Protein in Chicken Legs

A chicken leg in USDA and grocery contexts usually means the leg quarter — the thigh and drumstick still connected, not the drumstick segment alone. FoodNutrify's leg reference blends thigh (~55%) and drumstick (~45%) meat yields from USDA entries ^[1].

If you ate only a drumstick, use the [Chicken Drumsticks](/protein/chicken-drumsticks) page instead. If you ate only a thigh, use [Chicken Thigh](/protein/chicken-thigh). This page is for the combined whole leg.

USDA also publishes a standalone "leg, meat only, roasted" entry (FDC #171083) that aligns closely with our blended calculator values.

One roasted meat-only leg quarter (~190g edible meat): ≈ 46.6g protein and 317 kcal at default values.

One roasted leg with skin (~215g): ≈ 55.9g protein and 499 kcal — skin substantially increases calories.

Bone-in leg quarters weigh 280–350g+ on a scale including bone; edible meat yield is much lower than total weight.

A drumstick is the lower segment only (~96g meat). A whole leg includes thigh + drumstick (~190g meat) — roughly double the protein of one drumstick.

Per 100g roasted meat-only: leg quarter 24.5g protein vs drumstick 24.2g protein — similar density, but the leg portion is much larger in absolute grams.

Do not log a whole leg quarter using drumstick piece counts — you will under-log protein by roughly half.

A leg quarter includes the thigh plus drumstick. Thigh-only roasted skinless lists 24.8g protein per 100g; the blended leg reference is 24.5g per 100g — nearly identical per 100g because both are dark meat.

The difference is portion size: one thigh (~85–115g cooked meat) vs one whole leg (~190g meat). A leg delivers more total protein because it includes two segments.

For thigh-only meals, the thigh page gives more precise piece references.

Per 100g roasted: meat only — 24.5g protein, 167 kcal, 6.9g fat; with skin — 26.0g protein, 232 kcal, 13.5g fat ^[1].

Rotisserie and BBQ leg quarters are typically skin-on. If you discard skin at the table, log meat-only for the meat weight you consumed.

Skin adds 65 kcal per 100g primarily from fat — protein per 100g changes modestly because skin weight is included in the portion.

Raw leg meat lists 19.2g protein and 120 kcal per 100g; roasted lists 24.5g and 167 kcal. Water loss during roasting concentrates protein per gram — total protein in the same leg does not increase.

Weigh raw before cooking and log raw, or weigh cooked meat and log roasted. Never enter cooked weight against raw per-100g data.

Leg quarters lose significant moisture when roasted — expect 30–40% weight reduction from raw bone-in to cooked edible meat.

A bone-in leg quarter on a scale may read 300g+ but yields only ~190g edible meat (meat-only reference) after cooking and bone removal.

Weighing the whole bone-in leg and logging that weight as meat overestimates protein by including bone mass.

Best practice: cut meat from the bone and weigh, or use the USDA piece estimate (~190g meat per leg) and note individual variation.

BBQ / rotisserie: usually skin-on — select meat & skin if you eat the skin; meat-only if you remove it.

Meal prep: weigh total cooked leg meat off the bone, divide by servings.

Half leg: if you ate only thigh or drumstick from a quarter, use thigh or drumstick pages for tighter accuracy.