How Many Grams of Protein in a Chicken Breast? Raw vs Cooked

A cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast has about 56 g of protein. Per 100 g (3.5 oz), the USDA’s record for braised breast lists 32 g. Raw breast has less per gram, 22.5 g per 100 g in the raw record, because it still holds its water. The two numbers only match when you compare the same state.

How many grams of protein are in one chicken breast?

It depends on the size of the piece and on whether you weigh it raw or cooked. The USDA lists a whole cooked breast at 174–196 g, and that holds 56–60 g of protein (braised, grilled). A raw piece of 272 g holds about 61 g. A half breast holds 26.7 g.

Portion	State	Weight	Protein	Energy
Whole breast, 1 piece	braised	174 g	55.9 g	289 kcal
Whole breast, 1 piece	grilled	196 g	59.9 g	296 kcal
Half breast	roasted	86 g	26.7 g	142 kcal
Whole breast, 1 piece	raw	272 g	61.2 g	326 kcal
Portion of 4 oz	raw	113 g	25.4 g	136 kcal

Each figure is the record’s value per 100 g times its listed weight. Braised: 32.1 g × 1.74 = 55.9 g, and 166 kcal × 1.74 = 289 kcal.

For scale, the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans set 1.2–1.6 g of protein per kg of body weight a day. A 70 kg (154 lb) adult works out to 84–112 g. One braised breast covers half to two-thirds of it, and how much protein you should eat a day explains where that range comes from. Type your height and weight into the protein calculator and it applies the same range.

Your breast may weigh more or less than the record’s. Weigh it once, then use that weight.

Does chicken breast have more protein raw or cooked?

Per gram, cooked wins. The raw record lists 22.5 g of protein per 100 g and the braised record 32.1 g. Per breast the totals come out close. The gap is water: 74.8 g per 100 g in the raw record, 65.3 g in the braised one. Cooking drives water out. A breast gets lighter in the pan, and its protein stays.

If no protein is lost, 100 g of raw breast ends up near 70 g cooked (22.5 ÷ 32.1). That’s my estimate from two records, not a measured yield. It fits the table, though: a raw piece of 272 g would cook down to about 191 g, between the cooked pieces of 174 g and 196 g.

Weigh cooked chicken, pick the raw record, and you undercount protein by about 30%. Weigh raw chicken and pick the cooked record, and you overcount it by 43%. Match the record to the scale. Either weigh the chicken before cooking and log a raw entry, or weigh it on the plate and log a cooked one.

How many calories are in a chicken breast?

Cooked skinless breast has between 151 kcal (grilled) and 187 kcal (fried) per 100 g. Raw skinless breast has 112 kcal. The table lists protein and energy per 100 g for each record, plus how much protein you get per 100 kcal.

Chicken breast	State	Protein	Energy	Protein per 100 kcal
Skinless, boneless	raw	22.5 g	112 kcal	20.1 g
Skinless, boneless	braised	32.1 g	166 kcal	19.3 g
Meat only	roasted	31.0 g	165 kcal	18.8 g
Skinless, boneless	grilled	30.5 g	151 kcal	20.2 g
Meat only	stewed	29.0 g	151 kcal	19.2 g
Meat only	fried	33.4 g	187 kcal	17.9 g
Meat and skin	roasted	29.8 g	197 kcal	15.1 g

Skin and frying move the energy most. Roasted breast with skin has 197 kcal per 100 g against 165 kcal without it, which is 32 kcal more and 1.2 g less protein, and fried breast has 187 kcal against 151 for grilled.

A tablespoon of olive oil weighs 13.5 g and has 119 kcal (884 kcal per 100 g × 13.5 g). If most of it ends up on the chicken, log it as its own entry.

Two raw records for skinless breast list 112 and 120 kcal per 100 g: the Foundation one above and an older SR Legacy record. A gap of 8 kcal on 100 g is noise. Pick one record and stay with it.

Per calorie, grilled and raw breast lead at about 20 g per 100 kcal. Skin-on roasted is last at 15 g, and no skinless record drops below 17.9 g. If a day runs short, a shake is the quick fix, and high protein shakes are compared there by grams and calories.

How much protein does chicken have in other cuts?

Thigh and drumstick have less protein per 100 g than breast, but the records use different cooking methods, so read the gaps as rough.

Cut	State	Protein per 100 g	Energy per 100 g	Protein per 100 kcal
Breast	roasted	31.0 g	165 kcal	18.8 g
Thigh	roasted	24.8 g	179 kcal	13.8 g
Drumstick	braised	23.9 g	156 kcal	15.3 g

Roasted thigh has 6.3 g less protein than breast per 100 g and 14 kcal more. A skinless thigh weighs 116 g in the record and gives 28.7 g (24.76 g × 1.16). A drumstick without skin, 94.7 g, gives 22.6 g. Log dark meat as its own entry and don’t borrow the breast numbers.

How do I log chicken breast so the number is right?

Weigh it in the state your entry describes, and log what goes on it as separate entries. I log chicken raw whenever I can, since the weight on the package is a raw weight.

Batch cooking is where raw weights help most. Say you cook 1,000 g of raw breast. At 22.5 g per 100 g (the same raw record) that is 1,000 × 22.5 ÷ 100 = 225 g of protein. Split it into five equal boxes and each box holds 45 g, however much water the meat loses in the oven. You never need the cooked weight. For something to put in those boxes, the high protein chicken recipes are weighed ingredient by ingredient.

Breading, marinades and sauces aren’t in the plain-breast records. Log them next to the chicken. Eggs go in the same way, and the grams of protein in an egg shift with size.

If you have kidney disease, your doctor sets the protein target. Not this page.

Calsa puts the source and the “per 100 g × grams” math on each entry, so you can see which state of chicken it used.