Egg foo young is relatively low in carbs, especially compared to most Chinese takeout dishes. A single patty contains roughly 3 to 4 grams of total carbs and about 3 grams of net carbs, making it one of the more keto-friendly options on a Chinese restaurant menu. The catch is that carb counts climb quickly depending on how many patties you eat, whether gravy is included, and how the dish is prepared.
Nutrition Per Patty and Per Serving
A single egg foo young patty (about 85 grams) has approximately 3.6 grams of total carbs, 0.5 grams of fiber, 8.5 grams of fat, and 6.4 grams of protein, coming in at 114 calories. That works out to roughly 3 grams of net carbs per patty.
A full restaurant serving is typically two to three patties, often with gravy ladled on top. A larger measured serving (175 grams, or about two patties with additions) comes to around 11 grams of total carbs, 2 grams of fiber, 18 grams of fat, and 14 grams of protein. So if you’re eating a full plate of egg foo young with gravy, you’re looking at roughly 9 net carbs for the whole dish. That’s still modest by any low-carb standard and very manageable on a keto diet that allows 20 to 50 grams of net carbs per day.
Where the Carbs Come From
The eggs themselves contribute almost no carbohydrates. The vegetables mixed in (bean sprouts, onions, mushrooms, sometimes water chestnuts) add a small amount. But the two biggest carb contributors are ingredients you might not think about: cornstarch in the patty batter and the brown gravy served on top.
Traditional recipes call for about a tablespoon of cornstarch mixed into the egg batter as a slurry. This gives the patties their slightly firm, structured texture rather than the soft consistency of a regular omelet. One tablespoon of cornstarch adds roughly 7 grams of carbs to the entire batch, which gets divided across multiple patties, so the per-patty impact is small but not zero.
The gravy is a bigger variable. Restaurant-style egg foo young gravy is typically thickened with cornstarch and made from chicken or beef broth, soy sauce, and sometimes oyster sauce. A generous pour can add 3 to 6 grams of carbs on top of what’s already in the patties. If you skip the gravy or ask for it on the side, you cut the carb count significantly.
How It Compares to Other Chinese Dishes
For context, a serving of lo mein has around 30 to 40 grams of net carbs. Fried rice lands in a similar range. Sweet and sour chicken can hit 50 grams or more thanks to the sugary sauce and battered coating. General Tso’s chicken is even higher. Egg foo young at 3 to 9 net carbs per serving is in a completely different league.
It sits alongside other naturally lower-carb Chinese options like steamed shrimp, beef with broccoli (no sauce), and hot and sour soup. But egg foo young has the advantage of being a complete, filling dish on its own rather than a side or a protein that usually comes paired with rice.
Making It Even Lower Carb at Home
If you make egg foo young yourself, it’s easy to bring the carb count close to zero. The simplest change is dropping the cornstarch from the egg batter entirely. Your patties will be softer and more omelet-like, but they’ll still hold together if you cook them in enough oil and don’t overfill them with vegetables.
For the gravy, you can replace cornstarch with a fraction of the amount of guar gum or xanthan gum. Where a recipe might call for two tablespoons of cornstarch, roughly one heaping teaspoon of guar gum achieves the same thickening effect with virtually no carbs. You sprinkle it directly into the simmering broth, and it thickens almost immediately. Both guar gum and xanthan gum are widely available in grocery stores, usually in the baking aisle.
Choosing lower-carb vegetables for the filling also helps. Bean sprouts are already very low in carbs (about 1 gram of net carbs per cup). Mushrooms, celery, and green onions are similarly minimal. Avoid water chestnuts and bamboo shoots if you’re counting every gram, as these add slightly more.
Ordering Egg Foo Young at a Restaurant
Restaurant preparation is less predictable. Some places add flour to their batter for extra crispness, which raises the carb count. Others use premade sauces with added sugar. You won’t always know exactly what’s in the kitchen, but a few simple choices help keep things in check.
Ask for the gravy on the side so you can control how much you use, or skip it entirely and use soy sauce or hot mustard instead. Choose shrimp, chicken, or pork versions over vegetable-heavy ones if you want to minimize carbs further. And avoid any preparation described as “crispy,” which usually means an additional flour or starch coating on the outside of the patties.
Even without these precautions, a standard restaurant serving of egg foo young with gravy is one of the safest carb choices on a Chinese menu. At roughly 9 net carbs for a full plate, it leaves plenty of room in a daily keto budget and fits comfortably into any general low-carb eating pattern.