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Portions and preparation · USDA nutrition

Lentils calories per cup: 207–307 across all 3 named USDA examples

Across all 3 named USDA examples, a cup contains 207–307 calories. Their listed weights span 180–185 g, so each calorie value is calculated from that example's own gram weight and published calories per 100 g.

Portion calculator

Estimate your portion

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Preparation and portion

Named measures come from this exact source record.

Estimated for 92 g

153calories

Lentils, from canned

Protein
7.7 g
Carbs
17.2 g
Fat
6.3 g

These values scale the selected reference food by weight. Ingredients, preparation, and portion size can change your meal’s estimate.

FoodData Central Survey Foods (FNDDS) · FDC 2707426 Full nutrition profile →

Compare all 3 food records, nutrition tables and USDA sources

The 3 exact records in this guide report 104–153 calories in the records' own listed source servings and 115–166 calories per 100 grams. Those are observations from named database records—not a universal range or an estimate of an unseen plate.

Match my meal

Start with the description closest to what you ate

For Lentils, begin by separating “Lentils, from canned” from “Lentils, from dried, no added fat.” Choosing a card filters this source set; it does not infer the portion or fill in ingredients the chosen description does not name.

Showing all 3 linked records.

Equal-weight view

How lentils records compare at 100 grams

All 3 cited records are shown at the same 100-gram weight. The source servings may differ.

  1. Lentils, from dried, no added fat 115 kcal
    115 kcal
  2. Lentils, from canned 166 kcal
    166 kcal
  3. Lentils, from dried, fat added 166 kcal
    166 kcal

Shared basis: 100 g · kilocalories

What this page compares

Named source records, not one universal meal

This guide keeps 3 named USDA records in view: 3 direct matches. All sit within “Beans, peas, legumes.” The exact descriptions remain the unit of comparison; the familiar heading is only the doorway into the evidence.

Why these records appear together: The deterministic grouping rule “normalized first description segment” placed these 3 records together under the exact grouping key “lentils.” That rule determines membership before any nutrition result is read.

For Lentils, this page can compare 3 named records from FDC 2707426 through FDC 2707425. It cannot observe which preparation was eaten, recover unnamed additions, or supply the eaten grams.

Read the shared calculation, provenance, and uncertainty method →

Editor’s decision brief

The three facts to carry into the table

Carry the denominator, exact identity, and strongest observed contrast into every number below.

Portion

90–92 g before composition

The largest source amount is 1.0× the smallest. Read per-serving calorie differences with that mass gap in view.

Composition

51 kcal separates the fixed-weight endpoints

The lower endpoint is “no added fat”; the higher is “fat added.” This isolates density, not ingredient causation.

Discriminator

107 mg sodium gap per 100 g

Of protein, fiber, and sodium, the strongest normalized contrast is between “fat added” (218 mg) and “from canned” (325 mg).

Observed source examples

Three landmarks inside this source set—not universal endpoints

The cards are ordered by calories in each record's listed serving. Serving weights differ, so use per-100-gram values to compare composition. These selected records do not define a calorie range for every lentils.

Important: “Lower” begins with Lentils, from dried, no added fat; “higher” ends with Lentils, from dried, fat added, using each record’s own source amount. Those labels order this selected set only—they are not endpoints for every lentils meal.

Full comparison

Compare every selected FNDDS record

For Lentils, serving columns preserve each record’s own listed amount, while calories per 100 g hold weight constant. A dash means the cited record does not supply that field; it does not mean the nutrient is absent.

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USDA records selected for the Lentils nutrition guide
Exact source record Match Source amount Calories kcal / 100 g Protein Fiber Sodium USDA
Lentils, from canned Direct name match 92 gUSDA reference amount 153 kcal 166 7.7 g 6.7 g 299 mg FDC 2707426 ↗
Lentils, from dried, fat added Direct name match 92 gUSDA reference amount 153 kcal 166 7.7 g 6.7 g 201 mg FDC 2707424 ↗
Lentils, from dried, no added fat Direct name match 90 gUSDA reference amount 104 kcal 115 8.1 g 7.1 g 210 mg FDC 2707425 ↗

Portion analysis

Serving total and calorie density answer different questions

The listed source amounts run from 90 to 92 grams—a 2-gram gap before composition enters the comparison. Their own source servings run from 104 calories for “no added fat” to 153 for “fat added.” At a fixed 100 grams, “no added fat” is 115 calories and “fat added” is 166—a fixed-weight separation of 51 calories. For Lentils, the serving view answers “how much is in the database portion?”; the 100-gram view answers “how concentrated is the matched record?” Neither reveals how many grams were actually eaten.

The scaling rule: multiply a per-100-gram value by eaten grams ÷ 100. The arithmetic is exact; the result is only as defensible as the record match and portion estimate.

Preparation analysis

The long description carries the evidence

The published descriptions distinguish forms such as “from canned”, “from dried, fat added”, and “from dried, no added fat”. Across the source formulations, the shared backbone includes lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt and salt, table; differentiating rows include vegetable oil, nfs. On this Lentils page, those rows make the records inspectable, but they are not a controlled experiment: they cannot tell us that one named input, by itself, caused a nutrient difference.

Database precision is not meal certainty. Retain the exact description beside the number so later corrections remain possible.

What changes the comparison

Four drivers worth checking before choosing a record

The family label “Lentils” cannot resolve the differences between Lentils, from canned and Lentils, from dried, no added fat. The four checks below identify the record wording, source weight, and formulation evidence that can.

  1. 01

    Source weight before serving calories

    The source amounts span 90–92 grams. Compare per 100 grams before reading a serving-calorie gap as a composition gap.

  2. 02

    The words that split the family

    Representative record-level distinctions include “from canned”, “from dried, fat added”, and “from dried, no added fat”. Those phrases are evidence for choosing a record, not decorative subtitle text.

  3. 03

    Formulation evidence, with limits

    Shared source rows include lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt and salt, table; rows that vary across the set include vegetable oil, nfs. Presence is inspectable evidence, not proof of nutrient causation.

  4. 04

    The unresolved plate

    Even “Lentils, from canned” leaves the eaten grams and unnamed oils, sauces, toppings, substitutions, or leftovers unresolved. Preserve those Lentils unknowns for correction instead of converting them into false precision.

Record matching

Match identity first; scale quantity second

Read the source name as a sequence of decisions. First confirm that lentils is the right meal family. Then resolve the phrases that actually separate this set—“from canned”, “from dried, fat added”, and “from dried, no added fat”—before comparing gram weight. If a package, menu, or known recipe provides a closer first-party description, prefer it and keep this USDA record as a transparent fallback.

A practical matching checklist

  1. Read the complete Lentils source description, including preparation and additions.
  2. Compare the listed source weight with the amount actually eaten.
  3. Prefer a current package or restaurant source when a specific branded item is known.
  4. Record toppings, sauces, cooking fat, sides, and substitutions that the selected description does not name.

Decision support from the exact records on this page

Turn source data into a better next decision

These conclusions and reading paths are computed from 3 exact records behind Lentils source-record guide. Links are chosen by record identity, controlled contrast, formulation input, nutrient spread, or serving context—not by loose keyword similarity.

Equal-weight result

Lentils, from dried, fat added is higher in total fat per 100 g

Lentils, from dried, fat added reports 6.9 g versus 0.4 g for Lentils, from dried, no added fat: a 6.5 g difference when both are normalized to 100 g.

Inspect the underlying evidence

Check the weight before comparing serving totals

Source amounts span 90–92 g

Lentils, from dried, no added fat uses USDA source amount (90 g), while Lentils, from dried, fat added uses USDA source amount (92 g). Use per 100 g for equal-weight composition; use the serving column only when those named source amounts answer your question.

Choose the record before reading the number

Lentils, from dried, fat added and Lentils, from dried, no added fat are not interchangeable

The page keeps both records at the same 100 g denominator and makes Added-fat wording (added fat versus no added fat) the explicit record-description contrast. It does not show that the wording difference caused a nutrient difference. Pick the description that matches the food in front of you rather than averaging away the distinction.

Inspect the underlying evidence

Contextual knowledge graph

Follow the relationship that matches your question

For Lentils source-record guide, each path states why the destination belongs here, so you can distinguish a true evidentiary connection from a merely similar label.

Compare two records on this page Lentils, from dried, fat added vs Lentils, from dried, no added fat

Both records appear in this page’s evidence set. The explicit record-description contrast is Added-fat wording: added fat versus no added fat; it is a selection cue, not evidence of cause.

Follow this evidence path A formulation detail that separates records Vegetable oil, NFS

USDA input 82101000 appears in 2 of 3 context records; its summed listed input weight spans 7–7 g across those source formulations. These are source-formulation input weights, not plated or serving weights. Follow the code to inspect every represented occurrence.

Follow this evidence path 3 context records in this source topic Beans, peas, legumes

Lentils, from canned and Lentils, from dried, fat added belong to this USDA source-category collection. Its displayed ranges and complete exact-record catalog provide the peer set for a manual comparison; the destination does not preselect this page’s record.

Follow this evidence path A shared source-formulation input Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt

USDA input 16070 appears in 3 of 3 context records; its summed listed input weight spans 100–100 g across those source formulations. These are source-formulation input weights, not plated or serving weights. Follow the code to inspect every represented occurrence.

Follow this evidence path Inspect an exact record Lentils, from canned

Open the full nutrient table, household measures, formulation inputs, and FoodData Central 2707426 citation for this exact record—not a name-level average.

Follow this evidence path Check another exact record Lentils, from dried, fat added

Open the full nutrient table, household measures, formulation inputs, and FoodData Central 2707424 citation for this exact record—not a name-level average.

Follow this evidence path Put the observed spread in corpus context Sodium: density and serving context

In this page’s records, sodium runs from 218 mg in Lentils, from dried, fat added to 325 mg in Lentils, from canned, all per 100 g.

Follow this evidence path