Calories in lentils

Cooked, boiled, without salt. 116 kcal (485 kJ) per 100 g. Choose a portion below and every figure on the page updates.

Lentils, boiled without salt, provide 116 kcal (485 kJ) per 100 g, mainly from starch, with 9 g of protein and almost no fat. They are one of the most fibre-dense everyday foods at 7.9 g per 100 g, and they are rich in folate and iron. That combination of protein, fibre and slowly digested carbohydrate is why lentils feature so heavily in vegetarian cooking.

Where the energy comes from

Share of total energy contributed by each macronutrient, using the standard 4/4/9 kcal per gram factors:

Things worth knowing

• One cup of cooked lentils (198 g) has about 230 kcal / 961 kJ, 18 g of protein and 15.6 g of fibre, which is more than half the 28 g Daily Value.
• Check whether a label or recipe means dry or cooked weight: raw lentils are 352 kcal per 100 g, roughly three times the cooked figure, because they absorb a lot of water.
• A cup of cooked lentils provides about 358 µg of folate (around 90% of the Daily Value) and 6.6 mg of iron (about 37%).
• Red lentils (358 kcal per 100 g raw, against 352 kcal for lentils in general) are close in energy to brown or green ones; they simply cook faster and break down into a purée.

Converting these figures

One 1 cup, cooked of lentils is 230 kcal, which is 961 kJ. To convert any other figure, divide kilojoules by 4.184 for calories, or use the converter on the home page.

It takes 206 g of lentils to reach 1,000 kJ (239 kcal). See how that compares with other foods on the 1000 kJ to calories page.