Bulgur is a whole-grain wheat product made from parboiled, dried, and cracked wheat berries. It is a staple in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking, valued for its nutty flavor and high fiber content. Because bulgur retains the wheat bran and germ, it is more nutrient-dense than many refined grains—which also means its calorie count deserves attention when you are tracking food.
This bulgur calorie calculator estimates the calories and main macronutrients (protein, carbs, fiber, fat) in any portion of dry or cooked bulgur. Enter your serving size in grams, ounces, or cups, choose whether it is dry or cooked, and the tool instantly shows the nutrition breakdown. It is helpful for food logging, diet planning, meal prep, and comparing bulgur to other whole grains.
For the most accurate results, weigh the bulgur on a kitchen scale and use grams. Quick-add buttons cover common portions like ¼ cup dry and 1 cup cooked.
⚙️ Serving size
📊 Nutrition breakdown
Enter your serving above and click Calculate.
How to Use This Tool
Choose whether your bulgur is dry or cooked, then enter the amount you are working with using grams, ounces, or cups. The calculator converts your serving to grams, applies the appropriate nutrition values, and returns total calories plus protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and fat.
- Select either Dry/uncooked or Cooked from the state dropdown.
- Type your serving size, or use a quick-add preset for common portions such as ¼ cup dry or 1 cup cooked.
- If you measured in ounces or cups, pick that unit from the dropdown; grams need no conversion.
- Click Calculate to see the nutrition breakdown for your exact serving.
Pro tip: A digital kitchen scale is the most reliable way to measure bulgur. Cup measurements vary depending on grain size, settling, and whether the cup is scooped or leveled.
Calorie Math Explained
This calculator uses nutrient averages published in the USDA FoodData Central database for bulgur. Dry bulgur supplies about 342 kcal per 100 g, along with 12.3 g protein, 75.9 g carbohydrate, 12.5 g fiber, and 1.3 g fat. Cooked bulgur (prepared without added salt or fat) supplies about 83 kcal per 100 g, with 3.1 g protein, 18.6 g carbohydrate, 4.5 g fiber, and 0.2 g fat.
The conversion works in three steps: first the serving is converted to grams if needed, then the grams are divided by 100, and finally that factor is multiplied by the per-100 g nutrient value. For example, 150 g cooked bulgur is 150/100 = 1.5, and 1.5 × 83 kcal = 124.5 kcal.
Water is the reason the numbers differ so much. Cooking hydrates the grain, roughly doubling its weight, so a cooked cup contains the same grain material as a smaller quantity of dry bulgur but in a heavier form. That is why dry bulgur is calorie-dense per gram and cooked bulgur is not.
Worked Examples
Example 1: 100 g dry bulgur. Calories = 100 × 342 / 100 = 342 kcal. Protein = 12.3 g, carbs = 75.9 g, fiber = 12.5 g, fat = 1.3 g.
Example 2: 182 g cooked bulgur. Calories = 182 × 83 / 100 ≈ 151 kcal. Protein ≈ 5.6 g, carbs ≈ 33.8 g, fiber ≈ 8.2 g, fat ≈ 0.4 g.
Example 3: 3 oz dry bulgur. 3 oz × 28.35 = 85.05 g. Calories = 85.05 × 342 / 100 ≈ 291 kcal.
Sample Results
| Serving | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fiber |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 g dry bulgur | 342 kcal | 12.3 g | 75.9 g | 12.5 g |
| 40 g dry bulgur (¼ cup) | 137 kcal | 4.9 g | 30.3 g | 5.0 g |
| 91 g cooked bulgur (½ cup) | 76 kcal | 2.8 g | 16.9 g | 4.1 g |
| 182 g cooked bulgur (1 cup) | 151 kcal | 5.6 g | 33.8 g | 8.2 g |
Keep in mind that these figures assume plain bulgur cooked in water with no added salt, oil, or butter. If you use broth or add fats during cooking, the totals will be higher.
Tips for Accurate Tracking
- Weigh the bulgur before cooking when you want the full dry-grain calories; weigh it after cooking only if you are tracking the prepared dish as-is.
- Be consistent. If your meal plan says 40 g dry, do not swap in 40 g cooked, because that is only about one-fifth of the calories.
- Rinse or check the package: some products labeled bulgur are actually finer cracked wheat and can pack differently in a cup.
- For meal prep, cook a large batch and divide by total cooked weight to get per-serving calories rather than using cup estimates.
Common mistake: Treating cooked bulgur as equivalent to uncooked bulgur by weight. Per 100 g, dry bulgur has about 4× the calories of cooked bulgur, so this error can add hundreds of unplanned calories to a food log.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do cooked and dry bulgur have different calorie counts? The grain itself has not changed; cooking simply adds water. A cup of cooked bulgur weighs about 182 g, while a cup of dry bulgur weighs about 160 g and contains far more dried grain material. Always log your bulgur in the same state you weighed.
Is bulgur high in protein? It is a good whole-grain source, with about 12 g protein per 100 g dry. Its fiber content is especially notable, so it digests more slowly than refined wheat and helps you stay full longer. Combining bulgur with chickpeas, lentils, or beans makes a complete protein dish.
How much does a cup of bulgur weigh? A standard US cup of dry bulgur is about 160 g, and a cup of cooked bulgur is about 182 g, though fine bulgur can be a bit heavier. Weighing is more accurate.
Where can I verify the nutrition data? Search for bulgur at USDA FoodData Central, the reference source used for this calculator. Package labels may also list values, but they are often rounded and can differ slightly by brand and processing method.