Sweet lassi calories
A glass of home sweet lassi (240 ml, 100 g of curd, 4 teaspoons of sugar) has about 140 calories. With a tablespoon of malai it's about 170. Sugar is the biggest part, about 16 a teaspoon: the same glass with 2 teaspoons is about 95. A dhaba glass, bigger and topped with malai, runs about 210 to 405.
Sweet lassi is curd churned with sugar and a little water or ice until frothy, sometimes with cardamom or rose water. In Punjab and at dhabas it's thick, served in tall steel glasses with a layer of malai on top.
Sugar is a little over half its calories in this recipe, and the curd the rest. Malai on top adds a lot.
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 sweet lassi?
| Portion | Cals | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 glass (about 240 ml) about 240 g | 140 | 3 g | 25 g | 3 g |
| 200 ml about 200 g | 115 | 3 g | 21 g | 3 g |
| 1 glass with 1 tbsp malai on top about 240 g | 170 | 4 g | 25 g | 6 g |
| 1 glass with 2 tsp sugar | 95 | 3 g | 13 g | 3 g |
How does home sweet lassi compare with outside?
A Punjabi dhaba or lassi shop serves lassi in big steel glasses, thick with curd and topped with a layer of malai, sometimes with dry fruit.
No lab has measured one, so the range below allows a glass 1.5 to 2.5 times this one, with up to 2 tablespoons of malai.
| Version | Cals | Fat |
|---|---|---|
| Home | 140 | 3 g |
| Dhaba or lassi shop | 210 to 405 | 5 to 14 g |
What changes the calories in sweet lassi?
- Sugar is the biggest part: each teaspoon adds about 16 calories.
- Malai or cream on top adds about 30 calories a tablespoon.
- Thick lassi with more curd per glass has more of everything.
- Mango lassi adds mango pulp; salted lassi has no sugar, see chaas.
How were these numbers worked out?
The recipe is the sweet lassi in The Art & Science of Cooking (via the Indian Nutrient Databank): 100 g of curd with 20 g of sugar, about 4¾ level teaspoons, and half a cup of water, with ice, which adds water, not calories, and is left out of the volume. Curd is valued from USDA's plain whole-milk yogurt, since IFCT 2017 has no curd, and sugar from USDA; there is no added fat. The glass is the ingredients added together, about 240 g, so it is 140 calories and lassi is 60 calories per 100 g at 1 g per ml, which makes 200 ml 115. ICMR-NIN's 200 ml glass of lassi with 2 teaspoons of sugar, 110 calories, agrees with that 200 ml within 5%. Dhaba and lassi-shop glasses run to 400 or 500 ml of thick lassi with malai, so the outside range is 1.5 to 2.5 times this glass with up to 2 tablespoons of cream. Every dish on Slate is worked out the same way: how Slate counts calories.
| Ingredient | Raw | Values from |
|---|---|---|
| Curd (dahi), whole milk | 100 g | USDA FDC 171284 |
| Sugar, white about 4¾ level teaspoons | 20 g | USDA FDC 169655 |
| Water half a cup; the textbook's ice cubes are left out of the volume | 120 g | no calories |
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central, Yogurt, plain, whole milk (171284). Curd, since IFCT 2017 has no curd
- Vijayakumar et al., Indian Nutrient Databank (INDB), Current Developments in Nutrition, 2024. The Art & Science of Cooking recipe ASC021, sweet lassi
- ICMR-NIN, Dietary Guidelines for Indians: A Manual (2011). Annexure 8: lassi 110 kcal per 200 ml glass with 2 tsp sugar
- USDA FoodData Central, Sugars, granulated (169655). Sugar
- USDA FoodData Central, Cream, fluid, light (170857). Malai, 19% fat
Questions people ask
How many calories are in 1 glass of sweet lassi?
About 140 for a home glass with 100 g of curd and 20 g of sugar, and about 170 with a tablespoon of malai.
How many calories are in a dhaba lassi?
Roughly 210 to 405 for a big glass of thick lassi with malai.
How much sugar is in sweet lassi?
About 20 g of added sugar in this glass, close to 5 teaspoons.
How much protein is in lassi?
About 3 g in a glass, from the curd.