Ketchup: Calories, Nutrition & Healthier Swaps
101 kcal per 100 g · Nutri-Score D
sugar: medium saturated fat: low salt: high fiber: low
Ketchup is tomato paste with sugar, vinegar and salt. It has lycopene, but a tablespoon also holds about a teaspoon of sugar.
Ketchup nutrition facts per 100 g and per serving
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Serving: spoon, 20 g |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 101 kcal | 20 kcal |
| Protein | 1.2 g | 0.2 g |
| Fat | 0.2 g | 0 g |
| incl. saturated | 0 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 23 g | 4.6 g |
| incl. sugars | 21 g | 4.2 g |
| Fiber | 0.4 g | 0.1 g |
| Salt | 2 g | 0.4 g |
Values per 100 g as eaten, averaged from food composition tables (USDA FoodData Central and others) and rounded — a specific brand or recipe will differ a little.
Ketchup: what's in it
Its calories come almost entirely from sugar: 4.2 g per serving, with no protein or fiber to keep you full.
On the open Nutri-Score algorithm, ketchup gets a D: more of a sometimes food than an everyday one. The score weighs calories, sugar, saturated fat and salt against protein, fiber and the share of fruit, vegetables, legumes and nuts.
What to watch
- High in salt: 2 g per 100 g, while the WHO suggests no more than 5 g of salt a day in total.
- It's low in fiber, so add vegetables, greens or beans to the plate.
How much movement is one serving?
One serving (spoon, 20 g) is 20 kcal — roughly 7 min of easy walking or 3 min of cycling for a 70 kg (154 lb) person. In the diary, minutes are worked out for your weight and the activities you actually do.
Healthier swaps for Ketchup
Swaps are picked the same way the app does it: from the same kind of food, with a serving matched to the same calories (±25%), and only when the swap is clearly better — not “salad instead of pizza”.
- Tomato paste — 25 g, 21 kcal: −0.4 g salt.
- Low-fat plain yogurt 1.5% — 50 g, 24 kcal: −0.4 g salt.
- Sour cream 10% — 20 g, 23 kcal: −0.4 g salt.
- Cream 10% — 15 g, 18 kcal: −0.4 g salt.