Updated August 28, 2026
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.
Every number below is per 100 grams, taken from Vietnamese food composition tables — the same data CaloCalo ships inside the app. That matters more than it sounds: most international calorie apps approximate Vietnamese dishes by rebuilding them from Western ingredients, which is why three apps will give you three different answers for the same bowl of pho.
Read the chart with portion size in mind. A bowl of soup weighs 400–600 g, a plate of sticky rice maybe 150 g, a banh mi around 150–200 g. That is why pho looks featherweight at 69 and xoi looks heavy at 263 — per meal, they are much closer than the columns suggest.
Noodle soups, vermicelli and congee
| Dish | Cal | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pho with well-done beef | 69 | 4.3 g | 9.6 g | 1.5 g |
| Banh da cua (crab noodle soup) | 73 | 3.5 g | 10.6 g | 1.8 g |
| Chao suon (pork rib congee) | 78 | 3.5 g | 10.0 g | 8.8 g |
| Bun rieu cua (crab vermicelli) | 79 | 2.9 g | 11.6 g | 2.4 g |
| Mien luon (eel glass noodle soup) | 81 | 2.5 g | 13.8 g | 1.7 g |
| Chao ga (chicken congee) | 82 | 4.9 g | 10.2 g | 2.4 g |
| Bun bo Nam bo | 85 | 4.2 g | 14.8 g | 1.0 g |
| Pho with chicken | 90 | 5.8 g | 10.4 g | 2.8 g |
| Hu tieu Nam Vang | 93 | 5.2 g | 14.4 g | 1.7 g |
| Bun dau met | 119 | — | — | — |
| Bun cha | 124 | 4.7 g | 16.2 g | 4.5 g |
| Bun dau mam tom | 154 | — | — | — |
This is the lightest corner of Vietnamese cooking and the reason the cuisine has the reputation it does. Broth, rice noodles, herbs and a modest amount of lean protein — a full bowl lands around 300–450 calories, which is less than most sandwiches.
Rice and sticky rice
| Dish | Cal | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banh chung (sticky rice cake) | 181 | 4.3 g | 31.6 g | 4.2 g |
| Com rang (fried rice) | 198 | 6.0 g | 21.9 g | 9.7 g |
| Xoi gac | 231 | 3.1 g | 52.9 g | 0.8 g |
| Xoi lac (peanut sticky rice) | 249 | 5.4 g | 46.5 g | 4.6 g |
| Xoi xeo (mung bean sticky rice) | 263 | 6.6 g | 47.5 g | 5.2 g |
Sticky rice is where the density jumps. Xoi xeo is nearly four times pho per gram, because it is glutinous rice with mung bean paste and fried shallots and almost no water. It is a fine breakfast — just not a 500 g one.
Rolls, dumplings and banh mi
| Dish | Cal | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banh beo | 127 | — | — | — |
| Banh cuon (steamed rolls) | 136 | 4.6 g | 16.8 g | 5.7 g |
| Pho cuon (rolled pho) | 138 | 6.9 g | 17.5 g | 4.5 g |
| Banh gio (rice dumpling) | 145 | 6.0 g | 14.8 g | 6.9 g |
| Nem ran (fried spring rolls) | 163 | 4.8 g | 15.6 g | 9.0 g |
| Banh mi chao | 204 | 11.0 g | 22.6 g | 7.8 g |
| Banh bao (pork bun) | 276 | — | — | — |
| Banh mi thap cam (loaded banh mi) | 296 | 13.4 g | 21.0 g | 17.7 g |
Note the split between steamed and fried. Banh cuon at 136 and nem ran at 163 are the same idea — rice flour wrapped around pork — separated mostly by the fryer. A loaded banh mi at 296 is the heaviest thing on this chart, though it also carries the most protein.
Che and desserts
| Dish | Cal | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Che Thai | 57 | — | — | — |
| Che khuc bach | 64 | — | — | — |
| Che sau rieng (durian) | 70 | — | — | — |
| Che hat sen (lotus seed) | 75 | — | — | — |
| Che chuoi (banana) | 82 | — | — | — |
| Yogurt | 94 | 6.7 g | 10.2 g | 2.9 g |
| Che do den (black bean) | 98 | 1.8 g | 19.6 g | 1.4 g |
| Che buoi (pomelo) | 100 | — | — | — |
| Che thap cam (mixed) | 150 | — | — | — |
| Che do xanh (mung bean) | 171 | — | — | — |
Che is gentler than most Western desserts: a cup of che Thai or che khuc bach costs less than a bowl of pho per gram. The heavier ones are those built on beans and coconut milk rather than fruit and jelly.
Using this chart without a kitchen scale
Charts give you averages, and averages are where calorie tracking quietly goes wrong — your bowl has its own amount of noodles, its own cut of meat, its own ladle of broth. Rather than weighing lunch, photograph it with CaloCalo: the app recognises the dish, estimates the portion against this same database, and logs the result in a couple of seconds.
Common questions
Why do Vietnamese dishes look so low in calories?
The chart is per 100 g, and soups are mostly broth — a bowl of pho weighs around 500 g, so 69 calories per 100 g works out to roughly 345 for the bowl. Denser dishes like xoi or banh mi are eaten in much smaller portions, which is why their per-100 g numbers look high by comparison.
Is Vietnamese food good for weight loss?
It tends to be, yes. The staples lean on broth, herbs, rice noodles and lean protein rather than cheese, butter or heavy sauces, so you get a filling meal for 300–450 calories. The dishes to watch are the fried ones and the sticky-rice dishes, which pack two to four times the calories per gram.
Where do these numbers come from?
From Vietnamese food composition tables, the same data CaloCalo ships in its food database. Most international calorie apps approximate Vietnamese dishes from Western ingredients, which is why their figures for pho or bun cha often disagree with each other.
How do I log a dish that is not on this chart?
Photograph it with CaloCalo. The app identifies the dish, estimates the portion and returns calories with protein, carbs and fat, working from the same Vietnamese database — including offline.