Nutrition for Cocoa Powder

Calories, Protein, Vitamins and More


image of cocoa powder source

Cocoa Powder Nutrition Summary

One cup of cocoa powder (86.4 grams or 3.05 oz) contains 197 calories and 16.9 grams of protein. Cocoa powder consist of 3% water, 58% carbohydrates, 20% protein, and 14% fat.

Cocoa powder is an excellent source of many nutrients, including carbohydrates, dietary fiber, protein, calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium. It also contains significant amounts of copper, zinc, manganese, phosphorus and selenium.

In one cup of cocoa powder:

  • Calories: 197
  • Protein: 16.9 g
  • Sugar: 1.5 g
  • Dietary fiber: 32 g
  • Fat: 11.8 g, (Saturated: 7 g)
  • Sodium: 18.1 mg
There is no significant amounts of cholesterol in cocoa powder.

See the Cocoa Powder Nutrition Chart for complete recommended daily values.
The specific nutritional values from USDA is for: Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened.

Calories in Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder has 197 calories per cup or 228 calories for every 100 grams. Most of its calories are from carbohydrates, fat and protein.

54% of calories in cocoa powder are from carbohydrates, 28% of calories are from fat and 18% of calories are from protein.

Calories from Carbs

The majority, or 54% of the calories in cocoa powder are from carbohydrates. The carbs in cocoa powder are mostly in the form of dietary fiber and sugar (96% and 4%). An excellent high-fiber food, a single cup of cocoa powder contains 128% of recommended daily values or 32 grams of dietary fiber.

  • Dietary fiber: 32 g
  • Sugar: 1.5 g
There is no significant amounts of starch in cocoa powder.

Calories from Fat

A substantial amount, or 28% of the calories in Cocoa Powder are from fat. Cocoa powder has a moderate amount of total fat, with 11.8 grams or 18% of recommended daily values per cup. Most of the fat in cocoa powder are saturated and it contains a high amount of saturated fat, about 40% of recommended daily values.

Cocoa powder is cholesterol free and trans-fat free.

  • Total fat: 11.8 g
  • Saturated fat: 7 g
  • Monounsaturated fat: 3.9 g
  • Polyunsaturated fat: 0.4 g
There is no significant amounts of cholesterol or trans fat in cocoa powder.

Omega-6 in Cocoa Powder

A source of omega-6 fatty acids, every cup of cocoa powder contains a total of 0.4 grams of omega-6. In addition, a large portion of the omega-6 in cocoa powder comes from linolenic acid - the only essential omega-6 fatty acid. [2]

  • linoleic acid: 0.38 g

Calories Similar to Cocoa Powder

Some other sweets or candy with similar calories to cocoa powder by weight:


Protein in Cocoa Powder

An excellent source of protein, a single cup of Cocoa Powder contains 34% of recommended daily values or 16.9 grams of protein. In addition, cocoa powder is also a source of complete protein, meaning it abundantly contains all 9 essential amino acids.

  • Protein: 16.93 g
  • Tryptophan: 0.25 g
  • Threonine: 0.67 g
  • Isoleucine: 0.66 g
  • Leucine: 1.03 g
  • Lysine: 0.85 g
  • Methionine: 0.17 g
  • Phenylalanine: 0.81 g
  • Valine: 1.02 g
  • Histidine: 0.29 g

Protein Similar to Cocoa Powder

Some other sweets or candy with similar amounts of protein to cocoa powder by weight:

Vitamins and Minerals in Cocoa Powder

An good source of many nutrients, cocoa powder contains abundant amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium. In fact, a single cup of cocoa powder contains 139% of recommended daily values or 431.1 milligrams of magnesium. Also an excellent source of iron, a single cup of cocoa powder contains 67% of recommended daily values or 12 milligrams of iron.

Vitamins in cocoa powder (1 cup):
  • Thiamin: 0.1 mg
  • Riboflavin: 0.2 mg
  • Niacin: 1.9 mg
  • Vitamin b6: 0.1 mg
  • Vitamin e: 0.1 mg
  • Folate: 27.6 ug
  • Vitamin k: 2.2 ug
Minerals in cocoa powder (1 cup):
  • Calcium: 110.6 mg
  • Potassium: 1316.7 mg
  • Iron: 12 mg
  • Magnesium: 431.1 mg
  • Zinc: 5.9 mg
  • Selenium: 12.4 ug
  • Phosphorus: 634.2 mg
  • Copper: 3.3 mg
  • Manganese: 3.3 mg
  • Choline: 10.4 mg
There is no significant amounts of vitamin a, pantothenic acid, vitamin c or vitamin b12 in cocoa powder.

Similar to Cocoa Powder for Magnesium

Here are some other sweets or candy with similarly abundant amounts of magnesium to cocoa powder:

Flavonoids and Carotenoids in Cocoa Powder [3]

Cocoa powder contains a couple of healthy phytonutrients and antioxidants, specifically carotenoid lutein + zeaxanthin and flavonoid quercetin. In one cup of cocoa powder:

  • lutein + zeaxanthin: 33 ug
  • Quercetin: 8.64 mg

Cocoa Powder Nutrition Chart

Cocoa Powder:

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Nutrition calculations are from Harvard Medical's nutrient guidelines [1] and USDA's food central database (2019) [2].
We calculated values from 2000 kCal daily recommended diet.

Cocoa Powder in Cooking

Cocoa powder is in the top 10% of most popular ingredients for recipes. Most recipes call for one or two cups of cocoa powder.

Friends and Relatives of Cocoa Powder

Foods commonly cooked with cocoa powder: Other similar relatives:


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