This post contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you.
This is the reference post I send people when they ask “okay but what is actually in tallow.” I pulled the numbers from USDA FoodData Central, cross-checked them against a couple of peer-reviewed compositional studies, and assembled the tables below so I would stop having to look this up every time someone asked.
If you want the bigger-picture conversation on whether tallow is good for you, that lives in the is tallow healthy science post. This post is the numbers.
Quick Facts
Per tablespoon (about 12.8 grams) of beef tallow:
- 115 calories
- 12.8 g total fat
- 5.0 g saturated fat
- 5.4 g monounsaturated fat
- 0.5 g polyunsaturated fat
- 0 g carbohydrates
- 0 g protein
- 14 mg cholesterol
- 0 mg sodium
Per cup (205 grams):
- 1849 calories
- 205 g total fat
- 80 g saturated fat
- 87 g monounsaturated fat
- 8 g polyunsaturated fat
- 0 g carbohydrates
- 0 g protein
- 224 mg cholesterol
Source: USDA FoodData Central, beef tallow entry. Numbers rounded slightly for readability.
Total Calorie and Macro Breakdown
Beef tallow is a pure fat. There is no protein and no carbohydrate. The calorie load comes entirely from the 9 calories per gram that all dietary fat delivers.
| Measure | Calories | Total fat | Saturated | Monounsat | Polyunsat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon (4.3 g) | 38 | 4.3 g | 1.7 g | 1.8 g | 0.2 g |
| 1 tablespoon (12.8 g) | 115 | 12.8 g | 5.0 g | 5.4 g | 0.5 g |
| 2 tablespoons (25.6 g) | 230 | 25.6 g | 10.0 g | 10.8 g | 1.0 g |
| 1/4 cup (51 g) | 460 | 51 g | 20 g | 22 g | 2 g |
| 1/2 cup (102 g) | 920 | 102 g | 40 g | 43 g | 4 g |
| 1 cup (205 g) | 1849 | 205 g | 80 g | 87 g | 8 g |
That tablespoon at 115 calories is the most useful number to memorize. It is what you would use to pan sear an egg or coat a tray of roasted potatoes. Two tablespoons covers a small pan fry. A quarter cup is what you would melt down for a tray of fried chicken in a Dutch oven.
For more on tracking these numbers in a daily routine, the keto tallow guide and the carnivore diet guide cover practical portioning.
Complete Fatty Acid Profile
This is where the chemistry gets interesting. The fatty acid breakdown determines flavor, cooking behavior, and biological effect. Numbers are approximate percentages of total fat content based on USDA data and the Wood et al. compositional study of beef adipose tissue.
| Fatty acid | Type | Approx % of total fat |
|---|---|---|
| Palmitic acid (C16:0) | Saturated | 26% |
| Stearic acid (C18:0) | Saturated | 14% |
| Myristic acid (C14:0) | Saturated | 3% |
| Lauric acid (C12:0) | Saturated | <1% |
| Oleic acid (C18:1 n-9) | Monounsaturated | 36% |
| Palmitoleic acid (C16:1) | Monounsaturated | 3% |
| Vaccenic acid (C18:1 trans-11) | Monounsaturated (natural trans) | 2% |
| Linoleic acid (C18:2 n-6) | Polyunsaturated omega-6 | 3% |
| Alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3 n-3) | Polyunsaturated omega-3 | <1% |
| Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) | Polyunsaturated | 0.4 to 1.5% (varies with diet) |
A few things to notice:
Palmitic acid is the largest single fatty acid in tallow at 26%. Palmitic is the most studied saturated fat, the one most associated with LDL response in feeding studies, and the one that gets cited when people argue about saturated fat. It is present in tallow but it is not the majority of the fat.
Stearic acid sits at 14%. Stearic acid is the saturated fat that behaves differently from other saturated fats in metabolic studies. It does not raise LDL when substituted for other saturated fats or for unsaturated fats. The body partially converts it to oleic acid. Tallow’s relatively high stearic content is part of why it does not behave the way a naive saturated fat model would predict.
Oleic acid is the largest single fatty acid overall at 36%. This is the same monounsaturated fat that olive oil is famous for. Tallow is, by composition, closer to olive oil than most people realize.
Polyunsaturated content is low at around 4%. This is what makes tallow heat-stable. Polyunsaturated fats oxidize easily under high heat. A fat with only 4% polyunsaturated content has very little oxidative degradation at frying temperatures, which is part of why tallow can be reused for multiple fry sessions without breaking down.
Vaccenic acid is a natural trans fat from ruminant digestion. This is not the industrial trans fat that hydrogenation produces. Vaccenic acid is the precursor to CLA in the body and has not shown the cardiovascular harm associated with artificial trans fats. The 2008 European Journal of Nutrition review by Gebauer and colleagues covers the distinction.
Why Grass-Fed Numbers Differ
The fatty acid profile of tallow shifts based on what the cattle ate.
Grass-fed beef fat tends to have:
- Higher CLA content (often 1.5% versus 0.4% in grain-fed)
- More alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3), often 2 to 3 times more
- A better omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, typically around 2:1 versus 5:1 or higher in feedlot beef
- More vaccenic acid, which becomes CLA in the body
- Slightly more vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
- Significantly more vitamin K2 (MK-4)
- Higher beta-carotene content, which is what gives grass-fed tallow its slightly yellower color
These differences are real but moderate. The total saturated fat content stays similar. The total monounsaturated fat content stays similar. The big shifts happen in the minor components, which is exactly where the micronutrient and inflammatory signaling effects live.
For more on what those color differences tell you about quality, see the tallow color guide.
Vitamin Content
Beef tallow is one of the more concentrated dietary sources of preformed fat-soluble vitamins, especially when sourced from pastured animals. The exact numbers depend on the source, but representative ranges per 100 g of grass-fed tallow:
| Vitamin | Approximate amount per 100 g |
|---|---|
| Vitamin A (retinol) | 600 to 900 mcg |
| Vitamin D3 | 0.5 to 1.5 mcg |
| Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) | 2 to 4 mg |
| Vitamin K2 (MK-4) | 5 to 15 mcg |
Vitamin A in tallow is preformed retinol, which the body uses directly. This is different from the beta-carotene in plant foods, which has to be converted to retinol with significant interindividual variation in conversion efficiency. Preformed retinol from animal sources is the form the body actually uses.
Vitamin K2 is the unsung component. Most modern diets are low in K2 because the conversion from K1 (from leafy greens) to K2 is inefficient in most people. Animal fats from pastured animals are among the few reliable dietary sources of preformed K2. The Rotterdam Study from 2004 linked higher K2 intake to lower cardiovascular calcification.
Feedlot tallow has significantly less of all four fat-soluble vitamins. The grass-fed premium is partly buying micronutrient content.
For the actual brands that deliver grass-fed quality at a reasonable price, the 100% Pure Grass-Fed Beef Tallow is the four-pound option I cook with most weeks. The Traverse Bay Farms tallow is a good budget pick for higher-volume cooking. For brand-level testing see the best beef tallow on Amazon guide.
Choline
Tallow contains minimal choline. The choline in beef is concentrated in the muscle tissue, not the fat. A tablespoon of tallow delivers under 1 mg of choline.
This matters because choline is essential and most Americans are deficient. The adequate intake for adults is 425 to 550 mg per day. If you are cooking everything in tallow and skipping eggs, liver, and other choline-rich foods, you can run a daily deficit without noticing.
The fix is straightforward: eat eggs. Two large eggs deliver about 300 mg of choline. A serving of beef liver delivers more than 400 mg. Tallow is not a choline source. It does not have to be.
Cholesterol
Per tablespoon, tallow contains 14 mg of dietary cholesterol. Per cup, 224 mg.
Dietary cholesterol was treated as a cardiovascular concern for decades. The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans dropped the long-standing 300 mg daily limit because the research did not support it. For most people, dietary cholesterol has a small to negligible effect on serum cholesterol levels. The body produces about 1000 mg of cholesterol per day on its own and adjusts production based on intake.
A small population of people are “hyper-responders” who do see meaningful serum cholesterol changes from dietary cholesterol. If you know you are in that group from past blood work, that informs your tallow intake decisions.
For the broader cardiovascular conversation, see the is tallow healthy science post.
Trace Minerals
Tallow contains trace amounts of selenium, zinc, and iron from residual protein not fully removed during rendering. The amounts are negligible (under 1% of daily values) and not a meaningful dietary contribution. If you are reading the label of a tallow product and seeing meaningful mineral content claimed, the rendering was incomplete and there is more residual protein than there should be.
A clean tallow render is mostly pure fat with vitamins and the fatty acids listed above. The minor mineral content is real but not nutritionally relevant.
What Tallow Does Not Contain
For the sake of completeness, tallow contains zero of the following:
- Carbohydrates
- Protein
- Fiber
- Lactose (despite being an animal product)
- Gluten
- Sodium (in pure form, before added salt)
- Sugar
- Trans fats from hydrogenation (the natural vaccenic acid is a different molecule)
This makes tallow compatible with almost every restrictive eating pattern: keto, carnivore, paleo, Whole30, low FODMAP, gluten-free, dairy-free, low sodium. The only diet it is incompatible with is vegetarian or vegan.
How Tallow Stacks Up Against Other Cooking Fats
Quick comparison per tablespoon:
| Fat | Calories | Total fat | Saturated | Monounsat | Polyunsat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beef tallow | 115 | 12.8 g | 5.0 g | 5.4 g | 0.5 g |
| Pork lard | 115 | 12.8 g | 5.0 g | 5.8 g | 1.4 g |
| Butter | 102 | 11.5 g | 7.3 g | 3.0 g | 0.4 g |
| Olive oil | 119 | 13.5 g | 1.9 g | 9.9 g | 1.4 g |
| Avocado oil | 124 | 14.0 g | 1.6 g | 9.9 g | 1.9 g |
| Coconut oil | 121 | 13.5 g | 11.2 g | 0.8 g | 0.3 g |
| Ghee | 123 | 13.6 g | 8.0 g | 3.0 g | 0.4 g |
A few takeaways. Tallow and lard are nearly identical in calories and total fat but differ in polyunsaturated content (lard has nearly three times more, which affects heat stability and baking behavior). Butter is denser in saturated fat per tablespoon. Coconut oil is the most saturated by a wide margin. Olive oil and avocado oil are the most monounsaturated, with very little saturated fat.
For deeper comparisons by application, the existing posts on tallow vs butter, tallow vs ghee, tallow vs coconut oil, and tallow vs lard each go into the cooking-side differences.
Daily Intake Context
A tablespoon of tallow is 115 calories. If you sear two eggs in the morning in a teaspoon of tallow, roast a vegetable tray at dinner with a tablespoon, and use a half teaspoon to oil your cast iron after cleaning, you are using roughly two tablespoons a day, or 230 calories.
In the context of a 2000 to 2500 calorie diet, that is around 10% of daily calories. The Mediterranean diet pattern, which most cardiology guidelines still consider gold-standard, runs around 30 to 35% of calories from fat. Two tablespoons of tallow plus normal protein intake plus normal incidental food fats puts most people well within that range.
If you are deep frying with tallow several times a week, your intake can climb fast. A serving of fries cooked in tallow absorbs roughly a tablespoon of fat per medium portion. Reuse helps reduce the per-serving calorie load. The full mathematics of tallow french fries is in the dedicated guide.
Storage Effect on Nutrition
Properly stored tallow retains its nutritional profile for months at room temperature and over a year refrigerated. The fat-soluble vitamins degrade slowly with light, heat, and air exposure. A jar of tallow stored in a cool, dark cabinet keeps most of its vitamin content for at least 6 months.
Rancid tallow loses much of its micronutrient value and develops oxidation products you do not want. The tallow storage guide covers what to watch for. The spoilage post covers how to tell if your jar has gone off.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many calories are in a tablespoon of beef tallow?
115 calories per tablespoon, based on USDA FoodData Central. This number is essentially identical to other rendered animal fats like lard and slightly higher than butter (which contains some water and milk solids that reduce its fat density per tablespoon).
Does beef tallow have protein or carbs?
No. Pure rendered tallow contains zero protein and zero carbohydrates. The entire calorie content comes from fat. If a label shows protein or carbs in a tallow product, the render was incomplete.
How much saturated fat is in beef tallow?
Roughly 50% of the total fat content is saturated, which works out to about 5 g per tablespoon. Inside that, palmitic acid is the largest component at 26% of total fat, followed by stearic acid at 14%.
Is grass-fed tallow nutritionally different from grain-fed?
Yes, in measurable but moderate ways. Grass-fed tallow has 2 to 5 times more CLA, 2 to 3 times more omega-3, a better omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, and significantly more vitamin K2 and beta-carotene. Total saturated and monounsaturated fat content is roughly the same.
Does beef tallow contain cholesterol?
Yes, about 14 mg per tablespoon. The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans removed the long-standing daily limit on dietary cholesterol because the research did not support a strong connection to serum cholesterol in most people.
What vitamins are in beef tallow?
Vitamins A (as retinol), D3, E, and K2 (MK-4) are all present in measurable amounts in grass-fed tallow. Feedlot tallow contains much less of all four. Tallow is one of the more concentrated dietary sources of preformed K2.
Bottom Line
Per tablespoon, beef tallow is 115 calories, 12.8 g of fat, and zero carbs or protein. The fat is roughly 50% saturated (mostly palmitic and stearic), 42% monounsaturated (mostly oleic, the same fat as olive oil), and 4% polyunsaturated. Grass-fed tallow like 100% Pure Grass-Fed Beef Tallow carries measurable CLA, K2, and fat-soluble vitamins that feedlot tallow largely lacks. For the broader question of whether those numbers add up to something healthy, the is tallow healthy science post is where I get into the actual literature.