How many calories in a bowl of red beans and rice with sausage?

Answer 1

The calorie count of this dish, or any prepared dish, depends on a lot of factors. In this case, there are three main components, all of which can be modified calorically depending on the ingredients used to make each: rice, red beans, sausage. Also, portion size plays an important part in obtaining an accurate count. Was the serving a cereal bowl, a mixing bowl, or somewhere in between? Was the sausage portion a few slices, or half a link's worth? Was there only a 1/2 cup of rice in the bottom of the bowl, or twice that mixed throughout?

If the dish was a mix, or manufactured and frozen product, the calorie count per serving should be on the label if purchased in the U.S. A couple of the most popular brands are listed below:

Zatarain's Red Beans & Rice with Sausage Frozen: 510

Uncle Ben's Red Beans & Rice (no sausage): 200 *

*You would need to add the calorie count of the sausage if you added it to the dish.

If you made it yourself, then you'll need to do a little research and math to get what you need. Basically, you'll need calorie counts for each ingredient put into the dish, including fats and oils you might have used to cook the sausage, or flavor the beans with (like bacon). Seasonings (like garlic powder) have calories, too, but I generally don't count them since the the totals are so small. (If it makes you feel better, add 5 to your total when you're done.) When you have all of the counts for the ingredients, you'll need to estimate as accurately as you can the number of total servings. Say you made 3 quarts of the dish, for example, then you would have 12-1 cup servings (4 cups per quart times 3). Now add up all of the calories from the ingredients and divide by the total number of servings. This is the number of calories per serving. Finally, compare the portion you ate with the serving size used in the calculation. If you ate two servings worth, then you have to count them both.