How many calories are in raisins?
A 30 g (1 oz) handful of raisins is about 90 kcal, and a small 43 g box is about 130 kcal. Raisins are grapes with most of the water removed, and that single change does something unusual to both the calorie density and how full they leave you.
Per portion
| Portion | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 tbsp (about 10 g) | ~30 kcal | 0.3 g | 8 g | 0 g |
| Handful, 30 g | ~90 kcal | 1 g | 24 g | 0 g |
| Small box, 43 g (1.5 oz) | ~130 kcal | 1.3 g | 34 g | 0 g |
| 100 g (about ⅔ cup) | ~300 kcal | 3 g | 79 g | 0.5 g |
| 1 cup loose (about 145 g) | ~435 kcal | 4.5 g | 115 g | 0.7 g |
| 100 g grapes, for comparison | ~69 kcal | 0.7 g | 18 g | 0.2 g |
About 4 g of the 79 g of carbohydrate in 100 g is fibre; roughly 59 g is sugars, all of it from the fruit itself.
What changes the number
Almost nothing, which makes this food unusual. No cooking medium, no frying oil, no roasting loss. The figure for plain raisins is stable within a few per cent across brands.
Variety, slightly. Sultanas and golden raisins land within a few kcal of ordinary dark raisins. Zante currants are lower, around 280 kcal per 100 g. Golden raisins are usually treated with sulphur dioxide to hold the colour, which changes neither calories nor sugar.
Coatings, substantially. Chocolate-coated raisins run around 420 kcal per 100 g, yoghurt-coated ones nearer 450. A 30 g handful of chocolate raisins is about 125 kcal against 90 for plain.
Packing, which is the real trap. Raisins compress. A loosely filled cup is about 145 g and a firmly packed one about 165 g, so a cup measured from a settled packet can be 20% more calories than a cup scooped loose. Weigh them.
Where it fits in a deficit
Raisins are not a dense food by nut standards — 300 kcal per 100 g against nearly 600 for most nuts — and they are fat-free, which makes them sound like the sensible item in a mixed bowl. The problem is not density. It is that they deliver their calories without the volume that would normally make you stop.
They work well where the portion is fixed for you: a tablespoon in porridge, stirred through a salad, the box in a lunchbox. They work badly as something to pick at, because 100 g goes down easily and that is 300 kcal of mostly sugar with little to show for it. In a calorie deficit, raisins are best treated as a sweetener you can chew rather than as fruit.
What drying actually removes
Grapes are about 81% water. Raisins are about 15%. Drying takes roughly four kilograms of grapes down to one of raisins, concentrating the sugar into a fifth of the original weight and removing little else.
The arithmetic is the clearest demonstration of water and satiety in any food:
| Same calories, either way | Weight | Calories | Water |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small box of raisins | 43 g | ~130 kcal | ~6 g |
| The grapes it came from | ~190 g | ~130 kcal | ~155 g |
A 190 g bunch is thirty-odd grapes, takes several minutes to eat and leaves you noticeably fuller. The box takes under a minute and barely registers. The calories are identical. Nothing was added and nothing removed but water — and the water was doing most of the work, which is the whole argument for high-volume foods in one example.
This also explains why “no added sugar” on a raisin packet is both perfectly true and entirely beside the point. The sugar was always there; drying only removed the water hiding it. Worth remembering when you read a label on any dried fruit — and worth noting that raisins mixed with peanuts or cashews make the densest, least filling bowl on the shelf.
Figures are typical values and vary by variety, size and preparation. General information, not medical advice.