Noodles · Korea

How Many Calories in Jajangmyeon?

Also known as 짜장면, 자장면, Jjajangmyeon, Black Bean Noodles, Jajang Myeon.

Jajangmyeon is the Korean-Chinese bowl of thick wheat noodles under a glossy black bean sauce with diced pork, onion and potato, the default delivery meal for moving day.

797kcal / 1 bowl
A restaurant bowl of jajangmyeon is about 797 calories for a 650g serving, the figure from the Korean MFDS restaurant nutrition survey. Around 420 of that is the 300g of cooked noodles, with the rest in the chunjang sauce, the pork and the oil the sauce is fried in. It carries about 129g of carbohydrate.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 bowl (650g)AmountPer 100g
Calories797 kcal123 kcal
Protein27 g4 g
Carbs129 g20 g
Fat20 g3 g

Where the calories come from

Wheat noodles, cooked300g
420 kcal
Black bean sauce with pork, onion, potato250g
300 kcal
Cooking oil in sauce10g
90 kcal
Cucumber garnish and danmuji40g
10 kcal

The real talk

Jajangmyeon is a carb bowl. 300g of cooked noodles is 420 calories on its own, and the sauce adds another 130g of stuff that is mostly onion and potato cooked in black bean paste. The pork dice is small, maybe 40g. So you get 27g of protein and 129g of carbs, roughly the ratio of a plate of plain pasta with a spoon of sauce.

The oil is where restaurants differ. Chunjang is fried in oil before the vegetables go in, and a generous kitchen uses 2 tablespoons per portion, which is 240 calories of oil in the sauce. The MFDS survey found bowls ranging from 400g to 840g across shops, so a big-portion place can be serving you 1,000 calories in one bowl for 7,000 won.

Ganjajang (the dry, freshly stir-fried version) is listed at 825 in the same survey, slightly higher because the sauce is cooked with more oil to order. Jjajangbap swaps the noodles for rice and lands around the same. The set that really adds up is the half-and-half with tangsuyuk on the side, which turns lunch into a 1,300 calorie sitting.

How the portions compare

620 kcal
Small bowl, less noodles
797 kcal
Standard bowl
1050 kcal
Gop-bbegi (double noodles)

Jajangmyeon variants, ranked by calories

VariantCaloriesNotes
Standard jajangmyeon797 kcalMFDS 650g bowl
Ganjajang825 kcalDry-fried sauce
Jjamjjamyeon (half jjamppong)830 kcalSplit bowl
Samseon jajangmyeon850 kcalSeafood added

How to eat it lighter

Common questions

Is jajangmyeon unhealthy?
It is a high-carb, moderate-fat bowl at about 797 calories with 129g of carbs. Not a diet meal, but fine as an occasional lunch if you skip the tangsuyuk.
How many calories in jajangbap?
About the same as the noodle version, 750 to 800, because a full bowl of rice replaces the noodles.
Jajangmyeon or jjamppong for fewer calories?
They are close: 797 versus 764 in the MFDS survey. Jjamppong has slightly less oil and more seafood, so it edges it on protein too.
How much protein is in jajangmyeon?
About 27g, mostly from the small pork dice and the wheat noodles. It is not a protein meal.

Related foods

See all Noodles calories, ranked ›

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

Calorie figure based on MFDS restaurant nutrition survey (짜장면 650g 797 kcal) via hidoc.co.kr. Macros estimated from the ingredients.

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