Catfish is a lean, protein-rich fish, but its calorie count depends on whether it was farmed or caught wild, and how it was prepared. If you are tracking a recipe that uses flaked, chopped, or puréed catfish, a tablespoon may be the most convenient serving size. However, catfish is not naturally a spoon-measured food, so the weight of one tablespoon can range from about 7 g for loosely flaked fish to about 15 g for a dense purée.
This calculator turns tablespoons into grams using the density you choose, then applies USDA nutrition values for raw or cooked farmed catfish and wild catfish. It also reports protein and fat, so you can use the result for both calorie and macro tracking.
Enter your tablespoons, pick the catfish form, adjust the grams per tablespoon if needed, and press Calculate. The result includes a per-tablespoon calorie figure, total calories for your portion, and a step-by-step breakdown of the conversion.
🍽️ Catfish Calories per Tablespoon
Estimate calories and macros in catfish measured by tablespoon.
Quick Start: Measuring Catfish by the Spoon
Many food logs store recipes by volume, especially when cooked protein is flaked into salads, tacos, dips, or casseroles. This tool is built for exactly that situation. Start by typing the number of US tablespoons of catfish you plan to eat. Then choose the form that matches your fish: farmed raw, farmed cooked, wild raw, or wild cooked. Finally, set a realistic weight for one tablespoon using the preset buttons or the manual grams-per-tablespoon field.
The preset values cover three common textures: loosely flaked cooked fish (about 7.5 g per tbsp), chopped chunks (about 10 g per tbsp), and puréed raw fish (about 15 g per tbsp). If you have a kitchen scale, weigh a few tablespoons of your actual catfish and use that average number instead — it will give you the most reliable estimate.
How the Calorie Estimate Is Calculated
The calculator performs two simple conversions.
Step 1 — Volume to weight: Multiply the number of tablespoons by the grams-per-tablespoon value you selected. For example, 2 tablespoons of loosely flaked catfish at 7.5 g/tbsp gives 15 g of catfish.
Step 2 — Weight to calories: Divide the weight by 100 and multiply by the kilocalories per 100 g for your chosen catfish form. If the form contains 145 kcal per 100 g, then 15 g provides 15 ÷ 100 × 145 = 21.75 kcal.
The same weight calculation is applied to protein and fat values, so the result area shows not just calories but also grams of protein and fat in the portion you specified. Since catfish contains no meaningful carbohydrate, carbs are reported as 0 g.
Worked Examples
Example 1 — Flaked cooked farmed catfish in a salad. You add 2 tbsp of flaked cooked farmed catfish to a lunch salad. Flaked fish is about 7.5 g/tbsp, so the portion weighs 15 g. Cooked farmed catfish provides 145 kcal per 100 g, so the salad gets 15 × 145 ÷ 100 = 21.8 kcal, about 3.1 g of protein, and 1.1 g of fat.
Example 2 — Puréed raw wild catfish in a fish cake. A puréed raw wild catfish mixture is denser, around 15 g/tbsp. If a batch of fish cakes uses 3 tbsp of purée per cake, each cake starts with 45 g of fish. Raw wild catfish contributes 95 kcal per 100 g, so one cake has 42.8 kcal from catfish alone, alongside 7.4 g of protein and 1.5 g of fat before any binders or frying oil are added.
Example 3 — Chopped cooked wild catfish in tacos. Cooked wild catfish has roughly 105 kcal per 100 g. If you use 1.5 tbsp of chopped cooked wild catfish at 10 g/tbsp, the catfish weight is 15 g, giving 15.8 kcal, about 2.8 g of protein, and 0.5 g of fat per taco filling.
Reference Values Used by This Calculator
The table below summarizes the rounded USDA nutrient values for channel catfish in the four common forms offered in the tool.
| Catfish type and preparation | Calories per 100 g | Protein per 100 g | Fat per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farmed, raw | 119 kcal | 17.4 g | 4.9 g |
| Farmed, cooked, dry heat | 145 kcal | 20.6 g | 7.5 g |
| Wild, raw | 95 kcal | 16.4 g | 3.4 g |
| Wild, cooked, dry heat | 105 kcal | 18.5 g | 3.6 g |
Actual values vary with fish size, season, supplier, skin retention, and exact cooking conditions. These figures are intended for meal-planning estimates, not medical or regulatory use.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using raw values for a cooked-serving log. Cooking changes the calorie density per 100 g, so match the form to what is actually on your plate.
- Using the same grams per tablespoon for every texture. Flaked fish is far less dense than purée; if you are using a different texture than the preset, adjust the density field.
- Ignoring added fat and breading. Pan-fried or deep-fried catfish picks up significant calories from oil and coating. If you are logging fried, use the fried calorie calculator for a more representative estimate.
- Forgetting the skin. Skin-on catfish has slightly more fat and calories than skinless fillets. This tool uses skinless fillet data, so add a small allowance if your meal includes skin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is one tablespoon of catfish always 7.5 g? No. One packed tablespoon of purée can weigh 15 g, while a light flake may weigh 7 g or less. The calculator exists precisely so you can choose a texture and refine the value if you have a scale.
Does cooking increase the calories of catfish? It does not change the total energy content of the fillet, but it does remove water. As a result, cooked catfish contains more calories per 100 g than raw catfish because the same energy is packed into less water weight.
Is catfish a good choice for a high-protein diet? Yes. Even raw farmed catfish provides over 17 g of protein per 100 g, and cooked forms offer more. Catfish also supplies B vitamins, selenium, and phosphorus, with no carbohydrate, which makes it easy to fit into low-carb and keto meal patterns.
Where can I verify the numbers? The reference data is drawn from USDA FoodData Central. You can search for “channel catfish” at fdc.nal.usda.gov to inspect the underlying entries, including farmed and wild varieties.