How many calories are in a zebra cake?
One zebra cake — the 42 g creme-filled sponge kind with white icing and chocolate stripes — carries 157 calories. Per 100 g the same cake runs 374 calories, which is where the trouble starts: almost nobody eats one. The standard wrapped pack holds two, and that pack lands at 277.
You'd need to walk about 31 minutes to burn the 157 calories in one snack cake (42 g).
How long does it take to burn off a zebra cake?
One snack cake (42 g) is 157 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 157 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 31 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 20 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 22 min |
| Jogging | 18 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 35 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 (42 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Zebra cake quick facts
- Zebra cake servings, from one ounce to a two-pack
- Little Debbie packs, rolls and other snack cakes
- Sodium is the row nobody expects
- How does a zebra cake compare?
- Most popular zebra cake brands
- FAQ
Zebra cake quick facts
The numbers below come from SR Legacy 174943, "Cake, snack cakes, creme-filled, sponge". That row is the closest structural match in the database: a yellow sponge cake with a creme filling and a sugar coating, which is exactly how a zebra cake is built. Branded rows exist too, and they run hotter — more on that below — but they are incomplete, missing sugars, saturated fat and fiber, so they belong in a comparison table rather than at the top of the page.
The portion column is a 42 g cake, the size of a single piece out of a two-cake wrapper.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 snack cake (42 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 374 | 157 | — |
| Total fat | 11.54 g | 4.8 g | 6% |
| Saturated fat | 4.14 g | 1.7 g | 9% |
| Carbohydrate | 64.03 g | 26.9 g | 10% |
| Dietary fiber | 1 g | 0.4 g | 2% |
| Total sugars | 37.3 g | 15.7 g | — |
| Protein | 3.47 g | 1.5 g | 3% |
| Sodium | 470 mg | 197 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 →
There is no added sugars row here because USDA does not publish added sugars for this record — the SR Legacy edition predates that line on the label. Total sugars have no Daily Value either, which is why that cell is a dash. Two more rows worth knowing: 17 mg of cholesterol per cake, 6% of the Daily Value, and 30 mg of potassium, about 1%.
Notice the shape of the food. Two thirds of the dry weight is carbohydrate, and more than half of that carbohydrate is sugar. Protein is a rounding error at 1.5 g. This is a dessert doing dessert things, and the useful question is not whether it fits a day but how many fit.
Zebra cake servings, from one ounce to a two-pack
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 106 kcal |
| One cake, label size | 37 g | 138 kcal |
| One snack cake | 42 g | 157 kcal |
| One wrapped pack, two cakes | 74 g | 277 kcal |
| Two snack cakes | 84 g | 314 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 374 kcal |
The 42 g cake and the one-ounce line are USDA measures. The 37 g cake, the 74 g pack and the 84 g pair are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings — we scaled 374 calories per 100 g down to those weights.
That distinction matters more here than on most pages, because zebra cakes are sold in several sizes and the wrapper does not always tell you the gram weight per cake. If you log by piece, weigh one cake once and reuse the number. A 5 g error per cake is only about 19 calories, but across a two-pack, five days a week, it adds up to something you would notice on the scale at the end of a month.
Little Debbie packs, rolls and other snack cakes
Here is the single most useful fact on this page. The generic USDA sponge row is 374 calories per 100 g. The Little Debbie Zebra Cakes branded record is 446 per 100 g — about 19% denser, gram for gram. So the same 74 g wrapped pack that the generic math prices at 277 is printed on the box as 330. The label wins, because the label is measuring the actual cake in your hand.
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical piece | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, two-cake pack | 446 kcal | 2 cakes (74 g) | 330 kcal |
| Little Debbie Zebra Cake Rolls | 452 kcal | 1 roll (62 g) | 280 kcal |
| Chocolate creme-filled snack cake | 399 kcal | 1 cupcake (50 g) | 200 kcal |
| Low-fat creme-filled snack cake with fiber | 409 kcal | 1 cake (27 g) | 110 kcal |
The roll is the sleeper. At 452 calories per 100 g it is the densest version on this page, and a 62 g roll is 280 — more than a whole two-cake generic pack, from what looks like one item. Little Debbie also lists a large single cake at 437 per 100 g, 380 for an 87 g piece, and a smaller 61 g cake at 270.
The low-fat chocolate row rewards a second look. At 409 calories per 100 g it is denser than both the regular sponge cake at 374 and the regular chocolate one at 399, because the fat that came out was replaced by carbohydrate: 69.37 g per 100 g against 64.03 g. It does carry real fiber, 14.9 g per 100 g, which is the one nutritional advantage anywhere in this group. Low-fat is not the same as low-calorie, and this is a clean example of the difference.
Sodium is the row nobody expects
One 42 g cake carries 197 mg of sodium, 9% of the FDA Daily Value of 2,300 mg. That is roughly a tenth of a teaspoon of table salt, hidden inside something that tastes only sweet. Eat the pack and you are at 347 mg, about 15% of the day, before lunch.
Saturated fat behaves the same way: 1.7 g per cake is 9% of the 20 g Daily Value, and a two-cake pack reaches 3.1 g, about 15% of the day. Neither number is alarming on its own. Both are larger than people expect from a lunchbox item, and both come with almost no fiber — 0.4 g per cake against a 28 g Daily Value — and almost no protein.
If you are watching sodium or saturated fat, the practical move is not to ban the cake but to spend it deliberately. MyPlate frames this well: the room for foods like this is what is left after the day's basics are covered, not a separate budget. One cake at 157 calories fits most days. The pack at 277, plus a soda, starts eating a meal's worth of room.
How does a zebra cake compare?
| Snack | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zebra cake (creme-filled sponge) | 374 kcal | one cake, 42 g | 157 kcal |
| Chocolate creme-filled snack cake | 399 kcal | one cupcake, 50 g | 200 kcal |
| Low-fat creme-filled cake with fiber | 409 kcal | one cake, 27 g | 110 kcal |
| Blueberry muffin, commercially prepared | 375 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 106 kcal |
Our take: the zebra cake is the lightest of these four per 100 g, at 374, and the commercially made blueberry muffin sits one calorie above it at 375. Per gram there is no meaningful difference between the wrapped dessert and the coffee-shop muffin people reach for instead — the muffin just arrives in a much bigger piece. For weight loss, the honest pick is the single 42 g cake at 157, eaten as the whole snack; for staying full, none of these four work, because a 3.47 g protein food does not hold anyone until dinner. Pair the cake with something that has protein, or accept that you will be hungry again in an hour.
Most popular zebra cake 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) |
|---|---|
| Little Debbie Zebra Cakes | 446 cal |
| Little Debbie Zebra Cake (large) | 437 cal |
| Little Debbie Zebra Cake | 443 cal |
| Little Debbie Zebra Cake Rolls | 452 cal |
| Little Debbie Zebra Cake Roll | 435 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Zebra cake FAQs
How many calories are in one zebra cake?
157 calories for one 42 g creme-filled sponge snack cake, using the USDA generic row at 374 calories per 100 g. The Little Debbie label prints a different figure because the brand's own cake is denser, 446 per 100 g in the two-cake pack, and its single 61 g cake is listed at 270.
How many calories are in two zebra cakes?
314 calories if you count two 42 g cakes, our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure. The real wrapped two-cake pack weighs 74 g, which the same math puts at 277, while the Little Debbie label itself lists 330 because the brand's cake is 446 calories per 100 g.
How much sugar is in a zebra cake?
15.7 g of total sugars in one 42 g cake, scaled from 37.3 g per 100 g. A 74 g two-cake pack comes to 27.6 g. Total sugars have no Daily Value on the label, and USDA does not publish added sugars for this record, so no percentage can be put on it honestly.
Are zebra cakes high in sodium?
197 mg per 42 g cake, which is 9% of the FDA Daily Value of 2,300 mg — high for a dessert, roughly a tenth of a teaspoon of table salt. The USDA row is 470 mg per 100 g. A two-cake pack puts you at 347 mg, about 15% of the day.
How many carbs are in a zebra cake?
26.9 g of carbohydrate in one 42 g cake, 10% of the Daily Value, from 64.03 g per 100 g. A 74 g pack works out to 47.4 g. Fiber is negligible at 0.4 g per cake, so the carbohydrate here is essentially all sugar and refined flour.
Zebra cake vs zebra cake roll: which has more calories?
The roll, by 10 calories a piece. USDA's branded records put the zebra cake roll at 452 calories per 100 g, 280 for a 62 g roll, against 443 per 100 g and 270 for a 61 g single cake. The two-cake pack still beats both at 330.
Is a zebra cake worse than a blueberry muffin?
Not per gram: 374 calories per 100 g against 375. USDA lists a commercially prepared blueberry muffin one calorie above the snack cake, gram for gram. The muffin carries more protein, 4.49 g per 100 g against 3.47 g, and more fat, 16.07 g against 11.54 g. Portion size decides this one.
How much protein is in a zebra cake?
1.5 g per 42 g cake, 3% of the 50 g Daily Value, from 3.47 g per 100 g. Even a two-cake pack is only about 2.6 g. That is why the cake does not hold hunger — if you want the snack to carry you, pair it with milk, yogurt or nuts.
Similar foods
- Cinnamon Roll — 335 cal plain, 407 frosted
- Scone — 267 cal per regular scone
- Garlic Bread — 143 cal per slice
- Chocolate chip muffin — 523 cal per medium muffin
- Apple Fritter — 455 cal per fritter
- Crescent roll — 114 cal per crescent roll
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the wrapper and BodyPal counts the cake for you, filling, icing and all.
