How Many Calories in Pulut?

Pulut is steamed glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, dense and sticky, served plain or topped with sambal ikan bilis, sweet grated coconut, or as part of festive spreads.

250kcal / 1 serving, plain pulut with santan (steamed glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk)

Plain pulut with santan comes in at around 250 calories for a 160g serving, with 42g carbs and 7g fat. Most of those calories come from the glutinous rice itself (116 kcal) plus the coconut milk absorbed during steaming and resting (129 kcal total across cooking and pressing). Add sambal ikan bilis on top and you're looking at 310 calories. Go for the pulut inti with sweet grated coconut topping and it jumps to 370. It's a decent breakfast snack on its own, but the portions at the pasar pagi are usually bigger than you think.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 serving, plain pulut with santan (steamed glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk) (160g)	Amount	Per 100g
Calories	250 kcal	156 kcal
Protein	4 g	3 g
Carbs	42 g	26 g
Fat	7 g	4 g

Where the calories come from

Cooked glutinous rice base120g

116 kcal

Coconut milk (santan) absorbed during steaming and resting55g

129 kcal

Pandan, salt (negligible)10g

5 kcal

The real talk

Pulut is glutinous rice steamed with coconut milk until it's dense, sticky, and slightly rich. It's a staple at Malay breakfast stalls, pasar pagi, and big occasions like weddings and Hari Raya. Plain pulut with santan sits at around 250 calories per 160g serving, which sounds reasonable until you realise it's almost entirely carbs with very little protein (just 4g). The coconut milk adds a decent chunk of fat, 7g, and that's before any topping. These numbers are a ballpark estimate since hard nutritional data for traditional kuih like pulut is genuinely thin. Treat it as a close approximation, not a lab result.

What really moves the calories is the topping. Plain pulut is 250 kcal. Add 40g of sambal ikan bilis and you're at 310 kcal, the oil and fried anchovies doing the heavy lifting. Go for pulut inti, that sweet grated coconut cooked with gula melaka, and it climbs to 370 kcal, with the sugar and coconut fat adding 100 to 120 kcal on top. Portion size is the other big variable. A hawker scoop can easily be 200g or more, which pushes even plain pulut past 300 kcal before you add anything. If you're tracking, weigh it or at least be honest about how much you took.

Pulut variants, ranked by calories

Variant	Calories	Notes
Pulut kuning (turmeric coconut glutinous rice, plain)	250 kcal	Similar to plain pulut; turmeric adds no significant calories. Often served at Malay weddings and Hari Raya, ~160g piece.
Pulut sambal (with sambal ikan bilis)	310 kcal	Add ~40g sambal ikan bilis on top; anchovy sambal contributes ~60-70 kcal from oil and fried anchovies. Most common hawker breakfast variant.
Pulut inti (sweet grated coconut topping)	370 kcal	Add ~40g kelapa parut (grated coconut) cooked with gula melaka; the sweet coconut topping adds ~100-120 kcal from sugar and coconut fat. Popular Nyonya kuih variant.

How to eat it lighter

Go for plain pulut with sambal on the side rather than piled on top, so you control how much sambal you actually use.
Skip the pulut inti if you're watching calories. That sweet coconut topping adds 100 to 120 kcal and zero protein.
Take a smaller scoop. A 100g portion of plain pulut is around 155 kcal, which is a much easier number to fit into your day.
Pair it with a boiled egg or some ikan bilis on the side instead of embedded in oily sambal. You get protein without as much extra fat.
Eat it as breakfast rather than a mid-morning snack on top of actual breakfast. Pulut is dense enough to be a proper meal if you portion it right.

Common questions

How many calories in Pulut?

Plain pulut with santan is around 250 calories per 160g serving. With sambal ikan bilis it goes up to about 310 calories, and with sweet grated coconut topping (pulut inti) it reaches around 370 calories.

What is pulut exactly?

Pulut is glutinous rice, a stickier, denser variety of rice, steamed with coconut milk and pandan. It's not regular rice. The texture is chewy and compact, and it's served as a snack or breakfast staple, either plain or with toppings like sambal ikan bilis or sweet grated coconut.

Is pulut fattening?

It's calorie-dense for the size, mostly from carbs and a bit of fat from the coconut milk. At 250 calories for a 160g serving with very little protein, it won't keep you full for long. As an occasional breakfast or snack it's fine. The issue is when you eat a big scoop plus a sweet topping and don't account for it.

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

New to all this? Read how I went from 128kg to 86kg without cutting rice →