Dry to Cooked Weight Calculator
Convert raw or dry weight to cooked weight (and back) for rice, pasta, quinoa, lentils, beans, couscous and chicken, with calories per 100 g — so you can log meals and macros accurately.
How it works
yield factor = kcal per 100 g dry ÷ kcal per 100 g cooked · cooked = dry × factor · dry = cooked ÷ factor · calories = dry grams × kcal per 100 g dry ÷ 100
Cooking adds water to grains and legumes and drives water out of meat, but the calories stay the same. That makes the ratio of the USDA calorie values per 100 g — dry versus cooked — an accurate, published yield factor: white rice roughly triples (× 2.81), pasta a bit more than doubles (× 2.35), lentils and quinoa triple, and chicken breast shrinks to about 73% of its raw weight. Weighing food dry or raw is the most reliable way to track intake; when you only have the cooked weight, divide by the factor before using a dry-food nutrition label. Real yields vary a little with cooking time, how much water is absorbed and draining.
Worked example
100 g of dry white rice × (365 ÷ 130) = × 2.81 → about 281 g cooked, still 365 kcal. Going the other way, a 200 g bowl of cooked white rice came from 200 ÷ 2.81 = 71 g of dry rice.
Sources: USDA FoodData Central · USDA Table of Nutrient Retention and Cooking Yields
Frequently asked questions
How much does rice weigh after cooking?
White rice gains about 2.8 times its dry weight (100 g dry ≈ 280 g cooked); brown rice about 3 times. Rice cooked with more water or left to steam longer will weigh a little more.
How much does pasta weigh cooked?
About 2.3–2.5 times the dry weight: 100 g of dry spaghetti becomes roughly 235 g cooked al dente.
Should I log food raw or cooked?
Raw or dry is more accurate because the label values refer to that state and are not affected by how long you cook. If you weigh cooked food, convert it back with the factor or use a cooked-food entry.
How much weight does chicken lose when cooked?
Skinless chicken breast loses roughly 25–30% of its weight as water: 100 g raw ends up around 73 g cooked, with the same calories.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.