Calories in Nigerian food
Most calorie tables are built around food nobody here eats. This one covers 58 everyday Nigerian foods with realistic portions — a wrap of eba, a cup of jollof, a ladle of egusi — rather than abstract 100 g figures you then have to convert.
Figures are planning estimates from published Nigerian food composition data. Real portions vary, and oil is the biggest source of error — a stew poured rather than measured can add several hundred calories a day without changing how the food tastes.
58 foods
| Portion | Carbs | Fat | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beans and rice (concoction) | 1 plate, 300 g | 420 | 16 g | 78 g | 6 g |
| Moi moi (steamed bean pudding) | 2 wraps | 320 | 18 g | 38 g | 11 g |
| Egusi soup with ugu (measured oil) | 1 serving, 200 g | 320 | 14 g | 9 g | 26 g |
| Pounded yam (iyan) | 1 medium wrap, 200 g | 300 | 3 g | 70 g | 0 g |
| Akara (bean cakes, air-fried or shallow-fried) | 4 balls | 290 | 12 g | 24 g | 17 g |
| Eba (garri swallow) | 1 medium wrap, 180 g | 290 | 2 g | 68 g | 0 g |
| Wholemeal spaghetti with tomato sauce | 1 plate, 200 g cooked | 290 | 11 g | 55 g | 4 g |
| Grilled titus (mackerel) | 1 medium fillet, 150 g | 280 | 32 g | 0 g | 17 g |
| Jollof rice (moderate oil) | 1 cup cooked, 160 g | 265 | 5 g | 48 g | 6 g |
| Unripe plantain porridge | 1 bowl, 250 g | 265 | 4 g | 58 g | 3 g |
| Baked chicken thigh (skin off) | 2 pieces | 260 | 34 g | 0 g | 13 g |
| Amala (yam flour swallow) | 1 medium wrap, 180 g | 260 | 3 g | 60 g | 1 g |
| Egg omelette with peppers & onions | 3 eggs | 250 | 20 g | 5 g | 17 g |
| Lean beef (assorted, boiled then peppered) | 120 g | 250 | 32 g | 1 g | 13 g |
| Wheat swallow | 1 medium wrap, 180 g | 250 | 8 g | 52 g | 2 g |
| Ogbono soup | 1 serving, 200 g | 250 | 11 g | 10 g | 19 g |
| Grilled chicken breast (skinless) | 150 g | 248 | 46 g | 0 g | 5 g |
| Peppered goat meat (asun style, grilled) | 120 g | 245 | 31 g | 2 g | 12 g |
| Beans (ewa) — brown/honey | 1 cup cooked, 180 g | 240 | 15 g | 42 g | 1 g |
| Boiled yam | 3 medium slices, 200 g | 240 | 3 g | 56 g | 0 g |
| Baked turkey (skin off) | 130 g | 235 | 36 g | 0 g | 10 g |
| Oats cooked in water, with cinnamon | 60 g dry | 230 | 9 g | 40 g | 4 g |
| Ofada rice | 1 cup cooked, 160 g | 220 | 5 g | 46 g | 2 g |
| Peppered tilapia | 1 medium fish, 180 g | 215 | 38 g | 2 g | 6 g |
| Brown rice | 1 cup cooked, 160 g | 215 | 5 g | 45 g | 2 g |
| Edikang ikong / vegetable soup | 1 serving, 200 g | 210 | 12 g | 9 g | 14 g |
| Soya chunks in pepper sauce | 60 g dry | 205 | 30 g | 20 g | 1 g |
| Plain white rice | 1 cup cooked, 160 g | 205 | 4 g | 45 g | 0 g |
| Grilled croaker fish | 1 medium, 170 g | 200 | 36 g | 0 g | 6 g |
| Efo riro (spinach stew) | 1 serving, 200 g | 190 | 10 g | 8 g | 13 g |
| Boiled or roasted sweet potato | 200 g | 180 | 4 g | 41 g | 0 g |
| Boiled plantain | 1 medium, 150 g | 180 | 2 g | 47 g | 0 g |
| Assorted pepper soup | 1 bowl, 300 ml | 180 | 22 g | 4 g | 9 g |
| Stockfish (okporoko) | 60 g soaked | 175 | 38 g | 0 g | 2 g |
| Couscous | 1 cup cooked | 175 | 6 g | 36 g | 0 g |
| Roasted groundnuts | 30 g handful | 175 | 8 g | 5 g | 14 g |
| Roasted cashew nuts | 30 g | 165 | 5 g | 9 g | 13 g |
| Whole wheat bread | 2 slices | 160 | 8 g | 28 g | 2 g |
| Avocado (ube oyibo) | 1/2 medium | 160 | 2 g | 9 g | 15 g |
| Boiled eggs | 2 large | 155 | 13 g | 1 g | 11 g |
| Grilled prawns | 150 g | 150 | 30 g | 1 g | 2 g |
| Pap / ogi (no sugar) | 1 bowl, 250 ml | 150 | 3 g | 33 g | 1 g |
| Okra soup | 1 serving, 200 g | 150 | 8 g | 10 g | 9 g |
| Tinned sardines in water, drained | 1 tin, 90 g | 145 | 22 g | 0 g | 6 g |
| Garden eggs with groundnut paste | 3 with 1 tbsp paste | 130 | 5 g | 10 g | 9 g |
| Oranges | 2 medium | 125 | 2 g | 31 g | 0 g |
| Boiled corn | 1 cob | 125 | 4 g | 27 g | 2 g |
| Tiger nuts (ofio) | 30 g | 120 | 2 g | 19 g | 7 g |
| Kunu (unsweetened) | 300 ml | 110 | 3 g | 23 g | 1 g |
| Banana | 1 medium | 105 | 1 g | 27 g | 0 g |
| Plain Greek yoghurt | 170 g pot | 100 | 17 g | 6 g | 0 g |
| Light coleslaw (yoghurt dressing) | 1 bowl, 150 g | 95 | 3 g | 12 g | 4 g |
| Apple | 1 medium | 95 | 0 g | 25 g | 0 g |
| Watermelon | 2 cups diced | 90 | 2 g | 23 g | 0 g |
| Steamed ugu, cabbage & carrots | 1 large bowl, 250 g | 80 | 4 g | 14 g | 1 g |
| Garden salad (cucumber, tomato, lettuce, onion) with vinegar | 1 large bowl | 60 | 3 g | 11 g | 1 g |
| Pawpaw (papaya) | 1 cup diced | 60 | 1 g | 15 g | 0 g |
| Zobo, no sugar | 400 ml | 25 | 0 g | 6 g | 0 g |
What the numbers actually tell you
The swallow is the dial, not the enemy
Eba, amala and pounded yam land within about 40 kcal of each other per wrap. Swapping between them changes almost nothing; changing the size of the wrap changes everything. This is why a good plan sizes your starch to your calorie target and leaves the protein and vegetables alone.
Oil is the invisible meal
One tablespoon of groundnut oil is about 120 kcal. Three extra tablespoons across a day — poured, not measured — is roughly 360 kcal you never tasted separately, which is enough to erase most people's entire deficit. Measuring oil into the pot with a spoon is the single highest-value habit on this page.
Best protein per calorie
If you're trying to stay full while eating less, these give you the most protein for the fewest calories:
- •Stockfish (okporoko) — 38 g protein for 175 kcal (60 g soaked)
- •Grilled prawns — 30 g protein for 150 kcal (150 g)
- •Grilled chicken breast (skinless) — 46 g protein for 248 kcal (150 g)
Frying roughly doubles it
Boiled plantain is about 180 kcal; the same plantain as dodo is closer to 350. Grilled chicken breast is about 250 kcal; fried with skin it's nearer 400. Nothing needs banning — but knowing the multiplier lets you spend it deliberately.
Common questions
How many calories are in a plate of jollof rice?
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About 265 kcal per cup of cooked jollof rice (roughly 160 g). A typical restaurant or party plate holds two to three cups, so 530–800 kcal before you add any protein. The oil in the base stew is what moves this number most — a pot cooked with two tablespoons rather than half a cup is dramatically lighter per serving.
How many calories are in eba, amala and pounded yam?
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A medium wrap of eba (about 180 g) is roughly 290 kcal, amala about 260 kcal, and pounded yam about 300 kcal for 200 g. They're broadly similar. Wheat swallow is the useful outlier: at about 250 kcal for the same size it carries more fibre and four times the protein, which makes it the easiest single swap in a Nigerian fat-loss diet.
Which Nigerian soup is lowest in calories?
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Okra soup at around 150 kcal a serving, then efo riro at about 190 kcal. Egusi is the heaviest at roughly 320 kcal, because melon seed and palm oil are both calorie-dense. You don't need to avoid egusi — one ladle instead of three is the whole adjustment.
What's the cheapest high-protein food in Nigeria?
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Eggs and beans, comfortably. Two boiled eggs give 13 g of protein for 155 kcal, and a cup of cooked beans gives 15 g for 240 kcal. Titus (mackerel) is the best value fish and brings omega-3 with it. Soya chunks are the cheapest option per gram of protein if you don't mind them.
Are these numbers exact?
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No, and no calorie table is. These are planning estimates drawn from published Nigerian food composition data and standardised portions. Real cooking varies — especially with oil, which is the single biggest source of error. Being roughly right consistently over months matters far more than being precisely right on any given day.
Knowing the numbers is the easy part
The hard part is what goes on the plate tonight. Answer nine questions and get your own calorie and protein targets free — then a full 7-day meal plan built from exactly these foods.
See my numbers — freeGeneral nutrition information, not medical advice. Speak to a doctor before changing your diet if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, under 18, or manage a health condition.