Plain cooked white rice has about 130 calories per 100 g (about 200 in a cup); raw rice has about 360 per 100 g because it has no water yet. Rice cooked with oil or ghee, as in kabsa, often reaches 170 to 200 per 100 g.
Rice is the base of most meals in the Gulf, so knowing its numbers makes a big difference to your daily calories.
Cooked vs raw: the most common mix-up
- Raw white rice: about 360 calories per 100 g
- Cooked plain white rice: about 130 calories per 100 g
The rice is the same; cooked rice simply has soaked up water and weighs about two and a half to three times as much as it did raw. So always check whether a number is for raw or cooked rice, and weigh it the same way you log it.
By type (cooked, plain)
- White rice: about 130 per 100 g
- Basmati: about 120 to 130 per 100 g
- Brown rice: about 110 to 125 per 100 g, with more fibre
- Egyptian (short grain): about 130 per 100 g
The differences between types are small. Brown rice keeps you fuller thanks to its fibre, but the portion matters far more than the type.
Rice cooked with fat
Kabsa, mandi and bukhari rice are cooked with oil, ghee or the fat from the meat. Depending on how much is used, this kind of rice often has about 170 to 200 calories per 100 g. A tablespoon of oil adds about 120 calories to the pot, and every spoon counts.
A heaped plate of rice can easily weigh 300 to 400 g: that is 400 to 800 calories before the chicken or meat.
Calories in 100, 200, 300 and 400 g of cooked rice
Approximate calories, weighing the rice after cooking:
| Weight | Plain white rice | Kabsa or mandi rice |
|---|---|---|
| 100 g | 130 | 170 to 200 |
| 150 g | 195 | 255 to 300 |
| 200 g | 260 | 340 to 400 |
| 300 g | 390 | 510 to 600 |
| 400 g | 520 | 680 to 800 |
How much rice in a portion?
- One cup of cooked rice weighs about 150 to 160 g: about 200 calories plain.
- A closed fist of cooked rice is roughly 150 g.
- A full restaurant plate is often 300 to 450 g.
Rice and weight loss
Rice does not cause weight gain by itself; total calories do. To keep rice in your diet:
- Fill half the plate with salad or vegetables, a quarter with protein, a quarter with rice.
- Weigh your usual plate once, so you know what you eat.
- Ask for less rice and more salad when eating out.
Protein in rice
Cooked rice has about 2.5 to 3 g of protein per 100 g, so it is not a protein source. Pair it with chicken, meat, fish or lentils.
Sources
- Nutrition values for white rice, records 168877 (raw) and 168878 (cooked): USDA FoodData Central
- Carbohydrate quality, fibre, whole grains and health: Reynolds et al., 2019
The takeaway
Plain cooked rice is about 130 calories per 100 g, rice cooked with oil about 170 to 200, and raw rice about 360. Shulah's food catalogue has everyday foods with their nutrition, so you can log your plate in seconds.