Pork Calories & Nutrition Calculator

Pork has the widest calorie range of any common meat species: tenderloin at 109 kcal to belly at 518 kcal per 100g — a 375% difference. No other meat has this spread. Beef ranges from 160 to 291 kcal. Chicken from 110 to 239 kcal. This extreme variation makes cut selection the most critical factor in pork nutrition journaling ^[1][2].

Pork tenderloin (109 kcal, 20.9g protein, 2.17g fat) is comparable to chicken breast (120 kcal, 22.5g protein, 2.62g fat) — one of the leanest proteins available. Pork belly (518 kcal, 9.34g protein, 53.01g fat) has more fat than butter (81g/100g fat) on a calories-per-gram basis. Using generic 'pork' in food journals could misestimate calories by 300+ kcal per 100g ^[1].

Per 3 oz (85g) tenderloin: approximately 93 kcal, 17.8g protein, 1.9g fat. Per 3 oz belly: approximately 440 kcal, 7.9g protein, 45.1g fat. The same 3 oz portion size produces a 347 kcal difference — equivalent to an entire separate meal.

Pork liver is nutritionally exceptional: 134 kcal, 21.4g protein, 23.3mg iron (130% DV) per 100g. The iron content is 4.8x higher than beef liver (4.9mg) and 3.2x higher than lamb liver (7.37mg). Pork liver is the richest iron source among all commonly consumed organ meats ^[1][3].

Vitamin C at 25.3mg per 100g (28% DV) is unusually high for liver. Beef liver has 1.3mg. Lamb liver has 3.2mg. Pork liver's vitamin C is 19.5x more than beef liver. Combined with vitamin A at 4,944mcg (549% DV) and selenium at 52.7mcg (96% DV), pork liver has the densest micronutrient profile of any pork product ^[1].

Folate at 212mcg (53% DV) and niacin at 15.3mg (96% DV) are both substantial. For food journaling, pork liver requires its own entry — its iron (23.3mg) vs. muscle meat iron (0.55–1.1mg) represents a 20–40x difference that generic 'pork' entries cannot capture.

Pork kidney at 100 kcal, 16.5g protein per 100g has 190mcg selenium (345% DV) — the highest selenium concentration of any commonly consumed food after brazil nuts (1,917mcg). This is 6.2x more than pork tenderloin (30.8mcg), 3.6x more than pork liver (52.7mcg), and 1.5x more than beef kidney (128mcg) ^[1].

Cholesterol in pork kidney at 480mg per 100g is notable — higher than pork liver (301mg) and most other organ meats except brain. Iron at 4.6mg and zinc at 2.72mg are moderate. Vitamin C at 14.0mg is present, consistent with kidney tissue across species ^[1].

The selenium tolerable upper intake is 400mcg/day. A single 100g serving of pork kidney provides 190mcg — nearly half the upper limit. For selenium-focused food journaling, pork kidney requires precise portioning.

Pork is uniquely rich in thiamine (vitamin B1): ham has 0.77mg (64% DV) and loin has 0.667mg (56% DV) per 100g. For comparison: beef sirloin has 0.094mg (8% DV), chicken breast has 0.063mg (5% DV), and lamb has 0.10mg (8% DV). Pork provides 7–12x more thiamine than other common meats ^[1][2].

Even the lowest thiamine cuts — belly (0.28mg, 23% DV) and ribs (0.267mg, 22% DV) — still exceed the thiamine content of any other common meat. Pork heart at 0.66mg (55% DV) is also substantial. This consistent thiamine richness across cuts is a distinguishing nutritional characteristic of pork ^[1].

Selenium is another pork strength: tenderloin at 30.8mcg (56% DV), loin at 36.1mcg (66% DV), and kidney at 190mcg (345% DV) per 100g. Pork muscle cuts generally provide more selenium than beef or lamb equivalents.

Between tenderloin (109 kcal) and belly (518 kcal), pork has several intermediate cuts: ham/leg at 136 kcal (5.4g fat), loin at 143 kcal (5.6g fat), shoulder at 236 kcal (18.2g fat), and ribs at 277 kcal (23.4g fat). These intermediate cuts create a stepped calorie ladder unique to pork ^[1][2].

Zinc increases with connective tissue content: shoulder at 2.75mg and ribs at 2.08mg vs. tenderloin at 1.9mg and loin at 1.88mg. Iron follows a similar pattern: shoulder (1.1mg) > tenderloin (0.98mg) > loin (0.83mg) > ham (0.6mg) > belly (0.55mg) ^[1].

Pork shoulder (236 kcal) is comparable in calories to beef chuck (198 kcal) but has more fat (18.2g vs. 11.02g). For slow-cooking preparations like pulled pork, the shoulder's higher fat content renders during cooking, meaning cooked drained portions will differ significantly from raw entry values.