Calories in 1 Tablespoon of Peanut Butter, Mayo, Jam

By NYUS Inc. · Published 27 October 2026

General information: This article is information about food data. No dietitian or doctor has reviewed it, and it is not a substitute for their advice.

Disclosure: NYUS Inc. publishes this guide and makes the NYUS app, which is mentioned once near the end. The numbers below do not depend on it.

A spoon of peanut butter on toast, mayonnaise in the sandwich, ketchup on the samosa, jam on the bread, a splash of soy sauce or cream in the gravy: these are the small additions that rarely get logged, and calorie lists give them per 100 g, which nobody eats. This guide gives the calories per 100 g for nine common spreads, sauces and cream, then turns them into one teaspoon and one tablespoon using spoon weights that are ours. The figures are for the food as sold, not for a cooked dish.

The short answer

By the USDA records below, a level tablespoon is about 94 kcal of mayonnaise, 96 kcal of smooth peanut butter, 51 kcal of heavy cream, 56 kcal of jam, 17 kcal of tomato ketchup, 18 kcal of a hot chilli sauce, 9 kcal of prepared mustard, 9 kcal of soy sauce and 3 kcal of vinegar. A teaspoon is about a third of that: 31 kcal of mayonnaise, 32 of peanut butter and 6 of ketchup. Our reading: mayonnaise and peanut butter are the two spoons that cost real calories; ketchup, jam and cream sit in between, and the other sauces are small per spoon.

Calories per 100 g, per teaspoon and per tablespoon

Indian lab values (IFCT 2017) do not cover these foods: Table 1 has no row for spreads, sauces, dressings or cream that we found, so every row here is a USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy reference value. The kcal per 100 g is the Energy figure printed on each record, and the values are for the food as sold. The spoon weights are ours, not from USDA: we take a level spoon as 5 mL for a teaspoon and 15 mL for a tablespoon and multiply by our own density estimate for each food (0.92 g per mL for mayonnaise, 1.07 for peanut butter, 1.00 for cream and vinegar, 1.35 for jam, 1.15 for ketchup and soy sauce, 1.30 for the chilli sauce and 1.05 for mustard). We have not weighed these ourselves, and a heaped spoon of a spread holds more than a level one, so weigh your own spoon once. Each figure is the grams times the kcal per 100 g in the table, divided by 100, rounded to the nearest kcal. "Heavy cream" is the nearest USDA row to fresh cream (malai) and is not the same food.

Food	Source	kcal per 100 g	g per teaspoon (ours)	kcal per teaspoon	g per tablespoon (ours)	kcal per tablespoon
Mayonnaise (regular)	USDA FDC 171009	680 kcal	4.6 g	31 kcal	13.8 g	94 kcal
Peanut butter, smooth	USDA FDC 172470	598 kcal	5.4 g	32 kcal	16.1 g	96 kcal
Heavy cream (nearest row to fresh cream)	USDA FDC 170859	340 kcal	5.0 g	17 kcal	15.0 g	51 kcal
Jam	USDA FDC 169641	278 kcal	6.8 g	19 kcal	20.2 g	56 kcal
Tomato ketchup	USDA FDC 168556	101 kcal	5.8 g	6 kcal	17.2 g	17 kcal
Hot chilli sauce (sriracha)	USDA FDC 171186	93 kcal	6.5 g	6 kcal	19.5 g	18 kcal
Mustard, prepared (yellow)	USDA FDC 172234	60 kcal	5.2 g	3 kcal	15.8 g	9 kcal
Soy sauce	USDA FDC 174277	53 kcal	5.8 g	3 kcal	17.2 g	9 kcal
Vinegar, distilled	USDA FDC 172237	18 kcal	5.0 g	1 kcal	15.0 g	3 kcal

What stands out in the numbers

Mayonnaise is the densest per 100 g at 680 kcal, about 31 kcal a teaspoon and 94 kcal a tablespoon by our weights.
Peanut butter costs about the same per spoon: 598 kcal per 100 g, but by our density it weighs more in a spoon, so a teaspoon is about 32 kcal and a tablespoon about 96 kcal. That follows from our spoon weights, so check your own spoon. Our peanuts vs almonds vs cashews guide compares the whole nuts.
Jam and ketchup are mostly small per spoon: jam is 278 kcal per 100 g and ketchup 101, so a tablespoon is about 56 and 17 kcal by our weights. Jam weighs more per spoon than ketchup in our density estimates, which is part of the gap.
Cream and the thin sauces: heavy cream is 340 kcal per 100 g, about 51 kcal a tablespoon; hot chilli sauce, mustard, soy sauce and vinegar run from 93 down to 18 kcal per 100 g, about 18 to 3 kcal a tablespoon.

How to log it so the numbers hold

Level the spoon, or weigh it. A heaped spoon of peanut butter or jam can hold well over the level weights above. Put your usual spoon on a kitchen scale once and scale the table.
Count it as its own item. A sandwich, a burger or a plate of snacks carries its sauce; see how Indian takeaway orders add up in our ordering guide, and our calories and macros guide for common foods.
Brands vary. A reduced-fat, sugar-free or flavoured product is not one of these rows; use the closest row and weigh it, or read the pack.
See the high-calorie list. Our high-calorie Indian vegetarian foods list ranks whole foods by energy; if you cannot weigh, the plate method in our hand-portion guide helps.

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 protein target: we have not looked up one for any person, so we give none.
Indian lab values: IFCT 2017 Table 1 has no row for these foods that we found, so none is shown; the page does not mix pack labels or other sources with the USDA records.
Other spreads, sauces and dressings, chutneys, pickles, branded products, and any dish that contains them: not covered.
Anything about weight, health or what these foods do to your body: the page adds up food data and makes no claim about it. If you have a medical condition or a food allergy, ask your doctor or dietitian.

Sources

The spoon weights, the density estimates, the sums, the rounding and every sentence starting "Our reading" are NYUS's own arithmetic or opinion, not from USDA. Names in the Food column (mayonnaise, ketchup, hot chilli sauce) are our matching to the USDA record names listed above.

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Frequently asked questions

How many calories are in a tablespoon of peanut butter?

The USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy record 172470 (Peanut butter, smooth style, without salt) prints 598 kcal per 100 g. By our arithmetic, a level tablespoon of about 16.1 g (15 mL at 1.07 g per mL) is about 96 kcal and a teaspoon of about 5.4 g is about 32 kcal. The grams are our assumption: weigh your own spoon.

How many calories are in a tablespoon of mayonnaise?

USDA SR Legacy 171009 (Salad dressing, mayonnaise, regular) prints 680 kcal per 100 g. By our arithmetic, a level tablespoon of about 13.8 g (15 mL at 0.92 g per mL) is about 94 kcal and a teaspoon of about 4.6 g is about 31 kcal.

How many calories are in a spoon of ketchup or jam?

USDA SR Legacy 168556 (Catsup) prints 101 kcal per 100 g and 169641 (Jams and preserves) 278 kcal per 100 g. By our weights, a tablespoon of ketchup of about 17.2 g is about 17 kcal and a tablespoon of jam of about 20.2 g is about 56 kcal.

Does IFCT 2017 have values for peanut butter, mayonnaise, ketchup or jam?

Not in Table 1 that we found. IFCT 2017 Table 1 has no row for spreads, sauces, dressings or cream, so this page uses USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy records for every row and says so in the table.

Can I log spoons of spreads and sauces in NYUS?

NYUS is our app. You log foods yourself by searching 8,900+ Indian and global foods or by barcode; weigh your spoon for the best match. NYUS is in early access on Android: 30-day free trial, then plans from ₹499 for one month, paid once with no auto-renewal, no card needed to start.