packet is small, and it carries the sweetness. For weight loss, cook the plain oats and control the toppings. For staying full to lunch, the full 234 g cup with milk or yogurt stirred in beats a 158 g packet every time.
Most popular steel cut oatmeal 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) |
|---|---|
| Rambling Oat Co. Steel Cut Oatmeal Original Classic | 62 cal |
| Rambling Oat Co. Steel Cut Oatmeal Maple & Brown Sugar | 75 cal |
| Rambling Oat Co. Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oatmeal | 84 cal |
| McCann's Steel Cut Oatmeal (dry) | 350 cal |
| Flahavan's Irish Steel Cut Oatmeal (dry) | 375 cal |
| Country Choice Organic Steel Cut Oatmeal (dry) | 375 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Steel cut oatmeal FAQs
How many calories are in 1 cup of cooked steel cut oatmeal?
166 calories for a 1-cup serving, 234 g of oats cooked in water with no salt added. That works out to 71 calories per 100 g. The same cup carries 5.9 g of protein, 4.0 g of fiber and only 9 mg of sodium, which is close to nothing.
How many calories are in 1/4 cup of dry steel cut oats?
About 152 calories for 1/4 cup of dry steel cut oats, roughly 40 g at 381 calories per 100 g. Brand labels land close: McCann's lists 140 for the same quarter cup, Flahavan's 150 for a third of a cup. Dry oats are dense because the water hasn't gone in yet.
Are steel cut oats lower in calories than rolled oats?
No, both come in at 71 calories per 100 g cooked, so a 1-cup bowl is 166 either way. Steel cut and rolled oats are the same groat, cut with a blade instead of pressed flat. The difference is texture and cooking time, not calories.
How much fiber is in steel cut oatmeal?
4.0 g of fiber in a 1-cup bowl, which is 14% of the Daily Value. Per 100 g cooked that is 1.7 g. Fiber is one of the nutrients Americans fall short on, so a breakfast that covers a seventh of the day from one bowl is doing real work.
How much protein is in a bowl of steel cut oatmeal?
5.9 g of protein in a 1-cup cooked bowl, 12% of the Daily Value, from 2.54 g per 100 g. That is decent for a grain but thin for a breakfast on its own. Milk, yogurt or a spoon of peanut butter is the usual fix, and each one adds calories.
Does cooking steel cut oats change the calories?
Not the calories, only the density: dry oats are 381 calories per 100 g; cooked in water they drop to 71 per 100 g because the grain absorbs water and gains weight. A 40 g dry scoop stays worth about 152 calories no matter how much water it takes on. The bowl just gets bigger.
Is steel cut oatmeal good for weight loss?
One bowl at 166 calories with 4.0 g of fiber is a strong pick if you're counting. It fills a lot of space for the calories, and the fiber slows the meal down. What sinks it is what goes on top: brown sugar, syrup and a second scoop of nut butter.
How much sodium is in steel cut oatmeal?
9 mg in a 1-cup bowl cooked without salt, which is 0% of the Daily Value. Salt the water and the same cup becomes 166 mg, from a USDA row that is otherwise identical at 71 calories per 100 g. Instant packets sit between, near 45 mg per 100 g.
Similar foods
- Egg — 72 cal per large egg
- Omelet — 305 cal for 3-egg omelet
- Crepe — 179 cal per crepe
- Pancake — 423 cal for 3 medium pancakes
- Toast with butter — 100 cal per slice with butter
- Injera — 118 cal per injera (12 in)
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the bowl and BodyPal counts the oats, the milk and the toppings for you.
