Cashew nutrition per 100 g reads like this: about 583 kcal, 18.8 g protein and 45.2 g fat by the country’s official food tables, making kaju one of the most energy-dense staples in the Indian kitchen. One 28 g serving, a small handful, works out to roughly 157 kcal and 5.2 g protein. That is the answer in two numbers; the table below simply unpacks them.
Both the Indian table, IFCT 2017 from the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, and the American USDA food database list cashews, and they do not match perfectly: 583 kcal against 553 kcal. Neither is wrong. Food-composition figures vary with the edition, the analytical basis and the batch, so the honest way to read kaju nutrition is to use one table consistently and treat our pouch label as the pack-level number.
One caution before the figures. These are composition facts, not health promises. Dietitians frame nuts as part of a balanced diet, and with a food this energy-dense the useful question is always “how much”, not “healthy or not”.
Cashew nutrition per 100 g: the full table
All values are per 100 g of kernels, edible portion. IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN) and USDA FoodData Central are independent references; the last column is what our label declares as typical values.
| IFCT 2017 | USDA | Our label (typical) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 583 kcal | 553 kcal | 596 kcal |
| Protein | 18.8 g | 18.22 g | 21.2 g |
| Total fat | 45.2 g | 43.85 g | 46.9 g |
| — Saturated | 7.82 g | 7.78 g | — |
| — Monounsaturated | 27.91 g | 23.80 g | — |
| — Polyunsaturated | 7.48 g | 7.85 g | — |
| Carbohydrate | 25.5 g (available) | 30.19 g | 22.3 g |
| Fibre | 3.9 g | 3.3 g | — |
| Calcium | 34 mg | 37 mg | — |
| Iron | 5.95 mg | 6.68 mg | — |
| Magnesium | 307 mg | 292 mg | — |
| Phosphorus | 500 mg | 593 mg | — |
| Potassium | 635 mg | 660 mg | — |
| Sodium | 9 mg | 12 mg | 5 mg |
| Zinc | 5.34 mg | 5.78 mg | — |
| Copper | 2.23 mg | 2.20 mg | — |
| Thiamine | 0.61 mg | 0.42 mg | — |
| Folate | 25 µg | 25 µg | — |
| Cholesterol | 0 | 0 | — |
A note on the carbohydrate row. IFCT reports available carbohydrate, 25.5 g, with fibre counted separately at 3.9 g. USDA reports total carbohydrate, 30.19 g, which includes 5.91 g of sugars. Our label’s 22.3 g is a typical declared figure; a full laboratory panel will follow in the label’s own time.
What a 28 g serving of kaju gives you
Scale the USDA table down and one 28 g serving holds about 157 kcal, 5.2 g protein, 12.4 g fat and 8.5 g carbohydrate.
| One serving, 28 g | Rough value (from USDA) |
|---|---|
| Energy | ~157 kcal |
| Protein | ~5.2 g |
| Total fat | ~12.4 g (saturated ~2.2 g) |
| Carbohydrate | ~8.5 g (sugars ~1.7 g) |
| Sodium | ~3.4 mg |
The kernel count in a serving changes with the grade, because a lower W number means fewer, bigger kernels in the same weight, but the nutrition per gram is the same either way. Grades describe size, not quality.
Portion-wise, the practical habit is simple: pour a serving into a katori, zip the pouch back up. At the time of writing, a 100 g pouch of our W320 is Rs 139, so one 28 g serving costs a little under Rs 40. The same maths is why W240 suits a household that keeps a snack bowl going: the grade looks right in a serving dish and the per-serving cost stays modest.
The fat in kaju: mostly unsaturated, zero cholesterol
Close to half the kernel’s weight is oil, 44 to 45 g per 100 g, and only about 7.8 g of that is saturated. The remainder splits between monounsaturated fat, 23.8 g in the USDA table and 27.9 g in IFCT, and polyunsaturated fat, about 7.5 to 7.9 g. Taken together, the unsaturated fats run 31 to 35 g per 100 g against roughly 7.8 g saturated. Cholesterol is 0 mg in both tables, as in every plant food.
What a composition table cannot tell you is what the kernel does to your body, and we will not pretend otherwise. The safe framing, the one dietetic guidance allows, is that cashews fit a balanced diet in sensible portions. Anything bigger than that, written by us or by anyone, would be a claim, not a fact.
Preparation changes the dish’s numbers more than anything else here. Plain kernels stay near the table values; the same kernels shallow-fried for a garnish pick up the fat of the pan, and the label describes the kernel, never the curry.
The minerals cashews are known for
IFCT 2017 ranks cashew among the top plant foods for zinc, magnesium and thiamine, and the numbers back that up. Magnesium sits at 292 to 307 mg per 100 g, zinc at 5.3 to 5.8 mg, copper at 2.2 mg and iron at 5.95 to 6.68 mg, with phosphorus, potassium, folate and a decent thiamine figure alongside.
One honest note. We do not put “rich in magnesium” or similar phrases on our packs. FSSAI regulates nutrition claims, and a pack-level wording of that kind needs our own tested panel to support it. The tables above stand as cited reference information, which is exactly what they should be.
A practical way to hold those numbers: they sit inside the kernel, so they reach the table whether the kaju is a snack, a ground paste or the base of a sweet. That is one of the quiet reasons an Indian kitchen keeps a jar of whole kernels and a bag of splits both.
Why the two tables differ, and what our label says
The 583 versus 553 kcal gap comes from ordinary things: different analytical rounds, different editions, slightly different kernel samples. No table is a product analysis. If you are writing a diet chart, pick one source and stay loyal to it; for Indian plates, IFCT 2017 is worth reaching for first because it analyses Indian foods.
Our label declares energy 596 kcal, protein 21.2 g, carbohydrate 22.3 g, fat 46.9 g and sodium 5 mg per 100 g as typical values, in line with FSSAI labelling requirements. Those numbers sit close to the national tables, so nothing in your portion planning changes between page and pouch.
That is also how to read any kaju label: the per-100 g nutrition panel is what the regulations require, everything else on the front is a claim you can be sceptical of until a tested panel backs it.
Kaju in a day of eating: the portion answer
At 553 to 583 kcal per 100 g, a 30 g handful carries roughly 165 to 175 kcal. One handful between meals is a modest snack; two or three handfuls, grazed from an open pouch through the evening, quietly become a meal. The fix is mechanical rather than willpower: serve into a bowl, portioned, and keep the rest sealed.
Two habits make the serving work harder. Pair a handful with yoghurt, chaas or fruit, which fills the katori faster. And on festival days, when mithai is already on the table and half of it is made with kaju, a smaller evening serving is the easy answer. Very active readers, athletes, growing teenagers: their handfuls can be bigger, and that is fine. Chronic-diet questions, blood sugar, cholesterol, heart conditions, belong with a clinician, not with a shop page, and we would rather say that plainly than pretend the data settles it.
If the comparison in your head is kaju versus badam, the short per-28 g answer is about 5.2 g protein in cashews against about 6 g in almonds, with different kitchen strengths either way: our cashew vs almond write-up works through it.
Grades do not change any of this. The W number counts kernels per pound, so W450 and W180 carry the same nutrition per gram, as our grades explainer sets out; what changes is the look in the bowl and the work the kernel is right for.
Questions people ask
How many calories are in 100 g of cashews?
The Indian food tables (IFCT 2017) put it at 583 kcal, the USDA tables at 553 kcal. Our pouch label declares 596 kcal as a typical value. A 28 g serving works out to roughly 157 kcal.
Is the fat in cashews good or bad?
Cashews carry about 44-45 g of oil per 100 g, of which only around 7.8 g is saturated; the rest is mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, with zero cholesterol. As part of a balanced diet, the portion is what matters.
How much protein is in a 28 g serving of cashews?
About 5.2 g, per USDA portion data. That is a little less than almonds (about 6 g per 28 g) but protein is not the only reason people eat kaju.
Why do cashew nutrition values differ between websites?
Different food tables analyse different editions and batches. IFCT 2017 and USDA differ by about 30 kcal per 100 g; neither is wrong. Pick one table and use it consistently.
How many cashews can I eat in a day?
A 28 g serving, roughly a small handful, is the serving most dietetics writing works from. If you follow a special diet, portion advice should come from your clinician, not a shop.
