Gulab jamun calories: 1 piece and 100 g
By Shivam Verma Updated 12 sources linked below
One medium gulab jamun of 33 g, drained of extra syrup, has about 94 calories, which works out to 285 calories per 100 g. The piece holds 9 g of added sugar from the syrup it soaked up, about 2.1 teaspoons, and two pieces come to 188 calories and 4.3 teaspoons.
94calories
Protein
2.4 g
Carbs
13.8 g
Fat
3.4 g
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About gulab jamun
Also called gulab jamon and gulabjamun.
Gulab jamun is a ball of milk dough that is fried and then soaked in sugar syrup. Our recipe follows the usual home method: milk powder bound with a little maida, ghee and milk, rolled into balls, fried, then left in warm syrup until each piece has taken some in. In the fryer the dough gives up about 2 g of water and takes up 0.5 g of oil. The syrup then adds 9 g of sugar and 11 g of water, which is why a drained piece weighs 33 g. Of its 94 calories, 37 percent come from the syrup sugar and 45 percent from the milk powder and milk in the dough, so those two carry 82 percent between them. The frying oil is a small part, about 5 percent, and the ghee and maida make up the rest. That split matters for tracking: the size of the piece and the syrup it holds move the number far more than the oil does.
Home vs sweet shop
Three things move the number: how big the piece is, how long it sat in the syrup, and whether syrup comes with it to the plate. A larger sweet shop piece of 49 g is 141 calories. A tablespoon of syrup spooned over a home piece adds 35 calories, all of it sugar.
| Version | Weight | Calories | Added sugar | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home, drainedHeadlineLifted out of the syrup and left to drip. | 33 g | 94 | 9.0 g (2.1 tsp) | 2.4 g |
| With 1 tablespoon of syrup on topThe same piece with syrup spooned over it in the bowl. | 52 g | 129 | 18.0 g (4.3 tsp) | 2.4 g |
| Sweet shop, largeA bigger piece: the home recipe scaled by half again. | 49 g | 141 | 13.5 g (3.2 tsp) | 3.7 g |
How much sugar is in one gulab jamun
One drained gulab jamun carries 9 g of added sugar, about 2.1 teaspoons, and all of it comes from the syrup. Two pieces carry 18 g, which on its own is 72 percent of the World Health Organization's ideal daily figure. With a tablespoon of syrup on top, a single piece reaches 18 g. The milk's own sugar is not counted here, and none of the guidelines below counts it either.
| Guideline | What it says | One gulab jamun, added sugar |
|---|---|---|
| World Health Organization | Free sugars under 10% of daily energy, ideally under 5%, which is about 25 g a day. | 9.0 g, 36% of 25 g |
| NHS (UK) | No more than 30 g of free sugars a day for adults. | 9.0 g, 30% of 30 g |
| American Heart Association | About 6 teaspoons of added sugar a day for women and 9 for men. | 2.1 tsp, against 6 (women) or 9 (men) |
| Heart & Stroke (Canada) | No more than 10% of daily calories from added sugars, ideally under 5%. On a 2,000 calorie day, 10% is about 48 g. | 9.0 g, 19% of 48 g |
| Australian Dietary Guidelines | Limit foods and drinks containing added sugars. No daily number is set. | 9.0 g |
Is gulab jamun healthy?
Gulab jamun is a sweet, and its numbers read like one. A drained piece is fried and then soaked, and 82 percent of its 94 calories come from the syrup sugar and the milk solids. It carries 2.4 g of protein and 3.4 g of fat, so it brings energy and sugar and little else.
The count matters more than the sweet. One piece is 94 calories; three are 281 and four are 375, with 36 g of added sugar, past the NHS daily figure of 30 g of free sugars for adults. A medium jalebi, fried batter soaked in a similar syrup, is 99 calories, so the two land close per piece.
The most useful habit is to drain the piece and leave the syrup in the bowl. That keeps one gulab jamun at 94 calories rather than 129.
If you manage blood sugar, or have been told to watch it, ask your doctor or a registered dietitian how a sweet like this fits into your plan.
With syrup or without
The headline piece is drained: lifted from the syrup and left to drip. With a tablespoon of syrup spooned over it, the same piece weighs 52 g and comes to 129 calories, and its added sugar goes from 9 g to 18 g, or 4.3 teaspoons. The syrup on top adds 35 calories and nothing but sugar and water.
How much a piece holds varies a great deal between kitchens. A 2021 study of six market brands of gulab jamun measured fat at 6.47 to 12.32 percent of the piece and absorbed sugar at 12.24 to 37.65 percent, with pieces weighing from 24.21 to 44.4 g.[7]
Our drained piece sits inside all three ranges: fat is 10.3 percent of its weight, absorbed sugar is 27.4 percent, and it weighs 33 g. A piece of the same weight at the bottom of the study's sugar range would hold about 4 g of sugar, and one at the top about 12.4 g. That spread is why a weighed piece beats a guess, and why we give the number for one stated recipe rather than a range nobody can log.
Size is the other lever. At 285 calories per 100 g, every 10 g of gulab jamun is about 29 calories, so a piece of our recipe at the study's lightest weight would be about 69 calories and one at its heaviest about 127. A kitchen scale settles it in seconds: weigh one piece, scale our per 100 g figure to it, and you have a number for the piece in front of you rather than for ours.
Draining cannot take out the sugar already inside the ball. The 9 g the dough soaked up stays in every version on this page; only the syrup on the surface and in the bowl is optional.
Two servings, compared
| Sweet | Two servings | Calories | Added sugar | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulab jamun | 66 g | 188 | 18.0 g (4.3 tsp) | 4.9 g |
| Rasmalai | 160 g | 292 | 22.0 g (5.2 tsp) | 12.0 g |
| Kaju katli | 20 g | 98 | 8.2 g (1.9 tsp) | 2.1 g |
| Jalebi | 60 g | 198 | 19.2 g (4.6 tsp) | 1.6 g |
Common questions
How many calories are in 1 piece of gulab jamun?
About 94 calories for a medium piece of 33 g, drained of extra syrup. With a tablespoon of syrup on top it is 129, and a large sweet shop piece of 49 g is 141.
Is gulab jamun fried?
Yes. The balls of milk dough are fried in oil or ghee until golden brown, and only then go into the syrup. Frying adds less than you might think: in our recipe the dough takes up about 0.5 g of oil, around 5 percent of the piece's calories. The syrup sugar and the milk solids carry most of the rest.
How many gulab jamuns can I eat in a day?
There is no fixed number, because it depends on everything else you eat that day. Sugar is the clearest limit. The NHS suggests no more than 30 g of free sugars a day for adults, and each drained piece holds 9 g, so 3 pieces come to 27 g before anything else sweet.
Which is healthier, gulab jamun or rasgulla?
We have not computed rasgulla yet, so we cannot set numbers side by side. The difference is in the method: gulab jamun is a milk dough that is fried and then soaked, while rasgulla is chhena cooked in syrup with no frying. Rasmalai starts from the same chhena: one piece with its milk is 146 calories with 6 g of protein, against 94 and 2.4 g for a gulab jamun.
How many calories are in one gulab jamun without syrup?
Our headline is already without extra syrup: a drained piece of 33 g is 94 calories. That still counts the 9 g of sugar soaked into the ball, which draining does not remove. What draining saves is the syrup on top, 35 calories a tablespoon.
Which Indian sweet has the highest calories?
Of the sweets we have published so far, rasmalai is the highest per piece at 146 calories, and kaju katli is the highest per 100 g at 492. We only rank sweets we have built from a recipe, and the list grows as we add more.
How many calories are in gulab jamun per 100 g?
About 285 calories for drained gulab jamun, with 7.4 g of protein, 10.3 g of fat and 27.4 g of added sugar. Use it when you weigh a piece: a 49 g sweet shop piece, for example, comes to 141.
How many calories are in 2 gulab jamun?
About 188 calories for two drained medium pieces, with 18 g of added sugar, or 4.3 teaspoons. With a tablespoon of syrup on each, two come to 257.
How we calculated this
Every number on this page is for 1 medium piece (33 g), worked out from the recipe below. A version with its own weight in the table above is worked out at that weight.
- Milk powder (dough)8 g
- Maida (dough)2 g
- Ghee (dough)0.6 g
- Whole milk (dough)3.8 g
- Water lost in frying2 g lost
- Oil absorbed in frying0.5 g
- Sugar absorbed from the syrup9 g
- Water absorbed from the syrup11 g
One medium piece as eaten, lifted out of the syrup and drained. The water the dough loses in the fryer is subtracted and the syrup it soaks up is counted, so the lines add up to the finished 33 g.
Ingredient values from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy). The oil and syrup a piece absorbs are our estimates for a home piece, checked against the ranges measured in six market brands.
Confidence: medium
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central 170876: Milk, dry, whole, with added vitamin D
- USDA FoodData Central 168894: Wheat flour, white, all-purpose, enriched, bleached
- USDA FoodData Central 173412: Butter oil, anhydrous
- USDA FoodData Central 171265: Milk, whole, 3.25% milkfat, with added vitamin D
- USDA FoodData Central 171411: Oil, soybean, salad or cooking
- USDA FoodData Central 169655: Sugars, granulated
- Sukre VN, Barnwal P, Chavhan BB, Deep A, Bhagat PN. Evaluation of selected physico-chemical, colour and textural characteristics of market Gulabjamun. Indian J Dairy Sci, 2021;74(6).
- World Health Organization. WHO calls on countries to reduce sugars intake among adults and children, 2015.
- NHS. Sugar: the facts.
- American Heart Association. Added sugars.
- Heart & Stroke. Reduce sugar.
- National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian Dietary Guidelines 1 to 5.
These figures are estimates from stated recipes, for general information. They are not medical or dietary advice. If you manage a health condition, check with a registered dietitian or your doctor.
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