How Many Calories In A Pound Of Rice, Beans, Wheat

Calories in a pound of rice, beans, wheat (and flour). Why? Well, maybe you’re just curious. Or, given that this is a general preparedness site, maybe you want to know how many calories of these dry goods to store… How much will equate to “survival days” for example.

The most common ‘staple’ dry foods for preparedness and long-term food storage are rice, beans, and wheat berries (for milling into flour).

You may have some of these in your deep pantry inventory. In order to fully grasp how much you actually have with regards to calories and ‘survival day’ equivalent, the following information should quickly help you to figure that out.

I used various online sources to determine an average calories per pound. Then I determined how many cups of each would equal one pound. That’s so I could figure out how many cups of each would fit into a 5-gallon bucket (common method of long term storage). All so I could estimate equivalent “survival days” per 5-gallon bucket (with relation to calories).

I used my digital kitchen scale to accurately measure the weight (per pound) from my own storage of white rice, beans (a variety average), and wheat berries. Surprisingly (sort of) they all weigh quite similar to each other!

About 2.5 cups per pound (raw – uncooked)

>> Digital Multifunction Kitchen and Food Scale
(view on amzn)

  • When looking up calories per pound (or cups per pound) for various varieties and various data sources, the results will vary slightly. However the figures given below are close enough for general conversation.
  • Using 2,000 calories per “survival day”. While this value will vary (we can technically survive on less), this is a commonly accepted average. The demands will increase with laborious work.

Rice Calories Per Pound

There are 1648 calories in a pound of rice (uncooked).

RICE – Calories vs. Survival Days

Note: One 5-gallon bucket equals approximately 30 – 32 pounds rice
Note: One 5-gallon bucket equals almost one month ‘survival days’ rice

lbs. | Survival Days

10 | 8
30 | 25
100 | 82

[ Read: Rice and Beans – A Survival Combination! ]

[ Read: Is It Safe To Store Rice & Beans In Original Bags If In Food Buckets? ]

Beans Calories Per Pound

There are about 1568 calories in a pound of dry beans (uncooked).

BEANS – Calories vs. Survival Days

Note: One 5-gallon bucket equals approximately 30 – 32 pounds beans
Note: One 5-gallon bucket equals almost one month ‘survival days’ beans

lbs. | Survival Days

10 | 8
30 | 24
100 | 78

Wheat Berries Calories Per Pound

1520 calories per pound (uncooked)

WHEAT BERRIES – Calories vs. Survival Days

Note: One 5-gallon bucket equals approximately 30 – 32 pounds wheat
Note: One 5-gallon bucket equals almost one month ‘survival days’ wheat

lbs. | Survival Days

10 | 8
30 | 23
100 | 76

Note: When we are analyzing our ‘survival day’ equivalent of rice, beans, and wheat, we must also consider that this will not be the only source of our calories from a diversified food storage. But we should still put emphasis on the total caloric content of these particular dry staples that we keep in our storage.

As you may have noticed, the caloric content of rice, beans, and wheat berries are pretty similar per pound.