How many calories are in hummus?
Hummus has 71 calories per 2 tbsp (30 g) — that's 237 calories per 100 g, roughly 4% of a 2,000-calorie day. Most of those calories come from fat.
USDA FoodData Central · commercial · FDC 174289
Calories by portion
| Portion | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 tbsp (30 g) | 71 | 2.3 g | 4.5 g | 5.3 g |
| 100 g | 237 | 7.8 g | 15 g | 17.8 g |
| 1 oz (28 g) | 67 | 2.2 g | 4.3 g | 5 g |
Where the calories come from
Protein 12% Carbs 24% Fat 64%
Calories computed from USDA per-100 g data (FDC 174289, SR Legacy). commercial. The macro split uses general Atwater factors (protein and carbs ≈ 4 cal/g, fat ≈ 9 cal/g) and is approximate.
Hummus has a calorie number that catches people off guard — not because the serving is high, but because the dip is denser than a bean dip sounds. A standard 2 tbsp serving (30 g) carries about 71 calories, and per 100 g it comes in at a hefty 237 calories. The 2 tbsp scoop is genuinely modest, but it’s also small enough to blow past without noticing, and that’s where the calories sneak up. The reason a creamy chickpea dip costs as much as it does is sitting in the fat line, not the chickpeas.
Where the calories come from
Most of what you’re eating here is fat. Run hummus through the standard Atwater factors (protein and carbs ≈ 4 cal/g, fat ≈ 9 cal/g) and roughly 64% of the calories are fat, with the rest split between carbohydrate (~24%) and protein (~12%). With 17.8 g of fat per 100 g — coming from the olive oil and tahini, not the chickpeas — and fat carrying 9 calories a gram, the density is baked in. None of this makes the fat bad: it’s largely the heart-healthy unsaturated kind, and it comes packaged with the fiber and plant protein chickpeas bring. But fat-forward means calorie-forward, which is why a smooth, mild dip ends up denser per gram than the beans at its base would suggest.
Portion is the whole game
The thing to manage with hummus is how much, not whether. A measured 2 tbsp scoop is only about 71 calories — a genuinely light way to add flavor and a little fiber to vegetables or a wrap. The trouble starts when “a scoop” becomes a tub you graze from over an afternoon: at 237 calories per 100 g, dipping pita back in again and again can quietly clear a few hundred calories before you notice. A 1/2 cup (about 123 g) lands near 290 calories — a perfectly reasonable meal-sized portion to build a plate around, but a very different number from the dip serving. The reliable move is to portion it onto a plate rather than eat from the container, so hummus keeps working as the flavorful, fiber-bringing layer it’s good at being instead of an open-ended calorie source.
For the protein side of the picture — and why that per-100 g protein number doesn’t make hummus a protein source by the spoonful — see protein in hummus.
Packaged hummus options, graded
Prefer something off the shelf? Here are the best-graded hummus in our catalog — each scored on our transparent Labelgrade. Check the calorie line on each label for your goal.
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Labelgrade 75/100 · 60 cal · 2 g protein
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Labelgrade 72/100 · 150 cal · 4 g protein
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Buy links are affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The Labelgrade is independent of any affiliate relationship. More.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many calories are in a 2 tbsp serving of hummus?
About 71 calories in a 2 tbsp serving (30 g), based on 237 calories per 100 g (USDA FDC 174289). That's a modest number for a serving — but a 2 tbsp scoop of dip is small, and the calories climb fast once you graze past it.
How many calories are in hummus per 100 g or per ounce?
237 calories per 100 g, which is about 67 calories per ounce (28 g) — so a standard 2 tbsp serving (30 g) lands near 71 calories. Be careful with the per-100 g figure: 100 g is more than three tablespoons, well above the small scoop most people picture as a serving.
Where do the calories in hummus come from?
Mostly fat. By Atwater factors, hummus is roughly 64% fat calories, with the rest split between carbohydrate (~24%) and protein (~12%). The 17.8 g of fat per 100 g — from olive oil and tahini — is what makes hummus calorie-dense for a chickpea dip. The fat is largely the heart-healthy unsaturated kind, but it's still 9 calories a gram.
Is hummus high in calories?
It's calorie-dense per gram, but a true serving is small. At 237 calories per 100 g hummus is denser than you'd guess for a bean dip, because of the oil and tahini. The catch is portion: 2 tbsp is only ~71 calories, but dipping from a tub over an afternoon can quietly clear a few hundred. The number to manage is how much, not whether.
How many calories are in a half cup of hummus?
A 1/2 cup of hummus is about 123 g, so it carries roughly 290 calories — a meal-sized portion, mostly from fat. That's a sensible amount to build a plate around, but far more than the 2 tbsp dip serving, which is why grazing straight from the container adds up faster than people expect.
When was this data last verified?
2026-06-18, against USDA FoodData Central FDC 174289 (Hummus, commercial). We re-verify reference pages periodically and update when USDA revises its data.
Whole-food values are USDA reference data, not a Labelgrade (that score is for branded packaged products). See our methodology and the TDEE calculator to turn this into a daily target.