Naan calories
A home naan made from about 40 g of maida has about 175 calories. A large 10-inch restaurant naan weighs about 177 g and has about 525, so even a quarter of it is about 130. Size matters most; butter or ghee brushed on top adds about 35 to 45 a teaspoon. Plain restaurant naans run about 350 to 525.
Naan is a soft, leavened maida bread, made with curd and milk and baked against the wall of a tandoor. At home it's usually cooked on a tawa and finished over the flame. It's the standard bread with dal makhani, paneer and chicken curries in north Indian restaurants.
Gram for gram, naan has a little more than roti, from the maida, milk and sugar. A restaurant naan has far more mostly because it's so much bigger.
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 naan?
| Portion | Cals | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 home naan (40 g maida) about 59 g | 175 | 5 g | 33 g | 2 g |
| ¼ of a large restaurant naan about 44 g | 130 | 4 g | 25 g | 2 g |
| 1 large restaurant naan (10 inch) about 177 g | 525 | 15 g | 99 g | 7 g |
| 100 g naan about 100 g | 295 | 8 g | 56 g | 4 g |
How does home naan compare with outside?
A tandoor naan from a restaurant is usually far bigger than one made at home. USDA's survey data puts a 10-inch naan at 177 g, about three times this home naan. Most are brushed with butter too, which is on the butter naan page.
The range below is for a plain restaurant naan 2 to 3 times the size of the home one.
| Version | Cals | Fat |
|---|---|---|
| Home | 175 | 2 g |
| Restaurant (tandoor) | 350 to 525 | 5 to 7 g |
What changes the calories in naan?
- Size is the biggest variable by far. Half a large restaurant naan has more than a whole home naan.
- Butter or ghee brushed on top adds about 35 to 45 calories a teaspoon.
- Garlic naan adds butter as well as garlic, and stuffed naans and kulchas carry their filling.
- Whole-wheat naan is close per gram: USDA lists it at 286 calories per 100 g, against 291 for plain naan.
How were these numbers worked out?
The naan is the one in The Art & Science of Cooking (via the Indian Nutrient Databank): 80 g of maida with 25 g of curd, 20 g of milk, a teaspoon of sugar and half a teaspoon of melted fat, making 2, at IFCT 2017 values with curd and sugar from USDA. The textbook's teaspoon of butter for brushing is left out here and counted on the butter naan page. The cooked weight comes from water content: the dough's 83 g of solids at the 29.2% water of USDA's naan, about 118 g for 2, so one home naan is half of that, 175 calories, and the batch is 295 per 100 g. USDA's two naan entries, 311 and 291 calories per 100 g, agree within 5%. The restaurant range follows USDA's survey weights: a 10-inch naan weighs 177 g, three times this home naan, with 2 times as a stated lower end. 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, FNDDS Bread, naan (2707613). 177 g for a 10-inch naan, 44 g for a quarter; 311 kcal and 29.2% water per 100 g
- USDA FoodData Central, Bread, naan, plain, commercially prepared (171845). 291 kcal per 100 g
- USDA FoodData Central, Bread, naan, whole wheat, commercially prepared (174077). 286 kcal per 100 g
- USDA FoodData Central, Yogurt, plain, whole milk (171284). Curd
Questions people ask
How many calories are in 1 naan?
A home naan made with about 40 g of maida has about 175 calories. A large restaurant naan is about 525, because it's about three times the size.
Which has more calories, naan or roti?
A naan, mainly because it's bigger. Per 100 g naan has somewhat more too: about 295 calories, against about 240 for roti.
Is naan made of maida?
Usually, yes. Restaurant naan is almost always maida. Whole-wheat naan exists and has about the same calories per gram.
How much protein is in a naan?
About 5 g in a home naan, and about 15 g in a large restaurant naan.