What foods are high in saturated fat?
Per serving, coconut oil tops the list at 11.2 g of saturated fat a tablespoon, then ghee and butter at about 7 to 8 g, fatty ground beef, a butter croissant and cheese at about 6 g. Across American diets, the most saturated fat comes from sandwiches such as burgers, tacos and burritos, then desserts and sweet snacks.
Ask people to name a saturated fat and they say steak or bacon. Per serving, both are further down than you’d guess. A 3 oz broiled sirloin has 5.2 g with its fat on and 2.4 g trimmed, and three slices of bacon have 3.3 g. The heavy hitters are the fats you cook with and the cheese and butter inside other foods.
What we’d do: find the one food that fills most of your own line and change that first. For most people it’s the cooking fat, the cheese or the burger, and the scorer below names it for your day.
Per serving, highest first
| Food (USDA) | Saturated fat | Share of a 2,000 calorie line (22 g) |
|---|---|---|
| Coconut oil, 1 tbsp | 11.2 g | 50% |
| Ghee, 1 tbsp | 7.9 g | 36% |
| Butter, 1 tbsp | 7.2 g | 32% |
| Ground beef, 73% lean, 3 oz | 6.9 g | 31% |
| Butter croissant | 6.6 g | 30% |
| Beef tallow, 1 tbsp | 6.4 g | 29% |
| Fast food cheeseburger | 6.3 g | 28% |
| Cheddar, 1 oz | 6.0 g | 27% |
| Cottage cheese, 4% fat, 1 cup | 6.0 g | 27% |
| Whole milk, 1 cup | 5.1 g | 23% |
| Hot dog in a bun | 5.1 g | 23% |
| Lard, 1 tbsp | 5.0 g | 23% |
| Vanilla ice cream, ½ cup | 4.5 g | 20% |
| Heavy cream, 1 tbsp | 3.5 g | 16% |
| Bacon, 3 slices | 3.3 g | 15% |
| Olive oil, 1 tbsp | 1.8 g | 8% |
Coconut oil beats butter because about 83% of its fat is saturated, against about 62% of butter’s. Ghee comes out higher than butter per spoon because it’s butter with the water taken out, so a spoon holds more fat.
Where it comes from in a real day
The 2020 to 2025 US guidelines name three main sources of saturated fat in American diets. They’re sandwiches (including burgers, tacos and burritos), desserts and sweet snacks, and rice, pasta and other grain-based mixed dishes. For adults, the top sources were sandwiches (deli sandwiches, burgers, tacos, burritos, grilled cheese and hot dogs) and grain-based mixed dishes like spaghetti and meatballs, casseroles and quesadillas.
Most of that is cheese, butter and fatty meat inside bread or pasta, which is why it’s easy to miss. The guidelines’ own suggestions are lean meat and lower fat cheese in those dishes, beans in place of some of the meat, and avocado, nuts or seeds in place of cheese.
How far over most people are
The same guidelines found the average American eating about 11% of calories as saturated fat, and only 23% of people under the 10% line. On 2,000 calories, the line is about 22 g, and a tablespoon of butter, an ounce of cheddar and a 3 oz burger of 73% lean beef already add up to 20.1 g. The easiest way to cut it starts with the pan.
5 sources
- Gebhardt and Thomas, Nutritive Value of Foods, Home and Garden Bulletin 72, Table 9, USDA Agricultural Research Service, 2002ars.usda.gov
- USDA SR Legacy, Oil, coconut (FDC 171412), via NutritionValue.orgnutritionvalue.org
- USDA SR Legacy, Fat, beef tallow (FDC 171400), via NutritionValue.orgnutritionvalue.org
- USDA SR Legacy, Butter oil, anhydrous (FDC 173412), via NutritionValue.orgnutritionvalue.org
- US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health and Human Services, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020 to 2025, pp. 44 and 102, 2020dietaryguidelines.gov
