How many calories are in an egg?
One large egg is about 72 kcal. Nearly all of that sits in the yolk, which is the single most useful thing to know about an egg’s numbers.
Per portion
| Portion | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 medium egg, 53–63 g shell on | ~63 kcal | 5.5 g | 0.3 g | 4.2 g |
| 1 large egg, 63–73 g shell on | ~72 kcal | 6.3 g | 0.4 g | 4.8 g |
| 1 very large egg, 73 g+ | ~85 kcal | 7.4 g | 0.5 g | 5.7 g |
| 2 large eggs | ~145 kcal | 13 g | 0.8 g | 10 g |
| 100 g (3.5 oz) whole egg, raw | ~143 kcal | 13 g | 0.7 g | 9.5 g |
| 1 large yolk, ~17 g | ~55 kcal | 2.7 g | 0.6 g | 4.5 g |
| 1 large white, ~33 g | ~17 kcal | 3.6 g | 0.2 g | 0.1 g |
Read the last two rows together. The yolk is about a third of the egg by weight and roughly three-quarters of its calories, and it carries essentially all of the fat.
What changes the number
The pan, more than the egg. An egg cooked in nothing is the figure above. A teaspoon of oil is about 40 kcal and a tablespoon nearer 120, so a fried egg lands anywhere between 75 and 190 kcal depending entirely on the fat it touched. Scrambling two eggs with 15 g of butter adds about 110 kcal — more than one of the eggs. The boiled egg page runs through that comparison properly.
Size grading. UK eggs are graded on shell-on weight: medium 53–63 g, large 63–73 g, very large above that. A three-egg omelette is about 190 kcal made with mediums and about 255 with very large eggs. Recipes almost never say which, and if eggs are a daily habit the gap adds up.
Hen diet and “enriched” eggs. Omega-3, free-range and corn-fed labelling shifts the fatty acid profile and the yolk colour slightly. It does not change the calories, whatever else the label is implying.
Other eggs. A duck egg is larger and richer at about 130 kcal; a quail egg is about 14 kcal. Per 100 g they all sit in much the same place.
Where it fits in a deficit
An egg gives about 6 g of protein for 72 kcal — roughly 9 g of protein per 100 kcal, which is respectable rather than exceptional. That is well behind chicken breast or egg whites, and well ahead of most breakfast carbohydrate. Eggs are also genuinely filling for their physical size, which tends to be what matters when you are working towards a protein target on a limited budget.
The practical note: two or three eggs is a fast 150–220 kcal breakfast that holds. What usually breaks it is not the eggs but the two slices of buttered toast underneath, which can cost more than the eggs did.
The cholesterol question
For decades eggs were rationed on the grounds that the yolk is high in cholesterol — a large one has roughly 185 mg. That advice has largely been withdrawn. The US dietary guidelines dropped their numerical daily limit on dietary cholesterol in 2015, and UK guidance has never set one.
The reason is that for most people cholesterol eaten has only a modest effect on cholesterol in the blood, and saturated fat intake matters considerably more. A minority of people do respond strongly, and some conditions warrant care, so it is a question for a doctor if it applies to you. But the blanket “no more than two or three eggs a week” rule was never well supported, and it is still repeated.
For a calorie deficit it is beside the point anyway. The yolk’s 55 kcal is the only thing on your budget, and binning it to save those calories also bins most of the egg’s vitamins.
Figures are typical values and vary by variety, size and preparation. General information, not medical advice.