Beef vs chicken: calories compared

Lean sirloin and chicken breast give nearly the same protein, 31 g per 3.5 oz (100 g). Chicken is a little lighter, 165 calories against 183, with 1.0 g of saturated fat against 2.2 g. In a trial of 113 adults, LDL and apoB did not differ between red and white meat, both higher than on meat-free protein. Across 8 trials, LDL fell by 8.2 mg/dL on beef and 8.9 on poultry or fish. No head-to-head trial covers heart attacks or diabetes.

Beef has about twice the iron here, and raw steak about five times the zinc of chicken breast. In teenagers over 3 months, ferritin held on lean beef and dipped on poultry and fish, though not clinically significantly.

In US cohorts, open-flame or high-temperature cooking of meat more than 15 times a month went with a 28 percent higher rate of type 2 diabetes, for red meat and chicken alike. Smoking beef builds more PAHs than grilling. Skip washing raw chicken, since rinsing spreads bacteria.

In 15 healthy adults, a week of beef pushed urine closer to calcium oxalate stones than chicken, relevant for stone formers. Alpha-gal syndrome, an allergy set off by tick bites, causes delayed symptoms after red meat.

Choose by need: beef for iron and zinc, chicken for fewer calories, and cook either over open flame less often.

Evidence behind this note

1. Level B In a randomized trial of 113 adults eating each diet for 4 weeks, LDL cholesterol and apoB were the same on red meat as on white meat, and higher on both than on plant protein. Am J Clin Nutr, 2019
2. Level A A meta-analysis of 8 randomized trials with 406 people found LDL cholesterol fell about equally on beef and on poultry or fish, by 8.2 versus 8.9 mg/dL. J Clin Lipidol, 2012
3. Level E No trial compares beef and chicken on heart attacks, diabetes or death directly, and neither US nor EU health claim rules name either meat. Bioma corpus and dataset search (PubMed corpus, FNDDS, 21 CFR 101, EU register snapshot 2026-09-21) and web search, 2026-10-02
4. Level E Raw beef steak carries about 6 times the iron and 5 times the zinc of raw skinless chicken breast per 3.5 oz (100 g). USDA FoodData Central, Foundation Foods, release 2026-04-30 (6 to 8 samples per food)
5. Level B Over 3 months, adolescents on a lean beef diet kept their ferritin while those on lean poultry and fish saw a small drop. J Am Diet Assoc, 2004
6. Level C In three US cohorts, grilling, broiling or roasting meat more than 15 times a month went with 28% higher type 2 diabetes risk, for both red meat and chicken. Diabetes Care, 2018
7. Level D Smoke and solid fuel put more carcinogens into beef than grilling does, and more than half an hour of cooking makes it worse. Meat Sci, 2026
8. Level E The agency responsible for US poultry safety tells people not to wash raw chicken, because rinsing spreads the bacteria instead of removing them. Chicken from Farm to Table, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service
9. Level B In a 3-week crossover of 15 adults, a beef diet raised the calcium oxalate stone-forming index to 2.48 versus 1.67 on chicken. J Urol, 2014
10. Level C Alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-triggered allergy to red meat, caused symptoms 1 hour or more after eating red meat in 92% of 1162 patients. Neurogastroenterol Motil, 2026

Written from the studies and agency guidance we hold for both foods, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.

Read more about these foods

• Beef and chicken: the same for cholesterol, far apart on iron
• Beef: who paid for the study predicts what it found
• Chicken: the iron it blocks, and the washing you skip

Rankings and guides

• Calories: what it does and what the evidence shows
• Which foods give the most protein for the fewest calories?
• Dietary fat: what it does and how much you need
• Chicken: full nutrition facts

More comparisons

• Beef vs pork
• Chicken vs turkey
• Chicken vs shrimp
• Chicken vs tofu
• Chicken vs falafel

• Beef: USDA FoodData Central, Beef, top sirloin, steak, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, all grades, cooked, broiled, FDC ID 168634 · all forms of beef
• Chicken: USDA FoodData Central, Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat only, cooked, roasted, FDC ID 171477 · full profile · all forms of chicken

Each food is one USDA entry, chosen as it is usually eaten. Other cuts, brands and preparations differ; the links show them. % DV uses FDA Daily Values for adults. How we verify.