Calories in Grilled Chicken Breast

More and more people are becoming health conscious and choosing to eat healthy and nutritious food. White meat like chicken and turkey is preferred more over red meat like veal, beef and lamb as it contains less saturated fats and also less calories. While choosing white meat over red meat is a smart way to eat, choosing the right cut of white meat is also important. Chicken breast is the leanest cut of chicken meat and it contains less fat than chicken wings and thighs. So it is a healthier option if you are thinking of making a chicken dinner. Skinless chicken breast also contains less fat and calories than chicken breast that is cooked with its skin on.

The method of cooking employed also has a bearing on the calories in chicken breast. While poaching, grilling and roasting are some of the healthier alternatives in cooking chicken breast, batter frying and deep frying add a lot of calories and fats to cooked chicken breast. A grilled chicken breast is a great dinner option that is nutritious and low in calories. Calories in grilled chicken breast will depend upon the ingredients that are used for cooking it. A raw lean, skinless chicken breast half contains 182 calories and 4 grams of fat. When you grill it by using seasonings and other condiments, the calorie content of chicken breast will increase. Here we will discuss the grilled chicken breast calories that will vary according to the ingredients used for making it.

Grilled Chicken Breast Calories

When you use non fattening marinades for grilling chicken breast like lemon juice and rice wine vinegar, the number of calories in such preparations are considerably less. But when you use marinades like soy sauce, apple sauce and full cream, grilled chicken calories will be much higher. Given below are the calorie content of two simple grilled chicken breast recipes.

Grilled Chicken Breast with Lemon Marinade

Yield: 7 servings
Serving size: 1 chicken breast half

Things required

• 7 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• teaspoon sea salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray

Method

In a zip lock bag, add the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and minced garlic cloves. Add the skinless boneless chicken breast halves inside the zip lock bag and place the bag inside the refrigerator for half an hour to marinade. After half an hour, remove chicken breasts from marinade and discard the marinade. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and coat the grill with cooking spray. Grill chicken breasts on medium-high heat for 6 - 8 minutes until it is cooked through.

Calories per serving size: 159
Total fat: 3.5 g
Saturated fat: 0.7 g
Protein: 29.5 g
Carbohydrate: 0.5 g

Grilled Chicken Breast with Balsamic Vinegar Marinade

Yield: 4 servings
Serving size: 1 chicken breast half

Things required

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
• teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray

Method

In a zip lock bag, add the balsamic vinegar, minced shallot, chopped rosemary, salt and olive oil. Next add the chicken breasts to this mixture and place the zip lock bag in the refrigerator for 1 - 2 hours. Coat the grill with cooking spray and place the marinated chicken breast on the hot grill. Cook for 5 - 6 minutes on each side until the meat is cooked through.

Calories per serving: 210.7
Total fat: 8.3 g
Saturated fat: 1.3 g
Protein: 27.4 g
Carbohydrate: 4.2 g

As you can see for different seasonings and marinades used in cooking grilled chicken, the calorie count also differs. If your aim is to eat healthy and lose weight, then grilled chicken breast makes an excellent meal. Just remember to prepare it with nutritious ingredients to cut down the number of calories you consume.