Butter naan calories
A home naan brushed with a teaspoon of butter has about 210 calories, and about 245 with 2 teaspoons. Half a large restaurant naan with a teaspoon of butter is about 300. Size counts for more than the butter: a large naan is about three times a home one. A restaurant butter naan runs about 420 to 630.
Butter naan is plain naan brushed with melted butter as it comes out of the tandoor. In restaurants and on delivery apps it's the most ordered bread with butter chicken, dal makhani and paneer dishes, and garlic butter naan adds chopped garlic and coriander to the same butter.
The butter is easy to see but it's the smaller part. The naan itself, and especially its size, decides most of the number.
Typical values for a home kitchen, for the portion named next to each number. Other sites often show bigger numbers because they count a bigger serving or a restaurant recipe. Your own katori, roti and oil change the number; Slate adjusts for them.
How many calories are in butter naan?
| Portion | Cals | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 home naan, ½ tsp butter (2.5 g) about 59 g | 195 | 5 g | 33 g | 4 g |
| 1 home naan, 1 tsp butter (5 g) about 59 g | 210 | 5 g | 33 g | 6 g |
| 1 home naan, 2 tsp butter (10 g) about 59 g | 245 | 5 g | 33 g | 11 g |
| 1 large restaurant naan, 2 tsp butter about 177 g | 595 | 15 g | 99 g | 15 g |
| Half a large naan, 1 tsp butter about 89 g | 300 | 7 g | 49 g | 8 g |
How does home butter naan compare with outside?
A restaurant butter naan is usually two to three times the size of a home naan, and the butter is spread over all of it. Some places add a second brush of butter before serving, and garlic butter naan often has more.
No lab has measured a restaurant butter naan, so the range below scales this naan and its teaspoon of butter up 2 to 3 times, in line with USDA's 177 g, 10-inch naan.
| Version | Cals | Fat |
|---|---|---|
| Home | 210 | 6 g |
| Restaurant or delivery | 420 to 630 | 13 to 19 g |
What changes the calories in butter naan?
- Each teaspoon of butter adds about 35 calories, and a teaspoon of ghee about 45.
- Naan size counts for more than the butter. A large naan is about three times a home one before any butter goes on.
- Garlic butter naan uses the same butter, plus garlic and coriander that add very little.
- Sharing one large naan between two is about half of the outside range each.
How were these numbers worked out?
The naan is the one in The Art & Science of Cooking (via the Indian Nutrient Databank), exactly as on the naan page: 80 g of maida with curd, milk and a little sugar, making 2 naans of about 59 g each. Butter is counted per naan on top: the textbook brushes 2 naans with a teaspoon, which is the half-teaspoon row, and 1 and 2 teaspoons cover the usual range. Butter is valued from USDA and the rest from IFCT 2017. The cooked weight follows the naan page's water-content method, so the plain batch is 295 calories per 100 g and a home naan with a teaspoon of butter is 210. No analysed butter naan exists, so the only checks are the plain naan page's two USDA entries, which agree within 5%. The restaurant range uses USDA's 177 g 10-inch naan, 2 to 3 times this one, with the butter scaled up to match. Every dish on Slate is worked out the same way: how Slate counts calories.
| Ingredient | Raw | Values from |
|---|---|---|
| Wheat flour, refined (maida) | 80 g | IFCT 2017 A018 |
| Curd (dahi), whole milk | 25 g | USDA FDC 171284 |
| Milk, whole, cow | 20 g | IFCT 2017 L002 |
| Sugar, white 1 teaspoon | 4.2 g | USDA FDC 169655 |
| Ghee half a teaspoon, in the dough | 2.5 g | IFCT 2017 T013 |
Sources
- ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. Wheat flour, refined (A018), cow milk (L002), ghee (T013); values read from github.com/nodef/ifct2017
- Vijayakumar et al., Indian Nutrient Databank (INDB), Current Developments in Nutrition, 2024. The Art & Science of Cooking recipe ASC142, naan
- USDA FoodData Central, Butter, without salt (173430). Butter on top; 1 pat = 5 g
- USDA FoodData Central, FNDDS Bread, naan (2707613). 177 g for a 10-inch naan
- USDA FoodData Central, Yogurt, plain, whole milk (171284). Curd
Questions people ask
How many calories are in 1 butter naan?
About 210 for a home naan with a teaspoon of butter. A large restaurant butter naan is about 595.
How many calories are in 2 butter naans?
Two home butter naans with a teaspoon of butter each come to about 420. Two large restaurant ones can pass 1,000.
How much more is butter naan than plain naan?
About 35 calories for each teaspoon of butter. A home naan is about 175 plain and about 210 with a teaspoon of butter.
How much protein is in a butter naan?
About 5 g in a home butter naan, and about 15 g in a large restaurant one. Butter adds almost none.