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How Many Calories in Cheese? USDA Numbers for 13 Cheeses

An ounce of cheddar is about 114 calories and part-skim mozzarella about 72, by USDA data. 13 cheeses ranked per ounce, slice, and cup, plus protein picks.

AJ
Alain Jacks
October 3, 2026

Most hard and semi-hard cheeses land between 105 and 120 calories per ounce, by USDA FoodData Central data: cheddar is about 114, Swiss 111, and American 105. Part-skim mozzarella is the lightest regular cheese at about 72, and cottage cheese is a different category entirely at 81 to 111 calories for a 4 oz scoop.

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Official USDA numbers, ranked per ounce

Every cheese at the same 1 oz (28.35g), lowest calories first:

Cheese Calories Protein Fat Sodium
Mozzarella, part skim 72 6.9g 4.5g 175mg
Feta 75 4.0g 6.1g 323mg
Mozzarella, low moisture, part skim 84 6.7g 5.6g 189mg
Mozzarella, whole milk 85 6.3g 6.3g 138mg
Cream cheese 99 1.7g 9.8g 89mg
American (pasteurized process) 105 5.1g 9.0g 473mg
Parmesan, hard 111 10.1g 7.1g 335mg
Swiss 111 7.7g 8.8g 53mg
Cheddar 114 6.5g 9.4g 185mg
Parmesan, grated 119 8.1g 7.9g 510mg

The spread is narrower than people expect. The classic firm cheeses, American, Swiss, parmesan, and cheddar, all sit within 15 calories of each other per ounce. The real differences are protein and sodium: hard parmesan carries 10.1g of protein per ounce, cream cheese 1.7g, and Swiss has a fraction of the sodium of American.

By slice, cup, and spoon

The way cheese is actually measured, at USDA's own portion weights:

Cheese Portion Calories Protein
Cheddar 1 slice (1 oz), 28g 113 6.4g
Cheddar 1 cup shredded, 113g 455 25.9g
Swiss 1 slice (1 oz), 28g 110 7.6g
Swiss 1 cup shredded, 108g 424 29.2g
American 1 slice (3/4 oz), 21g 78 3.8g
American 1 slice (1 oz), 28g 104 5.1g
Mozzarella, low moisture, part skim 1 slice (1 oz), 28g 83 6.7g
Mozzarella, low moisture, part skim 1 cup shredded, 113g 333 26.9g
Mozzarella, whole milk 1 cup shredded, 112g 335 24.9g
Parmesan, grated 1 tbsp, 5g 21 1.4g
Parmesan, grated 1 cup, 100g 420 28.4g
Feta 1 wedge, 38g 101 5.4g
Feta 1 cup crumbled, 150g 398 21.3g
Cream cheese 1 tbsp, 14.5g 51 0.9g
Cream cheese 1 small package (3 oz), 85g 298 5.2g

A cup of shredded cheese is 333 to 455 calories depending on the cheese, which is why a "sprinkle" deserves a real number. A tablespoon of grated parmesan, on the other hand, is about 21 calories, close to free.

Cottage cheese: the outlier

Cottage cheese Portion Calories Protein Fat
Low-fat, 1% 4 oz, 113g 81 14.0g 1.2g
Low-fat, 1% 1 cup, 226g 163 28.0g 2.3g
Low-fat, 2% 4 oz, 113g 92 11.8g 2.6g
Low-fat, 2% 1 cup, 226g 183 23.5g 5.1g
Creamed (regular), small curd 4 oz, 113g 111 12.5g 4.9g
Creamed (regular), small curd 1 cup, 225g 221 25.0g 9.7g

Cottage cheese is mostly water, so it runs 72 to 98 calories per 100 grams against 254 to 420 for the cheeses above. A cup of 1% cottage cheese delivers 28 grams of protein for 163 calories. It also carries a lot of sodium for its calories, 406mg per 100 grams for the 1% version, so check the label if you watch salt.

Lowest-calorie and highest-protein picks

Protein per 100 calories, from USDA's per-100g figures:

Cheese Protein per 100 calories
Cottage cheese, 1% 17.2g
Cottage cheese, 2% 12.8g
Cottage cheese, creamed 11.3g
Mozzarella, part skim 9.6g
Parmesan, hard 9.1g
Mozzarella, low moisture, part skim 8.1g
Mozzarella, whole milk 7.4g
Swiss 6.9g
Parmesan, grated 6.8g
Cheddar 5.7g
Feta 5.4g
American 4.9g
Cream cheese 1.8g

Lowest calorie per ounce: part-skim mozzarella (72), then feta (75). Feta is strong-flavored, so a little goes a long way, though it is salty at 323mg per ounce.

Highest protein per calorie: 1% cottage cheese by a wide margin, then part-skim mozzarella and hard parmesan. Among sliceable cheeses, Swiss beats cheddar on both protein and sodium at nearly the same calories.

Least protein for the calories: cream cheese, with 34.4g of fat and just 6.2g of protein per 100 grams.

What about string cheese? USDA's SR Legacy data has no separate string cheese entry. Many string cheese labels name low-moisture part-skim mozzarella as the cheese, which USDA puts at 84 calories per ounce, but your package label is the more reliable number for a specific stick.

Cheese math in real meals

How I log cheese, and why it used to take forever

Cheese is a good example of why I gave up on MyFitnessPal. Type "cheddar" into a big food database and you get a long list of entries: sliced, shredded, sharp, mild, brand after brand, all slightly different. Picking one, then picking a unit, then guessing the amount, for every ingredient in a normal dinner, is how logging one meal took several minutes. After a long day I just skipped it, and an accurate database does not help if you have stopped opening the app.

The photo trackers I tried next had the opposite problem. Cheese melts into things. In a burrito, a casserole, or a pan of eggs, it is hidden or spread thin, and the camera has no idea whether it is looking at a light sprinkle or a full cup, a gap of hundreds of calories by the table above.

In Nouri I describe it the way I would say it out loud: "three eggs scrambled with a handful of shredded cheddar." That is the whole log. Nouri splits it into the eggs and the cheese, each with its calories and the reasoning shown, and if the cheese line looks light for how much I actually used, I add "heavy on the cheese" and it recalculates. A photo works for a plate where the cheese is visible, like a cheese board, and Nouri turns it into a sentence I can correct before it counts. Nouri is iPhone (iOS only), and you can try it free.

When I am grating parmesan over pasta with both hands busy, Siri is the fastest route: "Hey Siri, track food in Nouri," then "spaghetti with two tablespoons of parmesan," without unlocking the phone. Those small additions all land in the Sunday Nouri Report, which shows your average calories and macros against your targets, the slips that cost the most, and one clear focus for the next week.

Numbers are good. Answers are better.Log on 3 days and Nouri builds your first personal report: your Health Score, days on target, wins, slips, and one clear focus.Get your first Nouri Report

FAQ

How many calories in a slice of cheese?

About 113 for a 1 oz slice of cheddar, 110 for Swiss, and 104 for a 1 oz slice of American, by USDA data. A thinner 3/4 oz slice of American is about 78, and a 1 oz slice of low-moisture part-skim mozzarella is about 83.

How many calories in an ounce of cheese?

Most firm cheeses are 105 to 120 calories per ounce: cheddar 114, Swiss 111, hard parmesan 111, American 105. Part-skim mozzarella is about 72 and feta about 75.

What cheese has the lowest calories?

Cottage cheese, at 72 calories per 100 grams for 1%. Among regular cheeses, part-skim mozzarella is lowest at about 72 per ounce, followed by feta at 75.

What cheese has the most protein?

Per ounce, hard parmesan leads at 10.1g. Per calorie, 1% cottage cheese wins easily with about 17 grams of protein per 100 calories.

How many calories in a cup of shredded cheese?

About 455 for a cup of shredded cheddar (113g), 424 for Swiss, and 333 to 335 for mozzarella, by USDA portion weights. A quarter cup of shredded cheddar is about 114.

How many calories in mozzarella cheese?

72 per ounce for part-skim, 84 for low-moisture part-skim, and 85 for whole milk. A cup of shredded whole-milk mozzarella is about 335.

How many calories in parmesan cheese?

About 21 per tablespoon of grated parmesan and 119 per ounce. Hard parmesan is 111 per ounce with 10.1g of protein.

How many calories in cream cheese?

About 51 per tablespoon and 99 per ounce. It has very little protein, 0.9g per tablespoon, so it behaves more like a spread than a protein food.

How many calories in cottage cheese?

81 for 4 oz of 1% low-fat, 92 for 2%, and 111 for regular creamed cottage cheese. A full cup of 1% is about 163 calories with 28g of protein.

Is cheese good for weight loss?

Cheese can fit a calorie deficit, but most firm cheeses are dense at around 400 calories per 100 grams, so portions add up fast. Cottage cheese and part-skim mozzarella give the most protein for the calories.

Is feta cheese high in calories?

Not compared with other cheeses: 75 per ounce against 114 for cheddar. It is salty, though, with 323mg of sodium per ounce.

What is the easiest way to track calories in cheese?

Describe how you used it, not just which cheese: "two slices of Swiss," "a handful of shredded mozzarella," or "a spoon of cream cheese," typed or said to Siri. Nouri gives the cheese its own line with calories and macros, so a heavy hand shows up instead of disappearing into the meal.

Ready to see what your week actually looks like?Try Nouri free for 3 days. Then $39.99/year or $9.99/month.Download Nouri on the App Store

Cheese is rarely the main event, which is exactly why it goes unlogged. Add it to the sentence in Nouri, check the other half of the plate in our pasta and Greek yogurt guides, and see Common Food Logging Mistakes for the other toppings that slip through.

Sources

An easier way to log food

Like Apple Notes, but for calories.

Write what you ate the way you would jot a note, snap a photo of the plate, or say "Hey Siri, track food in Nouri" with your phone still locked. Nouri works out the calories and macros, shows you every item it counted, and lets you change anything that looks off.

Try Nouri free for 3 days

iPhone (iOS only). Then $9.99/month or $39.99/year.

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