How Many Calories in a Sweet Potato? Official USDA Numbers by Size

A medium baked sweet potato is about 103 calories with 3.8g of fiber, 2.3g of protein, and almost no fat, by USDA FoodData Central figures. A small one is 54 and a large one is 162. Per 100 grams it is 90 calories, nearly the same as a white potato. The butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows are where the real calories live.

Official USDA numbers

Baked in its skin, flesh only (90 calories per 100g), at USDA's own size weights:

Size	Weight	Calories	Protein	Fiber	Carbs	Sugar
Small	60g	54	1.2g	2.0g	12.4g	3.9g
Medium (2 inches across, 5 inches long, raw)	114g	103	2.3g	3.8g	23.6g	7.4g
Large	180g	162	3.6g	5.9g	37.3g	11.7g
1 cup, baked	200g	180	4.0g	6.6g	41.4g	13.0g

USDA's sizes run small next to many grocery store sweet potatoes, so if yours fills your hand, it is probably a "large" or bigger. At 90 calories per 100 grams, a 300-gram baked sweet potato is 270 calories. Weighing one once is the fastest way to calibrate your eye.

By preparation, each at its USDA portion:

Preparation	Per 100g	USDA portion	Calories	Fat
Raw	86	1 sweet potato, 5 inches long, 130g	112	0.1g
Boiled, without skin	76	1 medium, 151g	115	0.2g
Baked in skin	90	1 medium, 114g	103	0.2g
Mashed, boiled, nothing added	76	1 cup, 328g	249	0.5g
Casserole or mashed, with half and half and sugar	99	1 cup, 250g	248	6.4g
Candied	187	1 cup, 250g	468	8.7g
Fries, from frozen, no oil added	192	1 cup, 60g	115	5.6g
Fries, fast food or restaurant	305	1 cup, 60g	183	14.4g
Sweet potato chips	532	1 oz, 28.35g	151	9.2g

The plain rows barely move: raw is 86 per 100 grams, boiled 76 because it soaks up water, baked 90 because the oven drives water out. Everything else on the list is the sweet potato plus something.

What each version actually costs

Baking and boiling add nothing. The only difference between them is water. A plain sweet potato is low in fat, decent in fiber, and very high in vitamin A: a medium baked one carries 1,096 micrograms, which is 122 percent of the FDA Daily Value.

Mashing depends on the cup. USDA's cup of plain mashed sweet potato weighs 328 grams because it packs down, so it comes to 249 calories with nothing added. The casserole-style cup weighs 250 grams and lands at 248, even though half and half and sugar were stirred in. Same cup, different weight. That is why "a cup" is a weak unit for anything mashed.

Frying is where it changes. Frozen sweet potato fries heated without extra oil are 192 per 100 grams, because the frozen product already contains oil, 8.9g of fat per 100 grams straight out of the bag. Restaurant fries, cooked in more oil, are 305 per 100 grams, more than three times a baked sweet potato. Sweet potato chips land at 532 per 100 grams, the exact same figure USDA lists for plain potato chips. The "healthier chip" halo does not survive the label.

Sweet potato vs white potato

Per 100 grams baked, the two are close on calories. A medium sweet potato only looks lighter because USDA's medium sweet potato (114g) is much smaller than its medium russet (173g).

Per 100g, baked	Sweet potato	Russet potato
Calories	90	95
Protein	2.0g	2.6g
Carbs	20.7g	21.4g
Fiber	3.3g	2.3g
Sugar	6.5g	1.1g
Potassium	475mg	550mg
Vitamin A	961 mcg	1 mcg
Vitamin C	19.6mg	8.3mg
Medium potato	103 (114g)	164 (173g)

So the swap is not a calorie trick. Sweet potato wins on fiber, vitamin A, and vitamin C. White potato wins on potassium and protein and has far less sugar. If you swap one for the other expecting to save calories, the saving comes from the smaller potato, not the color. Our potato guide has the full white potato breakdown, including fries and mashed.

Toppings: butter, brown sugar, marshmallows

The sweet potato is cheap. What goes on it is not. USDA values for the classic toppings:

Topping	Amount	Calories
Butter, salted	1 tbsp (14.2g)	102
Brown sugar, packed	1 tbsp (13.8g)	52
Mini marshmallows	1/4 cup (12.5g)	40
Mini marshmallows	1 cup (50g)	159
Regular marshmallow	1 piece (7.2g)	23

Built up on a medium baked sweet potato:

• Plain: 103
• With 1 tbsp butter: 103 + 102 = 205
• Butter and 1 tbsp brown sugar: 103 + 102 + 52 = 257
• Butter, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup mini marshmallows: 103 + 102 + 52 + 40 = 297

One pat of butter doubles it. The full dessert version nearly triples it, and most of the added calories are fat and sugar rather than anything the sweet potato brought.

The Thanksgiving casserole

Sweet potato casserole is where most people meet this vegetable at its densest. USDA's casserole entry is sweet potato, half and half, and a little sugar, with no marshmallow or pecan topping, at 124 calories per half cup. Candied sweet potatoes, cooked down with sugar and fat, are 234 per half cup, almost double.

If your family's casserole wears marshmallows, add them on top: a half cup of casserole with 1/4 cup of mini marshmallows is 124 + 40 = 164. A full cup with the same topping is 248 + 40 = 288. Pecan streusel versions with a butter and brown sugar crumble climb higher, since the topping is mostly the two ingredients from the table above.

Our Thanksgiving dinner calories guide puts that scoop next to the turkey, stuffing, and pie, and how to not gain weight during the holidays covers the whole stretch from now to January. Tell Siri "sweet potato casserole, the corner piece with all the marshmallows" and Nouri counts it without judgment.

The butter my food log could not see

When I double-checked photo trackers against the real ingredients, the misses had a pattern: the fat the camera could not see. A baked sweet potato is the perfect example. Split it, drop in a tablespoon of butter and a spoon of brown sugar, and both melt into the orange flesh within a minute. A photo shows a sweet potato. The log says roughly 100 calories. The plate is closer to 260.

So the sentence has to carry what the picture cannot: "medium baked sweet potato with a tablespoon of butter and some brown sugar." Nouri itemizes that into three lines, so the butter shows up as its own number, and you can tap any line to fix the amount before it counts. Typing it like a note, saying it out loud, snapping a photo, or asking Siri are four equal ways in. With a photo, Nouri turns the picture into a sentence first, which is exactly the moment to add "with butter." Nouri is iPhone (iOS only), and you can try it free.

Sweet potato is also one of the rare foods that lights up the vitamin side of the log. Each meal gets a Vitamin Scorecard showing vitamin A, C, D, iron, and calcium as percentages, and a medium sweet potato alone carries 122 percent of the FDA Daily Value for vitamin A. Nutrition Details shows the same meal's fiber, sugar, and sodium, and Nouri tracks all three against daily goals. That is the useful part of the casserole math: the fiber is real, and so is the sugar.

FAQ

How many calories in a medium sweet potato?

About 103 for a medium baked sweet potato at USDA's weight of 114g. Boiled without skin, USDA's medium weighs 151g and comes to about 115.

How many calories in a large sweet potato?

About 162 at USDA's large weight of 180g, baked. Many supermarket sweet potatoes are bigger than that, so weighing one helps: baked, they run 90 calories per 100 grams.

How many calories in 100g of sweet potato?

90 baked, 86 raw, and 76 boiled without skin, per USDA. The boiled figure is lower only because the flesh absorbs water.

Is sweet potato healthier than white potato?

Neither wins outright. Per 100 grams baked, sweet potato is 90 calories against 95 for a russet, with more fiber, vitamin A, and vitamin C, but more sugar and less potassium and protein. Pick on taste and the toppings you will actually use.

How many carbs are in a sweet potato?

About 23.6g in a medium baked sweet potato, including 3.8g of fiber and 7.4g of sugar. A large one is 37.3g of carbs.

How much protein is in a sweet potato?

About 2.3g in a medium baked sweet potato. It is a carb and fiber source, so pair it with real protein, using the targets in How to Track Macros.

How many calories in sweet potato fries?

About 115 per USDA cup (60g) of frozen fries heated without extra oil, and about 183 per cup for restaurant fries, which absorb far more oil. Per 100 grams that is 192 against 305.

How many calories in mashed sweet potatoes?

A cup of plain mashed sweet potato is about 249, because USDA's cup packs 328g. With butter, add 102 per tablespoon. USDA's casserole-style version with half and half and sugar is 248 per 250g cup.

How many calories in sweet potato casserole?

About 124 per half cup and 248 per cup by USDA's recipe, which has no marshmallows or pecans. A quarter cup of mini marshmallows adds 40.

How many calories in candied sweet potatoes?

About 234 per half cup and 468 per cup, by USDA. The sugar and fat roughly double the calories of the casserole.

Is sweet potato good for weight loss?

A plain sweet potato is a strong choice: 90 calories per 100 grams with fiber that helps you stay full. The risk is the toppings, since butter and brown sugar can add 150 calories or more to a 103-calorie potato.

Are sweet potato chips healthier than potato chips?

Not for calories. USDA lists both at 532 calories per 100 grams, about 151 per ounce for sweet potato chips. The sweet potato version does carry more fiber and vitamin A.

What is the easiest way to track calories in a sweet potato?

Name the size and the toppings in one line, like "large baked sweet potato with butter and cinnamon," typed or said to Siri. Nouri returns calories and macros item by item with its reasoning, and the weekly Nouri Report shows how those plates added up.

The sweet potato was never the expensive part, the butter was. Log it in Nouri with the toppings named, compare it with its pale cousin in our potato guide, and check Calorie Counting 101 for the target it all fits inside.

Sources

• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy: Sweet potato, cooked, baked in skin, flesh, without salt (FDC 168483), including USDA's small, medium, large, and cup weights, fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/168483/nutrients; Sweet potato, raw, unprepared (FDC 168482), fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/168482/nutrients; Sweet potato, cooked, boiled, without skin (FDC 168484), fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/168484/nutrients (checked October 13, 2026)
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy: Snacks, sweet potato chips, unsalted (FDC 174783), fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/174783/nutrients; Potatoes, Russet, flesh and skin, baked (FDC 170030), fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/170030/nutrients (checked October 13, 2026)
• USDA FoodData Central, Survey (FNDDS): Sweet potato, casserole or mashed (FDC 2709708), fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2709708/nutrients; Sweet potato, candied (FDC 2709704), fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2709704/nutrients; Sweet potato fries, frozen (FDC 2709711), fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2709711/nutrients; Sweet potato fries, fast food / restaurant (FDC 2709713), fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2709713/nutrients (checked October 13, 2026)
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, for toppings: Butter, salted (FDC 173410), fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/173410/nutrients; Sugars, brown (FDC 168833), tablespoon calculated as 3 of USDA's packed teaspoons (4.6g each), fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/168833/nutrients; Candies, marshmallows (FDC 167995), fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/167995/nutrients (checked October 13, 2026)
• FDA Daily Values (vitamin A 900 mcg RAE), fda.gov (checked October 13, 2026)
• Portion weights are USDA's own household measures; per-portion values calculated from USDA per-100g figures times those weights. The 300g sweet potato and the topping builds are our arithmetic from the same figures