The lowest calorie fish you can buy is orange roughy, at just 80 calories per 3-ounce cooked serving. Cod and pollock come in close behind at 90 calories each for the same portion. All white fish are naturally low in calories because they store almost no fat in their flesh, unlike oily fish such as salmon and mackerel.
Lowest Calorie Fish, Ranked
The FDA provides calorie counts for common seafood based on a standard 3-ounce (84-gram) cooked serving, prepared without added oil or butter. Here’s how the leanest options stack up:
- Orange roughy: 80 calories
- Cod: 90 calories
- Pollock: 90 calories
- Flounder/sole: 100 calories
- Haddock: 100 calories
- Shrimp: 100 calories
For comparison, a 3-ounce serving of cooked salmon typically lands around 175 calories, and the same amount of scallops comes in at 140 calories. The calorie gap between white fish and oily fish is almost entirely explained by fat content.
Why White Fish Are So Low in Calories
White fish like cod, pollock, and flounder store very little fat in their muscle tissue. Fat contains 9 calories per gram, more than double the 4 calories per gram in protein. So when a fish carries almost no fat, its calories come almost entirely from protein, and the total stays remarkably low.
Oily fish like salmon and sardines carry significantly more fat because they store it throughout their flesh. That fat is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which makes oily fish excellent for heart health. But if your goal is purely keeping calories down, white fish wins every time.
Best Low-Calorie Fish for Protein
Low calories only tell half the story. What most people actually want is a high ratio of protein to calories, and some white fish deliver that better than others. Cod packs 16 grams of protein into just 72 calories (raw weight), while pollock provides 20 grams of protein for about 94 calories. Yellowfin tuna, which runs slightly higher in calories at 110 per serving, delivers a full 25 grams of protein.
Tilapia is another strong option. A single fillet (about 87 grams) contains 23 grams of protein for 111 calories. That’s roughly the same protein-to-calorie ratio as chicken breast, which is often considered the gold standard for lean protein. If you eat fish regularly and rotate between cod, pollock, and tilapia, you’re covering a wide range of flavors while keeping calories consistently low.
Cooking Method Changes Everything
All the calorie counts above assume the fish is cooked with moist or dry heat and nothing added. The moment you bread and fry a cod fillet, those 90 calories can triple. A tablespoon of butter adds about 100 calories on its own. Even a light brush of olive oil before baking adds roughly 40 calories per tablespoon.
The best ways to keep your fish low-calorie are baking, broiling, steaming, poaching, and grilling. Lemon juice, herbs, garlic, and spices add flavor with virtually zero calories. If you want a bit of richness, a light mist of cooking spray adds only a few calories compared to pouring oil into a pan.
Orange Roughy: A Caveat Worth Knowing
Orange roughy tops the list at 80 calories per serving, but it comes with a practical limitation. This deep-sea fish is slow to reproduce, so it’s been overfished in many parts of the world. It can also accumulate higher levels of mercury than shorter-lived species like cod and pollock. You can enjoy it occasionally, but it’s not the best choice as a daily staple.
Cod and pollock are more widely available, more affordable, and carry lower environmental and mercury concerns. At just 10 calories more per serving than orange roughy, the tradeoff is negligible. Pollock is actually the fish used in most imitation crab and many fast-food fish sandwiches, so you may already be eating it without realizing it.
How Fish Compares to Other Lean Proteins
A 3-ounce serving of skinless chicken breast runs about 140 calories. The same amount of lean ground turkey sits around 170 calories. Even the leanest cuts of beef start at roughly 150 calories per serving. White fish undercuts all of them. Cod at 90 calories per serving is about 35% fewer calories than chicken breast for a comparable amount of protein.
This makes white fish especially useful if you’re trying to eat in a calorie deficit while keeping protein high. Swapping chicken for cod or pollock a few times a week can free up a meaningful number of calories without sacrificing the protein your body needs to maintain muscle. The mild flavor of most white fish also makes it easy to season in whatever direction you like, from Asian-inspired ginger and soy to Mediterranean lemon and herbs.