How many calories are in a Tyson chicken strip?
One breaded chicken strip baked from frozen weighs 40 g and carries 96 calories. Per 100 g those same strips run 240 calories, with 14.62 g of protein and 527 mg of sodium. USDA tracks the food generically rather than by brand, and Tyson's own packages land within a few calories of that generic number.
You'd need to walk about 19 minutes to burn the 96 calories in one strip (40 g).
How long does it take to burn off 96 kcal of Tyson chicken strip?
One strip (40 g) is 96 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 96 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 19 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 12 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 14 min |
| Jogging | 11 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 21 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 (40 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Chicken strip quick facts
- US servings, from one strip to a full cup
- Baked, fried, or off a school tray
- Sodium is the row that limits the plate
- How do chicken strips compare?
- Most popular chicken strips brands
- FAQ
Chicken strip quick facts
The row used here is FNDDS 2706102, "Chicken tenders or strips, breaded, from frozen". That is the food most people are actually holding: strips out of a freezer bag, spread on a sheet pan, baked at home. USDA keeps separate records for the same strips fried at a restaurant, at a fast-food counter and on a school lunch line, and those numbers sit higher for one reason only, which is the oil they pick up in the fryer. The source is the same database in every case.
USDA's Branded Foods files do list Tyson packages by barcode, but those are label figures for one specific bag. The generic FNDDS row is the safer default when you are logging strips from any brand, and it sits inside Tyson's own range: 214 calories per 100 g for the fully cooked buffalo tenders, 219 for the uncooked breaded tenders, 250 for the Red Label homestyle select cut.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 strip (40 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 240 | 96 | — |
| Total fat | 13.58 g | 5.4 g | 7% |
| Saturated fat | 2.44 g | 1.0 g | 5% |
| Carbohydrate | 14.86 g | 5.9 g | 2% |
| Dietary fiber | 1.7 g | 0.7 g | 2% |
| Total sugars | 0.57 g | 0.2 g | — |
| Protein | 14.62 g | 5.8 g | 12% |
| Sodium | 527 mg | 211 mg | 9% |
% 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 Tyson bag are missing above. USDA does not publish added sugars or trans fat for this record, so neither is estimated here. Cholesterol and potassium are published: 36 mg and 281 mg per 100 g, which works out to 14 mg of cholesterol (5% DV) and 112 mg of potassium (2% DV) in a single strip.
US servings, from one strip to a full cup
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 67 kcal |
| One small tender or finger | 17 g | 41 kcal |
| One strip | 40 g | 96 kcal |
| Three strips, one plate | 120 g | 288 kcal |
| 1 cup | 140 g | 336 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 240 kcal |
The single strip, the small finger and the cup are USDA household measures for this record. The three-strip plate and the 1 oz line are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings.
The cup is where the count goes wrong. A cup of breaded strips is 140 g, which is three and a half strips, not three. That is 48 calories more than the plate most people picture when they say "a few strips," and the gap is about a sixth of the meal. Strips are also awkward to cup: they lie flat, they leave air, and one long strip can weigh as much as two stubby ones. Count pieces and weigh the pieces once, then reuse that weight.
Strip size varies more than the calorie number does. A 17 g finger-style tender is 41 calories, while a fat 40 g strip is 96. Five small tenders and two large strips look like very different plates but land within 15 calories of each other, so the piece count on its own tells you almost nothing.
Baked, fried, or off a school tray
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baked from frozen, at home | 240 kcal | 1 strip, 40 g | 96 kcal |
| From fast food | 271 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 230 kcal |
| From restaurant | 283 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 241 kcal |
| From school lunch | 270 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 230 kcal |
| From other sources | 262 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 223 kcal |
| Chicken nuggets, from frozen | 298 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 253 kcal |
Every 3 oz figure in that table is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g numbers rather than a USDA serving size.
The home-baked row is the lightest of the lot at 240 calories per 100 g. The restaurant row is 283. That 43-calorie gap per 100 g is oil, absorbed by the same breading, and it shows up in the fat column: 15.62 g per 100 g at a restaurant against 13.58 g in your oven. Fast-food strips sit between them at 271, with 13.95 g of fat but a much saltier crust.
School lunch strips are the odd one out. At 270 calories per 100 g they are not light, but the breading is whole-grain, so they carry 22.86 g of carbohydrate and 2.2 g of fiber per 100 g against 14.86 g and 1.7 g in the frozen retail strips. They are also the least salty of the cooked-away-from-home versions at 511 mg per 100 g.
Nuggets are a different food in the same freezer aisle. At 298 calories per 100 g they are the heaviest option here, mostly because of fat: 19.23 g per 100 g against 13.58 g in strips. Protein runs the other way, 13.36 g against 14.62 g. Gram for gram, strips are the better trade.
There is no USDA record for air-fried strips, so no honest number exists for that method. The closest read is the oven-baked-from-frozen row, since an air fryer adds no oil to a pre-breaded strip either.
Sodium is the row that limits the plate
Fat is the number people watch on breaded chicken. It is not the one that runs out first. Three strips give you 16.3 g of fat, 21% of the Daily Value, and 632 mg of sodium, which is 27% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value the FDA sets on the Nutrition Facts label. Salt gets there first, and that is before any dipping sauce, fries or pickles.
In kitchen terms, 632 mg is about a quarter teaspoon of table salt sitting inside three strips. Go with the fast-food version instead and the same three strips carry closer to 923 mg, because that breading runs 769 mg per 100 g. FDA's own sodium guidance points at packaged and restaurant foods as the main source for most Americans, and breaded chicken is a textbook example.
The protein side is genuinely good. Three strips deliver 17.5 g, or 35% of the 50 g Daily Value, from a food that costs about a dollar a serving. MyPlate counts breaded chicken in the protein foods group while noting that the lean, unbreaded forms are the ones to lean on most often. If you are watching sodium, baking strips at home and skipping the sauce is the single change that moves the number most.
How do chicken strips compare?
| Food | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken strips, baked from frozen | 240 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 204 kcal |
| Chicken strips, from fast food | 271 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 230 kcal |
| Chicken nuggets, from frozen | 298 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 253 kcal |
| Chicken patty, breaded | 287 kcal | 3 oz, 85 g | 244 kcal |
The 3 oz portions in this table are scaled from the USDA 100 g figures, so all four foods are compared at the same weight.
Our take: baked-from-frozen strips are the lightest breaded chicken you can put on a plate, and it is not close. At the same 3 oz they beat frozen nuggets by 49 calories and a breaded patty by 40, while carrying more protein than the nuggets. If you want the strips to earn their place, bake them rather than fry them and count the pieces instead of scooping a cup. If you want a lower number than 240 per 100 g, the breading has to go, not the brand.
Most popular chicken strips 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) |
|---|---|
| Tyson Fully Cooked Buffalo Style Chicken Tenders | 214 cal |
| Weaver Breaded Chicken Tenders | 294 cal |
| Tyson Uncooked Breaded Chicken Tenders | 219 cal |
| Tyson Uncooked Breaded Homestyle Chicken Tenders | 236 cal |
| Tyson Uncooked Breaded Homestyle Select Cut Chicken Tenders | 226 cal |
| Tyson Red Label Fully Cooked Breaded Homestyle Select Cut Chicken Tenders | 250 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Chicken strip FAQs
How many calories are in one Tyson chicken strip?
One strip baked from frozen is 96 calories at 40 g, the weight USDA uses for a single breaded strip. That works out to 240 calories per 100 g. Tyson's own packages land close: the fully cooked buffalo tenders are 214 calories per 100 g, the uncooked breaded ones 219.
How many calories are in 3 chicken strips?
Three strips weigh about 120 g and come to 288 calories, our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure rather than a USDA serving. That plate also carries 17.5 g of protein, 16.3 g of fat and 632 mg of sodium, which is 27% of the daily limit.
How much protein is in a chicken strip?
One 40 g strip has 5.8 g of protein, and 100 g of breaded strips has 14.62 g. Three strips reach 17.5 g, or 35% of the 50 g Daily Value. Deep-fried restaurant and fast-food strips are denser in protein, at 18.82 g and 19.22 g per 100 g.
Chicken strips vs chicken nuggets: which has fewer calories?
Strips win on calories: baked from frozen they are 240 calories per 100 g against 298 for frozen nuggets, so a 3 oz portion is 204 against 253, about 49 calories apart. Nuggets also carry more fat, 19.23 g per 100 g against 13.58 g in strips.
How much sodium is in breaded chicken strips?
A single 40 g strip has 211 mg of sodium, 9% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value. Three strips reach 632 mg, roughly a quarter teaspoon of table salt. Fast-food strips are saltier at 769 mg per 100 g, and restaurant versions higher still at 791 mg per 100 g.
How many chicken strips are in one cup?
USDA's cup measure for breaded chicken strips is 140 g, or 336 calories. That is three and a half strips, not three, so a cup runs 48 calories above the plate most people picture. Count the pieces or weigh them once instead of filling a cup.
Are air-fried chicken strips lower in calories than deep-fried?
USDA has no air fryer record, so there is no exact number for it; the closest comparison is the oven-baked-from-frozen row at 240 calories per 100 g against 283 for restaurant strips fried in oil, a gap of 43 calories per 100 g that comes from absorbed fat.
Do chicken strips have added sugar?
Total sugars are only 0.57 g per 100 g, about 0.2 g in one strip, and most of that comes from the breading. USDA does not publish an added sugars figure for this record, so the split between natural and added sugar cannot be given here. Either way, the amount is tiny.
Similar foods
- Chicken — 203 cal for 3 oz roasted
- Roast Chicken — 203 cal per 3 oz
- Tempura shrimp — 109 cal for 6 large shrimp
- Asada taco — 243 cal per taco
- Top Sirloin Steak — 413 cal per 6 oz steak
- Beef brisket — 208 cal per thick slice
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the tray and BodyPal counts the strips for you, breading and all.
