How many calories are there are in one slice of pizza? Maybe you ate a slice or two and want to track your calories? We’ve ranked 9 popular pizzas from least to highest calories just for you!
How much is one pizza slice (grams and calories)?
Before we dive into the list, let’s clarify a couple of measurement issues. The first issue is defining what a slice of pizza is. A wide slice cut from a big, thick pizza cannot be compared to a tiny slice of small, thin pizza. Therefore, we have settled on a standard 92-gram slice cut from a typical 12-inch pizza. Our standard slice weighs 92g, so that we can compare different pizzas on a weight-for-weight basis.
To get an exact weight estimate for your particular slice instead, use the calcount Food Search Box to find your pizza nutrition facts, and then adjust the weight quantity slider accordingly.
The second issue is that no two pizzas, even when they come from the same standardised restaurant, are ever identical. The pizza bases and toppings are randomly thick and unevenly spread, so depending on how the knife falls, calorie counts will differ even if a perfectly round pizza is cut into exact slices. To get around this problem, we are using scientifically prepared sampled food data from Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Specifically, we are looking at nutrition information for thick-base pizzas sourced from fast-food restaurant chains.
Now that we have our definitions, let’s compare:
1 Seafood Pizza
There are 202 calories in one slice of Seafood Pizza. Perhaps seafood pizza is the least calorific type because seafood has a strong, distinctive flavour so that a little goes a long way. Pizza chefs know that shellfish and anchovies in the topping can easily overpower the more subtle cheese and crust flavours. To avoid this and be more economical, they tend to disperse the ingredients widely. If you enjoy the taste of seafood, choose this! It is probably going to be the pizza with the lowest calorie count on the menu.
2 Vegetable Pizza
One slice of Vegetable Pizza contains 210 calories. The calories are not in the vegetables, they are in the cheese and crust. You may wonder how it is possible that the veggie option has more calories than the seafood pizza. Again, the issue comes down to taste. The blandness of the vegetables causes chefs to compensate with extra cheese and sauce to up the flavour levels.
3 Bacon and Egg Pizza
Bacon and Egg Pizza has 226 calories in one slice. This is the so-called breakfast pizza usually indulged in as a brunch treat. It is a good idea to pick out the bacon to reduce the calorie count. The bacon flavour will still be infused in the topping, so you can enjoy the pizza without the extra calories and sodium.
4 Chicken and Bacon Pizza
There are 229 calories in one slice of Chicken and Bacon Pizza. This type of pizza usually arrives on your menu as a Barbecue Chicken option or something similar. The chicken is usually in the form of strips or cubes of lean chicken breast. As with any type of pizza which contains bacon, you can reduce the calorie count of this pizza (even whilst retaining flavour) by simply removing the bacon.
5 Supreme Pizza
The typical Supreme Pizza has 229 calories in one slice. This is the same calorie value as the Chicken and Bacon pizza, so feel free to make a straight swap if you are so inclined. Bear in mind that, like pretty much any pizza type, there is wide variation in the interpretation of what a Supreme Pizza is. If you see one loaded with cheese and lots of preserved meats, understand that it will probably have more than 229 calories per slice.
6 Pineapple and Ham Pizza
One slice of Pineapple and Ham Pizza has 235 calories in it. Pizzas with pineapple on them tend to come with the “Hawaiian” moniker. Hawaiian pizzas are sometimes disparaged by pizza aficionados, due to their probably inauthentic origins. Nutritionally, the introduction of pineapple to a pizza increases its sugar content, particularly if the pineapple is the canned, sweetened type. We did a quick survey of the calcount team and the consensus opinion of pineapple on pizza was don’t do it!
7 Cheese Pizza
There are 248 calories in one slice of Cheese Pizza. Yes, the plain cheese pizza contains more calories than the Supreme, Hawaiian, Breakfast, Barbecue and Vegetable pizzas. This is simply because cheese has more calories than most other toppings, and plain cheese pizzas usually contain more cheese to compensate for the “missing” ingredients.
8 Meat Lovers Pizza
A Meat Lovers Pizza has 256 calories in one slice. It may come as a surprise to some people that the Meat Lover’s Pizza is not the one with the most calories, given that it typically includes all the meat ingredients from the other toppings. The reason for this lack of calorie pre-eminence is that some of the meat in this pizza is not the preserved/dried type. Dried meat, especially sausage, is significantly more calorific than fresh meat.
9 Pepperoni Pizza
One slice of Pepperoni Pizza contains 272 calories. Pepperoni is a dried sausage, and thus can be thought of as a “super sausage” because the calorie and other nutritional value has been condensed through water loss. Being a traditionally preserved food, it is also highly salted. This gives it an overpowering taste which must be diluted with extra cheese. The double-whammy of pepperoni and extra cheese makes the Pepperoni Pizza the calorie champ of “classic” fast food pizzas.
Conclusion
Any way you slice it, pizza is a high calorie food choice. The bulk of pizza calories comes from the cheese and crust, but certain toppings like preserved meats (bacon, pepperoni, anchovies) add significantly more calories than others like seafood, lean chicken, and vegetables. If you are counting calories, stay away from extra options like stuffed crusts and extra cheese, as these can easily double the calories in some pizzas.