How many calories in mansaf?
Last updated: · Prepared by: QuickCalo Team
Short answer
One plate of mansaf (about 557 g) has about 985 kcal and 52 g of protein; 100 g has about 177 kcal. What changes the calories most is the ghee, the fatty lamb and the amount of rice. One plate of lamb in yogurt sauce over rice and thin bread, with ghee and toasted nuts, was calculated.
Mansaf is the national dish of Jordan and is also popular in Palestine: lamb cooked in a sauce of jameed, a dried fermented yogurt, served over rice and thin shrak bread and topped with almonds and pine nuts fried in ghee.
It is served at celebrations on large platters and traditionally eaten by hand, so portions are hard to judge. Rich lamb, ghee and rice make a plate a complete, energy-dense meal. Because USDA has no jameed record, strained yogurt is used instead.
| Serving | Grams | Calories (kcal) | Protein (g) | Carbs (g) | Fat (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 plate | 557 | 985 | 52 | 81 | 48 |
| 100 g | 100 | 177 | 9.4 | 14.5 | 8.7 |
What changes the calories in Mansaf?
- Lamb: fattier pieces raise the calories.
- Ghee: poured over rice and nuts.
- Rice and bread: the portion drives the total.
How to enjoy Mansaf a little lighter
- Take less rice and lean pieces of lamb.
- Go easy on the ghee.
How were these values calculated?
No official record matches this dish directly, so the values come from a recipe calculation: the nutrients of each ingredient were taken from USDA FoodData Central, added up and divided by the cooked weight. Raw total 2885 g, cooked weight 2785 g.
Five plates: lamb shoulder (USDA braised values) in a yogurt sauce over rice and thin bread, with ghee and toasted nuts. USDA has no jameed (dried yogurt) record, so strained whole-milk yogurt is used.
| Ingredient | Grams | Calories (kcal) | Protein (g) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| braised lamb shoulder (lean and fat) | 600 | 2064 | 172.1 | USDA FDC 172497 |
| strained yogurt (whole milk) | 500 | 485 | 45 | USDA FDC 171304 |
| water | 1200 | under 5 | 0 | USDA FDC 173647 |
| white rice (raw) | 400 | 1460 | 28.5 | USDA FDC 168877 |
| ghee | 40 | 360 | 0 | USDA FDC 171314 |
| pita bread | 100 | 275 | 9.1 | USDA FDC 174915 |
| almonds | 30 | 174 | 6.3 | USDA FDC 170567 |
| pine nuts | 15 | 101 | 2.1 | USDA FDC 170591 |
Spices (under 5 g in total per recipe) are not counted.
Serving weights:
- 1 plate: one of 5 equal portions of the recipe
Calories per 100 g are rounded to a whole number and macros to one decimal; serving calories to the nearest 5 and protein to a whole gram.
Can you count the calories in Mansaf from a photo?
Yes: in QuickCalo, snap a photo of your plate or type what you ate, and get the calories and protein in seconds.
Frequently asked questions
How much does one plate of mansaf weigh?
On this page, one plate of mansaf is taken as about 557 g (one of 5 equal portions of the recipe). The real weight depends on the recipe, the size and how it is served.
How much protein is in mansaf?
One plate of mansaf has about 52 g of protein; 100 g has 9.4 g.
What is jameed?
Jameed is strained, salted yogurt dried into hard balls and dissolved in water to make the mansaf sauce.
Similar foods
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central — SR Legacy (2018) and FNDDS 2021–2023 datasets; accessed 16 October 2026
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