How to Weigh Eggs for Calories Accurately (Easy Guide)
July 29, 2022
Eggs are one of the healthiest foods you can eat. But you may be wondering how to weigh eggs for calories so that you get the most accurate amount for tracking.
If you want to accurately weigh eggs, be sure they are raw, and the shell is removed so they are in liquid form. Then you can weigh them on a food scale.
Check out this easy guide to help you with tracking calories from your eggs.
When accurately weighing eggs to gather calorie content, they need to be cracked and in liquid form.
You do not want to weigh the whole egg when it is not cracked as you will not be consuming the shell.
The egg will weigh less once the contents of the egg is released and the shell is disposed of.
To get an accurate measurement of how many calories are in an egg, you will need to use a food scale.
First you should zero out your scale with a bowl on it.
If you are not able to zero out your scale, weigh the bowl to get the amount. You do not want to accidentally include the weight of the bowl in your calculations.
Now, place the cracked raw eggs in the bowl and on the food scale. Make sure to get the weight in grams.
Now you have the weight in grams of your egg or eggs. Remember, if you did not zero the scale, be sure to subtract the weight of the bowl!
Now that you know the weight of your egg, you can use the simple table below to find the calorie content and match to the amount of grams of egg you have on hand.
Size of Egg in grams
Calories
Small egg (38 grams)
54
Medium egg (44 grams)
63
Large egg (50 grams)
72
XL egg (56 grams)
80
Jumbo egg (63 grams)
90
Do You Weigh Eggs Before or After Cooking?
You should weigh your eggs before you cook them as the weight will be different after they are cooked.
The weight of an egg changes once it is cooked as some of the water content is lost during the cooking process.
This is why it is important to weigh your eggs when they are in their raw state for the most accurate calorie measurement.
If you do not calculate calories of your eggs when they are raw, your calculation will be off because the weight changes after the egg is cooked.
What About Egg Whites?
If you are only interested in the egg white, you can choose to crack the egg and separate the yolk, once you have only egg whites you can weigh them.
There are about 25 calories in 43 grams (3 TBSP) of egg whites, which is significantly less than using the yolk.
Let’s say for example you weighed your egg whites on the scale and got 160 grams of egg whites.
This would mean the calorie contents of your egg whites would be about 100 calories.
160 grams total divided by 43 grams =3.7 which rounds to 4. 25 calories x4= 100 calories
If you use egg white substitute or even egg substitute liquid such as Better’n Eggs or Egg beaters, you can just easily use the nutrition label on the back of the container and use the food scale in the same way to measure the amount.
Do Eggs Lose Calories When Cooked?
Cooking does not significantly alter the caloric content of an egg because most of the weight is from the egg’s water content, and cooking only causes a minimal loss of water, not calories from nutrients.
The loss of water during the cooking process might result in a slightly higher concentration of calories per gram, but not enough to be significant to worry about.
A large egg that is raw and has a weight of 50 grams has 72 calories. If this egg is cooked, the weight will be reduced by about 17% due to loss of water content.
You will not need to do any calculation for decrease in calorie content of an egg after you cook it.
Do You Really Need to Weigh Eggs for Calories?
It is not required to weigh eggs to get calorie content, you can choose to just estimate the size of the egg.
If you are not as concerned with being 100% accurate and just want a ballpark number, then using the size of your egg to estimate calories will suffice in a calorie deficit.
For example, a small egg is about 38 grams so you can estimate there to be about 54 calories in that egg.
A large egg is 50 grams so you can just calculate 72 calories.
Some eggs are very large so if you have eggs that are very large you may want to just use a calculation of 100 calories per egg.
When eggs are sold in the grocery store, they are typically all sized mostly within the same range.
However, if you have your own chickens at home, the eggs may be various sizes, so then you may want to weigh your eggs if you do not have a good eye to estimate their size.
How Do I Calculate Calories in Scrambled Eggs?
In order to calculate calories from scrambled eggs, you want to figure out calorie content of the raw eggs before you scramble them while being sure to take into account how many eggs you are using, as well as additions to the pan, such as butter or oil.
To do this, you will need to weigh your eggs in their raw state and use the table above for reference of calorie content. If you want to estimate, you can do that too.
For example, if you have 3 large eggs that weigh 150 grams total, you can calculate that the scrambled eggs would have 216 calories (3×72=216). This is BEFORE add ins.
If you are adding oil or butter, you will need to account for these calories as well. Even if you spray the pan, you want to calculate the calories of the spray.
Accurately calculating the calorie contents of eggs is easy if you have a food scale, but it isn’t required. You can choose to estimate the caloric content of eggs.
Just be sure that you have a good eye for the size of the egg, as larger eggs will have more calories than smaller eggs.
If you are using your own eggs from your own chickens, it may be best to weigh them as they can vary in size drastically between chickens. Some chickens lay very smell eggs and some lay monster sized eggs!
When calculating calories for scrambled eggs, also be sure to account for any additions to the pan, such as oil, butter, or cooking spray. You don’t want to forget this!
Eggs are so delicious and incredibly nutritious, so make sure you enjoy them often!
