Calories in oats

Raw, rolled or steel-cut. 389 kcal (1,628 kJ) per 100 g. Choose a portion below and every figure on the page updates.

Dry oats look alarming at 389 kcal per 100 g, but a normal 40 g portion is about 156 kcal before anything is added. Oats are the main dietary source of beta-glucan, a soluble fibre with a well-documented cholesterol-lowering effect.

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

• Cooked porridge made with water is roughly 71 kcal per 100 g, because the oats absorb around four times their weight in liquid.
• Roughly 4 g of the 10.6 g fibre per 100 g is beta-glucan. European and US authorities both permit a cholesterol-lowering claim at around 3 g of beta-glucan per day.
• Rolled, steel-cut, and instant oats are nutritionally almost identical. They differ in glycaemic response, not in calories.
• Oats supply more protein than most cereal grains, at about 17 g per 100 g dry.

Converting these figures

One 40 g serving, dry of oats is 156 kcal, which is 651 kJ. To convert any other figure, divide kilojoules by 4.184 for calories, or use the converter on the home page.

It takes 61 g of oats to reach 1,000 kJ (239 kcal). See how that compares with other foods on the 1000 kJ to calories page.