Meat, Grills & Lauk · Philippines

How Many Calories in Lechon?

Also known as Lechon Baboy, Litson, Filipino Roast Pig, Cebu Lechon.

Whole pig roasted over charcoal for hours until the skin blisters. Sold by the kilo at fiestas, weddings and every Cebu lechon house.

380kcal / 1 serving (3 to 4 slices with skin)
A typical fiesta plate of lechon, about 120g or 3 to 4 slices with skin, is around 380 calories. Roast pork with skin runs 300 to 330 calories per 100g. A 250g lechon house serving with sarsa is closer to 800. The skin alone is about 500 calories per 100g.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 serving (3 to 4 slices with skin) (120g)AmountPer 100g
Calories380 kcal317 kcal
Protein26 g22 g
Carbs1 g1 g
Fat30 g25 g

Where the calories come from

Roast pork meat80g
190 kcal
Crispy skin30g
150 kcal
Liver sauce (Mang Tomas)30g
40 kcal

The real talk

The skin is the whole story. Lechon skin is rendered pork rind, essentially chicharon that never left the pig, and it runs about 500 calories per 100g. The meat underneath, once the fat cap is trimmed, is about 220 calories per 100g. So a 120g plate with 30g of skin and 90g of meat is 380 calories, but the same weight of pure skin would be 600. At a fiesta, the people fighting over the crispy bits are eating twice the calories of the ones taking meat from the loin.

Lechon houses sell by the kilo, and a quarter kilo (250g) is a normal single order for one hungry person. That is about 800 calories before rice and before the Mang Tomas. The liver sauce is 40 calories per 30g spoon, which sounds small until you use four spoons. Cebu lechon skips the sauce entirely because it is stuffed with lemongrass and salt, so the count is a bit lower per plate.

The morning-after version matters too. Leftover lechon becomes lechon paksiw (simmered in vinegar and liver sauce) at about 350 calories per cup, or gets fried into lechon kawali style pieces at 500 plus. Most fiesta lechon is eaten three times over two days, and the 380 figure is only the first plate.

How the portions compare

250 kcal
Small taste, 2 slices
380 kcal
Fiesta plate, 3 to 4 slices with skin
800 kcal
Quarter kilo from a lechon house

Lechon variants, ranked by calories

VariantCaloriesNotes
Lechon meat only, no skin230 kcalPer 100g, trimmed
Lechon manok (quarter chicken)320 kcalRotisserie chicken
Lechon baboy with skin380 kcalStandard 120g plate
Lechon belly roll450 kcalAll belly, 120g
Lechon kawali520 kcalDeep fried belly, 130g

How to eat it lighter

Common questions

How many calories in 100g of lechon?
About 300 to 330 calories with skin, or 220 without. The skin alone is around 500 calories per 100g.
How many calories in a kilo of lechon?
Roughly 3,000 to 3,300 calories per kilo as served, skin included. A quarter kilo order is about 800.
Is lechon or lechon kawali higher in calories?
Lechon kawali, because it is belly only and deep fried. Gram for gram it is about 400 calories per 100g against 320 for roast lechon.
How many calories in Mang Tomas lechon sauce?
About 40 calories per 30g serving, mostly sugar and breadcrumbs. Four spoons at a fiesta is 160 calories on top of the meat.

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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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