One skinless, boneless, cooked chicken thigh contains about 208 calories. That’s based on a standard thigh weighing roughly 116 grams (about 4 ounces). The exact number shifts depending on whether the skin is on, the bone is in, and how you cook it.
Calories by Preparation Style
The 208-calorie figure applies to a plain cooked thigh with no skin or bone. That same thigh delivers 28.8 grams of protein and 9.5 grams of fat, with zero carbs. If you’re portioning by weight rather than by piece, a 3.5-ounce (100-gram) serving comes to 179 calories, 24.8 grams of protein, and 8.2 grams of fat.
Frying changes the picture significantly. A batter-fried chicken thigh jumps to about 238 calories and 14.2 grams of fat, mostly because the coating absorbs oil during cooking. Grilling and baking keep calories closer to the baseline, especially if you skip added oil. Roasting a thigh with a light brush of olive oil adds roughly 20 to 40 calories depending on how generous you are.
How Skin and Bone Affect the Count
Leaving the skin on a chicken thigh adds a noticeable amount of fat. Dark meat skin is fattier than breast skin, so a skin-on thigh can run 250 calories or more depending on size. Most of that extra energy comes from rendered fat in the skin itself. If you’re tracking calories closely, removing the skin before eating is the simplest way to cut back.
Bone-in thighs are trickier to log because you’re paying for weight you don’t eat. The bone accounts for roughly 27% of a bone-in thigh’s total weight. So if your bone-in thigh weighs 160 grams on a kitchen scale, the edible meat is closer to 117 grams. Use that adjusted number when calculating calories.
Chicken Thigh vs. Breast
Thighs are higher in both fat and calories than breasts, though the gap is smaller than many people expect. A 3-ounce portion of skinless chicken breast has about 140 calories and 3 grams of total fat. The same 3-ounce portion of skinless dark thigh meat has about 170 calories and 9 grams of total fat, including 3 grams of saturated fat. That’s 30 extra calories and triple the fat per serving.
The tradeoff is flavor and texture. Thigh meat stays juicier during cooking because that extra fat keeps the muscle fibers moist, which is why thighs are more forgiving if you overcook them by a few minutes. For many home cooks, the small calorie difference is worth the improvement in taste.
Nutrients Beyond Calories
Chicken thighs are more than just protein and fat. A 100-gram serving provides 2.8 milligrams of zinc (about 25% of the daily value for most adults), 21 micrograms of selenium, and 0.33 micrograms of vitamin B12. Zinc supports immune function, selenium acts as an antioxidant, and B12 is essential for nerve health and red blood cell production. These micronutrients are slightly more concentrated in dark meat than in white meat.
Practical Tips for Tracking
Chicken thighs vary in size more than you might think. Grocery store thighs can range from small (about 80 grams cooked, boneless) to quite large (140 grams or more). If you’re counting calories for weight management, weighing cooked thighs on a kitchen scale gives you a much more accurate number than estimating by “one thigh.” Use 179 calories per 100 grams of cooked, skinless meat as your baseline, then multiply by the actual weight.
Keep in mind that marinades and sauces add calories too. A teriyaki glaze or honey garlic coating can contribute 30 to 60 extra calories per thigh from sugar and oil alone. Plain seasoning with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and herbs adds flavor with virtually zero caloric impact.