One tablespoon of ghee, 12.8 grams on USDA's measure for butter oil, provides about 112 kilocalories, 12.7 grams of fat, 7.9 grams of saturated fat, 33 milligrams of cholesterol and about 108 micrograms of vitamin A, with no carbohydrate and only a trace of protein. Per 100 grams, USDA's rounded record for ghee lists 900 kilocalories, 100 grams of fat and 60 grams of saturated fat.
Ghee is one of the simplest foods to describe nutritionally, because it is one thing: milk fat with the water and milk solids removed. Everything below follows from that, including why the numbers vary slightly between databases and why the size of your spoon matters more than the brand on the jar.
At a glance
- USDA's record for clarified butter (ghee), back-calculated from a product label: 900 kcal, 100 g fat, 60 g saturated fat, 300 mg cholesterol and 0.5 g water per 100 g, with no protein or carbohydrate.
- USDA's detailed record for anhydrous butter oil, the closest match with a complete breakdown: 876 kcal, 99.5 g fat, 61.9 g saturated, 28.7 g monounsaturated, 3.7 g polyunsaturated, 256 mg cholesterol, 840 µg RAE vitamin A per 100 g.
- A USDA tablespoon of butter oil weighs 12.8 g; ICMR-NIN's household tablespoon is 15 g and its teaspoon 5 g, so a spoon's calories depend on which spoon.
- FSSAI requires ghee to be at least 99.5 per cent milk fat with at most 0.5 per cent moisture; the protein, lactose and minerals of milk leave with the solids.
- ICMR-NIN's 2024 guidelines allow 20 to 50 g of visible fat a day in total and say to limit ghee or butter to one to two teaspoons.
What is the nutrition of ghee per tablespoon?
About 112 kilocalories, 12.7 grams of fat and 7.9 grams of saturated fat, for a 12.8-gram tablespoon. The figures come from USDA FoodData Central's record for anhydrous butter oil, which carries a full nutrient breakdown; USDA's separate record for clarified butter (ghee) gives only rounded totals, 900 kilocalories and 60 grams of saturated fat per 100 grams, back-calculated from a product label.
Both records describe the same kind of product, milk fat with almost everything else removed, and the small differences between them come from how each record was compiled, one measured and calculated and the other read off a label, not from a real difference in the food. The table uses the detailed record and shows the arithmetic for the two spoon sizes in common use: USDA's 12.8-gram tablespoon and ICMR-NIN's 15-gram household tablespoon, with a 5-gram teaspoon alongside.
| Nutrient (USDA, anhydrous butter oil) | Per 100 g | USDA tablespoon, 12.8 g | Household tablespoon, 15 g | Teaspoon, 5 g |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 876 kcal | 112 kcal | 131 kcal | 44 kcal |
| Total fat | 99.5 g | 12.7 g | 14.9 g | 5.0 g |
| Saturated fat | 61.9 g | 7.9 g | 9.3 g | 3.1 g |
| Monounsaturated fat | 28.7 g | 3.7 g | 4.3 g | 1.4 g |
| Polyunsaturated fat | 3.7 g | 0.5 g | 0.6 g | 0.2 g |
| Cholesterol | 256 mg | 33 mg | 38 mg | 13 mg |
| Protein | 0.28 g | 0.04 g | 0.04 g | 0.01 g |
| Carbohydrate | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g |
| Vitamin A (RAE) | 840 µg | 108 µg | 126 µg | 42 µg |
| Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) | 2.8 mg | 0.36 mg | 0.42 mg | 0.14 mg |
| Vitamin K | 8.6 µg | 1.1 µg | 1.3 µg | 0.4 µg |
The arithmetic is simple proportion: each spoon value is the per-100-gram figure multiplied by the spoon's weight and divided by 100, rounded. Saturated fat is 61.9 of 94.3 grams of fatty acids, about 66 per cent; monounsaturated about 30 per cent; polyunsaturated about 4 per cent.
How does a teaspoon of ghee compare to a tablespoon?
A 5-gram teaspoon is a third of a 15-gram tablespoon on ICMR-NIN's household measures, so it carries a third of everything: about 44 kilocalories, 5 grams of fat and 3.1 grams of saturated fat. Because ghee is nearly pure fat and fat gives 9 kilocalories a gram, the only thing that changes a spoon's calories is how much the spoon holds.
That makes ghee easy to count and easy to overcount. ICMR-NIN's 2024 guidelines count ghee in teaspoons: the sample meal plans list oil or ghee as 5 grams, one teaspoon, and the advice is to limit ghee or butter to one to two teaspoons a day, or avoid it if possible, inside a total visible-fat allowance of 20 to 50 grams depending on energy needs. How much ghee per day sets out that guidance in full.
What fat-soluble vitamins does ghee contain?
Vitamin A above all, with smaller amounts of vitamins E and K, on USDA's record for anhydrous butter oil: 840 micrograms of retinol activity equivalents, 2.8 milligrams of alpha-tocopherol and 8.6 micrograms of phylloquinone per 100 grams. USDA lists most of the vitamin A as retinol (824 micrograms), with 193 micrograms of beta-carotene alongside.
The same record shows vitamin D as zero, but that entry is carried over from a related food rather than measured, and the National Dairy Development Board's ghee bulletin names vitamin D among the fat-soluble vitamins in ghee without giving an amount. These are fat-soluble vitamins, which is why they stay in the fat when everything else is removed. The water-soluble vitamins and the minerals of milk, calcium among them, leave with the milk solids: USDA lists 4 milligrams of calcium and 22 milligrams of choline per 100 grams, which is to say almost none. A tablespoon carries about 108 micrograms of vitamin A; ghee is a fat first, not a vitamin supplement.
What does grazing or breed change in ghee's nutrition?
The minor components, not the totals. The National Dairy Development Board's ghee bulletin reports that cow ghee contains nearly 5 per cent less saturated fat than buffalo ghee and carries carotenoids, which give it its yellow colour; buffalo ghee lacks carotenoids, and the bulletin attributes its faint greenish tint to bile pigments instead.
Energy and total fat are the same: all ghee is nearly pure fat. The two are compared in full in cow ghee vs buffalo ghee. On grazing specifically, none of the sources opened for this article measures how pasture changes ghee's fatty acids, so this article makes no claim about it.
Breed matters for the fatty acids too. A 2025 study in Food Chemistry: X made ghee from Deoni and Holstein Friesian cows by three methods and found the fatty acid composition differed by breed, with the Holstein Friesian ghee higher in polyunsaturated fatty acids, while the method, curd-churned or cream-based, changed only the aroma compounds. So the bilona method we use, in which whole milk from free-grazing Badri cattle is set into curd, churned and clarified over a wood fire, changes what the ghee smells and tastes like, not its calories; what it does change is in bilona ghee vs cream ghee.
How does ghee fit into daily fat intake?
As part of a fixed allowance. ICMR-NIN's 2024 Dietary Guidelines for Indians count vegetable oils, butter and ghee together as visible fat, put the daily limit at 20 to 50 grams depending on energy needs, and within that say to limit ghee or butter to one to two teaspoons a day, because they are high in saturated fat.
Fat gives 9 kilocalories a gram, so the allowance is also a calorie budget.
- Measure with a spoon rather than pouring from a warm jar; a 15-gram tablespoon is three teaspoons and three times the calories.
- Count every visible fat together. Oil in the sabzi, ghee on the roti and butter on toast share one allowance.
- Put it where you taste it. A teaspoon over dal or rice at the end does more for flavour than a tablespoon lost in frying.
- Follow medical advice first. If you have a heart condition, high cholesterol, diabetes or another medical reason to watch fats, your doctor's guidance comes before any general guideline.
Himdhara's own ghee is analysed batch by batch for the composition and purity parameters in FSSAI's standard, and each batch's report is on the lab reports page before it ships; the ghee itself is on the A2 bilona ghee page.
The short version
A tablespoon of ghee is about 112 kilocalories, 12.7 grams of fat and 7.9 grams of saturated fat on USDA's 12.8-gram measure, or about 131 kilocalories on a 15-gram household spoon, with 108 micrograms of vitamin A and only traces of protein. Per 100 grams, ghee is 900 kilocalories and 60 grams of saturated fat on USDA's rounded record. Breed shifts the fatty acid balance and carotenoids give cow ghee its colour, but neither changes the calories. Keep it inside ICMR-NIN's visible-fat allowance, and ask your doctor if you have a reason to watch fats.
Sources
Further reading behind the figures above. Himdhara's own numbers — yields, batch results — come from our production records and the batch reports on the lab reports page.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central (2019). Butter oil, anhydrous. FoodData Central (SR Legacy).
- ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (2024). Dietary Guidelines for Indians. ICMR-NIN.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, Chapter 2.1: Dairy products and analogues (2.1.8, milk fat products: ghee). FSSAI.
- National Dairy Development Board (2020). Technology of Ghee manufacturing. Technews, Issue No. 99.
- Kataria D., Singh G. (2025). Effect of processing methods on fatty acid composition and flavour profile of clarified butter (ghee) obtained from Deoni and Holstein Friesian cow breeds. Food Chemistry: X.