Calories in Couscous, Barley, Bulgur and Wheat Germ

By NYUS Inc. · Published 29 October 2026

"Couscous calories", "bulgur calories", "barley calories" and "wheat germ calories" are searched in India, and no NYUS guide answers them. This guide gives six USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy records, per 100 g and in the household portions USDA prints: dry bulgur, dry and cooked couscous, hulled barley, raw pearled barley and wheat germ. IFCT 2017, the Indian Food Composition Tables from ICMR-NIN, has no couscous or wheat germ row, and its barley (A004) and wheat bulgur (A021) rows are on other NYUS guides, so this page uses SR Legacy only. Cooked bulgur and cooked pearled barley are on our cooked millet, dalia and barley guide, cooked oats and porridge grains on our cooked oats, corn grits and farina guide, and protein per 100 g for Indian grains on our protein in grains guide.

The short answer

By USDA SR Legacy, dry couscous (169699) is 376 kcal per 100 g, wheat germ (168892) 360 kcal, hulled barley (170283) 354 kcal, raw pearled barley (170284) 352 kcal and dry bulgur (170688) 342 kcal; cooked couscous (169700) is 112 kcal. Our reading: the five dry or raw rows are only 34 kcal apart per 100 g, so protein, fat and fibre tell them apart more than energy does: wheat germ has the most protein (23.2 g) and fat (9.72 g), hulled barley the most fibre (17.3 g), and dry couscous the least fat (0.64 g) and fibre (5 g); and cooked couscous is about a third of dry couscous per 100 g because of water (72.6 g against 8.56 g), not because it is a different food.

USDA SR Legacy: per 100 g

Figures are as the USDA record pages print them, read on 29 October 2026. Energy is USDA's own kcal with the kJ it prints beside it; water, protein, total fat and carbohydrate (by difference) are in g, fibre in g and sodium in mg, all per 100 g. USDA labels the kcal on every row as Calculated. These are US records on US samples, not Indian averages, and IFCT 2017 has no row for couscous or wheat germ.

The household portions USDA prints

USDA prints these portions on the records below, and nothing else: it prints no tablespoon weight for wheat germ or any teaspoon weight. The kcal in the last column is ours: the printed kcal per 100 g times the grams, divided by 100, shown to 0.1 with half rounding up. The two "dry, yields" portions on the cooked couscous record are USDA's own: the cooked weight that 1 cup or 1 ounce of dry couscous makes.

The portion sums: 170688 1 cup (140 g): 342 × 140 / 100 = 478.80, so 478.8 kcal; 169699 1 cup (173 g): 376 × 173 / 100 = 650.48, so 650.5 kcal; 169700 1 cup, cooked (157 g): 112 × 157 / 100 = 175.84, so 175.8 kcal; 169700 1 cup, dry, yields (528 g): 112 × 528 / 100 = 591.36, so 591.4 kcal; 169700 1 oz, dry, yields (86 g): 112 × 86 / 100 = 96.32, so 96.3 kcal; 170283 1 cup (184 g): 354 × 184 / 100 = 651.36, so 651.4 kcal; 170284 1 cup (200 g): 352 × 200 / 100 = 704.00, so 704.0 kcal; 168892 1 cup (115 g): 360 × 115 / 100 = 414.00, so 414.0 kcal.

What stands out in the numbers

• A cup is not the same weight: USDA's printed dry cups hold 140 g of bulgur, 173 g of couscous, 184 g of hulled barley, 200 g of pearled barley and 115 g of wheat germ, so the cups come to 478.8, 650.5, 651.4, 704.0 and 414.0 kcal by our arithmetic, a wider spread than the 34 kcal per 100 g.
• Hulled against pearled barley: hulled (170283) prints more protein (12.5 g against 9.91 g), fat (2.3 g against 1.16 g) and fibre (17.3 g against 15.6 g) than raw pearled (170284), and 2 kcal more per 100 g.
• Dry to cooked couscous: 112 kcal per 100 g cooked against 376 dry; USDA's 1 cup dry yields 528 g cooked, which is 591.4 kcal by our arithmetic.

Why these are reference rows, not your packet

• Dry, raw and cooked are different weights. Log the one you weighed; the per 100 g rows are not interchangeable.
• US data. SR Legacy records are US samples, not Indian averages, and IFCT 2017 has no couscous or wheat germ row (its barley A004 and wheat bulgur A021 rows are on other guides).
• Energy is calculated. USDA labels the kcal Calculated on every row; we print it as is.
• No flavoured, instant or branded rows. Boxed seasoned couscous, instant mixes and any maker's label are not covered.
• Names are USDA's. We do not say a packet sold as dalia, rava or cracked wheat is the same row as bulgur.

How to log it so the numbers hold

• Weigh it, and say dry or cooked. 100 g of dry couscous (our example weight) on SR Legacy 169699 is 376 kcal; 100 g of cooked couscous on 169700 is 112 kcal.
• Do not log dry as cooked. A weight of dry couscous logged against the cooked row would carry about 3 times too little energy (376 against 112 kcal per 100 g).
• Add the rest of the dish separately. Oil, vegetables and sauces are in our other guides.

Where NYUS fits (our app)

We make NYUS, so read this as ours. NYUS is an AI fitness and nutrition coach in early access on Android, with no ads and no data selling. You log foods yourself by searching 8,900+ Indian and global foods or by barcode, and a weekly check-in adjusts your calories, macros and step goal once enough is logged. Barcode coverage of Indian packaged foods is not complete, so search by name when a scan finds nothing.

What this page leaves out

• A calorie target, and any claim about what these grains do to your body, including gluten, blood sugar or weight questions: we have not looked up any for any person, so we give none. If you have a medical condition or are pregnant, ask your doctor or dietitian.
• Cooked bulgur, cooked pearled barley and oat bran: on our other guides, not repeated here.
• Barley flour and barley malt flour, wheat germ oil, toasted wheat germ cereal, baby food cereals, soups and any company-named record: other records, not used here.
• A per-tablespoon or per-teaspoon figure for wheat germ: USDA prints no such weight, so we give none.
• Foundation foods records, which we did not search.
• Nutrients beyond energy, water, protein, fat, carbohydrate, fibre and sodium: not covered here.

Sources

• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 170688 (Bulgur, dry): Energy 342 kcal (1430 kJ), protein 12.3 g, total fat 1.33 g, carbohydrate 75.9 g, fibre 12.5 g, sodium 17 mg per 100 g; kcal labelled Calculated; portions used: 1 cup (140 g) (read 29 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 169699 (Couscous, dry): Energy 376 kcal (1570 kJ), protein 12.8 g, total fat 0.64 g, carbohydrate 77.4 g, fibre 5 g, sodium 10 mg per 100 g; kcal labelled Calculated; portions used: 1 cup (173 g) (read 29 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 169700 (Couscous, cooked): Energy 112 kcal (469 kJ), protein 3.79 g, total fat 0.16 g, carbohydrate 23.2 g, fibre 1.4 g, sodium 5 mg per 100 g; kcal labelled Calculated; portions used: 1 cup, cooked (157 g); 1 cup, dry, yields (528 g); 1 oz, dry, yields (86 g) (read 29 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 170283 (Barley, hulled): Energy 354 kcal (1480 kJ), protein 12.5 g, total fat 2.3 g, carbohydrate 73.5 g, fibre 17.3 g, sodium 12 mg per 100 g; kcal labelled Calculated; portions used: 1 cup (184 g) (read 29 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 170284 (Barley, pearled, raw): Energy 352 kcal (1470 kJ), protein 9.91 g, total fat 1.16 g, carbohydrate 77.7 g, fibre 15.6 g, sodium 9 mg per 100 g; kcal labelled Calculated; portions used: 1 cup (200 g) (read 29 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 168892 (Wheat germ, crude): Energy 360 kcal (1510 kJ), protein 23.2 g, total fat 9.72 g, carbohydrate 51.8 g, fibre 13.2 g, sodium 12 mg per 100 g; kcal labelled Calculated; portions used: 1 cup (115 g) (read 29 Oct 2026).
• ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (IFCT 2017): no couscous or wheat germ row; its barley row A004 and wheat bulgur row A021 are on other NYUS guides, so IFCT 2017 is not used on this page.
• nyus.in, the NYUS landing page, read on 29 Oct 2026 for the app statements in the NYUS section and the CTA.

The portion kcal, the sums, the rounding, the comparisons and every sentence starting "Our reading" are NYUS's own arithmetic or opinion, not from USDA. The energy, water, protein, fat, carbohydrate, fibre and sodium values and the printed portions are exactly as shown on the USDA record pages. The names in the first column are USDA's own record names.

Frequently asked questions