1 spoon ghee calories: 1 teaspoon, 1 tablespoon and per 100 g

A spoon is a loose measure, so fix the weight first. In the household-measures table that ICMR-NIN prints with its Dietary Guidelines for Indians, a teaspoon is 5 g and a tablespoon is 15 g. The same document gives fat 9 kcal per gram, which matches the 900 kcal per 100 g that USDA lists for ghee. The rest is multiplication.

So the calories in a teaspoon of ghee (1 tsp, or 5 g) come to 45 kcal. Two spoons of ghee come to 90 kcal when the spoons are teaspoons and 270 kcal when they are tablespoons, which is why it pays to check which spoon a recipe means.

Two things change the weight on the spoon. Set ghee heaps, so a rounded teaspoon of grainy ghee weighs more than 5 g, while melted ghee cannot heap and stays close to the measure. If you count calories closely, weigh your usual spoonful once on a kitchen scale and multiply the grams by 9.

Per 100 g, USDA FoodData Central's entry for ghee shows 900 kcal and 100 g fat, and nothing else of note: 0 g protein, 0 g carbohydrate, 0 g fibre, and no sodium, calcium or iron. With no carbohydrate there is no glycemic index to report.

The table sets ghee beside the two oils most Indian kitchens keep. Mustard oil and groundnut oil each come to 884 kcal and 100 g fat per 100 g, so ghee is 16 kcal higher per 100 g, a gap too small to see on a spoon. Groundnut oil shows a trace of iron (0.03 mg) and zinc (0.01 mg) per 100 g, which is too little to count. For calorie counting the three are interchangeable: a spoon of fat is a spoon of fat.

IFCT 2017, the Indian reference, lists ghee and both oils in its fatty-acid tables only, without energy or mineral values, so the figures here come from USDA. They describe plain ghee with nothing added.

Per 100 g raw, edible portion. Composition: USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy), FDC ID 171314, NDB 1323; USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy), FDC ID 172337, NDB 4583; USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy), FDC ID 171410, NDB 4042. — means not reported. These are average values for the food; the label on a pack gives the values for that product.

Ghee composition fits in one line: in USDA's entry, 100 g of ghee holds 100 g of fat, since the water and milk solids of the butter are cooked out.

Ghee saturated fat. In ICMR-NIN's guidelines, ghee and butter are named as saturated fats, and ghee also supplies cholesterol and some fat of the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated kinds. The USDA entry used on this page prints total fat without the split, so no saturated-fat figure is given.

Cholesterol. Ghee is an animal food, so it contains cholesterol; mustard and groundnut oil, being plant oils, contain none.

Vitamins and butyric acid. COWBERRY's product facts list the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K for its ghee, along with butyric acid, which is a short-chain fatty acid. The reference entry used here prints no amounts for any of them, so no figure is given.

What is missing. Lactose and milk protein go out with the milk solids, which is why protein and carbohydrate both read 0 g, and plain ghee adds no sodium and no sugar. That also settles the A2 question for anyone counting calories: one USDA entry covers ghee whatever the breed or the method, so A2 ghee, bilona ghee and cream ghee all come to 45 kcal a teaspoon. What the labels do mean is set out on the page about A2 Gir cow ghee, and buffalo ghee has a comparison of its own.

Most ghee is eaten a smear or a spoonful at a time. These are the amounts worth knowing.

• On a roti: a thin smear on a hot phulka, counted here as 3 g of ghee, is 27 kcal. A paratha brushed on both sides takes nearer a full teaspoon, 45 kcal.
• In your bowl: a teaspoon stirred into dal, khichdi or hot rice is 45 kcal.
• In a tadka: our dal tadka is tempered twice, with 2 tablespoons of ghee and then 1, so the pot holds 45 g, or 405 kcal, which comes to about 101 kcal on each of four plates.
• In sweets: here ghee goes in by the tablespoon or by weight, and every tablespoon in the pan is 135 kcal. Our moong dal halwa takes 150 g for six servings, which puts 25 g of ghee, or 225 kcal, in each serving before the dal and the jaggery are counted.

The same sum works for any recipe that gives its ghee by the spoon or the gram: turn the ghee into grams, multiply by 9, and divide by the number of laddus or servings. Try it on besan ke laddu or ragi laddu. Festival sweets are where ghee adds up fastest; a thin smear or a single spoonful is where it stays small.

Spoon for spoon, ghee and cooking oils are level. A teaspoon of mustard oil or groundnut oil works out to about 44 kcal against 45 for ghee, and a tablespoon to about 133 kcal against 135. Moving from oil to ghee, or back, does not change the calories in a dish; only the quantity does.

Butter cannot join this comparison in figures, because the reference data behind this page has no entry for it. In words: ghee is butter with its water and milk solids cooked out, so ghee is all fat and butter is not.

What separates the three is the type of fat and how each behaves on the flame. Ghee and butter sit on the saturated side; mustard and groundnut oil, as plant oils, carry no cholesterol and are fair sources of unsaturated fat. Ghee, with its milk solids taken out, has a high smoke point and suits tadka, frying and sauteing; butter still carries those solids. When to reach for which is covered under ghee vs oil, which also explains the butter and ghee difference.

Two official documents answer this. ICMR-NIN's Dietary Guidelines for Indians ask that all visible fat, meaning cooking oil, ghee and butter together, stay between 20 g and 50 g a day depending on how active a person is; for a 2000 kcal diet the figure is 27 to 30 g. Within that, ghee gets a line to itself: ghee or butter is to be kept to 1 to 2 teaspoons a day, and left out altogether where possible. One to two teaspoons of ghee work out to 45 to 90 kcal.

The WHO guideline on saturated fat (2023) points the same way. It asks adults and children to hold saturated fat to a tenth of total energy intake, replacing what is cut with unsaturated fat or with carbohydrate from fibre-rich foods, and ghee counts as a saturated fat; butter, milk and other milk products contain saturated fat as well. ICMR-NIN counts saturated fat use as high once visible saturated fats such as ghee and butter pass 10 g a day on a 2000 kcal diet.

A day inside the limit might look like this: a teaspoon in the dal at lunch and a thin smear on one roti at dinner, with a plant oil for the rest of the cooking. Counting the smear as 3 g, that is 8 g of ghee, or 72 kcal.

What ghee does for you beyond calories is on the ghee benefits page, the evidence on blood lipids is under is ghee good for cholesterol, and how ghee is made and chosen is on the main bilona ghee page. Managing weight, diabetes or cholesterol changes the sum, so for a figure that fits you, talk to your doctor or dietitian.

How many calories are in 1 teaspoon of ghee?

A teaspoon of ghee (5 g) has 45 kcal and 5 g fat, since USDA FoodData Central puts ghee at 900 kcal per 100 g. There is no protein, carbohydrate or sugar in it. A rounded spoonful of set ghee weighs more than 5 g, so level the spoon if you are counting.

How many calories are in 2 spoons of ghee?

Two teaspoons of ghee (10 g) have 90 kcal, and two tablespoons (30 g) have 270 kcal. Recipes use both spoons, so check which one is meant before you count. Two teaspoons is also the top of the ICMR-NIN daily limit for ghee or butter, and the guidelines add that it is better to avoid them where possible.

Is ghee better than oil?

For calories there is nothing to choose: a teaspoon of ghee is 45 kcal and a teaspoon of mustard or groundnut oil about 44. The difference is the kind of fat. Ghee counts as a saturated fat, and WHO recommends cutting saturated fat in favour of polyunsaturated fat or the monounsaturated kind from plants, which plant oils supply. Many kitchens use both: oil for everyday cooking, and measured ghee for tadka and rotis.

Is ghee bad for health?

In large amounts it can be. ICMR-NIN sets the limit for ghee or butter at 1 to 2 teaspoons a day, 45 to 90 kcal, and advises none where possible. The same guidelines count ghee as a saturated fat and note that a high intake of saturated fat adds calories and raises the risk of heart disease and stroke. Measure it, and let a plant oil do the rest of the cooking.

Does A2 ghee have fewer calories than regular ghee?

No. Ghee is all fat, and fat gives 9 kcal a gram whatever the label says, so a teaspoon of any of them is 45 kcal. An A2 label describes the milk and a bilona label the churning; neither is a claim about calories. Choose between them for the milk source, the method and the taste, not for the calorie count.

Does ghee make you gain weight?

Only through its calories, like any fat. At 9 kcal a gram, fat is a concentrated source of energy, more than twice as dense as protein or carbohydrate, so an extra tablespoon of ghee a day is 135 kcal that has to be spent or stored. A measured teaspoon on a roti or in dal is a small part of a day's food.