A large egg contains about 72 calories. That’s the standard size sold in most grocery stores, weighing roughly 50 grams. But the actual number shifts depending on egg size, which part you eat, and how you cook it.
Calories by Egg Size
Egg sizes are standardized by weight, and calorie counts scale proportionally. Here’s the breakdown for a whole, raw egg:
- Small (38 g): 54 calories
- Medium (44 g): 63 calories
- Large (50 g): 72 calories
- Extra-large (56 g): 80 calories
- Jumbo (63 g): 90 calories
Most nutrition labels and recipes assume a large egg. If you’re tracking calories and regularly buy jumbo or extra-large eggs, that difference of 8 to 18 calories per egg adds up over a carton.
Yolk vs. White
The yolk holds the majority of an egg’s calories. In a large egg, the white contributes only about 17 calories and 3.6 grams of protein. The yolk accounts for the remaining 55 or so calories, along with nearly all the fat and cholesterol. Egg whites are essentially protein and water, with virtually no fat.
If you swap to egg whites only, you cut the calories per egg by about 75% while still getting more than half the protein. That trade-off makes whites popular for high-protein, low-calorie diets, but you lose the yolk’s vitamins and minerals in the process.
What’s in Those 72 Calories
A large egg packs a surprisingly complete nutritional profile for its size. Here’s what you get:
- Protein: 6.3 grams
- Fat: 5.3 grams (1.6 g saturated)
- Carbohydrates: 0.6 grams
Eggs are almost carb-free, which is why they fit easily into low-carb and ketogenic diets. The protein is also exceptionally high quality. Egg protein scores a perfect 100 on the digestibility scale used by nutrition scientists (called PDCAAS), making it the gold standard against which other protein sources are measured. Your body can use nearly all of it.
One large egg also delivers 27% of your daily value for choline, a nutrient most people don’t get enough of. Choline supports brain function and liver health. Eggs are one of the richest food sources available.
How Cooking Changes the Count
A plain boiled or poached egg has the same calorie count as a raw one, around 72 to 74 calories for a large egg. No fat is added during cooking, so the number doesn’t change.
Frying and scrambling are where calories climb. A tablespoon of butter adds about 100 calories, and a tablespoon of olive oil adds around 120. Scrambled eggs typically call for both butter in the pan and a splash of milk in the mixture, which can push a two-egg scramble well past 200 calories before you add cheese or any toppings. The exact increase depends on how generous you are with the fat, but the egg itself isn’t what’s adding the extra calories.
If you want to keep things lean, poaching and boiling are the simplest options. For scrambled or fried eggs, using a nonstick pan with a light spray of oil keeps you much closer to the baseline calorie count.
Eggs, Cholesterol, and Heart Health
A single large egg contains about 186 mg of cholesterol, all of it in the yolk. For years, dietary guidelines treated this as a concern, but that thinking has shifted substantially. The American Heart Association’s 2026 dietary guidance states that dietary cholesterol is no longer a primary target for heart disease risk reduction for most people. Moderate egg consumption can be part of a heart-healthy diet.
The bigger issue, according to that same guidance, is what you eat alongside eggs. Pairing them with bacon, sausage, and other processed meats adds saturated fat and sodium that do affect cardiovascular risk. The egg itself, eaten without the typical breakfast-meat companions, fits comfortably into a balanced eating pattern.
Why Eggs Keep You Full
Eggs punch above their calorie weight when it comes to satiety. A study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition compared an egg breakfast to a calorie-matched bagel breakfast in overweight women. The egg group felt significantly fuller throughout the morning and ate less at lunch, consuming roughly 160 fewer calories at that meal. Over the full 24 hours following the egg breakfast, total calorie intake was lower by about 264 calories compared to the bagel day.
That effect comes down to the protein-to-calorie ratio. At 6.3 grams of protein for just 72 calories, eggs are one of the most protein-dense foods you can eat. Protein slows digestion and signals fullness more effectively than carbohydrates, which is why a two-egg breakfast tends to hold you over longer than toast or cereal with a similar calorie count.