Last reviewed on 11 September 2026.
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The figures below come mainly from USDA FoodData Central, which analyses both raw and cooked chicken. The Indian Food Composition Tables (IFCT 2017, from NIN) analyse raw foods, and their raw chicken figures fall in a broadly similar band. Treat every number here as a range, because the bird, its age and the cooking all move it.
How much protein is in 100 g of raw chicken breast?
About 22 to 23 g, with roughly 110 to 120 kcal, for skinless, boneless breast meat. USDA FoodData Central lists raw breast meat at about 22.5 g of protein and 120 kcal per 100 g, with under 3 g of fat. Breast is the leanest common cut, which is why it dominates meal-prep boxes. Almost all of its energy comes from protein, and it has no carbohydrate. Broiler breast sold in Indian markets comes from a young bird and sits in this same range.
How much protein is in 100 g of cooked chicken breast?
About 30 to 31 g of protein and 160 to 165 kcal, for skinless breast that has been grilled, roasted or pan-cooked with little oil. No protein has been added. Heat squeezes water out of muscle, so the meat shrinks by roughly a quarter, and the protein that was spread across 100 g raw is now packed into about 75 g. Weigh 100 g of that cooked meat and you are holding what was once roughly 130 to 140 g of raw breast. Oil, butter or a cream marinade add calories on top.
| Cut | Protein raw | Protein cooked |
|---|---|---|
| Breast | 22 to 23 g | 30 to 31 g |
| Thigh | 19 to 20 g | 24 to 26 g |
Cooked meat has not gained protein. It has lost about a quarter of its weight as water. Raw breast gives 110 to 120 kcal per 100 g, cooked breast 160 to 165 kcal.
Why do raw and cooked chicken figures differ so much?
Because of water, and this is where most tracking errors happen. A food app entry for cooked breast assumes you weighed it cooked; an entry for raw breast assumes you weighed it raw. Mixing the two can shift your protein total by about a third in either direction. The simplest rule is to weigh chicken raw, before marinating, and log the raw entry. If you only ever see it cooked, as with a canteen meal, use a cooked entry and accept that the result is an estimate.
How much protein is in chicken thigh?
Skinless thigh meat has about 19 to 20 g of protein per 100 g raw and about 24 to 26 g once cooked. It carries more fat than breast, so raw thigh gives about 120 to 140 kcal per 100 g and cooked thigh about 180 to 210 kcal, depending on how closely it is trimmed. Leg pieces behave much like thigh. Thigh stays moister in curries and tandoori, which is why many Indian recipes prefer it, and for most people the extra fat is a flavour choice rather than a problem.
Does chicken skin add protein?
A little, but mostly it adds fat. Raw chicken skin is roughly one third fat by weight. Roasted breast with the skin on has almost the same protein per 100 g as skinless breast, but around 30 to 35 kcal more, and the gap widens on thigh, where the skin is fattier. If the goal is protein per calorie, peel the skin off before cooking or eating. If the goal is a satisfying Sunday roast, a little skin will not undo a week of careful eating.
How does bone-in weight change the numbers?
It lowers the protein per 100 g you paid for, because the bone is weighed but not eaten. Curry-cut chicken from the neighbourhood shop is sold with bone, and depending on the pieces, bone and trimmings can make up roughly a quarter to more than a third of the weight. So 500 g of curry cut may give only 300 to 375 g of edible raw meat. For planning, estimate the edible meat, not the purchase weight. A drumstick, for instance, is far more bone per bite than a boneless thigh piece.
Why does chicken curry have less protein per 100 g?
Because most of a bowl of curry is gravy. Onion, tomato, oil, water and spices contribute little protein, so 100 g of chicken curry, meat and gravy together, may hold only 10 to 15 g of protein even though the meat itself is fully cooked. The practical fix is to estimate from the meat: count the pieces, judge how much edible chicken sits on your plate, and apply cooked-chicken figures to that portion. Then account for the gravy separately, since the oil in it is where most of the extra calories sit.
Estimating protein from a curry or a biryani
Most of a bowl of curry is gravy, so the arithmetic starts with the meat and handles everything else separately.
Count the pieces
Judge how many pieces of chicken are actually on your plate rather than guessing at the bowl as a whole.
Subtract the bone
A drumstick is far more bone per bite than a boneless thigh piece, and bone with trimmings can be a quarter to more than a third of the weight of a curry cut.
Apply cooked figures to the edible meat
About 30 to 31 g of protein per 100 g for breast, a few grams less for thigh, and roughly 25 to 30 g for tandoori meat pulled off the bone.
Account for the gravy on its own
Onion, tomato, water and spices add little protein, but the oil in the gravy is where most of the extra calories sit.
Weigh raw for a week to train the eye
After that, estimates from a canteen or restaurant plate become far more reliable than they were.
How much protein is in tandoori chicken?
Roughly 25 to 30 g per 100 g of meat pulled off the bone, close to plain roasted chicken. The yoghurt marinade adds a small amount of protein, and the fierce heat drives out water just as grilling does. Restaurant tandoori is often basted with butter or oil, so its calories can run higher than a home version. A full leg piece might carry 80 to 120 g of edible meat, depending on the size of the bird, which puts one piece at about 20 to 35 g of protein. These are estimates, not laboratory values.
How much protein is in a plate of chicken biryani?
It depends almost entirely on the meat. A plate with two or three medium pieces, holding 80 to 120 g of edible chicken, gives roughly 25 to 40 g of protein, including a few grams from the rice. The rice supplies most of the weight and most of the calories. The chicken biryani recipe on this site gives a home portion that is far easier to measure than a restaurant plate, and asking for one more piece changes the protein much more than adding a spoon of raita does.
How much chicken do you need to hit a protein target?
About 100 g of cooked breast, or roughly 135 g raw, gives 30 g of protein, a sensible amount for one main meal for most adults. To find your own daily figure, use the protein calculator. Chicken does not have to carry the whole day; dal, curd, eggs and paneer share the load, and the high-protein Indian diet guide shows how the meals fit together. If a nephrologist has asked you to restrict protein because of kidney disease, these portions may be too generous, and your renal team should set the number.
Is boiled chicken different from grilled chicken?
Only slightly. Boiling also shrinks the meat, though a small amount of protein and fat moves into the water, and drinking the stock recovers most of it. Boiled breast weighed after cooking lands close to the grilled figure, at about 28 to 31 g of protein per 100 g. Deep-fried chicken is the one that changes the picture. Batter and absorbed oil add carbohydrate and fat, so protein per 100 g falls a little and calories climb, often to 250 kcal per 100 g or more.
Is chicken protein high quality?
Yes. Chicken protein contains all nine essential amino acids in proportions close to human needs, and it is well digested. That makes it one of the easiest ways for meat-eaters to reach a protein target. Chicken also supplies vitamin B12, niacin and selenium. What it lacks entirely is fibre, so a chicken-heavy plate still needs vegetables, dal or whole grains beside it, both for digestion and for the nutrients that meat does not provide.
How should athletes and gym-goers use these figures?
By weighing consistently and planning protein around training. Active people often need more protein than sedentary adults, spread across the day, with a protein-containing meal in the hours after a session. Weighing raw chicken for one week trains the eye, after which estimates from cooked portions become far more reliable. Those who want to plan this properly, for themselves or for clients, can study it in NNWA's Sports Nutrition course, six weeks on energy, macros, recovery and body composition, at 9,999 rupees, reduced from 14,999.
The short answer
Raw skinless breast gives about 22 to 23 g of protein per 100 g; cooked breast gives about 30 to 31 g, because it has lost water, not gained protein. Thigh gives a few grams less with more fat, skin adds fat rather than protein, bone adds weight you do not eat, and curry dilutes protein with gravy. Weigh raw where you can, log the matching entry, and estimate from the meat, never from the whole dish.