Plain yogurt calories come to 149 for one cup (245 g) of whole-milk yogurt and 61 per 100 g. Look at the split before anything else: fat supplies 47% of those calories. That is why the nonfat cup still lands at 137. Skimming off the fat buys you more protein, not a much lighter bowl.
149kcal
1 cup · 245 g, whole milk, plain
22%protein
8.5 gProtein
11 gCarbs
8 gFat
How to burn off 149 kcal
—Walking, brisk
—Jogging
—Cycling, moderate
—Swimming
Skip the math. BodyPal counts these calories from your steps and workouts automatically.
Nutrition facts
Whole milk, plain · per 245 g
Calories
149 kcal
Protein
8.5 g
Carbohydrate
11.4 g
Fat
8 g
Saturated fat
5.1 g
Cholesterol
32 mg
Sodium
113 mg
Potassium
380 mg
Iron
0.1 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 →
Plain yogurt: 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 (245 g)
149
8.5 g
11.4 g
8 g
113 mg
7%
1 container (170 g)
104
5.9 g
7.9 g
5.5 g
78 mg
5%
Nonfat cup (245 g)
137
14 g
18.8 g
0.4 g
189 mg
7%
100 g
61
3.5 g
4.7 g
3.3 g
46 mg
3%
3 × 1 cup (245 g)
448
25.5 g
338 mg
5 × 1 cup (245 g)
747
42.5 g
564 mg
A cup is 149 calories, and a bowl can double it
The standard cup (245 g) of whole-milk plain yogurt holds 149 calories, 8.5 g of protein and 113 mg of sodium. That covers 7% of the daily calorie value and 17% of the protein value. A single-serve container (170 g) is smaller, at 104 calories, 5.9 g of protein and 78 mg of sodium, or 5% of daily calories.
Bowls are where the total drifts. Two cups (490 g) come to 299 calories and 17 g of protein. Three cups (735 g) reach 448 calories and 25.5 g of protein. Spread five cups over a few days and you have eaten 747 calories, 42.5 g of protein and only 564 mg of sodium.
If you spoon yogurt into a cereal bowl by eye, weigh it once. A generous bowl is often closer to two cups than one, and that second cup adds the full 149 calories. Plain yogurt is not a heavy food. The serving size is just easy to misjudge.
Fat brings nearly half the calories
Per 100 g, whole-milk plain yogurt has 3.5 g of protein, 4.7 g of carbs and 3.3 g of fat. Fat weighs the least of the three but carries the most energy, so it ends up as 47% of the calories. Carbs make up 30% and protein 22%.
Of that 3.3 g of fat, 2.1 g is saturated. A cup brings 8 g of total fat, which makes saturated fat the biggest single item on the label. If you track saturated fat against the daily value of 20 g, whole-milk yogurt counts toward it in a way the nonfat version barely does.
Every gram of carbohydrate is listed as sugar: 4.7 g per 100 g and 11.4 g per cup. Plain means unsweetened, so that sugar comes from the milk itself and not from added syrup or fruit. Fiber is 0, which is normal for dairy. Any fiber in the bowl has to come from what you put on top.
Nonfat swaps fat for protein and sugar
The nonfat cup (245 g) has 137 calories against 149 for whole milk. That gap is smaller than most people expect, because the nonfat version is not just whole-milk yogurt with the fat taken out. Fat falls to 0.4 g, but protein climbs to 14 g and sugars to 18.8 g.
Protein is the clear win. At 14 g, a nonfat cup covers 28% of the protein daily value, compared with 17% for whole milk. If you want yogurt to keep you full, or you are building a higher-protein breakfast, nonfat gives you more per calorie.
There is a cost. Sodium rises to 189 mg, or 8% of the daily value, compared with 113 mg and 5% for whole milk. Sugar is also higher at 18.8 g, against 11.4 g. Choose whole milk if you want the lowest sugar and a richer texture, and nonfat if protein is the number you care about. Both labels say plain, so read the fat line before you buy.
A low-sodium base that takes toppings well
With 46 mg of sodium and 13 mg of cholesterol per 100 g, plain whole-milk yogurt is a quiet line on most food logs. It also gives you 155 mg of potassium per 100 g. Of all the nutrition rows, calories and saturated fat are the ones that change as the bowl gets bigger.
The toppings decide what the bowl ends up being. Fruit adds fiber that yogurt lacks, nuts or seeds add fat and crunch, and granola or honey can push the total well past the 149 of the yogurt itself. If you log the yogurt, log the toppings too, or the number on your screen will be too low.
Plain yogurt also works in savory food as a sauce, a dip base or a sour cream stand-in, where a few spoonfuls add little. BodyPal can log a bowl from a photo, which makes it easier to count a loaded breakfast bowl in one go.
How does plain yogurt compare?
Here plain yogurt is compared with cup yogurt and yogurt ice cream, per 100 g and per usual serving.
Verdict: If you are watching calories, choose plain yogurt: it has 61 calories and 3.5 g of protein per 100 g, while yogurt ice cream has 127 calories and 3 g, about 2.1 times the energy with 21.6 g of carbs. Cup yogurt matches it at 61 calories, so it is the same choice under a different name, and the frozen version is a dessert.
Most popular plain yogurt brands in the United States
Ranked by popularity in the BodyPal database
# Productkcal / 100 g
1Wegmans Greek Nonfat Yogurt Plain8 oz · 227 g57 kcal
Several of these tubs are Greek or strained yogurt, which is thicker and reads higher in protein and lower in sugar per 100 g than regular plain yogurt. Source: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Plain yogurt FAQs
How many calories are in a cup of plain yogurt?
One cup of whole milk plain yogurt (245 g) has 149 calories. A 6 oz container has 104 calories.
Is plain yogurt good for weight loss?
A cup of whole milk plain yogurt has 149 calories and 8.5 g protein. Nonfat plain yogurt drops to 137 calories per cup with 14.0 g protein.
Plain yogurt vs cottage cheese: which has fewer calories?
Plain yogurt has 61 calories per 100 g and cottage cheese has 98 calories per 100 g.
How much protein and sugar are in plain yogurt?
Per 100 g there are 3.5 g protein and 4.7 g sugar. A 245 g cup has 8.5 g protein and 11.4 g sugar.
How many calories are in a bowl of plain yogurt?
A one-cup bowl (245 g) has 149 calories, and a two-cup bowl (490 g) has 299. Most cereal bowls hold more than one cup, so weigh yours once to see which number fits.
How many calories are in one container of plain yogurt?
A 170 g container of whole-milk plain yogurt has 104 calories, with 5.9 g of protein, 7.9 g of sugars and 78 mg of sodium. That is 5% of the daily calorie value.
How many calories does unsweetened yogurt have per 100 g?
Unsweetened whole-milk yogurt has 61 calories per 100 g. That comes with 3.5 g of protein, 4.7 g of carbs, all of it sugar from the milk, and 3.3 g of fat.
What are the nutrition facts for 1 cup of whole-milk yogurt?
One cup (245 g) has 149 calories, 8 g of fat, 11.4 g of carbs, 8.5 g of protein and 113 mg of sodium. Fat supplies 47% of the calories and fiber is 0.
Does regular yogurt have more calories than nonfat?
Only slightly. A cup of regular whole-milk yogurt has 149 calories, while a nonfat cup has 137. Nonfat has more protein, at 14 g against 8.5 g, but also more sugar and sodium.
