Medical Disclaimer: This calculator provides a general estimate based on established research and is for educational purposes only, not a substitute for medical advice. Individual results can vary based on health conditions, so consult a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian before making significant changes to your diet, exercise, or health routine. Read our full Medical Disclaimer.
How Raw to Cooked Weight Is Calculated
Cooking yield is the cooked weight of a food as a percent of its raw weight. Meat and fish lose water and fat as they cook, so their yield is under 100 percent. Rice, pasta and oats soak up water, so their yield is well over 100 percent.
What Cooking Yield Measures
Yield tells you how much a food's weight changes when it is cooked. It does not change the calories you started with, except for fat that melts out and stays in the pan. That is why a calorie value for raw food can be turned into a value for cooked food once you know the yield.
The Formula
Cooked weight = raw weight x yield / 100
Raw weight = cooked weight / (yield / 100)
Calories = raw weight x calories per 100 g raw / 100, minus 9 kcal for each gram of fat that cooks out
Calories per 100 g cooked = calories / cooked weight x 100
USDA measures yield as the hot cooked weight divided by the raw weight¹, and 9 kcal per gram is the standard energy factor for fat⁴.
How This Calculator Computes Your Result
Choose the direction (raw to cooked, or cooked to raw), the food and the cooking method, then enter a weight in g, kg, oz or lb. Meat and poultry yields come from the USDA Table of Cooking Yields¹. Rice, pasta, oats, quinoa and potato yields are worked out from USDA's raw and cooked records for the same food². Fish uses USDA's general fish fillet yield³.
For calories, enter the label value for the raw or dry food, per 100 g or per serving. Some foods have a USDA average filled in. Where USDA measured fat loss, the fat that cooks out is left out unless you switch that off. Weights show to the nearest gram, 0.1 oz or 0.01 lb, and calories to whole numbers. Most meat results also show USDA's lowest and highest test yields. Choose Custom to enter your own raw and cooked batch weights.
What Your Result Means
The cooked weight is what your raw portion should weigh after cooking, on average. Calories per 100 g cooked below use USDA raw values, with cooked-out fat not eaten.
Food and method | Yield | 100 g raw becomes | Raw weight for 100 g cooked | kcal per 100 g cooked |
Chicken breast, roasted | 72% | 72 g | 139 g | 167 |
Ground beef 90/10, patty, grilled | 73% | 73 g | 137 g | 222 |
Ground beef 80/20, patty, grilled | 69% | 69 g | 145 g | 301 |
Ground beef 75/25, crumbles, pan-fried | 62% | 62 g | 161 g | 290 |
Rib eye steak, boneless, grilled | 82.2% | 82.2 g | 122 g | Use label |
Pork chop, boneless, grilled (enhanced) | 82% | 82 g | 122 g | Use label |
Fish fillet, such as salmon, cooked | 70% | 70 g | 143 g | Use label |
White rice, long-grain, boiled | 281% | 281 g | 36 g | 130 |
Brown rice, long-grain, boiled | 298% | 298 g | 34 g | 123 |
Pasta, boiled | 235% | 235 g | 43 g | 158 |
Oats, cooked with water | 534% | 534 g | 19 g | 71 |
Quinoa, boiled | 307% | 307 g | 33 g | 120 |
Russet potato, baked | 83% | 83 g | 120 g | 95 |
Use the "Raw weight for 100 g cooked" column when you weigh a cooked portion but log raw food: 150 g of roasted chicken breast is about 208 g raw. Check the range under your result too. Roasted chicken breast kept 61 to 82 percent of its weight in USDA tests¹, so one piece can differ a lot from the average.
Why Fat Loss Changes the Calorie Math
Lean meat mostly loses water, so its calories stay in the cooked piece. Fatty meat also loses fat. In USDA tests, ground beef over 22 percent fat lost 12.0 to 12.9 g of fat per 100 g raw, while beef under 12 percent fat lost only 1.4 to 1.7 g¹. Each gram of fat is about 9 kcal⁴, so 100 g of raw 75/25 ground beef loses over 100 kcal into the pan.
So the tool takes off that fat by default. For 75/25 beef patties this gives 294 kcal per 100 g cooked, close to USDA's cooked patty value of 279². Without the fat step it would be 465 kcal, about two thirds too high. For 90/10 patties the gap is small (222 with fat loss, 241 without, against USDA's 217)². If you eat the drippings, switch the fat option off.
Common Mistakes When Converting Raw and Cooked Weights
Mixing states. Logging 200 g of cooked rice as dry rice counts 730 kcal instead of about 260 kcal². Match raw with raw and cooked with cooked.
Using a cooked label value as raw. Some rice and pasta labels list cooked servings. Dry rice, pasta, oats and quinoa have about 365 to 380 kcal per 100 g in USDA data².
Weighing at a different time. USDA weighed meat hot, just after a short rest¹, so weigh soon after cooking for the closest match.
Assuming one yield fits every pot. Oats can be made thick or thin. Another USDA guide uses 0.75 lb cooked per pound for ground beef with no more than 15 percent fat³, a little higher than the table's crumbles values. Treat any yield as an average.
For the most accurate number, weigh a whole batch raw and cooked, then use Custom. Weigh bone-in cuts the same way both times.
Cooking Yield by Food and Method
Cooked weight as a percent of raw weight. Under 100% means the food loses weight as it cooks.
Show data table
| Food and method | Yield (%) |
|---|---|
| Chicken breast, roasted | 72.0 |
| Ground beef 90/10, patty, grilled | 73.0 |
| Ground beef 80/20, patty, grilled | 69.0 |
| Ground beef 75/25, crumbles, pan-fried | 62.0 |
| Rib eye steak, boneless, grilled | 82.2 |
| Pork chop, boneless, grilled (enhanced) | 82.0 |
| Fish fillet, such as salmon, cooked | 70.0 |
A Note on Accuracy
These yields are USDA averages from controlled cooking tests, and your pan, heat, cooking time and cut will change the real weight. Most chicken figures come from 1975 USDA tests on pieces with skin, and fish uses one general fillet figure. Calories are only as good as the label value you enter. Results are educational estimates, not a lab analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you convert raw weight to cooked weight?
Multiply the raw weight by the cooking yield. For roasted chicken breast with a USDA yield of 72 percent, 200 g raw becomes about 144 g cooked¹.
How much weight does meat lose when cooked?
Most steaks, chops and ground beef in USDA tests kept about 62 to 85 percent of their raw weight, so they lost roughly 15 to 38 percent¹. Fattier ground beef and braised cuts lose the most.
How much does 100 g of dry rice weigh when cooked?
Based on USDA's raw and cooked records, 100 g of dry long-grain white rice makes about 281 g of cooked rice². Brown rice makes about 298 g.
Is it more accurate to weigh food raw or cooked?
Raw weight is more reliable because it does not depend on how long you cook the food, and the label on raw meat or dry rice describes the food as sold. If you weigh cooked food, use your own batch yield, or a cooked food entry, for the best estimate.
Sources
USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, USDA Agricultural Research Service, 2014
USDA FoodData Central, USDA Agricultural Research Service
Food Buying Guide, Appendix B, USDA Food and Nutrition Service
Energy Value of Foods: Basis and Derivation, Merrill and Watt, 1955