Nutrition facts · Grains, bread and pasta
Calories in Polenta (dry cornmeal)
Dry polenta (cornmeal) has 370 calories per 100 g, and 1 cup of dry cornmeal (157 g) has 581 calories. Most of those calories come from carbohydrates, with 79.5 g of carbs per 100 g compared with 7.1 g of protein and 1.8 g of fat.
Calories come from: Carbs 88% · Fat 4% · Protein 8%
Common servings
| Serving | Weight | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 370 kcal | 7.1 g | 79.5 g | 1.8 g |
| 1 cup, dry | 157 g | 581 kcal | 11.2 g | 124.7 g | 2.7 g |
Full nutrition (Per 100 g)
| Calories | 370 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 7.1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 79.5 g |
| of which sugars | 1.6 g |
| Fiber | 3.9 g |
| Fat | 1.8 g |
| of which saturated | 0.2 g |
| Sodium | 7 mg |
What changes the calories
- These numbers are for dry cornmeal; cooked polenta absorbs a lot of water, so the same weight of cooked polenta has far fewer calories than dry.
- Butter, cheese, cream or oil stirred in while cooking add their own calories on top of the cornmeal.
- Cooking polenta with milk or stock instead of water adds the calories of that liquid.
- Fried or grilled polenta slices pick up calories from the oil used in the pan.
Tips for logging it accurately
- Weigh the dry cornmeal before cooking and log that amount, then split it by the number of portions you serve.
- If you only weigh cooked polenta, choose a cooked polenta entry when logging rather than the dry cornmeal values here.
- Log butter, cheese and other add-ins separately, or snap a photo of your plate in BerryFit so toppings are not missed.
Log Polenta (dry cornmeal) in seconds
Snap a photo of your meal or search for Polenta (dry cornmeal) in BerryFit to track calories and macros against your own daily target.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories are in a cup of dry polenta?
One cup of dry cornmeal (157 g) has 581 calories, with 124.7 g of carbs, 11.2 g of protein and 2.7 g of fat.
Does cooked polenta have fewer calories than dry?
Per gram, yes. Cooking adds water but no calories, so the calories of the dry cornmeal are spread over a much heavier cooked portion.
Is polenta high in protein?
Not especially. Dry cornmeal has 7.1 g of protein per 100 g, while carbs make up most of its calories at 79.5 g per 100 g.
How does polenta compare to semolina or oats in calories?
They are close when dry: cornmeal has 370 calories per 100 g, semolina 360 and oats 379.
Similar foods
Calories in common foodsValues per 100 g from USDA FoodData Central (Cornmeal, degermed, enriched, yellow, FDC ID 168867); 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.
