Almond Nutrition Facts, Calories per Ounce and Cup

An almond is the seed of the almond tree, a close relative of the peach and the plum. Instead of juicy flesh, the fruit has a leathery green hull that splits open as it dries, exposing a hard shell with the kernel inside. Almonds are sold in the shell, shelled with their brown skin (often called natural almonds), or blanched, which means the skin has been slipped off after a short soak in hot water.

Nearly all almonds grown in the United States come from California, and since 2007 California almonds sold to consumers in North America have had to be pasteurized, usually with steam or another approved treatment. On a package, raw therefore means unroasted rather than untreated. USDA's record on this page is for these unroasted, unsalted almonds.

A cup of almonds weighs very different amounts depending on the cut, because small pieces pack differently from whole nuts. USDA lists four cup measures for the same record:

• Whole: 143 g per cup, 828 calories.
• Sliced: 92 g per cup, 533 calories. Thin flat slices leave a lot of air in the cup.
• Slivered: 108 g per cup, 625 calories.
• Ground: 95 g per cup, 550 calories, loosely spooned.

Roasted almonds have lost a little water, so they carry slightly more calories per gram than raw ones; oil-roasted and salted almonds also add fat and sodium. Almond flour is usually made from blanched almonds and has its own page, while almond meal is often ground with the skins on.

• Almond flour. Finely ground blanched almonds, used in grain-free baking and in French macarons. Almond Flour · Egg White · Sugar
• Almond milk. Almonds blended with water and strained. Most of the fat and protein stay behind in the pulp, so a cup has a small fraction of the calories of the nuts. Almond Milk
• Almond butter. Roasted or raw almonds ground until their oil turns them into a paste, used like peanut butter. Peanut Butter · White Bread
• Granola and trail mix. Whole or chopped almonds baked with oats and a sweetener, or mixed with dried fruit and chocolate. Oats · Honey · Chocolate Chips
• Marzipan and almond paste. Ground blanched almonds cooked with sugar into a dough for candies and pastry fillings. Sugar
• Green beans or fish amandine. A classic finish of sliced almonds toasted in butter and spooned over the dish. Butter · Tilapia

Almonds keep longer than most nuts, but their oil still turns stale and bitter with heat, light and air. Keep them in a sealed container in a cool, dark cupboard for everyday use, and in the refrigerator or freezer for longer storage. Chopped, sliced and ground almonds go stale faster than whole ones because more of the nut is exposed to air.

Weigh almonds in the form you actually use (whole, sliced or as flour), because a cup measure varies so much between cuts. If you roast them in oil or salt them, enter the oil and salt as separate ingredients in the label generator rather than using raw almonds alone. Almonds are a tree nut, one of the major food allergens that must be declared on a US label; the ingredient formatter helps you build the ingredient statement. For plain nuts and nut mixes, the FDA reference amount is close to one ounce, and the RACC lookup gives the exact figure for your product category.