Kimchi Calories & Nutrition Facts: Per 100g, Per Serving & Per Dish
Plain kimchi is about 15 calories per 100g, so the calories in a kimchi meal come from everything around it. Use the calculator for your own amount, then see the numbers for 50g, 500g, kimchi with boiled eggs and 11 kimchi fried rice recipes.
How Many Calories Are in Kimchi?
Kimchi has about 15 calories per 100g (USDA FoodData Central, napa cabbage kimchi). That is roughly 8 calories in a 50g serving and 75 calories in 500g.
Brands and databases range from about 15 to 30 calories per 100g, so your jar’s nutrition label is the final word.
Sodium deserves more attention than calories: about 498mg per 100g, so 500g of kimchi carries roughly 2,490mg, more than the FDA’s 2,300mg daily limit.
Calories in kimchi dishes depend on the rice, oil and protein around the kimchi: from 180 (cauliflower fried rice) to 610 (pork belly fried rice) per serving in our tested recipes.
Kimchi Calorie Calculator: Count Calories by Grams and Eggs
Enter any amount of kimchi to see calories, protein and sodium, with or without boiled eggs.
How many calories are in my kimchi?
Kimchi Nutrition Facts: Calories, Carbs, Protein and Fiber per 100g
These are the USDA FoodData Central values for napa cabbage kimchi.
The 50g column is simply half of the 100g column. 50g is the serving size we use in our 30-day and 7-day kimchi diet plans.
| Nutrient | Per 100g | Per 50g serving |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 15 kcal | 8 kcal |
| Protein | 1.1g | 0.6g |
| Carbohydrate | 2.4g | 1.2g |
| Fiber | 1.6g | 0.8g |
| Fat | 0.5g | 0.3g |
| Sodium | 498mg | 249mg |
Source: USDA FoodData Central, kimchi (FDC 170392). Rounded. Per-serving values are calculated from the per-100g values.
In macro terms, 100g of kimchi is mostly carbohydrate (2.4g, including 1.6g of fiber), with about 1.1g of protein and 0.5g of fat.
That mix is why the calorie count stays so low.
Kimchi Calories by Portion Size: 25g, 50g, 100g, 500g and 1kg
This table answers “how many calories in 500g of kimchi” and every size in between.
The last column shows sodium as a share of the FDA’s 2,300mg daily limit.
| Amount | What it looks like | Calories | Sodium | % of 2,300mg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 g | a small banchan spoonful | 4 kcal | 124 mg | 5% |
| 50 g | 1 serving in our plans (≈ 3–4 tbsp) | 8 kcal | 249 mg | 11% |
| 100 g | ≈ ⅔ cup, a generous side | 15 kcal | 498 mg | 22% |
| 150 g | top dose in our 30-day plan (3 servings) | 23 kcal | 747 mg | 32% |
| 250 g | 5 servings — beyond the studied range | 38 kcal | 1,245 mg | 54% |
| 500 g | a whole small jar | 75 kcal | 2,490 mg | 108% |
| 1000 g | 1 kg tub | 150 kcal | 4,980 mg | 217% |
Calculated from the USDA per-100g values. Red = at or above the daily limit from kimchi alone.
As a rule of thumb, 100g is a generous side dish: about 15 calories and 22% of the daily sodium limit.
Sodium becomes the limiting factor long before calories do.
Calories in Boiled Eggs and Kimchi (the Kimchi and Egg Diet)
This is a combination readers search for often: “2 boiled eggs and kimchi calories”.
A large hard-boiled egg is about 78 calories, so the eggs supply almost all of the calories and protein. The kimchi adds a few calories and most of the sodium.
| Combination | Calories | Protein | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 boiled egg + 50 g kimchi | ~86 kcal | ~7 g | ~311 mg |
| 2 boiled eggs + 50 g kimchi | ~164 kcal | ~13 g | ~373 mg |
| 2 boiled eggs + 100 g kimchi | ~171 kcal | ~14 g | ~622 mg |
| 3 boiled eggs + 100 g kimchi | ~249 kcal | ~20 g | ~684 mg |
Our calculation: USDA large hard-boiled egg (78 kcal, 6.3g protein, 62mg sodium) plus kimchi at the USDA per-100g values. No oil or sauce included.
With 50g of kimchi, the kimchi part is about 8 calories and 249mg of sodium. With 100g, it is about 15 calories and 498mg.
Kimchi Fried Rice Calories (Bokkeumbap): 11 Recipes Compared
Kimchi fried rice (kimchi bokkeumbap) ranges from 180 to 610 calories per serving in our tested recipes.
Most versions start from the same aged kimchi, rice and gochujang base, so the spread comes almost entirely from the cooking fat and the protein on top.
These are the same figures as on our kimchi fried rice comparison, sorted from lowest to highest.
| Recipe | Calories / serving | Protein | What drives the calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cauliflower | 180 kcal | 10 g | Cauliflower rice replaces the rice |
| Without Egg | 360 kcal | 7 g | Extra sesame oil, cold silken tofu on the side |
| Vegan | 380 kcal | 14 g | Neutral oil + press-and-sear crispy tofu |
| Breakfast Bowl | 380 kcal | 15 g | Soft-boiled egg + avocado, smaller rice portion |
| Broccoli | 390 kcal | 13 g | Blanch-and-char broccoli + egg |
| Tuna | 410 kcal | 22 g | Tuna oil as the cooking fat |
| Classic | 420 kcal | 14 g | Neutral oil + fried egg |
| Cheese | 570 kcal | 19 g | Butter base + melted mozzarella |
| Spam | 580 kcal | 24 g | Rendered Spam fat |
| Bacon | 600 kcal | 21 g | Rendered bacon fat |
| Pork Belly | 610 kcal | 20 g | Cold-pan rendered pork belly fat + egg |
Per-serving values from each tested recipe. The Breakfast Bowl is a bowl rather than fried rice but is included for comparison. Serving weights differ between recipes, so compare the calories per serving, not per 100g.
If calories are your goal, look at the fat and the topping first. The three highest-calorie versions (Spam, bacon, pork belly) are all cooked in rendered meat fat, at 580 to 610 calories per serving.
Why Kimchi Calorie Counts Differ: USDA Data, Brand Labels and Homemade
You will see figures from about 15 to 30 calories per 100g.
All of them can be right, because kimchi is not one standard product.
Different database entries
Nutrition databases hold several kimchi entries with different recipes and water content. We use the USDA entry (15 kcal) because it is public and traceable.
Brand recipes
Added sugar, rice-flour paste, fish sauce and the amount of brine all change the label. In our US brand panel, kimchi ran from 10 to 25 calories and 1g to 4g sugar per quarter cup. See the US brand ranking.
Homemade vs store-bought
Homemade kimchi with little or no sugar and no rice paste sits at the low end. Fermentation itself does not add meaningful calories.
Kimchi Sodium Content: Low in Calories, High in Salt
At the USDA figure, 100g of kimchi has about 498mg of sodium.
150g, the top dose in our 30-day plan, has about 747mg, roughly a third of the FDA’s 2,300mg daily limit.
The American Heart Association suggests an ideal limit of 1,500mg a day for most adults, so kimchi is best treated as a condiment, not eaten by the bowl.
Kimchi Jeon, Jjigae and Noodle Calories: Not Calculated Yet
We have not calculated calories for kimchi pancakes (jeon), kimchi jjigae, kimchi noodle soup or radish kimchi (kkakdugi), and we would rather say so than guess.
These dishes vary far more with the recipe (batter, oil, pork, noodles) than kimchi fried rice does. The kimchi in them is only about 15 calories per 100g, so everything else in the pot or pan decides the total.
We will add tested numbers when those recipes are measured.
Kimchi Calories FAQ: Carbs, Protein, Keto and Weight Loss
About 15 calories per 100g. That is the USDA FoodData Central figure for napa cabbage kimchi (FDC 170392), which also lists 1.1g protein, 2.4g carbohydrate, 1.6g fiber, 0.5g fat and 498mg sodium per 100g. Other databases and brands fall between roughly 15 and 30 calories per 100g, so check the label on your own jar.
About 8 calories and roughly 250mg of sodium. 50g is the serving size used in the 2024 BMJ Open kimchi study and in our 30-day kimchi diet plan.
About 75 calories at the USDA figure, but roughly 2,490mg of sodium, which is more than the FDA’s 2,300mg daily limit. A large amount of kimchi is very low in calories and still heavy on sodium.
About 164 calories with 50g of kimchi, or about 171 with 100g, and roughly 13-14g of protein. This is our own calculation: 78 calories per large hard-boiled egg (USDA) plus the kimchi. See the full kimchi and boiled egg diet guide.
It depends on the version. In our tested recipes one serving ranges from 180 calories (cauliflower) to 610 calories (pork belly); the classic version with a fried egg is 420 calories with about 14g protein. The kimchi itself adds very little. The calories come from the rice, the cooking fat and the topping. See the kimchi fried rice comparison.
Kimchi bokkeumbap is the Korean name for kimchi fried rice, so the numbers are the same: about 420 calories for a classic serving with a fried egg, and 180 to 610 calories across our 11 variations.
Not by itself. Heat does not add calories, but the oil, butter or rendered fat you cook it in does. Cooking also kills the live bacteria in unpasteurized kimchi, which is a separate question from calories.
Plain napa cabbage kimchi has about 2.4g total carbohydrate and 1.6g fiber per 100g in the USDA entry, roughly 0.8g net carbs. Some brands add sugar or a rice-flour paste, so the label matters. In our own US brand panel, sugar ran from 1g to 4g per quarter cup.
Very little: about 1.1g per 100g. Kimchi is not a protein source. In dishes like fried rice or the egg bowl, the protein comes from the egg, tofu, tuna or meat.
About 498mg per 100g in the USDA entry, so roughly 250mg in a 50g serving. Brands vary: our own panel of 18 US brands measured 250mg to 420mg per quarter cup. See our low-sodium kimchi brands ranking.
It is low in calories, so it can fit inside a calorie deficit, but no study has shown that kimchi alone causes weight loss. Our 30-day plan lays out what the research does and does not show.
We have not calculated these yet, and we would rather not guess: they vary a lot with the recipe (batter, oil, pork, noodles). The kimchi contributes about 15 calories per 100g, so the total is decided by everything else in the pot or pan.
Sources and Method: Where These Kimchi Nutrition Numbers Come From
- Kimchi and egg nutrition: USDA FoodData Central, kimchi (FDC 170392); large hard-boiled egg from USDA standard reference values.
- 50g serving definition: BMJ Open, 2024 (Jung et al.).
- Sodium limits: FDA (2,300mg daily value) and the American Heart Association.
- Per-dish calories and brand panel figures: KimchiGuide’s own tested recipes and brand tests. Portion and egg figures are our calculations from the USDA values. Nothing here is medical advice.
Ji-Young Park built this reference so the calorie numbers across KimchiGuide’s diet plans, egg bowl and fried rice recipes point to one place. Published October 01, 2026. Updated October 10, 2026.
View full author profile →
Dr. Sarah Mitchell reviewed the nutrition figures, calculator defaults and sodium claims on this page against the USDA source data before publication.
View full credentials →