Whether you’re trying to live a healthy lifestyle, are watching your weight, or are actively dieting, it’s useful to have an idea of the calories you’re consuming. Meat is an important aspect of many people’s lives and meals, so, having an idea of the top 10 lowest calorie meats can only be a plus.
This list is aimed mainly at people who do most of their food shopping in supermarkets. As such, the list only considers the top 10 lowest calorie meats that a shopper could reasonably expect to find in a British Supermarket.
This list also excludes fish and shell fish, which will be listed separately. It also relates to 100g of the specified meat, which is raw, skinless, boneless and the leanest cut available.
And no processed meats! Processed meats cause cancer, and there’s too much of that around already.
10. Venison – 150 Calories
- 1g saturated fat
- 0g sugar
- 30g protein
Venison is a game meat and a red meat. While it contains the highest number of calories, it also provides the most protein. Perhaps an interesting alternative for those looking to gain muscle mass.
9. Pork Loin – 143 Calories
- 2g saturated fat
- 0g sugar
- 21g protein
Pork is a white meat, and this cut was lean, as opposed to extra lean. As such, it contains 2g of saturated fat per 100g. But, unlike many of the other choices, it does come as a chop, which I think is important for variety.
8. Lamb – 136 Calories
- 0g saturated fat
- 0g sugar
- 22g protein
Back to the red meats and this refers to diced leg of lamb, extra lean. The difficulty with diced meat like this, is that it’s typically cooked, or at least seared in a frying pan. The oil used to fry or sear the meat, will add to the calorie and fat count.
7. Rabbit- 136 Calories
- 2g saturated fat
- 0g sugar
- 20g protein
Rabbit is a game meat and categorised as a white meat. While it has the same number of calories per 100g as the Lamb, it has 2 fewer grams of protein and 2 more of fat.
6. Beef – 130 Calories
- 0g saturated fat
- 0g sugar
- 21g protein
Beef, of course, is the archetypal red meat. And while beef has a bad reputation, this extra lean mince sits around the half way point of the top 10 lowest calorie meats. Although the beef is minced, this does not make it processed, just ground up.
5. Partridge – 127 Calories
- 1g saturated fat
- 0g sugar
- 22g protein
Another white, game meat, Partridge is the first bird on the list. And while, Partridge may seem a strange choice for this list, once you remove all the processed meats, it’s startling how few other meat choices remain.
4. Chicken Breast – 124 Calories
- 0g saturated fat
- 0g sugar
- 20g protein
What beef is to red meat, chicken is to white meat. More than that, some reports say that chicken accounts for half of the meat eaten in the UK. And while it is undeniably tasty, it only ranks at number 4 of the top 10 lowest calorie meats.
3. Duck Breast – 123 Calories
- 1g saturated fat
- 0g sugar
- 20g protein
Duck is often considered a red meat and has a reputation for being particularly fatty. The duck breast here is skinless and boneless and surprisingly low in calories as a result.
2. Guinea Fowl – 105 Calories
- 1g saturated fat
- 0g sugar
- 23g protein
Guinea Fowl is, again, a white, game meat; and the 4th bird in a row at the business end of this list. Seriously, though, without the processed meats, there was no choice but to look for alternatives. If you want to try it, you can find it here.
1. Turkey Breast – 104 Calories
- 0g saturated fat
- 4g sugar
- 17g protein
Turkey is a strangely underappreciated white meat and really shouldn’t only be for Christmas. But here it is: the lowest calorie meat on the list. It’s an odd meat, though, relatively low in protein and, seemingly, containing sugar…
When it comes to the top 10 lowest calorie meats, it seems that the bird is the word.
So, if in doubt, when it comes to selecting the meat for your evening meal, and you’re after a lower calorie option, choose something with wings.
That said, the reality; is providing you choose the leanest cut available, you can eat whichever meat takes your fancy. If you’re dieting, and looking to reduce calories, you’d probably be better off looking at another aspect of what you eat.