Calories in Hummus, Tahini, Salsa and Bean Dip

By NYUS Inc. · Published 27 October 2026

Hummus with pita or veg sticks, a spoon of tahini in a dressing, salsa with nachos, a bean dip: a dip can be logged by the spoon, so this guide gives each row per spoon and per USDA's container weight. This guide gives five reference rows from USDA FoodData Central, each with the spoon or container weight USDA prints on the record. They are US records, not a brand and not an Indian chutney or raita, and Indian food tables (IFCT 2017) have no hummus, tahini, salsa or dip row at all.

The short answer

By the USDA records below, one tablespoon (15 g) of home-prepared hummus is about 27 kcal, and the same tablespoon of the commercial hummus record about 36 kcal. A tablespoon of tahini (15 g) is about 89 kcal. Two tablespoons of salsa (36 g) are about 10 kcal and two tablespoons of bean dip (36 g) about 43 kcal. Our reading: the two hummus records differ by about a third per 100 g (177 against 237 kcal), so "hummus" is not one number, and tahini is the dense one at 595 kcal per 100 g. A whole cup (246 g) of hummus is about 435 kcal for the home-prepared record and 583 kcal for the commercial one, which is why the spoon count matters.

Calories per spoon

Each figure is our arithmetic: kcal per 100 g times the grams in the portion, divided by 100, rounded to the nearest kcal with half rounding up. The portion weights are USDA's, printed on each record page.

The sums: tahini 595 × 15 / 100 = 89.25, so 89 kcal; commercial hummus 237 × 15 / 100 = 35.55, so 36; home-prepared hummus 177 × 15 / 100 = 26.55, so 27; bean dip 119 × 36 / 100 = 42.84, so 43; salsa 29 × 36 / 100 = 10.44, so 10 kcal. Protein, fat and carbohydrate are the same arithmetic on the per 100 g figures, rounded to 0.1 g with half rounding up.

Bigger portions USDA prints

The records also list larger portions. Here they are with the same arithmetic; a cup of hummus or a whole container is a lot more than a dip on a plate.

What stands out in the numbers

• Per 100 g the rows run from 29 to 595 kcal: tahini 595, commercial hummus 237, home-prepared hummus 177, bean dip 119 and salsa 29.
• The two hummus rows differ. Commercial hummus has 17.8 g of fat per 100 g against 8.59 g for the home-prepared record, which is most of the gap between 237 and 177 kcal.
• Tahini is a spread, not a dip. At 595 kcal per 100 g, a tablespoon is about 89 kcal, more than three tablespoons of home-prepared hummus (27 kcal each) by our arithmetic.
• Salsa is the lightest row. The record prints 29 kcal per 100 g, about 10 kcal for two tablespoons, against 43 kcal for the same weight of bean dip.

Why these are reference rows, not your tub

• USDA's own notes. The record pages mark the protein, fat and carbohydrate of home-prepared hummus "Recipe; Approximate ingredient proportions (ex. combination of several recipes)", the protein and fat of commercial hummus, salsa and bean dip "Analytical", and the energy of all five records "Calculated" (the carbohydrate of the commercial hummus, salsa and bean dip records and of tahini is "Calculated" too); the protein and fat of the tahini record carry no note.
• "Commercial" is USDA's word. It describes the record, not a brand; your tub may have more oil, less chickpea or flavourings.
• The salsa is a tomato salsa. It is USDA's ready-to-serve tomato salsa sauce, not a green chutney, a tomato chutney or a raita, and not a cheese dip.
• Guacamole and tzatziki. We found no SR Legacy record for them, so we give no number.
• For a packaged dip, the pack wins. This page uses no pack labels, so it does not mix them with the five records.

How to log it so the numbers hold

• Weigh or count the spoons. A level tablespoon is USDA's 15 g for hummus and tahini; a heaped one is more. Four tablespoons of home-prepared hummus is 4 × 26.55 = 106.2, so about 106 kcal.
• Log what you dip. Pita, bread, papad, veg sticks or chips are separate foods; our bread and naan guide gives bread and our chips guide gives chips.
• Add the oil on top. A drizzle of oil is separate; our spoon guide gives a level teaspoon.
• Do not mix sources inside one day. If you log a tub from its own pack, keep to the pack.

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, protein or fat target, and any claim about what these foods do to your weight or health: we have not looked up one for any person, so we give none. If you have a medical condition or an allergy (sesame in particular), 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.
• Guacamole, tzatziki, baba ghanoush, cheese dips, flavoured hummus, Indian chutneys and raita: not covered here. Coconut and some seeds are in other guides on this site.
• An IFCT 2017 comparison: IFCT 2017 has no hummus, tahini, salsa, guacamole or dip row (we searched all 585 pages of the PDF on 27 Oct 2026 for hummus, houmous, tahini, sesame butter, salsa, guacamole, dip, tzatziki and sauce, and found no food row).
• Nutrients beyond energy, protein, fat and carbohydrate: not covered here.

Sources

• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 170189 (Seeds, sesame butter, tahini, from roasted and toasted kernels (most common type)): Energy 595 kcal, protein 17 g, total fat 53.8 g, carbohydrate 21.2 g per 100 g; household portions printed on the record: 1 tbsp 15 g, 1 oz 28.35 g (read 27 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 174289 (Hummus, commercial): Energy 237 kcal, protein 7.78 g, total fat 17.8 g, carbohydrate 15 g per 100 g; household portions: 1 tbsp 15 g, 1 cup 246 g (read 27 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 172454 (Hummus, home prepared): Energy 177 kcal, protein 4.86 g, total fat 8.59 g, carbohydrate 20.1 g per 100 g; household portions: 1 cup 246 g, 1 tablespoon 15 g (read 27 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 171832 (Dip, bean, original flavor): Energy 119 kcal, protein 5.44 g, total fat 3.7 g, carbohydrate 15.9 g per 100 g; household portions: 2 tbsp 36 g, 1 container (9 oz) 259 g (read 27 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 174524 (Sauce, salsa, ready-to-serve): Energy 29 kcal, protein 1.52 g, total fat 0.17 g, carbohydrate 6.64 g per 100 g; household portions: 2 tbsp 36 g, 0.5 cup 130 g, 1 cup 259 g (read 27 Oct 2026).
• ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (IFCT 2017), PDF searched on 27 Oct 2026 for hummus, tahini, salsa and dip terms: no food row found.
• nyus.in, the NYUS landing page, read on 27 Oct 2026 for the app statements in the NYUS section and the CTA.

The per portion figures, the sums, the rounding, the comparisons and every sentence starting "Our reading" are NYUS's own arithmetic or opinion, not from USDA. The portion weights in the tables are USDA's, printed on the record pages above. The names in the first column are USDA's record names.

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