Chicken vs quail: calories compared

Most searches for this pair are about the eggs. This page compares cooked meat, and we found no study of protein or mineral absorption from quail meat. The table pits chicken breast, meat only, against the whole edible quail, so part of the fat and calorie gap is the cut.

Quail carries coturnism, a poisoning that breaks down muscle, tied mainly to European migratory quail eaten around the autumn migration. A clinical review states that no cooking method makes an affected bird safe, and that smell or taste will not identify one. The evidence is case reports.

In one Iranian survey of retail butcher shops, Listeria turned up in 22.4% of quail samples and 16.9% of chicken samples. Do not wash either bird: rinsing spreads bacteria from the juices to other foods and surfaces. Cook whole poultry to 165 °F (74 °C), checked with a food thermometer.

In three people allergic to bird meat, skin tests were positive to chicken, turkey, dove and quail but negative to egg, and the authors warn that one bird meat allergy may extend to others. In case reports, children who tolerated chicken eggs vomited repeatedly 1 to 4 hours after heated quail egg.

Choose by taste, and be wary of migratory quail in autumn, the bird the coturnism reports describe.

Evidence behind this note

1. Level D A 2022 toxicology review ties coturnism mainly to the wild European migratory quail eaten around the autumn migration. It describes the illness as a toxic muscle injury with acute rhabdomyolysis. Yeung KA, Chai PR, Russell BL, Erickson TB. Avian Toxins and Poisoning Mechanisms. J Med Toxicol, 2022;18(4)
2. Level D Cooking does not make a toxic quail safe, and smell or taste does not identify one, so preparation is no defense against coturnism. CMAJ, 2004
3. Level D Eating quail can cause coturnism, a food poisoning that presents as rhabdomyolysis and reached the renal ward in this reported case. NDT Plus, 2011
4. Level C In a survey of 1107 raw meat samples in Iran, Listeria species were found in 26 of 116 quail meat samples, which is 22.4% and second only to buffalo meat. J Food Prot, 2012
5. Level E The CDC advises cooking chicken to an internal temperature of 165 F checked with a food thermometer, and says raw chicken does not need washing. CDC, Chicken and Food Poisoning, 2024
6. 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
7. Level E The US food safety agency recommends cooking whole poultry to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 F, measured with a food thermometer. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Doneness Versus Safety
8. Level D In 3 patients allergic to bird meat, skin tests were positive to chicken, turkey, dove and quail yet negative to egg, including birds they had never eaten. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 1999
9. Level D A 6-year-old girl who could eat hen's eggs had repeated vomiting and pallor after cooked quail egg. In a blinded hospital challenge one fried quail egg brought vomiting, pallor and lethargy after 160 minutes and needed intravenous fluids. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol, 2017
10. Level D A second report describes a 7-year-old girl who vomited repeatedly 3 to 4 hours after heated quail egg yet ate chicken egg without trouble. The authors list two earlier children, aged 3 and 6, with the same reaction to quail egg. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol, 2019

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

• Chicken: the iron it blocks, and the washing you skip
• Quail: the human research is about the egg, not the bird

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

• Chicken vs turkey
• Chicken vs salmon
• Chicken vs shrimp
• Chicken vs tofu
• Chicken vs ground beef
• Chicken vs pork
• Chicken vs beef
• Chicken vs lamb

• Chicken: USDA FoodData Central, Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat only, cooked, roasted, FDC ID 171477 · full profile · all forms of chicken
• Quail: USDA FoodData Central, Quail, cooked, total edible, FDC ID 169902 · all forms of quail

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