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Couscous Calories & Servings (With Calculator & Charts)

In this article, I’ve put together easy-to-use charts and a calculator to help you work out the calories for any serving of couscous.

As well as calories per serving, I’ll also explain how much couscous is in a serving and how to work out calories for cooked and uncooked couscous weights.

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Recommended serving sizes of couscous seem to vary depending on where you look and also where you live.

For example, here in the UK, pack recommendations are 35g of dry couscous per serving, whereas, in the USA, the recommended serving size is 56g of dried couscous.

I experimented with testing what these portion sizes look like once cooked, and I found that a 56g serving of dry couscous produces an average-sized portion once cooked, a 35g portion is small, and a larger portion is 75g of dry couscous.

For full information on dry to cooked Couscous weights, you might like to take a look at the article via the link below:

Couscous Weights and Conversions (With Calculator & charts)

Couscous Calories Per Serving

Using the serving sizes above, we can work out the calories for each serving based on the cooked weight per serving.

The table below shows the calories per serving size, including the cooked weights, based on a calorie value of 1.64kcal per gram of couscous (as per pack information).

Couscous Serving SizeCouscous Cooked WeightCalories Per Serving
Small (35g/1.23oz dry)86g/3oz141kcal
Medium (56g/1.97oz dry)98g/3.47oz160kcal
Large (75g/2.64oz dry)131g/4.62oz215kcal

Dry Vs Cooked Couscous Calories

When trying to find the correct calorie information for couscous, it can be very confusing because it’s not always clear whether the calories are for dry or cooked weights.

Although calories don’t change when couscous is cooked in water, the weight increases, so you need to know if the calorie information you’re using is applicable to dry or cooked weights because dry couscous increases in weight by around 75% once it absorbs water.

All calorie figures on this page relate to the cooked weight and not the dry weight to make things easier.

Couscous Calorie Calculator

Use the calculator below to work out the calorie value of any serving of couscous in either grams or ounces.

The calculator is based on cooked weights and assuming the couscous has been cooked with boiling water or stock without calories.

Please select your preferred weight type to begin:

Couscous Calorie Chart

The quick reference chart below shows more couscous calories per serving as well as the dry to cooked weights, so you can convert the weights if need be.

This is based on a calorie value of 164kcal per 100g of cooked couscous, which is equal to 1.64kcal per gram, and using the principle that dry couscous increases in weight by 75% when it’s soaked in water using the absorption method.

Uncooked (dry) Couscous WeightCooked Couscous WeightCalories Per Serving
25g44g72kcal
35g (recommended serving)61g100kcal
50g88g144kcal
75g131g215kcal
100g175g287kcal
125g219g359kcal
150g263g431kcal
175g306g502kcal
200g350g574kcal
225g394g646kcal
250g438g718kcal
275g481g789kcal
300g525g861kcal
1oz1.75oz/46.6g76kcal
2oz3.5oz/99.2g163kcal
3oz5.25oz/148.8g244kcal
4oz7oz/198.4g325kcal
5oz8.75oz/248.1g407kcal
6oz10.4oz/294.8g483kcal
7oz12.25oz/347.3g570kcal
8oz14oz/396.9g651kcal
9oz15.75oz/446.5g732kcal
10oz17.5oz/496.1g814kcal

Calories in a Cup of Couscous

A US cup of dry couscous weighs 200g (see image below) and contains around four average-sized servings once it’s been cooked in boiling water.

Image to show a US cup of couscous on a scale weighing 200g

The table below shows various cup weights and how many calories there are per serving once the couscous has been cooked in boiling water using the absorption method.

Dry Couscous Weight in Cups,
grams and ounces
Average Cooked weight
in grams & ounces
Calories Per Serving
in Kcal
1/4 of a cup / 50g / 1.76oz88g / 3.1oz144kcal
1/3 of a cup / 67g / 2.36oz117g / 4.13oz192kcal
1/2 of a cup / 100g / 3.53oz175g / 6.17oz287kcal
3/4 of a cup /150g / 5.290z263g / 9.28oz431kcal
2/3 of a cup / 133g / 4.69oz233g / 8.22oz382kcal
1cup / 200g / 7.1oz350g / 12.36oz574kcal

More Couscous Calorie FAQs

Below are some of the most frequently asked questions about couscous calories and servings, in case there’s anything else you need to know:

How many calories are in 40g of dry couscous?

A 40g serving of dry couscous weighs around 70g when it’s cooked; a portion of this size contains 115kcal (based on the cooked weight).

How many calories are in 50g of dry couscous?

A 50g serving of dry couscous weighs around 88g when it’s cooked; a portion of this size contains 144kcal (based on the cooked weight).