One cup of chopped raw broccoli (91 grams) contains just 31 calories. A whole medium stalk weighing about 148 grams has 45 calories. That makes broccoli one of the lowest-calorie vegetables you can eat, with a lot of fiber and protein packed into those few calories.
Calories by Serving Size
The calorie count depends on how much broccoli you’re actually eating, and serving sizes vary more than you’d think. A heaping plate of florets weighs a lot more than a small side dish.
- 1 cup chopped, raw (91g): 31 calories
- 1 medium stalk, raw (148g): 45 calories
- 1 cup chopped, cooked/boiled (156g): 55 calories
- 100 grams raw: roughly 34 calories
Notice that a cup of cooked broccoli has more calories than a cup of raw. That’s not because cooking adds calories. It’s because broccoli shrinks when you cook it, so you can fit more into the same measuring cup. A cup of cooked broccoli weighs about 156 grams compared to 91 grams for raw. Gram for gram, the calorie content is essentially the same.
What Else Is in Those Calories
Broccoli’s calories come with a surprisingly useful nutritional profile for a vegetable. A medium stalk (148g) provides about 3 grams of protein, 8 grams of total carbohydrates, and 3 grams of dietary fiber. That fiber-to-calorie ratio is part of why broccoli is so filling relative to its calorie count. You’d need to eat several cups before you’d even notice the calories on a daily total, but you’d likely feel full well before that point.
The stems actually contain more fiber than the florets, particularly insoluble fiber that supports digestion. So if you’ve been cutting off and tossing the stalks, you’re throwing away some of the most useful parts. Peel the tough outer layer and the inner stalk is perfectly tender when cooked.
Fresh, Frozen, and Cooked Broccoli
Frozen broccoli and fresh broccoli are nearly identical in calories. Frozen vegetables are typically picked at peak ripeness and flash-frozen, which locks in most of their vitamins, minerals, and fiber. In some cases frozen broccoli retains more nutrients than fresh broccoli that has spent days in transit and sitting on grocery store shelves. For calorie-counting purposes, you can treat them as interchangeable.
Cooking method doesn’t meaningfully change the calorie content either. Steaming, boiling, roasting, and microwaving all yield roughly the same number of calories per gram. The only thing that adds calories is what you cook it with. A tablespoon of olive oil adds about 120 calories, and a tablespoon of butter adds around 100. A big plate of roasted broccoli drizzled with oil can easily jump from 50 calories to 200 or more, so factor in your cooking fats if you’re tracking closely.
Broccoli vs. Broccolini
Broccolini, the slender long-stemmed variety you see in restaurants, is a cross between broccoli and Chinese kale developed in the 1990s. Nutritionally it’s very similar: 100 grams of raw broccolini has about 35 calories, 6 grams of carbs, 3.5 grams of protein, and 5 grams of fiber. That’s slightly more fiber and protein per serving than standard broccoli, but the difference is small enough that it won’t matter for most people’s purposes.
Why Broccoli Works for Low-Calorie Eating
The reason broccoli shows up on virtually every diet plan comes down to volume. You can eat a large, visually satisfying portion for very few calories. Two full cups of chopped raw broccoli still comes in under 65 calories, but it takes up real space on your plate and in your stomach. The 3 grams of fiber per cup slows digestion and helps you stay full longer than foods with the same calorie count but less bulk.
For comparison, two cups of cooked pasta runs around 440 calories. Swapping even half of that pasta for broccoli in a stir-fry or bowl cuts the total significantly while keeping the portion size visually similar. That simple swap is the practical reason so many people search for broccoli’s calorie count in the first place.