Olive Oil Calories: Per Tablespoon, Teaspoon and Gram — and Why They Are Worth It
Olive oil calories are easy to quote and surprisingly easy to get slightly wrong. Most pages say "120 calories a tablespoon" and stop there, without saying where the number comes from, what a tablespoon weighs, or which tablespoon they mean. This guide shows the working. It takes the per-gram energy values from two official food composition databases — USDA FoodData Central in the US and the UK's McCance and Widdowson's dataset (CoFID) — converts them into grams, teaspoons and the three tablespoons in common use, and explains why the figures differ a little. Then it looks honestly at whether those calories are worth spending, and what the research does and does not say about olive oil and body weight.
For our own oil, see our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml).
The Short Answer
- USDA FoodData Central lists olive oil (FDC 171413) at 884 kcal per 100 g, which is 8.84 kcal per gram; the UK's CoFID 2021 dataset lists olive oil (food code 17-038) at 899 kcal per 100 g, or 8.99 kcal per gram.
- A 15 ml tablespoon of olive oil weighs about 13.6 g and provides about 120–122 kcal; USDA's own 13.5 g tablespoon works out at 119 kcal.
- A 5 ml teaspoon weighs about 4.5 g and provides about 40–41 kcal.
- An Australian tablespoon is 20 ml, not 15 ml, so it holds about 18 g of oil and roughly 160–163 kcal — a third more than a UK or US tablespoon.
- Extra virgin, "light" and ordinary olive oil are all essentially pure fat, so their calories per gram are effectively the same; the difference between grades is flavour and polyphenols, not energy.
- In the PREDIMED trial, adults eating an unrestricted-calorie Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil showed no significant difference in bodyweight from a lower-fat control diet over about five years. That is not a weight-loss result, but it is reassuring about the calories.
Where the Numbers Come From: Two Official Databases
Calorie figures for olive oil ultimately come from national food composition databases, which publish energy per 100 g. Two are worth knowing, because they are the sources most calorie apps and nutrition labels draw on.
| Database | Entry | Fat per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | Energy per gram |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) | Oil, olive, salad or cooking — FDC ID 171413 | 100 g | 884 kcal (3,700 kJ) | 8.84 kcal |
| UK CoFID 2021 (McCance and Widdowson's) | Oil, olive — food code 17-038, mean of 35 samples including virgin and extra virgin oils | 99.9 g | 899 kcal (3,696 kJ) | 8.99 kcal |
The two entries describe the same food with almost the same fat content. The 15 kcal gap per 100 g comes from the energy conversion each database applies to fat: USDA's figure works out at 8.84 kcal for each gram of olive oil fat, while CoFID's works out at almost exactly 9 kcal per gram. Neither is wrong — they are two accepted ways of turning grams of fat into calories, and the difference is under 2%.
We checked both entries directly in the databases for this article (USDA FoodData Central online, and the CoFID 2021 spreadsheet published on GOV.UK). If you see 119, 120, 122 or 126 kcal in different apps, this is usually why: a different database, a different spoon weight, or rounding.
From Grams to Spoons: The Arithmetic
Databases work in grams, but most of us measure oil by the spoon. To convert, you need the oil's density. USDA's Foundation Foods entry for extra virgin olive oil (FDC 748608) gives 100 ml as 90.7 g, which is 0.907 g per millilitre. So:
- Teaspoon (5 ml): 5 × 0.907 = 4.5 g. At 8.84 kcal/g that is 40 kcal; at 8.99 kcal/g, 41 kcal.
- Tablespoon (15 ml): 15 × 0.907 = 13.6 g. At 8.84 kcal/g that is 120 kcal; at 8.99 kcal/g, 122 kcal.
- USDA's tablespoon portion (13.5 g): 13.5 × 8.84 = 119 kcal. This is the figure many US calorie counters show.
- One gram: 8.84–8.99 kcal. 100 ml: 90.7 g, or roughly 800–815 kcal.
In kilojoules, a 15 ml tablespoon comes to roughly 500 kJ on either database. Whichever source you use, the honest summary is "about 120 kcal per tablespoon and 40 per teaspoon", with the decimals depending on the database.
Why do US labels so often print exactly 120? US nutrition-labelling rules (21 CFR 101.9) define a tablespoon as 15 ml for labelling purposes, and require calories above 50 to be rounded to the nearest 10. A 119–122 kcal tablespoon therefore appears on the label as 120 Calories.
Not All Tablespoons Are the Same Size
The word "tablespoon" hides a real difference between countries. The UK and the rest of the metric world use a 15 ml tablespoon, and US nutrition labels use 15 ml too. The traditional US customary tablespoon is slightly smaller, about 14.8 ml. Australia's metric tablespoon, defined during its metrication in the 1970s, is 20 ml — four teaspoons rather than three.
| Measure | Volume | Olive oil (g) | kcal (USDA, 8.84/g) | kcal (CoFID, 8.99/g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teaspoon (UK, US, Australia) | 5 ml | 4.5 | 40 | 41 |
| US customary tablespoon | 14.8 ml | 13.4 | 119 | 121 |
| Metric tablespoon (UK, US label, international) | 15 ml | 13.6 | 120 | 122 |
| Australian tablespoon | 20 ml | 18.1 | 160 | 163 |
| Per 100 g | about 110 ml | 100 | 884 | 899 |
Two practical points follow. If you are following an Australian recipe or calorie target, a "tablespoon" is a third larger than a UK or US one. And the spoon in your cutlery drawer is not a measuring spoon: everyday dessert and serving spoons vary widely, so a free pour can easily be double what you think. A set of measuring spoons, or a kitchen scale, removes the guesswork.
What Else Is in a Tablespoon of Olive Oil
Olive oil's calories come entirely from fat — there is no protein, carbohydrate, sugar, fibre or cholesterol. What makes it distinctive is which fats. Using USDA's 13.5 g tablespoon (FDC 171413), one tablespoon of olive oil provides approximately:
- 13.5 g total fat, of which about 9.9 g is monounsaturated (almost all oleic acid), 1.9 g saturated and 1.4 g polyunsaturated
- About 1.3 g linoleic acid (omega-6) and 0.1 g alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3)
- Vitamin E: about 1.9 mg on USDA's figures, but only about 0.7 mg on CoFID's — a reminder that vitamin E varies a lot between oils and samples
- Vitamin K: about 8 µg
CoFID's fatty acid profile for olive oil is similar: about 73 g of monounsaturated fat, 14.3 g saturated and 8.2 g polyunsaturated per 100 g. For comparison, USDA lists a tablespoon of salted butter (14.2 g, FDC 173410) at about 102 kcal and 7.3 g saturated fat. Butter has fewer calories per tablespoon because it is about 16% water; olive oil has more calories but roughly a quarter of the saturated fat. Our olive oil vs butter guide goes through that comparison in full.
What the databases do not capture well is polyphenols — the compounds that separate a fresh extra virgin olive oil from a refined one. They contribute no meaningful calories, but they are the main reason grade matters. Our guide to olive oil polyphenols explains what they are and why they fade with heat, light and time.
Extra Virgin, Light and Pomace: Same Calories, Different Oil
Because every grade of olive oil is essentially pure fat, extra virgin, ordinary "pure" olive oil, "light" olive oil and olive pomace oil all carry roughly the same energy per gram. "Light" on an olive oil label describes a milder flavour and paler colour from refining — not fewer calories. Our article on what "light" olive oil really means covers the labelling in detail.
So the choice between grades is not a calorie decision. It is about what comes with the calories: extra virgin oil is mechanically extracted and unrefined, and keeps its flavour and polyphenols; refined oils lose most of both. If you are going to spend 120 kcal on a tablespoon, it is reasonable to want the version that brings the most with it. Our guide to choosing a quality olive oil covers the checks worth making, including the harvest date.
Why the Calories Are Worth It: What the Research Shows
Olive oil is energy-dense, and it is fair to ask whether 120 kcal a spoon fits a sensible diet. Two pieces of research are directly relevant.
The first is about weight. In the PREDIMED trial, as reanalysed and republished by Estruch R and colleagues (Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology 2019;7(5):e6–e17, PMID 31003626), 7,447 Spanish adults at high cardiovascular risk, most of them overweight or obese, were assigned to a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil (2,543 people), the same diet with nuts, or advice to cut dietary fat. Nobody was told to restrict calories. After a median 4.8 years, the olive oil group's change in bodyweight differed from the control group's by −0.41 kg (95% CI −0.83 to 0.01) — not a statistically significant difference. In other words, adding generous olive oil within a Mediterranean diet did not lead to weight gain compared with a lower-fat diet. It is not evidence that olive oil causes weight loss, and the trial studied a whole eating pattern in older, high-risk adults.
The second is about what the calories replace. In two large US cohorts, Guasch-Ferré M and colleagues (Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2022;79(2):101–112, PMID 35027106) followed 60,582 women and 31,801 men for 28 years. People consuming more than 7 g of olive oil a day (about half a tablespoon) had a 19% lower risk of death from any cause than those who rarely or never used it. Replacing 10 g a day of margarine, butter, mayonnaise or dairy fat with olive oil was associated with an 8–34% lower risk of total and cause-specific death, though olive oil was not significantly different from other vegetable oils combined. These are associations from food questionnaires, so healthier habits may explain part of the gap.
Read together, the practical message is clear and modest. Olive oil's calories are best spent in place of other fats — a dressing instead of a creamy sauce, a drizzle instead of butter — rather than poured on top of an unchanged diet. For the amounts used in these studies, see our guide to how much olive oil per day.
The Objections Worth Taking Seriously
"120 calories a spoon is a lot — surely I should cut it out?" It is a lot of energy for a small volume, which is why measuring helps. But the PREDIMED reanalysis found no significant bodyweight difference over about five years on an olive-oil-rich diet, and cutting all added fat is not what the long-term evidence supports. If you are managing your weight, measure rather than eliminate, and use olive oil instead of other fats rather than as well as them.
"Calorie apps disagree, so which figure is right?" They are all close. The spread from 119 to 122 kcal per tablespoon comes from the database used and the assumed spoon weight. Figures noticeably above that usually reflect a larger spoon — such as an Australian 20 ml tablespoon — or a heaped pour.
"Does drinking olive oil change the calorie maths?" No. A tablespoon taken neat carries the same energy as one on a salad. Our article on drinking olive oil for weight loss looks at what the evidence for that habit actually shows; for those trying to add energy instead, our olive oil for weight gain guide covers the other side.
Why Sidr & Stone
The calories in a tablespoon of olive oil are the same whichever bottle it comes from; what changes is everything that comes with them. Sidr & Stone's extra virgin olive oil comes from our own single-estate farm on the plains outside Marrakech, where we control every step from tree to bottle.
- Single-estate — Sidr & Stone's olive oil comes from our own family-owned farm near Marrakech, Morocco, with no blending across origins.
- Rain-fed — no irrigation; the trees take what the season gives.
- Organically grown — no synthetic fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides (not yet certified; certification is in progress).
- Single harvest — a small, limited batch; once it is gone, it is gone until the next harvest.
- Cold-pressed within hours of harvest — to protect flavour, aroma and polyphenols.
- Unfiltered extra virgin — minimally processed; natural sediment is normal.
- 100% natural — a single ingredient, olive oil, nothing added.
- Dark glass with a gold label — a 500 ml bottle that protects the oil from light.
- 10% of profits to charity — a brand-wide commitment.
- Fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US.
We will not tell you Sidr & Stone is the best olive oil — that would be exactly the kind of flat claim this article avoids. What we will say is that our oil is single-estate Moroccan, rain-fed, organically grown and cold-pressed within hours of harvest, so that the 120 kcal in each tablespoon come with the flavour and freshness that make them worth spending. We have not yet published a lab certificate for polyphenols or acidity, and we will not quote figures until we do.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many calories are in olive oil?
Olive oil provides 884 kcal per 100 g according to USDA FoodData Central and 899 kcal per 100 g according to the UK's CoFID 2021 dataset — about 8.8 to 9 kcal per gram. That makes it one of the most energy-dense foods in the kitchen.
How many calories are in 1 tablespoon of olive oil?
A 15 ml tablespoon of olive oil weighs about 13.6 g and provides about 120–122 kcal, depending on the database used. USDA's 13.5 g tablespoon works out at 119 kcal, and US labels round this to 120 Calories. An Australian 20 ml tablespoon holds about 160 kcal.
How many calories are in a teaspoon of olive oil?
A 5 ml teaspoon holds about 4.5 g of olive oil, which is roughly 40 kcal on USDA figures and 41 kcal on CoFID figures.
Does extra virgin olive oil have fewer calories than regular or light olive oil?
No. All olive oil grades are essentially pure fat, so their calories per gram are effectively the same. "Light" refers to a milder flavour and paler colour from refining, not to fewer calories; extra virgin oil differs in flavour and polyphenols.
Is Sidr & Stone's olive oil lower in calories than supermarket olive oil?
No — and no honest olive oil can claim to be. Our oil has the same energy per gram as any olive oil. What differs is that it is single-estate, rain-fed, organically grown, cold-pressed within hours of harvest and unfiltered extra virgin.
Does cooking with olive oil change its calories?
Heating does not remove the calories from oil. What changes is how much ends up on your plate, which depends on how much you use and how much the food absorbs, so measuring the oil before it goes into the pan is the most reliable approach.
Where can I buy Sidr & Stone olive oil?
Our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml) is available to pre-order as a limited single-harvest batch, with estimated shipping from November 2026 and fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US.
Is olive oil a medicine?
No. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine. It has a long traditional history — including being honoured in the Prophetic Sunnah — and a substantial body of modern research, particularly around polyphenols, cardiovascular health, and the Mediterranean diet pattern. It can be a worthwhile part of a healthy routine, but it does not cure diseases and is not a substitute for medical care. Be cautious of any olive oil marketed with specific disease-cure claims.
Final Thoughts
The calorie figure for olive oil is not mysterious once you show the working: 8.84 kcal per gram on USDA's database, 8.99 on the UK's, about 13.6 g in a 15 ml tablespoon, and so about 120 kcal a tablespoon and 40 a teaspoon. The two things that move the number most are not the oil but the spoon — an Australian tablespoon holds a third more — and the free pour.
The calories are real, and worth measuring. They are also, on the best evidence available, worth spending: an olive-oil-rich Mediterranean diet in PREDIMED did not lead to weight gain compared with a lower-fat diet, and replacing butter and similar fats with olive oil is associated with better long-term outcomes. Use it instead of other fats, measure it when it matters to you, and choose an oil whose flavour makes every tablespoon count. If you are managing a medical condition or a prescribed diet, a dietitian or your GP can tailor the amounts to you.
Our Cold-Pressed Single-Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Marrakech (500ml) — single-estate, rain-fed and cold-pressed within hours of harvest — is available to pre-order now, with fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US.
Our extra virgin olive oil is grown organically on our own single-estate farm on the plains outside Marrakech: we control every step from tree to bottle, and no synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers are used. It is not yet certified organic — certification is in progress, and we will publish it as soon as it comes through.
Disclaimer: This article explains olive oil calorie figures from USDA FoodData Central and the UK CoFID 2021 dataset, and published research, at the time of writing; database values and research findings may change, and readers should check current sources. It is general nutritional information, not personalised dietary advice. Olive oil is a food, not a medicine, and is not a substitute for medical treatment of any condition. For any health concern, including weight management, consult a qualified medical professional or registered dietitian.