Weighing Meat Raw vs. Cooked

Food volume changes when cooked due to either losing or absorbing water.

Generally, protein loses weight and starches gain weight when cooked.

However, when the weight changes, the calories and macronutrients don’t change. 112 grams of raw chicken has the same macros as 85 grams of cooked chicken. The longer you cook it, more water evaporates and the less it weighs, but the macros stay the same.

It is most accurate to weigh your food raw. However, we know that’s not always realistic, so just make sure that you can find an entry in your tracking app that specifies the cooking method you used, such as “grilled” or “baked.” If it doesn’t specify a cooking method, then it likely reflects it being the raw form of the food, since most nutrition labels reflect the macros for the state of the food as it’s packaged.

No matter how you choose to track your food, just stay consistent.