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Chicken Breast vs Chicken Thigh nutrition

Roasted chicken breast has more protein. Roasted chicken thigh has more fat, calories and salt.

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  • Roasted chicken breast100 g
  • Roasted chicken thigh100 g

Each row is scaled on its own: the larger amount fills the bar. The numbers on the right are the real amounts.

Each food is weighed the same: 100 grams of each. The longer bar has more.

Show all 15 nutrients
Exact amounts and % Daily Value
Exact amounts per 100 g, with each one's share of the FDA Daily Value — bold marks the larger amount
NutrientRoasted chicken breastRoasted chicken thighDaily Value
Calories165 kcal (8%)179 kcal (9%)2,000 kcal
Protein31 g (62%)24.8 g (50%)50 g
Fat3.6 g (5%)8.2 g (10%)78 g
Saturated fat1 g (5%)2.3 g (12%)20 g
Carbs0 g (0%)0 g (0%)275 g
Fiber0 g (0%)0 g (0%)28 g
Sugar0 g0 gnone set
Cholesterol85 mg (28%)133 mg (44%)300 mg
Salt (sodium)74 mg (3%)106 mg (5%)2,300 mg
Potassium256 mg (5%)269 mg (6%)4,700 mg
Calcium15 mg (1%)9 mg (<1%)1,300 mg
Iron1 mg (6%)1.1 mg (6%)18 mg
Magnesium29 mg (7%)24 mg (6%)420 mg
Vitamin A6 µg (<1%)8 µg (<1%)900 µg
Vitamin C0 mg (0%)0 mg (0%)90 mg

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How the numbers are taken. Amounts are per 100 g of the edible part, from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy, public domain), in the state named — raw, boiled, roasted and so on. Percentages use the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over, set around a 2,000-calorie diet; your own needs can be different. This site compares amounts — it does not give diet or medical advice. Sources and limits.

What is being compared

This page compares roasted chicken breast and roasted chicken thigh as USDA FoodData Central lists them: “Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat only, cooked, roasted” (FDC 171477) and “Chicken, broilers or fryers, thigh, meat only, cooked, roasted” (FDC 172388). All figures start from 100 grams of the edible part. A search for “chicken breast” is taken here as roasted chicken breast; raw chicken breast and roasted chicken breast with skin are in the comparer above. A search for “chicken thigh” is taken here as roasted chicken thigh; raw chicken thigh is in the comparer above.

Per 100 grams

Per 100 grams, roasted chicken breast has more protein (31 vs 24.8 g), calcium (15 vs 9 mg, 1.7 times as much) and magnesium (29 vs 24 mg). Roasted chicken thigh has more calories (179 vs 165 kcal), fat (8.2 vs 3.6 g, 2.3 times as much), saturated fat (2.3 vs 1 g, 2.3 times as much), cholesterol (133 vs 85 mg, 1.6 times as much), sodium (106 vs 74 mg), potassium (269 vs 256 mg), iron (1.1 vs 1 mg) and vitamin A (8 vs 6 µg). They are within 3% of each other for carbohydrate, fiber, sugars and vitamin C.

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Per serving

A serving as USDA measures it is ½ breast, bone and skin removed of roasted chicken breast (86 g) and 3 oz of roasted chicken thigh (85 g). The two servings weigh about the same, so the per-serving picture follows the per-100 g one closely. No nutrient changes leader when you switch from 100 g to servings. One serving is 142 kcal of roasted chicken breast against 152 kcal of roasted chicken thigh.

For the same calories

To get 100 kcal you would eat 60.6 g of roasted chicken breast or 55.9 g of roasted chicken thigh. At that equal energy, roasted chicken breast carries 18.8 g of protein and roasted chicken thigh 13.8 g. Measured per 100 kcal instead of per 100 g, the larger amount moves for potassium (to roasted chicken breast).

Where the calories come from

Roughly, 79% of the energy in roasted chicken breast comes from protein, 21% from fat and 0% from carbohydrate; for roasted chicken thigh it is 57%, 43% and 0%. These shares use the general 4, 9 and 4 kcal per gram and can differ slightly from USDA's own energy factors.

Against the Daily Value

½ breast, bone and skin removed of roasted chicken breast reaches its largest shares of the Daily Value in protein (53%), cholesterol (24%) and magnesium (6%); 3 oz of roasted chicken thigh reaches its largest shares of the Daily Value in protein (42%), cholesterol (38%) and saturated fat (10%). Daily Values are the FDA label reference amounts for adults and children aged 4 and over, set around a 2,000-calorie diet; they are a yardstick for reading labels, not a target for any one person.

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