Calories in harees: per 100 g and per bowl
Harees has about 76 to 97 kcal per 100 g in lab analyses from Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE [1][2][3][4], with about 3 to 6 g of protein. Most of it is water: 78 to 81 g in every 100 g.
For example, a 300 g bowl comes to about 230–290 kcal (calculated). Extra ghee or sugar on top adds to that.
Calories per 100 g
| Harees | kcal | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meat harees, Kuwait (bought from a local market) [1] | 81 | 3.3 g | 2.6 g | 11.1 g |
| Harees, Bahrain [2] | 76 | 5.1 g | 1.5 g | 10.5 g |
| Harees with meat, bulgur and butter, Saudi Arabia (home-made in Riyadh) [3] | 94 | 3.0 g | 4.1 g | 11.4 g |
| Beef harees, UAE (restaurants) [4] | 97 | 5.5 g | 2.4 g | 13.3 g |
| Chicken harees [5] | 83 | 3.3 g | 1.4 g | 14.3 g |
Per 100 g of cooked harees as served. The UAE analysis counts 5.6 g of fibre in its carbohydrate [4]. The chicken harees row is from Bahrain's 2025 tables, which mark it as taken from Oman's food composition table [5].
A bowl of harees
None of these sources gives a standard serving, so weigh your bowl, or use these examples:
| Amount | Harees |
|---|---|
| 200 g | 150–190 kcal |
| 300 g | 230–290 kcal |
| 400 g | 300–390 kcal |
Calculated from the lowest and highest figures per 100 g above [2][4].
What changes the number
- Fat. It varies more than anything else: from 1.4 g per 100 g in the chicken harees [5] to 4.1 g in the Saudi harees made with butter [3].
- What goes on top. The Kuwaiti sample was made with ghee and served with a cinnamon-sugar topping [1]. More ghee or sugar on your bowl adds to the figures above.
- Chicken or meat. It makes little difference here: chicken harees measured 83 kcal per 100 g and meat harees 76 to 97.
How to log it in Voltra
- On the Eat tab, tap Scan a meal and photograph it, or tap Describe and type it, for example "harees with meat, one bowl, with ghee on top".
- Add a note about anything on top or cooked in, such as ghee, sugar or date syrup.
- Check the grams, then tap Log. If you weighed it, use that weight.
Frequently asked
How many calories are in a bowl of harees?
About 230–290 kcal for a 300 g bowl, calculated from lab analyses that put harees at 76 to 97 kcal per 100 g. Ghee or sugar on top adds more.
Is harees high in protein?
Not especially: about 3 to 6 g per 100 g in these analyses, because most of a bowl is water and wheat. A 300 g bowl has about 9 to 17 g (calculated).
Chicken or meat harees: which has fewer calories?
In these analyses there's no real difference: chicken harees measured 83 kcal per 100 g and meat harees 76 to 97. The fat in the recipe matters more than the meat.
Sources
- Eid N, Al-Awadi F, et al. (1989). National Food Composition Table, I: Kuwaiti Composite Dishes (report 3267). Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. Table 3, code M4.
- Musaiger AO (2011). Food Composition Tables for Kingdom of Bahrain. Arab Center for Nutrition. Composite dishes, No. 16.
- Al-Faris NA (2017). Nutritional evaluation of selected traditional foods commonly consumed in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Food and Nutrition Research 5(3):168–175. Tables 2 and 3, No. 5.
- Al Dhaheri AS, Henry CJK, Mohamad MN, et al. (2017). Glycaemic index and glycaemic load values of commonly consumed foods in the United Arab Emirates. British Journal of Nutrition 117(8):1110–1117. Table 3, harees (beef).
- Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Bahrain (2025). Bahrain Food Composition Tables, 1st edition. Item 3.6, marked as from Oman's table.
Sources checked on 30 September 2026. Values are rounded to one decimal place.
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