Meat, Grills & Lauk · Philippines

How Many Calories in Dinuguan?

Also known as Pork Blood Stew, Dinardaraan, Chocolate Meat, Tinumis.

Pork (meat, offal or both) stewed in pig's blood with vinegar, garlic, onion and a long green chili. Dark, sour, savoury, and usually eaten with puto or rice.

330kcal / 1 carinderia serving (about 180g)
One carinderia serving of dinuguan is about 330 calories for a 180g ladle. The pork pieces are about 250 of that and the blood gravy about 80. Red Ribbon's version is listed on FatSecret at 255 per cup, and versions made with pork belly go over 450.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 carinderia serving (about 180g) (180g)AmountPer 100g
Calories330 kcal183 kcal
Protein22 g12 g
Carbs6 g3 g
Fat24 g13 g

Where the calories come from

Pork pieces (shoulder, some belly, offal)80g
250 kcal
Pork blood and vinegar gravy90g
75 kcal
Garlic, onion, green chili10g
5 kcal

The real talk

Pig's blood is not the problem. Cooked blood is about 80 calories per 100g and mostly protein and iron, which surprises people. What decides dinuguan is the pork that goes in. Carinderias use a mix of kasim (shoulder), a bit of belly and offal like intestine and liver, which averages about 300 calories per 100g cooked. An 80g share of that is 250 calories. Kawaling Pinoy's belly-only recipe card lands at 857 per serving, and that is the home version with 2 pounds of belly for 6 people.

Red Ribbon and Goldilocks sell it as a takeout tub, and Red Ribbon's is listed at 255 calories per cup with 34g of protein. That is leaner than most carinderias because they use more lean meat and less fat. The Ilocano dinardaraan is the opposite: drier, fattier, often with bagnet and chicharon crumbled in, and a serving is 450 to 500.

The puto is the part everyone forgets. Dinuguan at merienda comes with 2 or 3 puto, and each small puto is about 40 calories. Three puto is 120, so dinuguan with puto is about 450. With 1 cup of rice instead it is about 590. At 50 to 70 pesos a serving it is a high protein ulam at about 22g, so the calorie return is decent if the cook did not use belly.

How the portions compare

220 kcal
Small scoop (120g)
330 kcal
Standard scoop (180g)
450 kcal
Standard scoop with 3 puto

Dinuguan variants, ranked by calories

VariantCaloriesNotes
Red Ribbon dinuguan, 1 cup255 kcalFatSecret listing, lean meat
Dinuguan with kasim280 kcalShoulder, little fat
Carinderia dinuguan, mixed cuts330 kcalStandard
Dinuguan with liempo450 kcalBelly-based
Dinardaraan with bagnet500 kcalIlocano dry version

How to eat it lighter

Common questions

Is dinuguan healthy?
It is high in protein (about 22g per serving) and iron from the blood. Calories depend on the pork cut: 280 with shoulder, 450 with belly. Sodium is also high from the vinegar and patis.
How many calories in dinuguan with puto?
About 450 calories for a standard serving with 3 small puto. Each puto adds about 40.
How many calories in pig's blood?
About 80 calories per 100g cooked, almost all protein. It is the pork fat, not the blood, that makes dinuguan heavy.
Is dinuguan high in cholesterol?
Yes. Blood and offal push a serving to around 150 to 200mg of cholesterol, more if there is liver. If that matters for you, keep it to once a week.

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Calorie and macro figures are estimates for a typical carinderia or restaurant serving. Actual numbers vary by stall, recipe and portion size. Use them as a guide, not gospel.

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