Nutrition facts · Grains, bread and pasta
Calories in Pasta (cooked)
Cooked pasta has 158 calories per 100 g, and 1 cup of cooked spaghetti (124 g) has 196 calories. Most of those calories come from carbohydrates, with 30.9 g of carbs per 100 g compared with 5.8 g of protein and just 0.9 g of fat.
Calories come from: Carbs 80% · Fat 5% · Protein 15%
Common servings
| Serving | Weight | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 158 kcal | 5.8 g | 30.9 g | 0.9 g |
| 1 cup spaghetti | 124 g | 196 kcal | 7.2 g | 38.3 g | 1.2 g |
| 1 cup penne | 107 g | 169 kcal | 6.2 g | 33 g | 1 g |
| 1 cup elbow macaroni | 120 g | 190 kcal | 7 g | 37 g | 1.1 g |
| 1 cup shells | 105 g | 166 kcal | 6.1 g | 32.4 g | 1 g |
Full nutrition (Per 100 g)
| Calories | 158 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 5.8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 30.9 g |
| of which sugars | 0.6 g |
| Fiber | 1.8 g |
| Fat | 0.9 g |
| of which saturated | 0.2 g |
| Sodium | 1 mg |
What changes the calories
- Dry pasta absorbs water as it cooks, so the same pasta has far more calories per gram before cooking than after, and mixing up dry and cooked weights is a common logging error.
- Cooking time changes how much water the pasta soaks up, so softer, longer-cooked pasta weighs more and has slightly fewer calories per gram than firmer pasta.
- Sauces, butter, oil, and cheese often add more calories than you might expect, sometimes rivaling the pasta itself.
- Shape affects how much fits in a cup, which is why 1 cup of spaghetti is 196 calories while 1 cup of shells is 166 calories.
Tips for logging it accurately
- Weigh your pasta after cooking and draining, and log it as cooked pasta; if you weigh it dry, log it as dry pasta instead.
- Log sauces, oil, butter, and grated cheese as separate entries so their calories are not missed.
- In BerryFit, snap a photo of your plate to log the meal quickly, then adjust the portion to your weighed amount for accuracy.
Log Pasta (cooked) in seconds
Snap a photo of your meal or search for Pasta (cooked) in BerryFit to track calories and macros against your own daily target.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories are in a cup of cooked pasta?
It depends on the shape: 1 cup of cooked spaghetti has 196 calories, elbow macaroni 190, penne 169, and shells 166. Weighing gives a more consistent result than measuring by the cup.
How much protein is in cooked pasta?
Cooked pasta has 5.8 g of protein per 100 g. A cup of cooked spaghetti provides 7.2 g.
Does cooked pasta have more calories than rice?
Per 100 g cooked, pasta has 158 calories while white rice has 130 calories. Pasta is also a bit higher than cooked egg noodles, at 138 calories per 100 g.
Why does dry pasta have more calories than cooked pasta?
The total calories don't change when pasta cooks, but it absorbs water and gets heavier. That spreads the same calories over more grams, so cooked pasta has fewer calories per 100 g than dry.
Similar foods
Calories in common foodsValues per 100 g from USDA FoodData Central (Pasta, cooked, enriched, without added salt, FDC ID 169737); servings use USDA portion weights. Real foods vary by variety, ripeness and preparation.
The text on this page was written with the help of AI (Anthropic's Claude) and checked against the numbers in a separate review. The numbers themselves come only from USDA.
