Updated October 13, 2026
Bun calories: a chart of 23 vermicelli dishes
By the CaloCalo team
Vietnamese noodle soups are lighter than they look, and bun cha is heavier than most people think. Calories per weighed serving and per 100 g, with what makes the difference.
A bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup made with bun usually comes to about 335–650 calories: bun rieu is about 335, bun ca about 400 and bun oc about 605. The dry and dipping dishes are heavier. A serving of bun cha is about 1,025 calories and bun dau mam tom about 985. The gap comes from grilled pork, fried food and the size of the serving, not from the noodles themselves.
The numbers come from the Vietnamese food composition tables that CaloCalo uses as its database. The serving column is the weight of one serving as it was weighed for analysis, broth or dipping sauce and greens included, and it is also the default serving when you log that dish in CaloCalo. Your local shop’s bowl may be bigger or smaller, so use the per 100 g column to scale. Figures are rounded. For other dishes, see the calorie chart of 40 Vietnamese dishes.
Calorie chart: bun noodle soups
| Dish | Calories / serving | Calories / 100 g | Serving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bun rieu (crab paste noodle soup) | 335 | 49 | 690 g |
| Bun tom (shrimp noodle soup) | 390 | 50 | 780 g |
| Bun ca (fish noodle soup) | 400 | 63 | 630 g |
| Bun rieu cua (crab vermicelli) | 410 | 79 | 520 g |
| Bun ga (chicken noodle soup) | 445 | 71 | 630 g |
| Bun mong gio (pork hock noodle soup) | 445 | 98 | 450 g |
| Bun thang (Hanoi chicken noodle soup) | 455 | 76 | 600 g |
| Bun mam (fermented fish noodle soup) | 470 | 68 | 690 g |
| Bun suon moc (pork rib and meatball) | 510 | 66 | 770 g |
| Bun rieu bo (crab paste with beef) | 525 | 100 | 530 g |
| Bun oc (snail noodle soup) | 605 | 78 | 770 g |
| Bun ngan (duck noodle soup) | 650 | 99 | 660 g |
| Bun bo nhu (stewed beef noodle soup) | 805 | 82 | 980 g |
Per 100 g, most of these soups are only 50–100 calories, because broth makes up much of the weight. Bigger bowls with more meat, pork hock or duck add up: bun bo nhu tops the soups mainly because its serving weighs almost 1 kg, and it is also the most protein-rich, at about 61 g a bowl. Bun bo Hue isn’t listed because the data CaloCalo uses doesn’t measure it separately.
Calorie chart: bun cha, bun dau and noodle salads
| Dish | Calories / serving | Calories / 100 g | Serving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bun bo Nam bo (southern beef noodles) | 435 | 85 | 510 g |
| Bun tron Nam bo (beef noodle salad) | 495 | 111 | 440 g |
| Bun ca cham (fish with dipping broth) | 525 | 73 | 720 g |
| Bun oc nguoi (cold snail noodles) | 565 | 114 | 490 g |
| Bun nem nuong (grilled pork rolls) | 615 | 123 | 500 g |
| Bun cha quat (grilled pork patties) | 835 | 123 | 680 g |
| Bun dau mam tom with pork offal | 915 | 142 | 640 g |
| Bun cha nem (with fried spring rolls) | 965 | 122 | 800 g |
| Bun dau mam tom (fried tofu, shrimp paste) | 985 | 154 | 640 g |
| Bun cha (grilled pork and noodles) | 1,025 | 124 | 830 g |
Bun cha, bun nem and bun dau mam tom all run above 120 calories per 100 g, roughly one and a half to two times most of the soups. Grilled pork belly, fried spring rolls and fried tofu carry most of the energy. The weighed bun cha serving also includes the bowl of dipping broth and the herbs; if you don’t drink the broth, your real number is a little lower.
What makes a bowl heavier
- The noodles. Fresh rice vermicelli is about 116 calories per 100 g, so 150–200 g of it is 175–230 calories in almost every dish.
- Fried food and fatty cuts. Fried tofu is about 160 calories per 100 g, against about 97 for boiled tofu. Boiled pork belly is about 260 per 100 g. A side plate of spring rolls or pork patties adds a few hundred calories.
- Serving size. Bun rieu and bun rieu cua differ by almost 30 calories per 100 g, but the bun rieu bowl is heavier, so the two servings end up only about 75 calories apart.
- Broth and fermented sauces. Fish sauce and shrimp paste add almost no calories, but they add a lot of salt.
On salt, the World Health Organization recommends that adults eat less than 5 g a day. A bowl with a strong broth plus shrimp paste or dipping sauce can take up much of that. Eating the noodles and toppings and leaving some of the broth cuts the salt without giving up the dish.
Where a bowl fits in your day
Bun rieu and bun cha can be 700 calories apart, so which one suits you depends on your daily target. The calorie calculator works it out from your height, weight and activity. To compare with pho, see how many calories are in pho; for meals out, see how to track calories when eating out.
A chart gives you the average. Photograph your bowl with CaloCalo and the app identifies the dish, estimates the portion against this same database and logs the protein, carbs and fat for you.
Sources
- Vietnamese Food Composition Table, National Institute of Nutrition (Ministry of Health, Vietnam)
- WHO — Sodium reduction
Common questions
How many calories are in bun bo Hue?
The food composition data CaloCalo uses has no separate measurement for bun bo Hue. The closest dish is bun bo nhu (slow-stewed beef vermicelli soup): about 82 calories per 100 g, or roughly 805 for a large bowl of almost 1 kg. A smaller bowl with less meat and pork hock will be lower.
Is bun lighter than pho?
Per 100 g, bun soups and pho are close, usually 50–100 calories. The difference comes from what goes with the noodles: bun cha, bun dau mam tom and bun nem come with grilled pork, fried tofu or fried rolls, which makes them much heavier than a bowl of beef pho.
How many calories are in plain rice vermicelli?
Fresh rice vermicelli (bun) has about 116 calories per 100 g. The 150–200 g that comes with most dishes is about 175–230 calories before any meat or dipping sauce.
Which bun dishes are lowest in calories?
Broth-based bowls with plenty of greens and nothing fried, such as bun rieu, bun ca and bun tom, sit at the bottom of the chart at about 335–400 calories a bowl.
Keep reading
How many calories are in pho? A chart of 21 kinds
A regular bowl of beef pho is about 345 calories — lighter than most people assume, and lighter than almost anything else you can order for lunch.
Vietnamese food calories: a chart of 40 dishes
Most Western calorie apps guess at Vietnamese food, because their databases were built from Western supermarkets. These numbers come from the Vietnamese tables instead.
How to track calories when eating out
Restaurant tracking works best as an informed estimate. Notice the meal components, record what you ate and keep the uncertainty in perspective.