Rice and beans takes two pantry staples and makes a meal out of them. USDA's food survey database lists it 15 ways: by bean (black, pinto, kidney or unspecified), by rice (white or brown), with tomatoes or meat, from restaurants, and Puerto Rican style. Every number below comes from those entries.
Looking for the Louisiana dish with sausage? See red beans and rice calories. For more plates from the region, start with our guide to healthy Latin food.
What matters most, in four points:
About 270 calories a cup. A 6 oz cup of black beans and white rice has 272 calories, 10.2 g of protein, 8.5 g of fiber and 388 mg of sodium.
The bean moves the numbers more than the rice. Pinto and black beans bring 8.5 to 9.2 g of fiber a cup; switching to brown rice adds only about half a gram.
Each one fills the other's amino acid gap. Beans carry the lysine rice is short on, and the two do not have to share a plate to count.
Restaurants and boxes add the sodium and fat. A restaurant cup runs 304 to 319 calories with about 500 mg of sodium; boxed mixes list 370 to 1,010 mg per serving.
Source: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS and Branded Foods).
Rice and beans nutrition facts per cup
USDA builds its home-style rice and beans as 60% beans cooked from dried with a little fat and 40% plain white rice, by weight. One cup weighs about 6 oz. Here are two versions: black beans, the most specific entry, and the unspecified "beans and white rice" that a food log falls back on when the bean is not named.
Per 1 cup (6 oz) | Black beans and white rice | % Daily Value | Beans and white rice, unspecified | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Calories | 272 | 278 | ||
Protein | 10.2 g | 20% | 11.0 g | 22% |
Carbohydrates | 41.5 g | 15% | 42.8 g | 16% |
Fiber | 8.5 g | 30% | 6.3 g | 22% |
Fat | 7.3 g | 9% | 7.2 g | 9% |
Saturated fat | 1.1 g | 5% | 1.0 g | 5% |
Folate | 199 mcg DFE | 50% | 138 mcg DFE | 34% |
Iron | 2.8 mg | 16% | 4.3 mg | 24% |
Magnesium | 75 mg | 18% | 68 mg | 16% |
Potassium | 360 mg | 8% | 556 mg | 12% |
Sodium | 388 mg | 17% | 393 mg | 17% |
Source: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS); Daily Values from the FDA.
About 61% of the calories come from carbohydrate, 24% from fat and 15% from protein. The fat is mostly what the beans were cooked with: plain cooked white rice has 0.4 g of fat a cup, and black beans boiled without fat have about 0.5 g per half cup.
The standouts are fiber and folate. One cup covers about 30% of the 28 g fiber Daily Value and half of the folate Daily Value. Sodium, at 388 mg, comes from salt in the cooking; beans and rice boiled without salt have almost none (about 1 mg per 3.5 oz each).
Black, pinto or kidney beans, white or brown rice
USDA lists each named bean with white and with brown rice, same recipe, same cup. Calories barely move across the eight, from 263 to 283. The rest of the label moves more.
Per 1 cup (6 oz) | Calories | Protein | Fiber | Folate | Iron | Magnesium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Black beans, white rice | 272 | 10.2 g | 8.5 g | 199 mcg | 2.8 mg | 75 mg |
Black beans, brown rice | 268 | 10.0 g | 9.0 g | 138 mcg | 2.3 mg | 94 mg |
Pinto beans, white rice | 283 | 10.4 g | 8.8 g | 221 mcg | 2.8 mg | 56 mg |
Pinto beans, brown rice | 278 | 10.2 g | 9.2 g | 158 mcg | 2.3 mg | 75 mg |
Kidney beans, white rice | 268 | 10.0 g | 7.3 g | 182 mcg | 3.6 mg | 51 mg |
Kidney beans, brown rice | 263 | 9.9 g | 7.6 g | 121 mcg | 3.1 mg | 70 mg |
Beans (unspecified), white rice | 278 | 11.0 g | 6.3 g | 138 mcg | 4.3 mg | 68 mg |
Beans (unspecified), brown rice | 275 | 10.9 g | 6.6 g | 76 mcg | 3.8 mg | 87 mg |
Source: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS). Folate in mcg DFE.
Which bean
Pinto leads on fiber and folate, with up to 9.2 g of fiber and 221 mcg of folate a cup.
Black beans come close on fiber and have the most magnesium of the named beans.
Kidney beans have the most iron of the named beans, 3.6 mg a cup, and the least fiber of the three.
Which rice
Swapping white rice for brown in the same recipe does three things, the same way for every bean:
Adds about 19 mg of magnesium a cup, roughly 5% of the Daily Value.
Adds only 0.3 to 0.5 g of fiber, because the rice is the smaller part of the mix and brown rice itself has just 1 g of fiber per 3.5 oz.
Cuts folate by about 60 mcg and iron by about half a milligram. USDA's white rice is enriched, so a cup of plain white rice carries 152 mcg of folate against 10 mcg for brown.
Brown rice is still a whole grain, which white rice is not. In this dish, though, the bean you pick does more for fiber than the rice.
Source: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS).
Is rice and beans a complete protein?
Yes, together they are. A complete protein supplies all nine essential amino acids in the proportions the body needs. The WHO, FAO and UNU reference pattern for adults sets those proportions per gram of protein, including 45 mg of lysine and 22 mg of methionine plus cysteine (the sulfur amino acids). Run USDA's amino acid data for plain rice and plain black beans against those two lines:
mg per gram of protein | White rice | Black beans | 1 cup rice + 1/2 cup black beans | Adult reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lysine | 36 | 69 | 57 | 45 |
Methionine + cysteine | 44 | 26 | 32 | 22 |
Sources: USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy amino acid data); WHO/FAO/UNU, Protein and Amino Acid Requirements in Human Nutrition.
Rice on its own reaches only about 80% of the lysine line. Black beans have almost twice the lysine rice has, while rice has more of the sulfur amino acids, the beans' slimmest margin. Mixed, the plate clears both lines with room to spare. That bowl, 1 cup of plain rice with 1/2 cup of black beans, has about 318 calories and 11.9 g of protein.
The two do not have to be eaten at the same meal. In a Consumer Reports article, UCLA dietitian Dana Hunnes says "you can meet your needs by eating a variety of plants throughout the day."
A complete protein is not the same as a lot of protein, though. At about 10 g a cup, rice and beans gives a fifth of the 50 g Daily Value. To see where it fits in your own day, set a target with a macro calculator, and see how to split macros across meals.
Sources: Consumer Reports, "Are Plant Proteins Complete Proteins?"; FDA Daily Values.
Restaurant, Puerto Rican and boxed rice and beans
The home-style recipe is the lean end. The other versions USDA lists change the numbers in three different ways.
Per 1 cup | Calories | Fat | Fiber | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Home-style, black beans and white rice (6 oz) | 272 | 7.3 g | 8.5 g | 388 mg |
With tomatoes (6 oz) | 232 | 5.9 g | 6.5 g | 525 mg |
With meat (6 oz) | 275 | 7.2 g | 7.5 g | 447 mg |
Restaurant, black beans (6 oz) | 309 | 12.1 g | 8.3 g | 503 mg |
Restaurant, pinto beans (6 oz) | 319 | 12.2 g | 8.5 g | 503 mg |
Restaurant, kidney beans (6 oz) | 304 | 12.0 g | 7.1 g | 503 mg |
Puerto Rican rice with stewed beans (6.6 oz) | 259 | 6.1 g | 2.8 g | 872 mg |
Source: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS).
Restaurants add oil and salt. USDA's restaurant recipe adds vegetable oil at 3% of the weight plus table salt. That is worth about 36 extra calories, about 5 g more fat and roughly 115 mg more sodium a cup, with the beans and rice unchanged.
Puerto Rican style flips the ratio. USDA's recipe is about 64% rice and 20% beans, the reverse of the home-style mix, with 1.2% salt. Fiber drops to 2.8 g a cup and sodium climbs to 872 mg, 38% of the Daily Value.
Meat adds protein, not many calories. The with-meat version has 12.7 g of protein a cup against 10.2 g, for about the same calories.
Boxed rice and beans mixes
USDA's branded database lists 17 rice and beans products, mostly dry mixes. Per serving as labeled, usually 1/4 to 1/2 cup of dry mix:
Calories: 140 to 220 for the dry mixes; one ready-to-eat product lists 379 for 2/3 cup.
Sodium: 370 to 1,010 mg, and 9 of the 17 list 600 mg or more. The top figure is 44% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value in one serving.
Fiber: 2 to 10 g.
The highest box carries close to three times the sodium of the lowest, so the label is worth comparing before you buy.
Sources: USDA FoodData Central (Branded Foods; brand names not used); FDA Daily Values.
Building a better rice and beans bowl
The simplest change is the ratio. Beans have about the same calories as rice per ounce (132 against 130 per 3.5 oz, plain), but more than three times the protein and over 20 times the fiber. Shift the bowl toward beans and the calories hold while the rest climbs.
Two bowls, built from USDA values:
Restaurant bowl | Bean-forward home bowl | |
|---|---|---|
What is in it | 1 1/2 cups restaurant black beans and rice (9 oz) | 1/2 cup plain white rice, 1 cup black beans boiled without salt, 1/4 cup red salsa (11 oz) |
Calories | 464 | 352 |
Protein | 14.8 g | 18.2 g |
Fat | 18.1 g | 1.2 g |
Fiber | 12.5 g | 16.5 g |
Sodium | 755 mg | 423 mg, before any salt you add |
Source: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS and SR Legacy).
A few more ways to tilt it:
Pick pinto or black beans for the most fiber, and kidney beans if iron is the goal.
Use brown rice for the extra magnesium, knowing it trades away some folate.
Season with salsa, onion, garlic or lime rather than extra salt; 2 tbsp of red salsa adds 11 calories.
Add a protein such as chicken, egg or pork if you want the bowl to carry a full meal's protein, the way the with-meat version does.
If the rice-to-bean ratio changes every time you cook, a macro tracker like Dietfit lets you snap the bowl and adjust each portion, so the log matches what you actually ate.
Rice and beans FAQ
How many calories are in a cup of rice and beans?
About 272 for black beans and white rice, according to USDA. Home-style versions run 263 to 283 calories a 6 oz cup depending on the bean and rice; restaurant versions run 304 to 319 because of added oil.
Is rice and beans healthy?
Mostly, yes. A cup gives about 30% of the Daily Value for fiber and half for folate, with 1.1 g of saturated fat. Sodium is the number to watch: 388 mg at home, about 500 mg from a restaurant and up to 1,010 mg in a serving of boxed mix.
How much protein is in rice and beans?
About 10 g a cup, or a fifth of the 50 g Daily Value. A bowl with more beans than rice, such as 1 cup of black beans over 1/2 cup of rice, reaches about 18 g.
Do you have to eat rice and beans together to get a complete protein?
No. Together they clear the adult reference for lysine and the sulfur amino acids, but eating a variety of plant proteins over the day does the same job, as dietitians quoted by Consumer Reports explain.
Is brown rice and beans healthier than white rice and beans?
It depends on the nutrient. Brown rice adds about 19 mg of magnesium and up to half a gram of fiber a cup. Enriched white rice keeps about 60 mcg more folate and half a milligram more iron. The bean choice changes fiber more than the rice does.
How does rice and beans compare with a bean pupusa?
Both pair a starch with beans. A bean pupusa has about 298 calories, 7.3 g of protein and 7.5 g of fiber per piece, per USDA, against 272 calories, 10.2 g of protein and 8.5 g of fiber in a cup of black beans and rice. See pupusa calories for every filling.
References
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708994/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Black beans and white rice" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708994
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2709035/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Black beans and brown rice" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2709035
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708995/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Pinto beans and white rice" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708995
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2709036/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Pinto beans and brown rice" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2709036
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708993/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Kidney beans and white rice" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708993
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2709034/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Kidney beans and brown rice" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2709034
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708990/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Beans and white rice" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708990
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2709033/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Beans and brown rice" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2709033
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708991/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Beans and rice, with tomatoes" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708991
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708992/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Beans and rice, with meat" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708992
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708988/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Black beans and rice, from fast food / restaurant" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708988
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708989/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Pinto beans and rice, from fast food / restaurant" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708989
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708987/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Kidney beans and rice, from fast food / restaurant" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708987
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708986/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Beans and rice, from fast food / restaurant" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708986
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708980/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Rice with stewed beans, Puerto Rican style" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708980
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708408/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Rice, white, cooked, no added fat" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708408
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708414/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Rice, brown, cooked, no added fat" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708414
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/168878/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Rice, white, long-grain, regular, enriched, cooked" (SR Legacy), FDC ID 168878
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/173735/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" (SR Legacy), FDC ID 173735
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2709738/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Salsa, red" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2709738
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2708609/nutrients, FoodData Central, "Pupusa, with beans" (FNDDS), FDC ID 2708609
USDA FoodData Central, Branded Foods: 17 rice and beans products (searches "rice beans mix" and "red beans rice"); brand names not used
https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/43411, "Protein and Amino Acid Requirements in Human Nutrition: Report of a Joint FAO/WHO/UNU Expert Consultation" (WHO Technical Report Series 935), World Health Organization
https://www.consumerreports.org/diet-nutrition/are-plant-proteins-complete-proteins, "Are Plant Proteins Complete Proteins?", Consumer Reports
https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/daily-value-nutrition-and-supplement-facts-labels, "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels", U.S. Food and Drug Administration
By Phu Le