A standard cup of bone broth contains roughly 35 to 50 calories, making it one of the lowest-calorie ways to get protein and minerals into your diet. The exact number depends on whether it’s chicken or beef, homemade or store-bought, and how long the bones were simmered.
Calories by Type of Bone Broth
Beef bone broth runs about 39 calories per cup. Commercial bone broth (typically a blend or beef-based) averages around 41 calories per cup. Chicken bone broth tends to land in the same range or slightly lower, since chicken is naturally leaner and produces less fat during cooking.
For comparison, regular chicken broth (the kind you grab for soup recipes) contains about 38 to 39 calories per cup. The calorie difference between standard broth and bone broth is surprisingly small. What changes more noticeably is the protein content and the thickness of the liquid, since bone broth is simmered for much longer to extract collagen from the bones.
Where the Calories Come From
Almost all of the calories in bone broth come from protein, with a small contribution from fat. Carbohydrates are negligible, usually under 1 gram per cup. A typical cup of chicken broth provides about 5 grams of protein, and bone broth can deliver slightly more depending on how concentrated it is. The protein in bone broth is largely collagen, which breaks down into gelatin during the long cooking process. That gelatin is what gives a good bone broth its slightly thick, almost silky texture when warm and its jiggly consistency when refrigerated.
Fat content varies more than anything else. If the broth is skimmed after cooking, fat drops to 1 or 2 grams per cup. If it’s not skimmed (or if marrow-rich bones were used), fat can climb to 3 to 5 grams, adding 25 to 45 extra calories. Beef and pork bone broths typically carry more fat than chicken.
Bone Broth vs. Regular Stock
Bone broth and stock are often confused, but they differ in calorie density more than you might expect. One cup of chicken broth provides about 38 calories, while a cup of chicken stock contains around 86 calories. Stock is made with meatier bones and sometimes vegetables cooked down for a richer flavor, which roughly doubles the calorie count. Protein is similar between the two (5 grams for broth, 6 grams for stock), so the extra calories in stock come primarily from fat and dissolved solids.
Bone broth sits somewhere between broth and stock in terms of how it’s made, but its calorie count typically stays closer to broth. The long simmering time (often 12 to 24 hours) extracts more collagen and minerals, but it doesn’t necessarily pull out more fat if the bones used are relatively lean.
Homemade vs. Store-Bought
Commercially available bone broth is fairly standardized at 35 to 45 calories per cup. Homemade bone broth is harder to pin down. The calorie count depends on the type and quantity of bones, whether you added aromatics or vegetables, how long you simmered, and whether you skimmed the fat layer off the top after cooling.
A rich homemade batch made with knuckle bones, marrow bones, or oxtail can easily reach 60 to 80 calories per cup before skimming. If you refrigerate it overnight and scrape off the solidified fat cap, you’ll bring it back down closer to the 40-calorie range. Homemade versions also tend to have more gelatin and protein per cup, since most people use a higher ratio of bones to water than commercial producers do.
Why Bone Broth Works for Low-Calorie Diets
At roughly 40 calories per cup, bone broth delivers a lot of volume and warmth for very few calories. That makes it popular during intermittent fasting windows, as a snack replacement, or as a base for soups where you want to control total calories. The protein content, while modest at 5 to 10 grams per cup, helps with satiety more than the same number of calories from a carbohydrate source would.
If you’re tracking calories precisely, check the label on store-bought brands, since some add oils, sugar, or concentrated flavoring that can bump the count up. Plain bone broth with just bones, water, salt, and a splash of vinegar (which helps extract minerals during cooking) will always be the leanest option.