How Many Calories in Puto?

Also known as Putong Puti, Steamed Rice Cake, Puto Cheese.

Small steamed cakes of rice flour, sugar and a little coconut milk, sold in packs of 10 to 12 or handed out next to a bowl of dinuguan. Plain white, or topped with a cube of cheese.

120kcal / 3 small pieces

Three small puto are about 120 calories for 75g, or about 40 calories per piece. Plain putong puti is rice flour, sugar and a splash of coconut milk with almost no fat. A puto cheese is about 55 each. Kawaling Pinoy's batch of 36 works out to 39 calories per piece.

Nutrition facts

Per 3 small pieces (75g)	Amount	Per 100g
Calories	120 kcal	160 kcal
Protein	2 g	3 g
Carbs	26 g	35 g
Fat	1 g	1 g

Where the calories come from

Rice flour25g

90 kcal

Sugar6g

24 kcal

Coconut milk5g

6 kcal

The real talk

Puto is one of the lightest kakanin because it is steamed and mostly air. A small 25g piece is about 40 calories: 30 from rice flour, 8 from sugar, 2 from coconut milk. Kawaling Pinoy's recipe card lists 1,421 calories for a batch of 3 dozen, which is 39 each. White King's boxed mix is listed at 100 per serving on FatSecret, which is about 2 to 3 pieces.

The toppings change it. A cube of cheddar on top adds about 15, so puto cheese is 55. Puto with a slice of salted egg is about 60. Puto pao, the big one stuffed with asado and a quail egg, is a different food entirely at about 180 each. Puto bumbong, the purple Christmas version with butter, sugar and grated coconut, is around 150 to 200 per stick depending on how much butter the vendor brushes on.

The count is the thing. Puto comes in packs of 10 to 12 for 30 to 50 pesos and a pack disappears during one episode of anything. Ten small puto is 400 calories, about the same as a rice meal but with no protein. With dinuguan, 3 puto is the usual side and adds 120 to a 330 calorie serving.

How the portions compare

40 kcal

1 small puto

120 kcal

3 small puto

400 kcal

10 small puto (a pack)

Puto variants, ranked by calories

Variant	Calories	Notes
Putong puti, 1 small	40 kcal	Plain
Puto cheese, 1 small	55 kcal	Cheddar cube on top
Puto with salted egg, 1 small	60 kcal	Itlog na maalat slice
Puto bumbong, 1 stick	170 kcal	Butter, sugar, grated coconut
Puto pao, 1 piece	180 kcal	Stuffed with asado and quail egg

How to eat it lighter

Three pieces is a snack at 120 calories. Ten pieces is a meal at 400. Count them out before you open the pack.
Plain putong puti over puto cheese saves about 15 per piece, or 150 over a pack.
Puto bumbong: ask for less butter. The butter and sugar brush is about half the calories.
Pair puto with something that has protein, like dinuguan or a boiled egg, so it is not just carbs.

Common questions

How many calories in one puto?

About 40 calories for a small plain putong puti (25g), and about 55 for a puto cheese. A large puto from a Bulacan bakery (50g) is about 80.

Is puto healthy?

It is low fat and low calorie per piece, but it is refined rice flour and sugar with almost no protein or fibre. Fine as a small snack, not as a meal.

How many calories in puto bumbong?

About 150 to 200 per stick. The glutinous purple rice is about 80, and the butter, muscovado sugar and coconut on top add the rest.

Puto or kutsinta, which has fewer calories?

About the same, 40 to 50 each. Kutsinta is denser and chewier but similar in size. Both are rice flour and sugar.

Related foods

Dinuguan

330 kcal per 1 carinderia serving (about 180g)

Kuih Talam

130 kcal per 1 piece (~60g)

Kuih Kaswi

115 kcal per 1 piece (~50g)

Tutu Kueh

150 kcal per 2 pieces

Kwek-Kwek

280 kcal per 4 pieces with sauce

Turon

220 kcal per 1 piece

See all Snacks & Kuih calories, ranked ›

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.

Calorie figure based on Kawaling Pinoy recipe card (1421 kcal per 36 pieces, 39 each); White King puto 100 kcal per serving via FatSecret. Macros estimated from the ingredients.

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