How Many Calories in Beef?

A beef steak's nutritional content depends on the cut, with certain cuts containing more calories and fat per serving. To indulge a craving for beef without blowing your day's calorie or fat budget, learn what cuts are both lean and delicious and remember to control your portion sizes.

How Many Calories Does a Beef Steak Have?

Whatever the cut, a serving size of beef steak is 3 oz. A portion of steak should be about the size of a bar of soap or a deck of cards. Rather than eating a whole steak, stick to the recommended 3-oz. portion and fill the rest of the plate with a green salad or other healthy side.

Top round, eye round and flank steaks have some of the lowest calorie counts per serving. A broiled top round cutlet has 160 calories per 3-oz. serving, only 50 of these calories from fat. An eye round steak that's been broiled has 170 calories per serving, 60 of them from fat. And a 3-oz. portion of flank steak has 180 calories, 80 from fat.

Boneless broiled prime strip steak has 210 calories per 3-oz. portion, 110 of them from fat. Boneless broiled top sirloin steak has the same calorie content per serving and portion of calories from fat. A roasted or broiled chuck roast, meanwhile, has 220 calories per serving, 150 of them from fat.

A 3-oz. piece of broiled tenderloin steak has 240 calories, 150 of them from fat. A broiled Porterhouse or T-bone steak contains 250 calories in a 3-oz. serving, 160 of them from fat. If your calorie or fat budgets are tight, these would not be the steaks to choose.

The government dictates how beef steaks are labeled. Steaks labeled "extra lean" have about half the total and saturated fat content of meats labeled "lean."

How Many Calories Are in Dried Chipped Beef?

Cooks have kept dried beef on hand for decades as a staple to use for all kinds of dishes, including the classic creamed chipped beef served over toast.

One serving of dried beef is 10 slices and weighs 28 g. Every 10-slice serving of dried beef has 43 calories and 0.5 g of fat, about half of which is saturated fat.

Dried beef is a good source of protein, with about 9 g in every serving, but it provides no dietary fiber. It has about 780 mg of sodium per 10 slices -- about half of the American Heart Association's recommendation of 1,500 mg of sodium per person per day.

Use dried chipped beef in a cream sauce over toast, biscuits, waffles or hash browns; incorporate it into omelets and sandwiches; or eat it straight out of the bag.

How Many Calories are in Beef Gravy?

Considering its reputation, gravy may not actually be as unhealthy as you might assume, but it's still a significant source of calories, saturated fat and sodium.

Topping your mashed potatoes with 1/2 cup of beef gravy adds 62 calories, 5.6 g of carbohydrate, 4.37 g of protein, 2.75 g of fat, 1.34 g of saturated fat, 0.5 g of fiber, 652 mg of sodium and 3 mg of cholesterol. About 40 percent of gravy's calories come from fat, 32 percent from carbohydrate and 28 percent from protein.

A 1/2-cup serving of beef gravy provides 10.6 percent of the daily dietary reference intake, or DRI, of zinc. It also has 5 percent of the DRIs of phosphorus and vitamin B-12, 4.8 percent of the DRI of niacin, 4.6 percent of the DRI of iron, 3.2 percent of the DRI of riboflavin, 3.1 percent of the DRI of thiamin and trace amounts of other vitamins and minerals.

A 1/2-cup serving of beef gravy contains 28 percent of the sodium and 9 percent of the saturated fat a healthy adult should eat daily.