Calories in Honey: Per Tablespoon, Teaspoon and 100 g

Honey is often seen as the “healthy” sweetener: natural, golden and made by bees. People stir it into tea, drizzle it on yogurt and use it instead of sugar. But how many calories does honey really have – and is it better than sugar?

The short answer: a tablespoon of honey (21 g) has about 64 calories, and a teaspoon (7 g) about 21 calories. 100 g has about 304 calories. Honey is about 82% sugar. It has tiny amounts of antioxidants, but to your body it’s still mostly sugar, so health experts count it the same way as table sugar.

Calories in honey by portion

Values are from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA FoodData Central):

Portion	Weight	Calories	Sugar
1 teaspoon	7 g	21 kcal	5.7 g
1 packet (0.5 oz)	14 g	43 kcal	11.5 g
1 tablespoon	21 g	64 kcal	17.2 g
¼ cup	85 g	258 kcal	70 g
100 g	100 g	304 kcal	82 g
1 cup	339 g	1,031 kcal	278 g

Tip: a “drizzle” is hard to measure. One generous pour on yogurt or pancakes is often 2 tablespoons – about 130 calories.

Honey nutrition facts

Nutrient	Per 100 g	Per tablespoon (21 g)
Calories	304 kcal	64 kcal
Carbohydrates	82.4 g	17.3 g
– of which sugars	82.1 g	17.2 g
Fiber	0.2 g	0 g
Protein	0.3 g	0.1 g
Fat	0 g	0 g
Water	17.1 g	3.6 g
Potassium	52 mg	11 mg

Honey is mostly fructose and glucose, with about 17% water. It contains small amounts of antioxidants, enzymes and minerals, but in a spoonful these amounts are tiny. Darker honeys, like buckwheat honey, usually have more antioxidants than light ones.

Honey vs sugar

Per teaspoon	Calories	Sugar	Glycemic index
Honey (7 g)	21 kcal	5.7 g	about 50⁠–⁠60
White sugar (4 g)	16 kcal	4.0 g	about 65
Maple syrup (7 g)	18 kcal	4.2 g	about 54
Agave syrup (7 g)	21 kcal	4.8 g	about 15⁠–⁠20

A spoon of honey has a few more calories than a spoon of sugar, because honey is denser. Honey has a slightly lower glycemic index, and it’s sweeter, so you may need a bit less. But the World Health Organization counts honey as “free sugar”: it advises keeping all free sugars under 10% of your calories – about 50 g a day – and ideally under 25 g. That’s about 3 tablespoons of honey for the whole day, including the sugar in other foods. Read more about agave syrup and coconut sugar.

Calories in honey foods

Food	Calories
Tea with 1 tsp honey	about 21 kcal
Greek yogurt (150 g, nonfat) + 1 tbsp honey	about 155 kcal
Toast with butter and honey	about 200⁠–⁠250 kcal
Oatmeal with 1 tbsp honey and banana	about 300 kcal
Honey-roasted peanuts	1 oz, about 160⁠–⁠170 kcal
Honey mustard dressing	2 tbsp, about 110⁠–⁠140 kcal
Honey garlic chicken wings	6 wings, about 600⁠–⁠700 kcal

How to spot fake honey

Honey is one of the most commonly faked foods in the world: some products are diluted with cheaper sugar syrups from rice, corn or beets. Tests in the EU have found suspicious samples in a large share of imported honey. To protect yourself:

• Read the ingredients: real honey lists only “honey”. “Honey blend”, “honey syrup” or added syrups mean it’s not pure.
• Check the origin: labels that just say “blend of EU and non-EU honey” give you little information. A named country or beekeeper is more transparent.
• Be careful with very cheap honey – real honey costs more to make.
• Crystallization is normal: real honey often turns solid over time. Warm it gently to make it liquid again.

Is honey good for weight loss?

Not really – it’s still a sweetener. A teaspoon in tea or on yogurt is fine. But honey is easy to pour freely, and a few tablespoons add 130–200 calories without making you full.

How to use it wisely:

• Measure with a teaspoon instead of pouring from the jar.
• Pair it with protein, like Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, to slow down the sugar.
• Use fruit to sweeten oatmeal or yogurt, and add just a little honey.
• Don’t give honey to babies under 1 year – it can cause infant botulism.

Remember that you lose weight only when you eat fewer calories than you burn. Read more about the calorie deficit and find your number with our calorie calculator.

Check your honey in seconds. With NutriSmart, you scan the barcode or photograph the label, and the app shows you whether the product has added syrups or other additives and gives it a health score out of 100. At home, snap a photo of what you eat, and the app counts the calories for you.Get the app free

You can also read about high fructose corn syrup and how many calories are in dates.

The bottom line

A tablespoon of honey has about 64 calories and a teaspoon about 21. Honey is about 82% sugar, with only tiny amounts of antioxidants. It’s a bit sweeter than sugar and has a slightly lower glycemic index, but your body treats it as sugar. Measure it, enjoy it in small amounts, and choose honey whose label says only “honey”.