Steel cut oats calories come to 150 for a 1/4 cup dry serving (40 g) and 379 per 100 g dry. The thing to notice is the dry versus cooked gap: 1 cup of cooked oats is 166 calories, so always check which label you are reading. Carbs supply 71% of the energy, with real fiber attached.
150kcal
1 quarter cup dry · 40 g, steel cut, dry
14%protein
5.3 gProtein
27 gCarbs
2.6 gFat
How to burn off 150 kcal
—Walking, brisk
—Jogging
—Cycling, moderate
—Swimming
Skip the math. BodyPal counts these calories from your steps and workouts automatically.
Nutrition facts
Steel cut, dry · per 40 g
Calories
152 kcal
Protein
5.3 g
Carbohydrate
27 g
Fat
2.6 g
Saturated fat
0.4 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
2 mg
Potassium
145 mg
Iron
1.7 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 October 2026. How we verify our data →
Steel cut oats: 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
1/4 cup dry (40 g)
150
5 g
27 g
2.5 g
0 mg
8%
1 cup cooked (234 g)
166
5.9 g
28.1 g
3.6 g
9 mg
8%
100 g
379
13.2 g
67.7 g
6.5 g
6 mg
19%
3 × 1/4 cup dry (40 g)
455
15.8 g
7 mg
5 × 1/4 cup dry (40 g)
758
26.3 g
12 mg
A 1/4 cup dry is a 150-calorie bowl
The standard label serving is 1/4 cup of dry steel cut oats, which weighs 40 g and carries 150 calories, 5 g of protein and 27 g of carbs. That is 8% of a standard daily calorie budget. It looks small in the measuring cup because the oats swell a lot once they simmer in water.
Most people do not stop at one scoop. Two scoops, or 80 g dry, bring the bowl to 303 calories and 10.5 g of protein. Three scoops (120 g) land at 455 calories, and a big batch of five scoops (200 g) reaches 758 calories with 26.3 g of protein. If you cook a pot for the week, that last number is the whole pot, not one breakfast.
The simplest habit is to weigh the oats dry, before any water goes in. Dry weight is stable and matches the label. Cooked weight depends on how much liquid you used and how long the pot simmered, so the same bowl can look bigger or smaller from one morning to the next while the calories stay where the dry scoop put them.
Carbs supply 71% of the calories
Per 100 g dry, steel cut oats hold 67.7 g of carbs, 13.2 g of protein and 6.5 g of fat. Translated into calories, carbs make up 71% of the total, fat 15% and protein 14%. This is a starch food first, with more protein than most grains but not enough to call it a protein source.
The carbs come with fiber. There is 10.1 g of fiber per 100 g dry and 4 g in each 1/4 cup serving, while sugar sits at just 1 g per 100 g. That is a very different carb profile from a sweetened cereal, and it is why a plain bowl reads as filling rather than sweet.
Fat stays modest at 2.5 g per dry serving, with only 1.1 g of saturated fat per 100 g and zero cholesterol. Potassium comes to 362 mg per 100 g. None of these rows ask for caution. The real variable is whatever you stir in after cooking.
Dry and cooked numbers are not interchangeable
The most common logging mistake with steel cut oats is mixing up dry and cooked figures. Per 100 g dry they are 379 calories. A full cup of cooked oats weighs 234 g and comes to 166 calories, with 5.9 g of protein, 28.1 g of carbs and 3.6 g of fat. Water adds weight and volume, not calories.
So if you log 1 cup of cooked oats using the dry numbers, you will overstate the bowl by a wide margin. Log a cooked cup against a cooked entry, and a dry scoop against a dry entry. Both are on this page, and both are close to the same 8% of daily calories per serving.
Sodium is not a concern in either form. Dry oats carry 6 mg per 100 g and a cooked cup has 9 mg, which rounds to 0% of the 2300 mg daily value. Any salt in your bowl comes from the pot, not the grain. If you watch sodium, that makes plain oats one of the easiest breakfasts to control.
Pair the bowl with protein to round it out
A 1/4 cup dry serving gives 5 g of protein, which is 10% of the daily value. A cooked cup gives 5.9 g, or 12%. That is respectable for a grain but light for a full meal, so many people add milk, yogurt, eggs on the side or a scoop of nut butter to make breakfast last until lunch.
Toppings are where the calories drift. Fruit, nuts, seeds, honey and brown sugar can each add as much as the oats themselves, so log them as separate items. The oats are a predictable base, and keeping them separate in your log lets you see which add-on is doing the work.
Brands such as Bob's Red Mill, Quaker, Hodgson Mill and Kroger all sell steel cut oats, including quick cooking versions. Check the label for the serving size, since some list dry weight and some do not. If you would rather skip the measuring, BodyPal can log a bowl from a photo.
How does steel cut oats compare?
Here is how steel cut oats compare with rolled oats, dry oats and oat flour, per 100 g and per usual serving.
Verdict: Steel cut, rolled and dry oats are the same food on paper at 379 calories per 100 g, so pick by texture and portion, not by calories; just note that a 1 cup dry rolled oats serving is 307 calories against 150 for a 1/4 cup of steel cut. Oat flour runs a little denser at 404 calories and 9.1 g of fat per 100 g, so for the leanest bowl stay with whole oats.
Most popular steel cut oats brands in the United States
Ranked by popularity in the BodyPal database
# Productkcal / 100 g
1Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats1/4 cup · 44 g386 kcal
2Bob's Red Mill Organic Steel Cut Oats1/4 cup · 44 g386 kcal
3Hodgson Mill Steel Cut Oats1/4 cup · 40 g375 kcal
4Bob's Red Mill 100% Whole Grain Steel Cut Oats1/4 cup · 44 g386 kcal
5Bob's Red Mill Organic Gluten Free Steel Cut Oats1/4 cup · 44 g386 kcal
6Bob's Red Mill Organic Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats1/4 cup · 36 g389 kcal
How many calories are in 1/4 cup of steel cut oats?
A quarter cup of dry steel cut oats (40 g) has 150 calories. Per 100 g dry it is 379 calories.
Are steel cut oats good for weight loss?
A quarter cup dry (40 g) is 150 calories with 4.0 g of fiber and 5.0 g of protein. One cup of oats cooked in water is 166 calories.
Steel cut oats vs rolled oats: which has fewer calories?
Per 100 g dry, steel cut oats and rolled oats are both 379 calories. The difference is the cut of the grain, not the energy.
How many carbs and how much protein are in steel cut oats?
A quarter cup dry (40 g) has 27.0 g of carbs and 5.0 g of protein. Per 100 g dry oats: 67.7 g carbs and 13.2 g protein.
How many calories are in 1 cup of cooked steel cut oats?
One cup of cooked steel cut oats (234 g) has 166 calories. That is 8% of a standard daily calorie budget, close to the 150 calories in a 1/4 cup dry serving.
What are the nutrition facts for 1 cup of cooked steel cut oats?
One cup of cooked steel cut oats has 166 calories, 5.9 g of protein, 28.1 g of carbs, 3.6 g of fat, 4 g of fiber, 0.6 g of sugar and 9 mg of sodium.
How many calories are in 100 grams of steel cut oats?
Dry steel cut oats have 379 calories per 100 g, with 13.2 g of protein, 67.7 g of carbs, 6.5 g of fat and 10.1 g of fiber. Cooked oats are far lower per gram because of the water.
Do steel cut oats have more calories cooked or dry?
Dry oats are denser: 379 calories per 100 g, while a full cup of cooked oats (234 g) is 166 calories. Cooking adds water, not calories, so log dry and cooked amounts separately.
How many calories are in half a cup of dry steel cut oats?
Two 1/4 cup scoops, or 80 g dry, come to 303 calories with 10.5 g of protein. Three scoops (120 g) reach 455 calories.
