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Portions and preparation · USDA nutrition

Potato chips calories per cup: 93–170 across all 22 named USDA examples

Across all 22 named USDA examples, a cup contains 93–170 calories. Their listed weights span 20–32 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

Choose a source measure or enter the weight you ate.

Preparation and portion

Named measures come from this exact source record.

Estimated for 1 small single serving bag · 28 g

131calories

Potato chips, baked, flavored

Protein
1.4 g
Carbs
19.9 g
Fat
5.1 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 2709435 Full nutrition profile →

Compare all 22 food records, nutrition tables and USDA sources

The 22 exact records in this guide report 131–157 calories in the records' own listed source servings and 467–559 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 Potato chips, begin by separating “Potato chips, baked, flavored” from “Potato chips, unsalted.” Choosing a card filters this source set; it does not infer the portion or fill in ingredients the chosen description does not name.

Showing the first 6 of 22 linked records.

Equal-weight view

How potato chips records compare at 100 grams

Five rank landmarks are shown from all 22 cited records: minimum, 25th-ranked, median-ranked, 75th-ranked, and maximum. Weight is held at 100 grams; source-serving weights are listed in the table.

  1. Minimum: Potato chips, baked, flavored 467 kcal
    467 kcal
  2. 25th-ranked landmark: Potato chips, barbecue flavored 487 kcal
    487 kcal
  3. Median-ranked landmark: Potato chips, ruffled, other flavored 487 kcal
    487 kcal
  4. 75th-ranked landmark: Potato chips, plain 532 kcal
    532 kcal
  5. Maximum: Potato chips, restructured, lightly salted 559 kcal
    559 kcal

Shared basis: 100 g · kilocalories

What this page compares

Named source records, not one universal meal

This guide keeps 22 named USDA records in view: 22 direct matches. All sit within “Potato chips.” 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 22 records together under the exact grouping key “potato chips.” That rule determines membership before any nutrition result is read.

For Potato chips, this page can compare 22 named records from FDC 2709435 through FDC 2709438. 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

A shared 28 g comparison anchor

Equal source weights make the selected Potato chips serving totals easier to compare, but the eaten portion still has to be measured or estimated.

Composition

92 kcal separates the fixed-weight endpoints

The lower endpoint is “baked, flavored”; the higher is “restructured, lightly salted.” This isolates density, not ingredient causation.

Discriminator

750 mg sodium gap per 100 g

Of protein, fiber, and sodium, the strongest normalized contrast is between “unsalted” (7 mg) and “restructured, flavored” (757 mg).

Observed source examples

Three landmarks inside this source set—not universal endpoints

These 22 records each use a 28 g serving. Their serving calories compare equal weights within this set. They do not define a calorie range for every potato chips; match the preparation and adjust to your portion.

Important: “Lower” begins with Potato chips, baked, flavored; “higher” ends with Potato chips, restructured, lightly salted, using each record’s own source amount. Those labels order this selected set only—they are not endpoints for every potato chips meal.

Full comparison

Compare every selected FNDDS record

For Potato chips, 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.

On smaller screens, focus the table and scroll horizontally to read every column.

USDA records selected for the Potato chips nutrition guide
Exact source record Match Source amount Calories kcal / 100 g Protein Fiber Sodium USDA
Potato chips, baked, flavored Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 131 kcal 467 1.4 g 1.3 g 203 mg FDC 2709435 ↗
Potato chips, baked, plain Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 131 kcal 469 1.4 g 1.3 g 150 mg FDC 2709434 ↗
Potato chips, barbecue flavored Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 136 kcal 487 1.8 g 1.1 g 153 mg FDC 2709423 ↗
Potato chips, cheese flavored Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 136 kcal 487 1.8 g 1.1 g 153 mg FDC 2709425 ↗
Potato chips, lightly salted Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 157 kcal 559 1.9 g 1.2 g 74 mg FDC 2709439 ↗
Potato chips, other flavored Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 136 kcal 487 1.8 g 1.1 g 153 mg FDC 2709426 ↗
Potato chips, plain Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 149 kcal 532 1.8 g 0.9 g 148 mg FDC 2709422 ↗
Potato chips, popped, flavored Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 131 kcal 467 1.4 g 1.3 g 203 mg FDC 2709442 ↗
Potato chips, popped, plain Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 131 kcal 469 1.4 g 1.3 g 150 mg FDC 2709441 ↗
Potato chips, reduced fat Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 135 kcal 482 2 g 1.7 g 109 mg FDC 2709436 ↗
Potato chips, restructured, flavored Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 152 kcal 542 1.3 g 0.8 g 212 mg FDC 2709433 ↗
Potato chips, restructured, lightly salted Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 157 kcal 559 1.9 g 1.2 g 74 mg FDC 2709440 ↗
Potato chips, restructured, multigrain Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 141 kcal 505 1.5 g 0.8 g 152 mg FDC 2708214 ↗
Potato chips, restructured, plain Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 152 kcal 543 1.3 g 0.8 g 180 mg FDC 2709432 ↗
Potato chips, restructured, reduced fat, lightly salted Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 141 kcal 502 1.3 g 0.9 g 126 mg FDC 2709437 ↗
Potato chips, ruffled, barbecue flavored Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 136 kcal 487 1.8 g 1.1 g 153 mg FDC 2709428 ↗
Potato chips, ruffled, cheese flavored Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 136 kcal 487 1.8 g 1.1 g 153 mg FDC 2709430 ↗
Potato chips, ruffled, other flavored Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 136 kcal 487 1.8 g 1.1 g 153 mg FDC 2709431 ↗
Potato chips, ruffled, plain Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 149 kcal 532 1.8 g 0.9 g 148 mg FDC 2709427 ↗
Potato chips, ruffled, sour cream and onion flavored Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 136 kcal 487 1.8 g 1.1 g 153 mg FDC 2709429 ↗
Potato chips, sour cream and onion flavored Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 136 kcal 487 1.8 g 1.1 g 153 mg FDC 2709424 ↗
Potato chips, unsalted Direct name match 28 gUSDA reference amount 150 kcal 537 1.8 g 1.5 g 2 mg FDC 2709438 ↗

Portion analysis

Serving total and calorie density answer different questions

Every selected record uses a 28-gram source amount, so serving-weight differences do not explain the calorie spread inside this set. Their own source servings run from 131 calories for “baked, flavored” to 157 for “restructured, lightly salted.” At a fixed 100 grams, “baked, flavored” is 467 calories and “restructured, lightly salted” is 559—a fixed-weight separation of 92 calories. For Potato chips, 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 “baked, flavored”, “other flavored”, “restructured, lightly salted”, “ruffled, cheese flavored”, and “unsalted”. The source formulations contain 10 distinct ingredient codes; examples that appear in only part of the set include snacks, potato chips, barbecue-flavor, salt, table, snacks, potato chips, white, restructured, baked, and potato chips, without salt, reduced fat. On this Potato chips 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 “Potato chips” cannot resolve the differences between Potato chips, baked, flavored and Potato chips, unsalted. The four checks below identify the record wording, source weight, and formulation evidence that can.

  1. 01

    A shared source weight

    Every selected record uses 28 grams. Inside this set, serving-calorie differences therefore reflect the published composition rather than a change in source weight.

  2. 02

    The words that split the family

    Representative record-level distinctions include “baked, flavored”, “other flavored”, “restructured, lightly salted”, “ruffled, cheese flavored”, and “unsalted”. Those phrases are evidence for choosing a record, not decorative subtitle text.

  3. 03

    Formulation evidence, with limits

    10 source-input codes appear across the selected records. Their presence and listed weights describe USDA formulations, not finished plated proportions.

  4. 04

    The unresolved plate

    Even “Potato chips, baked, flavored” leaves the eaten grams and unnamed oils, sauces, toppings, substitutions, or leftovers unresolved. Preserve those Potato chips 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 potato chips is the right meal family. Then resolve the phrases that actually separate this set—“baked, flavored”, “popped, flavored”, “restructured, reduced fat, lightly salted”, and “unsalted”—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 Potato chips 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.

Explore this meal family

2 more-specific potato chips guides

Use a focused guide when its description matches your meal. Each one keeps its own exact source records and links back to this broader family.

Focused guide Potato chips, restructured Potato chips, restructured: compare 5 exact USDA records by source calories, 100-gram values, portions, and citations. Focused guide Potato chips, ruffled Potato chips, ruffled: compare 5 exact USDA records by source calories, 100-gram values, portions, and citations.

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 22 exact records behind Potato chips 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

Potato chips, restructured, flavored is higher in sodium per 100 g

Potato chips, restructured, flavored reports 757 mg versus 7 mg for Potato chips, unsalted: a 750 mg difference when both are normalized to 100 g.

Inspect the underlying evidence

These listed servings have equal weights

22 listed servings each weigh 28 g

The 22 records with a listed serving weight on this page each use 28 g. Their serving totals therefore compare equal weights, even if the household labels differ. Match the preparation and adjust the weight to the amount you eat.

Choose the record before reading the number

Potato chips, baked, plain and Potato chips, lightly salted are not interchangeable

The page keeps both records at the same 100 g denominator and makes Preparation wording (baked, roasted, or broiled versus No matching controlled term in the source name) 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 Potato chips 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 Potato chips, baked, flavored vs Potato chips, lightly salted

Both records appear in this page’s evidence set. The explicit record-description contrast is Preparation wording: baked, roasted, or broiled versus No matching controlled term in the source name; it is a selection cue, not evidence of cause.

Follow this evidence path Compare two records on this page Potato chips, baked, plain vs Potato chips, lightly salted

Both records appear in this page’s evidence set. The explicit record-description contrast is Preparation wording: baked, roasted, or broiled versus No matching controlled term in the source name; it is a selection cue, not evidence of cause.

Follow this evidence path 22 context records in this source topic Potato chips

Potato chips, baked, flavored and Potato chips, baked, plain 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 formulation detail that separates records Salt, table

USDA input 2047 appears in 7 of 22 context records; its summed listed input weight spans 0.2–1 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 A formulation detail that separates records Snacks, potato chips, barbecue-flavor

USDA input 19042 appears in 8 of 22 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 Put the observed spread in corpus context Sodium: density and serving context

In this page’s records, sodium runs from 7 mg in Potato chips, unsalted to 757 mg in Potato chips, restructured, flavored, all per 100 g.

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

In this page’s records, calcium runs from 17 mg in Potato chips, restructured, flavored to 125 mg in Potato chips, popped, plain, all per 100 g.

Follow this evidence path