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Turkey Calories: White vs Dark Meat, Skin On or Off (USDA Data)

Roasted turkey is 125 to 175 calories per 3 oz by USDA data. White meat, no skin is 125; dark with skin is 175. Every cut, deli, ground, bacon and sausage.

AJ
Alain Jacks
November 7, 2026
A roast turkey on a wooden cutting board with sliced white breast meat and dark meat drumsticks and thighs

Roasted turkey is 125 to 175 calories per 3 oz (85g), by USDA data. White meat without skin is the leanest at 125 calories and 25.6g of protein. Dark meat with skin is the richest at 175. Keeping the skin adds only 25 to 28 calories per serving. A typical Thanksgiving portion, 6 oz of white and dark with skin, is about 325 calories.

Turkey, counted before the gravy landsType "6 oz turkey, half white half dark, with skin" and Nouri does the math in seconds. Start with a 3-day free trial and save your brain for the pie debate.Try Nouri free

Short version: every kind of plain roasted turkey is a lean, high-protein food. The differences between white and dark, or skin and no skin, are real but small. The bigger swings come from processed turkey (bacon, sausage, fattier ground blends) and from what shares the plate.

How many calories are in turkey? The big table

All values are USDA SR Legacy figures for roasted meat, bone removed. Per ounce uses 28g (as in our Thanksgiving post), per 3 oz uses USDA's own 85g serving, and every serving value is the per-100g figure times that weight, rounded. The light and dark rows use the same FDC entries as our Thanksgiving dinner calories post, so the numbers match exactly.

Turkey (roasted) FDC ID Per oz Per 3 oz (85g) Per 100g Protein, 3 oz
White (light) meat, no skin 171491 41 125 147 25.6g
White (light) meat, with skin 171089 50 150 177 25.2g
Dark meat, no skin 171091 48 147 173 23.5g
Dark meat, with skin 171489 58 175 206 23.2g
Whole bird, mixed, no skin 171481 45 135 159 24.7g
Whole bird, mixed, with skin 171479 53 161 189 24.3g
Breast, no skin (retail cut) 174516 38 116 136 25.1g
Breast, with skin (retail cut) 171529 46 139 164 24.7g
Thigh, no skin 172877 45 135 159 21.3g
Thigh, with skin 171137 51 156 183 20.4g
Drumstick, no skin 172878 48 147 173 24.3g
Drumstick, with skin 171135 55 167 197 24.0g
Wing, no skin 172872 48 145 170 25.7g
Wing, with skin 171133 66 200 235 24.4g
Roasted skin only 171082 129 390 459 20.3g

Why is the retail breast (116) lower than "white meat" (125)? USDA analyzed breasts sold on their own as a separate sample from whole roasted birds, and the whole-bird "light meat" also includes wing meat. Both are legitimate; use the retail rows when you cooked a bone-in breast or turkey parts, and the light and dark rows when you carved a whole bird.

Is white or dark turkey meat lower in calories?

White meat is lower, but only by about 22 calories per 3 oz without skin (125 against 147). It also has a little more protein, 25.6g against 23.5g, because dark meat carries a bit more fat: 5.1g per serving versus 1.8g.

That is not much of a gap. If you prefer the thigh, eat the thigh. Dark meat without skin (147) still has fewer calories than white meat with skin (150), which is a fun fact to drop when someone at the table is smug about their breast slice.

How many calories does turkey skin add?

Turkey skin on its own is 459 calories per 100g, about 129 per ounce, mostly fat. But a serving of meat with skin only carries a thin layer of it, so the real difference is small:

So keep the skin if you love it. Where skin adds up is when you pick crispy pieces off the carcass while carving. One ounce of those is about 129 calories, more than the skin on a full 3 oz serving.

How many calories in a whole turkey leg, thigh, or wing?

USDA also lists the edible weight of a whole roasted piece (meat and skin, bone removed). These are big pieces from a full-size bird:

Whole roasted piece Edible weight Calories Protein
Drumstick, with skin (171135) 275g 542 77.5g
Thigh, with skin (171137) 348g 637 83.5g
Wing, with skin (171133) 375g 881 107.6g

A giant fair-style turkey leg is usually smoked rather than roasted, so treat 542 as a starting point and tell your tracker it was smoked. Turkey parts vary a lot by bird size, so if you have a kitchen scale, weigh the meat off the bone and use the per 100g column above.

How much protein is in turkey? Ranked per 100 calories

Protein per 100 calories is the cleanest way to compare foods with different serving sizes. Here is every turkey product in this post, ranked:

Rank Turkey Calories, 3 oz Protein, 3 oz Protein per 100 cal
1 Breast, no skin (retail) 116 25.1g 21.7g
2 Ground turkey, fat free, cooked 128 27.0g 21.0g
3 White meat, no skin 125 25.6g 20.5g
4 Deli turkey breast, low salt 93 18.5g 20.0g
5 Whole bird, mixed, no skin 135 24.7g 18.3g
6 Wing, no skin 145 25.7g 17.8g
7 Breast, with skin (retail) 139 24.7g 17.7g
8 White meat, with skin 150 25.2g 16.7g
9 Drumstick, no skin 147 24.3g 16.5g
10 Dark meat, no skin 147 23.5g 16.0g
11 Thigh, no skin 135 21.3g 15.8g
12 Whole bird, mixed, with skin 161 24.3g 15.1g
13 Drumstick, with skin 167 24.0g 14.3g
14 Deli turkey breast, sliced, prepackaged 90 12.6g 14.0g
15 Dark meat, with skin 175 23.2g 13.3g
16 Thigh, with skin 156 20.4g 13.1g
17 Ground turkey 93/7, cooked 181 23.0g 12.7g
18 Wing, with skin 200 24.4g 12.2g
19 Turkey sausage, cooked 167 20.3g 12.2g
20 Ground turkey 85/15, cooked 219 21.3g 9.7g
21 Turkey bacon, microwaved 313 25.1g 8.0g
22 Roasted skin only 390 20.3g 5.2g

For context, cooked skinless chicken breast (FDC 171477) is 165 calories and 31g of protein per 100g, or 18.8g per 100 calories. Plain white turkey meat beats it. If you are building a high-protein day, our high-protein foods list has the rest of the field, and the protein intake calculator gives you a daily target.

How many calories in deli turkey?

Deli turkey is one of the lightest proteins you can buy, but brands differ a lot in how much water and starch they add. USDA has two useful entries:

The second one has less protein per bite because thin-sliced packs carry more water and binders. Your package label is the best number for your exact brand, and a sandwich with two slices of bread is where most of the calories live anyway.

How many calories in ground turkey (93/7 vs 85/15)?

Ground turkey 4 oz raw (113g) 3 oz cooked crumbles (85g) Protein, cooked
Fat free (172847, 172848) 127 128 27.0g
93/7 (172850, 172851) 170 181 23.0g
85/15 (174493, 174494) 203 219 21.3g

Going from 85/15 to 93/7 saves about 38 calories per 3 oz cooked. One trap: cooked meat has lost water, so per gram it is denser than raw. Log raw weight against a raw entry, or cooked weight against a cooked entry, never a mix. Our ground beef calories post covers this in detail, and shows that 93/7 turkey and 93/7 beef are nearly identical by calories.

How many calories in turkey bacon and turkey sausage?

Both are fine breakfast picks, just not in the same league as roasted turkey for protein per calorie. Turkey bacon is also high in sodium: 2,020mg per 100g in USDA's microwaved entry, which works out to about 164mg a slice.

How many calories in a typical Thanksgiving turkey portion?

Our Thanksgiving dinner calories post builds its classic plate with 6 oz of turkey: 3 oz white with skin plus 3 oz dark with skin. That comes to:

Thanksgiving turkey portion Calories Protein
6 oz, half white and half dark, with skin 325 48.4g
6 oz, half white and half dark, no skin 272 49.1g
6 oz white meat, no skin 250 51.2g
6 oz dark meat, with skin 350 46.4g
Seconds: 12 oz, half and half, with skin 651 96.7g

Six ounces is roughly two palm-size pieces, or four to five carved slices from a full bird. The 6 oz portion is under a fifth of the classic plate's 1,768 calories, which is the main point of that post: stuffing, butter, and pie decide the total, not the turkey. Plug your own plate into the Thanksgiving calorie calculator, see Friendsgiving calories for the potluck version, or go high-protein for Thanksgiving if that is your goal. For Friday's sandwiches and soup, Thanksgiving leftovers calories uses the same turkey numbers.

One holiday meal does not change much on its own. If tracking around food ever feels stressful, or you have a history of disordered eating, it is worth working with a doctor or dietitian rather than a spreadsheet.

How I track turkey in Nouri

I used MyFitnessPal first, and the numbers were fine. The problem was the search: "turkey" returns hundreds of entries, white or dark, skin or not, roasted or deli, and picking the right one for a plate of carved slices took longer than eating them. Then I tried photo apps, and a slice of turkey under gravy is exactly what a camera cannot read.

So I built Nouri to take a sentence. Type "two slices of dark meat turkey with skin and a scoop of gravy" and you get calories and macros right away, with reasoning and a confidence rating for each item. If you forgot something, add "plus a crispy bit of skin" and recalculate. Hands busy carving? "Hey Siri, track food in Nouri" works from the lock screen. A photo works too: Nouri turns it into a sentence first, so you can fix "chicken" to "turkey thigh" before anything counts.

Then Sunday's Nouri Report shows how the holiday week actually averaged against your targets, with one clear focus for the next week. Most calorie apps give you numbers. Nouri gives you answers.

White meat, dark meat, no mathSay what is on the plate and Nouri itemizes it, skin and all, with the reasoning behind every number.Get your first Nouri Report

FAQ

How many calories in 3 oz of turkey breast?

Three ounces of roasted white meat without skin is 125 calories with 25.6g of protein, by USDA. A separately roasted retail breast without skin is a little lower at 116. With skin, white meat is 150.

How many calories in 100g of turkey?

Roasted white meat without skin is 147 calories per 100g with 30.1g of protein. Dark meat without skin is 173, and dark meat with skin is 206. Skin alone is 459 per 100g.

How many calories in one ounce of turkey?

About 41 calories per ounce for white meat without skin, 48 for dark meat without skin, and 58 for dark meat with skin. Deli turkey breast is about 31 calories per ounce.

Is dark meat turkey unhealthy?

No. Dark meat without skin is 147 calories with 23.5g of protein per 3 oz, still a lean, high-protein food. It has a bit more fat than white meat, about 5g per serving versus 2g.

Should I take the skin off turkey?

Only if you want to. Skin adds 25 calories to 3 oz of white meat and 28 to dark meat. Wings are the exception, where skin adds 55 per 3 oz.

How much protein is in turkey?

Three ounces of roasted turkey has 20 to 26g of protein depending on the cut. White meat without skin has 25.6g, and the leanest cuts deliver over 20g of protein per 100 calories.

Is turkey healthier than chicken?

They are very close. Skinless roasted white turkey has 20.5g of protein per 100 calories; skinless chicken breast has 18.8g. Pick the one you enjoy.

How many calories in a turkey leg?

A whole roasted drumstick with skin, using USDA's 275g edible weight, is about 542 calories with 77.5g of protein. Smoked fair-style legs can differ, so mention smoked when you track it.

How many calories in ground turkey?

Cooked 93/7 ground turkey is 181 calories per 3 oz and 85/15 is 219, by USDA. Raw, a 4 oz portion is 170 for 93/7 and 203 for 85/15.

How many calories in turkey bacon?

One microwaved slice is about 30 calories with 2.4g of protein, by USDA. Two slices are about 60 calories. Check your brand's label, since slice thickness varies.

How much turkey should I eat at Thanksgiving?

There is no right number, but a common portion is about 6 oz, which is 325 calories with skin, half white and half dark. That gives you about 48g of protein, more than many people get at most meals.

What is the easiest way to track turkey calories?

Type or say it in one sentence in Nouri, like "6 oz turkey, white and dark, with skin." You get calories and macros per item, with the reasoning shown, and you can add details and recalculate. "Hey Siri, track food in Nouri" works from the lock screen.

One sentence, every sliceCarve, plate, say it once, done. Try the freshly redesigned Nouri with a 3-day free trial.Download Nouri on the App Store

Turkey is one of the leanest proteins on any table, and the white-versus-dark debate is worth about 22 calories. Track it in Nouri in one line, build the rest of the plate in the Thanksgiving dinner calories guide, and keep high-protein foods handy for the other 364 days.

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.

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