Free tools
Chicken breast: raw to cooked weight
Raw and cooked, both ways
This converter needs JavaScript. The tables below work without it.
An estimate from USDA data. Cooking time, heat and the piece itself move the result.
Chicken breast: every method
| Method | Yield | 100 g raw | 150 g raw | 200 g raw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skinless, roasted | 72.5% | 73 g | 109 g | 145 g |
| Skinless, grilled | 73.7% | 74 g | 111 g | 147 g |
| Skinless, braised | 70.2% | 70 g | 105 g | 140 g |
| Skinless, stewed | 77.6% | 78 g | 116 g | 155 g |
| With skin, roasted | 72% (61–82%) | 72 g (61–82) | 108 g (92–123) | 144 g (122–164) |
| With skin, poached or stewed | 77% (70–88%) | 77 g (70–88) | 116 g (105–132) | 154 g (140–176) |
| Method | Raw, per 100 g | Cooked, per 100 g | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skinless, roasted | 120 kcal · 22.5 g protein | 165 kcal · 31 g protein | derived from protein · FDC 171077, FDC 171477 |
| Skinless, grilled | 120 kcal · 22.5 g protein | 151 kcal · 30.5 g protein | derived from protein · FDC 171077, FDC 171534 |
| Skinless, braised | 120 kcal · 22.5 g protein | 157 kcal · 32.1 g protein | derived from protein · FDC 171077, FDC 171140 |
| Skinless, stewed | 120 kcal · 22.5 g protein | 151 kcal · 29 g protein | derived from protein · FDC 171077, FDC 171478 |
| With skin, roasted | 172 kcal · 20.9 g protein | 197 kcal · 29.8 g protein | USDA yields table, NDB 5060, 1975 · FDC 171474, FDC 171075 |
| With skin, poached or stewed | 172 kcal · 20.9 g protein | 184 kcal · 27.4 g protein | USDA yields table, NDB 5061, 1975 · FDC 171474, FDC 171076 |
Roasted skinless chicken breast keeps about 72.5% of its raw weight: 100 g raw becomes about 73 g, and 200 g becomes 145 g. The protein stays in the meat; what leaves is water.
What cooking does to a chicken breast
Breast is lean, with 2.6 g of fat per 100 g raw, so nearly all of what it loses is water: 73.9 g per 100 g raw against 65.3 g once roasted. How much leaves depends on the heat and the time. USDA's pairs for skinless breast run from 70.2% braised to 77.6% stewed, with grilled at 73.7% and roasted at 72.5%. These yields are derived, not weighed: protein raw ÷ protein cooked, from USDA's raw breast entry and each cooked one.
With the skin on, USDA has measured rows from its 1975 handbook: 72% for roasted breast, anywhere from 61% to 82%, and 77% for poached or stewed, from 70% to 88%. The skin also gives up fat, about 3.6 g per 100 g raw when roasted, so the cooked entry shows less energy than the raw one.
A worked example
You roast a tray of skinless breasts and weigh out 150 g. That portion started as 150 ÷ 0.7253 = 207 g raw. The raw entry gives 248 kcal and 47 g of protein; the roasted entry, 150 g × 165 kcal per 100 g, also gives 248 kcal. Log 150 g against a cooked entry or 207 g against a raw one. Logging 150 g against the raw entry would come to 180 kcal, 68 kcal short.
Should I log chicken breast raw or cooked?
Whichever matches the entry you pick. If you cook for several days at once, weighing raw is simplest: one weighing, one raw entry. For a plate someone else cooked, weigh it cooked and use a cooked entry. The guide Should you weigh food raw or cooked? shows why the two must match.
Does the cooking method change the protein?
Hardly. Roasting, grilling and stewing keep the protein of the raw piece; they change how concentrated it looks per 100 g. Does cooking change protein content in chicken? goes through the numbers.
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy: skinless breast raw, 171077, roasted, 171477, grilled, 171534, braised, 171140 and stewed, 171478; breast with skin raw, 171474, roasted, 171075 and stewed, 171076.
- USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry (2014): rows NDB 5060, breast with skin, baked or roasted, 72% (61–82%), and NDB 5061, poached, simmered or stewed, 77% (70–88%), both from Agriculture Handbook 102 (1975).
Try other foods in the raw to cooked weight converter, or see chicken thigh, which keeps more of its weight. To split a cooked dish into portions, use the recipe-portion calculator.