As you compile a list of individual foods with the highest calorie counts, you may notice that these items have greater proportions of fat and sugar than moderate or low-calorie foods. Fat delivers twice the calories of proteins or carbohydrates, as the National Institutes of Health point out. While sugar is a form of carbohydrate, its widespread use in processed foods increases your chances of getting lots of sugar calories.
In an average 2,000-calorie diet, high-calorie food sources of 400 calories or more contain at least 20 percent of your total daily calorie value, or DV. If you eat less of these foods, you'll automatically cut the fat and sugar content of your diet.
Fast Foods
No matter which fast food restaurants you frequent, caloric foods dominate the menus, according to the USDA Nutrient Database. At the sub shop, a 6-inch tuna salad sandwich has 584 calories, delivering nearly 30 percent DV alone, without any caloric sides or beverages.
High-calorie foods at the burger joint start with single-patty sandwiches at 509 calories and super-size their way to calorie counts approaching 1,500, with up to three meat patties, additional bacon and cheese. Tacos, breakfast sandwiches, fried seafood, corndogs and french fries all represent food sources with 20 percent DV or more. A 16-oz. vanilla shake adds another 493 calories to your meal.
Grain-based Sweets
Many grain-based desserts combine fat and sugar into single high-calorie food items. If you consider that a piecrust made with butter, shortening or lard and wheat flour tops the USDA calorie list at 1,181 for one pie shell, you'll understand how a sweetened pie can push calorie counts sky high.
Pecan pie, which derives calories from nuts, eggs and sugar as well as from the crust, provides 503 calories in a single piece. Fruit pies have fewer calories than custard pies, unless they are the fried variety. The USDA lists one piece of homemade chocolate cake with chocolate frosting at 503 calories, white cake with coconut frosting at 399, among other leading calorie totals. Biscuit, cookie and pastry food sources follow closely behind.
Meat and Fish Entrees
Fatty meats and oily fish are caloric food sources, and cooks often blend these with other high-calorie food ingredients. Some of the highest calorie counts come from chicken potpies, with 464 calories in one pie; tuna salad, with 383 calories in one cup; and breaded fried chicken, 364 calories in half of a breast. Duck, pork, spareribs and salmon represent additional caloric meats and fish. If prepared with added fat, the NIH notes, their calorie counts rise further.
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