Calories in a 250g, 500g and 1kg Pack of Cashews: How Long Does a Pack Last?

Most nutrition figures for cashews are given per 100g or per 28g handful, which is not how people buy them. You buy a 250g, 500g or 1kg pack, so it helps to know what is inside the whole pack. This post scales the usual figures up to our pack sizes, so you can plan how long a pack will last and what it adds up to. All the figures are approximate, and are for plain cashews.

Per 100g, cashews contain about 553 calories, 18g of protein, 44g of fat, 30g of carbohydrate and 3.3g of fibre, the same values we use in our comparison of cashews with other nuts. A standard 28g handful, about 18 cashews, gives roughly 155 calories, as we explain in nutrition per 10g, 28g and 100g. The Global Cashew Council quotes slightly different figures, about 160 calories for 28g, so treat all of these as a guide.

A 250g pack contains about 1,380 calories, 45g of protein, 110g of fat, 75g of carbohydrate and 8g of fibre. That is about nine 28g portions. If you eat one handful a day, the pack lasts a little over a week. Our 250g packs are the right size for trying a new flavour or for one person's snacking.

A 500g pack contains about 2,765 calories, 90g of protein, 220g of fat, 150g of carbohydrate and 16g of fibre. That is about 18 portions. One handful a day lasts a little over two and a half weeks, or about nine days if two people share it. It is a good middle size for a household that snacks or cooks with cashews regularly.

A 1kg pack contains about 5,530 calories, 180g of protein, 440g of fat, 300g of carbohydrate and 33g of fibre. That is about 35 portions. One handful a day lasts a little over a month for one person, or about two weeks if it is shared by a couple. If you cook with cashews, a kilo can disappear into curries, rice and sweets far faster than a single snacker would eat it, so a 1kg pack is a good choice for a busy kitchen.

Eating a whole 250g pack in one sitting adds up to about 1,380 calories, which is a large share of a day's energy for most adults. That is not a reason to avoid cashews, only a reason to portion them out. Pour a handful into a small bowl and put the pack away, as we suggest in how many cashews to eat a day and in our post on cashews and weight.

These numbers are for plain cashews. Roasting changes the flavour more than the nutrition, as we explain in raw vs roasted cashews. Cashews roasted in oil carry a few more calories, and salted, sugar-coated or heavily seasoned cashews add sodium or sugar. Our Oven Roasted Cashew is roasted with no added oil. Cashew Powder is ground cashew, so the figures per gram are similar, though it is used in small spoonfuls in cooking.

In cooking, cashews are shared between several people, so the calories per serving are much lower. A kaju curry for four uses 200g of cashews, so each person gets about 50g, in a dish with rice and dhal, as in our kaju curry recipe. A batch of aluwa made from 250g of cashew powder is cut into many small pieces, as in our cashew aluwa recipe.

Pick the pack that matches how fast you will use it. Cashews taste best fresh, and an open pack loses its crunch in the humid air, so it is better to buy a size you will finish than to store a large pack for months, unless you keep it sealed, as in how to store roasted cashews. You can see the price of every size on our price guide, and the difference in value in cashew price per 250g and 500g. These figures are general information and not medical or dietary advice.

How many cashews are in a 250g pack? A 28g handful is about 18 cashews, so a 250g pack holds roughly 160 cashews, though the exact count depends on the size of the nuts. See how many cashews are in a kilo for the counts by grade.

Is it all right to eat a lot of cashews in one go? An occasional large portion is not a problem, but cashews are calorie-dense, so it is easy to eat far more than you intend. Measuring out a handful keeps things in check.

Do cashews have fewer calories than the label says? Some research suggests the body may absorb fewer calories from whole cashews than labels show, but it is early research, as we explain in do cashews have fewer calories than the label says?. Use the label as your guide.

Which pack is best for weight-conscious snacking? A smaller pack makes it easier to stick to a portion, because there is less in front of you. A big pack is better value, so portion it into small jars when you open it.