Calculate Your Own Meal
The table uses historical FRIDA records and 20 g portions, excluding bread, butter and accompaniments. Enter your actual meal to estimate its ingredients using the current USDA and Open Food Facts sources; review the amounts and source labels before saving.
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In this article (8 sections)
- Which Sandwich Toppings Have the Fewest Calories?
- Table: Calories in 20 Sandwich Toppings
- How do these toppings compare with US deli products?
- What do the comparisons show?
- How Much Does It Matter in Practice?
- What About the Butter and Accompaniments?
- Where Do the Figures Come From?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Which Sandwich Toppings Have the Fewest Calories?
Among these example records, salted meat has 100 kcal per 100 g, followed by tuna in water and turkey breast at 107, boiled ham at 109, and chicken breast at 113. Other brands and recipes can differ.
At an equal 20 g portion, the salted-meat example contributes 20 kcal and the salami example 102 kcal. Those figures cover the topping only, not the bread or other ingredients.
Table: Calories in 20 Sandwich Toppings
The figures below are historical FRIDA 6.1 records retained from the original article. Protein and fat are per 100 g of food; the calorie portion column uses an illustrative 20 g serving without bread, butter or accompaniments. Actual portions vary; see what a slice of rye bread weighs. Protein per 100 kcal compares protein relative to energy; it does not measure how filling a food will be.
| Sandwich Topping | Kcal per 100 g | Per 20 g | Protein | Fat | Protein per 100 kcal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salted meat | 100 | 20 | 19.2 g | 2.6 g | 19.2 g |
| Tuna in water, canned | 107 | 21 | 23.9 g | 1.2 g | 22.3 g |
| Turkey breast, boiled/smoked | 107 | 21 | 21.0 g | 1.8 g | 19.6 g |
| Ham, boiled | 109 | 22 | 17.9 g | 4.1 g | 16.4 g |
| Chicken breast, boiled | 113 | 23 | 20.6 g | 3.2 g | 18.3 g |
| Cooked ham | 119 | 24 | 18.4 g | 4.8 g | 15.4 g |
| Roast beef | 120 | 24 | 21.7 g | 3.5 g | 18.2 g |
| Liver pâté, fat-reduced | 150 | 30 | 10.0 g | 6.7 g | 6.7 g |
| Mackerel in tomato | 154 | 31 | 11.7 g | 10.2 g | 7.6 g |
| Chicken salad, light | 155 | 31 | 5.8 g | 12.9 g | 3.7 g |
| Salmon, cold-smoked | 170 | 34 | 20.9 g | 8.9 g | 12.3 g |
| Sliced cheese, 6%/10+ | 175 | 35 | 28.9 g | 6.4 g | 16.6 g |
| Head cheese | 217 | 43 | 13.0 g | 18.2 g | 6.0 g |
| Danbo, 20+ | 225 | 45 | 27.2 g | 12.4 g | 12.1 g |
| Liver pâté | 239 | 48 | 11.3 g | 19.2 g | 4.7 g |
| Egg salad | 242 | 48 | 6.5 g | 22.5 g | 2.7 g |
| Rolled sausage | 272 | 54 | 15.3 g | 23.1 g | 5.6 g |
| Danbo, 45+ | 325 | 65 | 23.7 g | 25.1 g | 7.3 g |
| Cured sausage | 455 | 91 | 14.8 g | 44.0 g | 3.3 g |
| Salami | 510 | 102 | 13.9 g | 49.2 g | 2.7 g |
How do these toppings compare with US deli products?
The 20 g comparison portion is about 0.7 oz by weight. It is not a standard US deli serving or a fixed number of slices. Use the grams on the actual package or weigh the portion.
Danbo is a Danish cheese; grades such as 20+ and 45+ refer to fat in dry matter, not the percentage fat by total food weight. Liver pate, egg salad, head cheese and cured sausages can differ substantially by recipe. Treat these historical examples as ingredient comparisons, then use a matching current product for your sandwich.
What do the comparisons show?
1. Compare the actual values behind a light label. The light chicken salad example has 155 kcal and 5.8 g protein per 100 g. The boiled ham example has 109 kcal and 17.9 g protein. These figures describe two different foods, not their overall nutritional value.
2. Similar calories can come from different recipes. The egg salad example has 242 kcal per 100 g and the liver pate example 239. Egg salad recipes vary with the amount and type of dressing.
3. Cheese varies substantially. The 6% cheese example provides 28.9 g protein and 175 kcal per 100 g, compared with 23.7 g protein and 325 kcal for the Danbo 45+ example.
The table compares energy, protein and fat, not overall diet quality or expected fullness. Portion size, other ingredients and the rest of the meal also matter.
How Much Does It Matter in Practice?
For an equal 20 g portion of each topping, the calorie differences are:
| Swap | Calories saved per slice |
|---|---|
| Salami → salted meat | 82 |
| Cured sausage → turkey breast | 70 |
| Liver pâté → fat-reduced liver pâté | 18 |
| Danbo 45+ → sliced cheese 6% | 30 |
| Egg salad → tuna in water | 27 |
For two 20 g portions, the first swap changes the calculated topping total by 164 kcal. Bread, butter and accompaniments remain outside that calculation.
These are comparisons of food portions, not forecasts of weight change. They do not assume that two different meals will leave you equally satisfied.
What About the Butter and Accompaniments?
The table covers toppings only. In the historical butter example, 5 g contributes about 37 kcal, compared with 20 kcal for a 20 g portion of salted meat. Include both ingredients when calculating a whole sandwich.
The calculation for whole slices — bread, butter, cold cuts, and accompaniments combined — is detailed in calories in rye bread, where 20 typical rye bread slices are calculated with and without butter, and in calories in open sandwiches, where 14 classic pieces with accompaniments are calculated. The weights behind the portions are in what a slice of rye bread weighs, and the broad overview in calories in Danish food.
Where Do the Figures Come From?
The tables retain historical FRIDA 6.1 figures from DTU Food Institute, as attributed in the original Danish article. They have not been relabeled as USDA data. Use a current product label for packaged foods where available.
Calorie.one now uses a separate recognition and nutrition workflow:
- The AI recognizes and breaks down the meal — from your sentence or from a photo — into ingredients with a gram amount for each.
- The database provides nutritional values where a suitable match exists, using local USDA records and Open Food Facts for packaged foods. Estimates and source labels must be checked in the preview.
Review each ingredient, amount, nutritional value and source before saving. A database match does not establish that the estimated portion or selected food is correct.
Portion estimates and recipe differences can both affect the result. Composite dishes may have a database match, but it may not represent your recipe. Adjust amounts and ingredients before saving; our methodology explains the workflow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Cold Cut Has the Most Calories?
Among these records, salami has the highest energy value at 510 kcal per 100 g, followed by cured sausage at 455. A 20 g portion of this salami contributes 102 kcal. Other products can differ.
Is Liver Pâté Unhealthy?
The regular liver pate example has 239 kcal and 19.2 g fat per 100 g; the reduced-fat example has 150 kcal and 6.7 g fat. That is about 37% less energy for an equal weight. Calorie content alone cannot establish whether a food suits a particular person or diet.
Which Cold Cut is the Most Filling?
The table cannot answer that. Tuna in water has the highest protein per 100 kcal among these examples, at 22.3 g, but this ratio is not a measurement or guarantee of fullness.
Do Cold Cut Salads Count as Cold Cuts?
They are included here as sandwich toppings. The light chicken salad and egg salad examples contain 155 and 242 kcal per 100 g respectively. Recipes and dressing quantities vary, so use a product label or calculate the ingredients of your own recipe.
How Do I Find the Calories in My Own Food?
Weigh the item and use its label or a suitable database record: (kcal per 100 g x grams) / 100. At 239 kcal per 100 g, 30 g of liver pate contributes about 72 kcal. How to calculate calories in food also covers changes in cooking weight. You can enter a meal in the food calorie calculator.