Calories in Sabudana (Tapioca Pearls)

By NYUS Inc. · Published 28 October 2026

Sabudana is weighed dry, soaked, and then cooked into something else, and the SR Legacy pearl record prints a dry weight (11 g of water per 100 g). This guide gives two root and pearl records from the SR Legacy table of USDA FoodData Central (dry tapioca pearls and raw cassava), with the cup and root weights printed on their record pages. IFCT 2017, the Indian Food Composition Tables from ICMR-NIN, has one tapioca row for the raw root and no sabudana, sago or pearl row (the PDF text has none), so it is shown only as a comparison. IFCT prints energy in kilojoules, so the kcal for that row is our conversion. Where sabudana is in a kheer, see our kheer guide.

The short answer

By SR Legacy 169717 (Tapioca, pearl, dry), 100 g of dry tapioca pearls is 358 kcal, and the record prints 1 cup as 152 g, which is 544.2 kcal. The record prints 11 g of water per 100 g, so this is a dry-weight figure. Raw cassava root (SR Legacy 169985) prints 160 kcal per 100 g and IFCT 2017 tapioca root (F015) 79.8 kcal by our conversion. Our reading: the pearl record is more than twice the energy per 100 g of the raw cassava record, so the weight you log (dry, soaked or raw root) matters more than the record you pick.

SR Legacy: per 100 g

Every figure below is as printed on the record page. The record names are the dataset's own.

SR Legacy: per printed portion

Each figure is our arithmetic on exact weights: kcal per 100 g times the grams, divided by 100, with the exact product in the sums line and the result shown to 0.1 with half rounding up. Every weight below is printed on the SR Legacy record page; none is ours.

The sums: 169717 358 × 152 / 100 = 544.16, so 544.2 kcal; 169985 160 × 206 / 100 = 329.6, so 329.6 kcal; 169985 160 × 408 / 100 = 652.8, so 652.8 kcal. Protein, fat and carbohydrate are the same arithmetic on the per 100 g figures, rounded to 0.1 g with half rounding up.

Our examples: 30 g and 50 g of dry pearls

The record prints a cup (152 g) but no smaller portion. The two weights below are our own examples of dry sabudana, not dataset values and not measurements. Weigh yours before soaking and scale from the per 100 g column.

The sums: 169717 at 30 g: 358 × 30 / 100 = 107.4, so 107.4 kcal; 169717 at 50 g: 358 × 50 / 100 = 179, so 179.0 kcal. Protein, fat and carbohydrate are the same arithmetic on the per 100 g figures.

IFCT 2017: tapioca root, for comparison

IFCT 2017, Table 1 (Proximate Principles), per 100 g, PDF p. 53. The row averages 3 regions. IFCT 2017 says all its data except poultry and egg pertains to raw food (PDF p. 27). IFCT prints energy in kilojoules; kcal is our conversion at 1 kcal = 4.184 kJ, shown to 0.1 kcal with half rounding up. This is a raw root row, not pearls, and we do not combine it with the SR Legacy records.

The conversion: F015 334 / 4.184 = 79.82791586998087954110898662, so 79.8 kcal.

What stands out in the numbers

• Energy per 100 g: SR Legacy 169717 (dry pearls) 358 kcal, 169985 (raw cassava) 160 kcal and IFCT F015 (tapioca root) 79.8 kcal by our conversion.
• Water per 100 g: SR Legacy 169717 11 g, 169985 59.7 g and IFCT F015 75.23 g of moisture.
• Protein per 100 g: SR Legacy 169717 0.19 g, 169985 1.36 g and IFCT F015 1.03 g.
• A cup is not a root: SR Legacy 169985 prints 206 g for a cup of raw cassava, 329.6 kcal, and 408 g for one root, 652.8 kcal.

Why these are reference rows, not your packet or your khichdi

• Names are the records'. We do not say that a packet of sabudana, small or large pearls, or a brand matches the dry pearl record.
• Dry weight only. There is no soaked or cooked sabudana record here, and the page does not turn the dry figure into a soaked one.
• The records' own notes. The record pages mark the kcal energy and carbohydrate of both records "Calculated", the kJ line "Calculated" on 169985 only, and carry no note on the protein, fat and water of 169717; those of 169985 are marked "Analytical".
• A dish is more than the pearls. Potato, peanuts, ghee, oil and sugar are not in these records; add each by its own weight.
• For a packaged product, the pack wins. This page uses no pack labels.

How to log it so the numbers hold

• Log the dry weight. 50 g of dry pearls (our example weight, not a dataset value) on SR Legacy 169717 is 358 × 50 / 100 = 179, so 179.0 kcal.
• Add the rest by weight. Peanuts are in our nuts guide, potato in our potato and vegetable guide, and ghee and oil in our spoon guide.
• Do not mix datasets inside one day. If you log sabudana from SR Legacy, keep to that record for the same dish.

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 or carbohydrate target, and any claim about what sabudana does to your weight, energy or health, or about fasting days: we have not looked up one for any person, so we give none. If you have a medical condition, ask your doctor or dietitian.
• Any named brand, pack label or FSSAI figure: not used, so the page does not mix label numbers with the records above.
• Soaked or cooked sabudana, sabudana khichdi, vada, tikki, papad and kheer: none is among the records used here, so no number. The kheer rows are in our kheer guide.
• Tapioca or cassava as a root vegetable beyond the two rows here: see our root vegetables guide.
• Nutrients beyond energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and water, including sugars and fibre: not covered here.

Sources

• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 169717 (Tapioca, pearl, dry): Energy 358 kcal (1500 kJ), protein 0.19 g, total fat 0.02 g, carbohydrate 88.7 g, water 11 g per 100 g; portions: 1 cup 152 g (read 28 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 169985 (Cassava, raw): Energy 160 kcal (667 kJ), protein 1.36 g, total fat 0.28 g, carbohydrate 38.1 g, water 59.7 g per 100 g; portions: 1 cup 206 g, 1 root 408 g (read 28 Oct 2026).
• ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (IFCT 2017), Table 1 (Proximate Principles and Dietary Fibre): F015 Tapioca (PDF p. 53), read 28 Oct 2026; the raw-food statement is on PDF p. 27; the PDF text searched for sabudana, sago and tapioca pearl: no food row.
• nyus.in, the NYUS landing page, read on 28 Oct 2026 for the app statements in the NYUS section and the CTA.

The kJ to kcal conversion, the per portion and per example figures, the sums, the rounding, the example weights, the comparisons and every sentence starting "Our reading" are NYUS's own arithmetic or opinion, not from IFCT or USDA. The IFCT values and the SR Legacy portion weights are as printed in those datasets. The names in the first column are the datasets' own row and record names.

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