How many calories are in peanut butter?
One tablespoon of smooth peanut butter (16 g) has about 94 calories. The usual serving of 2 tablespoons (32 g) has about 188 calories, with 7 g protein, 7.7 g carbs and 15.8 g fat.
Those numbers come from USDA FoodData Central's entry for smooth peanut butter with salt, which lists 588 calories per 100 g and gives 32 g as the weight of 2 tablespoons (USDA FoodData Central, Peanut Butter, smooth).
About three quarters of those calories come from fat. That's why a small spoonful adds up faster than you'd guess.
Peanut butter calories by serving
Smooth peanut butter with salt, per USDA FoodData Central:
| Amount | Weight | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 5 g | 29 | 1.1 g | 1.2 g | 2.5 g |
| 1 tablespoon | 16 g | 94 | 3.5 g | 3.8 g | 7.9 g |
| 2 tablespoons | 32 g | 188 | 7.0 g | 7.7 g | 15.8 g |
| 100 g | 100 g | 588 | 21.9 g | 24.0 g | 49.5 g |
The tablespoon weights come from USDA. The teaspoon row assumes 5 g, a third of a level tablespoon rounded. Values are calculated from the per-100 g data and rounded. Two tablespoons also give you about 1.8 g of fiber.
Smooth, chunky, unsalted or reduced fat?
The type of peanut butter barely changes the calories. Here are the USDA entries side by side, all for the same 32 g (2 tablespoons):
| Type (USDA entry) | Calories per 32 g | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Calories per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smooth, with salt | 188 | 7.0 g | 7.7 g | 15.8 g | 588 |
| Smooth, without salt | 191 | 7.1 g | 7.1 g | 16.4 g | 598 |
| Chunky, with salt | 188 | 7.7 g | 6.9 g | 16.0 g | 589 |
| Smooth, reduced fat | 166 | 8.3 g | 11.4 g | 10.9 g | 520 |
Two things stand out. Salt changes the sodium, not the calories: 32 g of the salted smooth version has about 152 mg sodium, the unsalted one about 5 mg. And reduced-fat peanut butter swaps some of the fat for carbs. It saves about 22 calories per 32 g, but USDA lists its 2-tablespoon serving as 36 g, which comes to 187 calories, the same as regular.
USDA's peanut butter entries don't include one labeled "natural," so check the label on your jar. In the US, anything sold as peanut butter has to be mostly ground roasted peanuts: added seasoning and stabilizing ingredients can make up at most 10 percent of the weight, and fat can't go above 55 percent (21 CFR 164.150). That's why the numbers above sit so close together.
Good to know
A tablespoon in these tables is level. A heaped spoon from the jar can weigh much more. If yours weighs 25 g instead of 16 g, that's about 147 calories instead of 94. Weighing it once shows you what your usual spoonful really is.
Peanut butter often comes with something else. A banana adds about 105 calories, and a slice of white bread has its own page too.
Track it the easy way
You don't have to memorize these numbers. With Calorie AI, just say what you ate, for example "toast with a heaped tablespoon of peanut butter," and the app estimates the calories and macros for you. It's an estimate, so if your spoonfuls run big, say so, or weigh one and say the grams.