Calories in a Baked Potato With Butter & Sour Cream

A baked potato with sour cream and herbs
Image Credit: Igor Dutina/iStock/Getty Images

A baked potato makes for a delicious side, but if you opt for too large of a potato or drown it in too much butter and sour cream, you may end up eating enough calories for a whole meal. Keep your potato small and your toppings minimal so you don't go over your calorie allotment for your meal.

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Fast Food and Restaurant Baked Potatoes

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If you order a 6-ounce potato topped with about 3 tablespoons of sour cream and 1 tablespoon of chives at your favorite restaurant, you'll be consuming around 250 calories. A larger fast-food baked potato with sour cream and chives weighing about 10.5 ounces contains about 393 calories. Add a tablespoon of butter or margarine to either of these baked potatoes and the calorie count increases by 100.

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Making Your Own

You can better control the calories in your baked potato with butter and sour cream if you make it yourself. A small 2.5-inch baked russet potato, which weighs about 5 ounces, contains 134 calories, the same-sized white baked potato contains 130 calories and a small red-skinned potato contains 123 calories. Each tablespoon of reduced-fat sour cream adds 22 calories and each tablespoon of fat-free sour cream adds 9 calories.

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