How many calories are in fish and chips?
A home plate of battered fish with oven chips comes to about 690 kcal. A chip-shop portion is roughly double, and almost none of that difference is the fish. It is the batter and the oil the chips came out of.
The plate, as served
One battered fish fillet and about 150 g of oven-baked chips.
Where the calories come from
| Nutrient | Grams | Calories | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein | 32g | 128 | 19% |
| Carbs | 61g | 244 | 36% |
| Fat | 35g | 315 | 46% |
| Fibre | 4g | counted within carbs | |
The ring is sized by calories, not grams: protein and carbs are 4 kcal a gram, fat is 9. Drawn by grams, fat would look like a sliver of what it actually contributes.
What is on the plate
| White fish in batter, friedOne piece, about 180 g | 450 kcal |
| Chips, oven-bakedAbout 150 g | 240 kcal |
The same dish, several ways
This is where the calories actually move. Not the ingredient, the cooking.
- A chip-shop portion of chips930+240
Chip-shop chips are roughly half again on top of oven chips, and the portion is bigger.
- With bread and butter on the side860+170
The traditional accompaniment, and 170 kcal of it.
- One battered fish fillet and about 150 g of oven-baked chips.As served690
- Baked fish instead of battered510-180
Same fish, no batter, no fryer. This is where the calories actually are.
Where each number comes from
Composition tables list ingredients, not dinners. There is no row anywhere for this plate, so it is built from its parts, and the preparation assumed for each part is written next to it, because that assumption is usually worth more calories than the ingredient.
| Component | Portion and preparation | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| White fish in batter, fried | One piece, about 180 gDeep-fried in batter. The batter and the oil are most of this. | 450 |
| Chips, oven-baked | About 150 gFrozen oven chips, baked not fried. Chip-shop chips are roughly half again. | 240 |
| Total | 690 | |
Sources: USDA FoodData Central. Every figure is an estimate with a range around it, and is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal rather than pretending to a precision that does not exist.
Why you will see 600 to 1600 kcal quoted for this
Chip shops fry both halves of the plate and serve more of it. Home ovens do neither, which is why the same meal is published at both ends of that range.
Which is why this page shows the sum instead of asserting a total. Build the plate you actually eat and the number is yours rather than an average of strangers.
Build your own plateCommon questions
- How many calories are in fish and chips?
- About 690 kcal for a home plate with oven chips. A chip-shop portion is commonly 1,200 to 1,600, mostly from the frying oil and the larger chip portion.
- Is the batter or the chips worse?
- The batter, per gram. A battered fillet is about 450 kcal against roughly 200 for the same fish baked. The chips are worse in total because you eat more of them.
- How many calories in chip-shop chips?
- Roughly half again what oven chips are, so a large portion can be 500 kcal on its own before the fish arrives.
- Can fish and chips fit in a calorie deficit?
- A home version, easily. A chip-shop portion is most of a day for a lot of people, which is worth knowing in advance rather than afterwards.
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