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Butter is the fat churned out of cream: by federal definition it is made only from milk or cream, with or without salt and coloring, and contains at least 80% milk fat. A tablespoon has about 100 calories and roughly a third of the Daily Value for saturated fat, and whether butter is healthy is one of the longest-running arguments in nutrition. This guide covers USDA butter nutrition for salted, unsalted, whipped and light butter, how salted vs unsalted butter differ, and what the Dietary Guidelines and the research actually say.
Peptide Labs does not sell butter or dairy products. This article is general nutrition information, not medical advice.
Key Takeaways
- Under 21 U.S.C. 321a, butter must contain at least 80% milk fat by weight; salt and coloring are optional.
- In USDA data, a tablespoon of butter has about 102 calories, 11.5 grams of fat and 7.3 grams of saturated fat (36% DV).
- Salted and unsalted butter are nearly identical except sodium: about 91 milligrams vs 2 milligrams per tablespoon in USDA data.
- The Dietary Guidelines keep saturated fat below 10% of calories; the 2025-2030 edition lists butter as one cooking fat option.
- A 2016 meta-analysis of cohort studies found small or neutral associations between butter and heart disease, diabetes and mortality.
What is butter? The federal definition
Butter is made by churning cream until the fat globules clump together and separate from the liquid, which is buttermilk in the traditional sense; our buttermilk guide explains how that differs from the cultured buttermilk sold today. In the US, butter is defined in federal law rather than in a food standard regulation. A 1923 statute, now 21 U.S.C. 321a, says butter is made exclusively from milk or cream, or both, with or without common salt and with or without added coloring, and contains not less than 80% milk fat by weight. USDA’s SR Legacy entry for salted butter lists 81.11 grams of fat per 100 grams, in line with that rule.
Related fats are covered in their own guides: ghee is butter with the water and milk solids removed, and heavy cream is the higher-fat cream butter starts from. Spreads sold as margarine or “buttery” spreads are not butter under the definition above; our margarine comparison covers them.
Butter nutrition per tablespoon
The table uses USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy values per tablespoon, with percent Daily Values in brackets. Whipped butter has air beaten in, so a tablespoon weighs less (9.4 grams vs 14.2 grams); light butter has much less fat (55.1 grams per 100 grams in USDA data), so it does not meet the 80% milk fat definition and is sold as light butter.
| Per 1 tbsp (USDA FDC ID) | Calories | Fat (% DV) | Saturated fat (% DV) | Cholesterol (% DV) | Sodium (% DV) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salted butter, 14.2 g (173410) | 102 | 11.5 g (15%) | 7.3 g (36%) | 31 mg (10%) | 91 mg (4%) |
| Unsalted butter, 14.2 g (173430) | 102 | 11.5 g (15%) | 7.2 g (36%) | 31 mg (10%) | 2 mg (0%) |
| Whipped butter, salted, 9.4 g (173411) | 69 | 7.4 g (9%) | 4.3 g (21%) | 21 mg (7%) | 55 mg (2%) |
| Light butter, salted, 14 g (173581) | 70 | 7.7 g (10%) | 4.8 g (24%) | 15 mg (5%) | 63 mg (3%) |
Butter is almost pure fat: USDA lists only 0.85 grams of protein and 0.06 grams of carbohydrate per 100 grams. It does carry vitamin A, about 97 micrograms RAE per tablespoon in USDA data, or 11% of the Daily Value, plus small amounts of vitamin E. SR Legacy lists no vitamin D in butter. The 31 milligrams of cholesterol per tablespoon in USDA data are explained in our guide to cholesterol in foods. Because it is so energy dense, butter also shows up in lists of calorie-dense foods.
Butter also contains a small amount of natural trans fat, about half a gram per tablespoon in USDA data. The FDA’s ban on partially hydrogenated oils, the main source of artificial trans fat, does not cover the natural trans fat found in milk, butter, cheese and meat.
Salted vs unsalted butter
Salt is the only difference that matters nutritionally. Per tablespoon in USDA data, salted butter has about 91 milligrams of sodium (4% of the Daily Value) and unsalted butter about 2 milligrams. Over a whole stick the gap grows: about 727 milligrams of sodium in salted butter, 32% of the Daily Value, against about 12 milligrams in unsalted, per USDA values. Calories, fat and vitamin A are the same.
- Unsalted butter: many baking recipes call for it so the cook controls the total salt; it suits anyone keeping an eye on sodium.
- Salted butter: common as a table spread; the salt level varies by brand, so compare the sodium line on the Nutrition Facts label.
- Swapping one for the other: in savory cooking the difference is usually small; in baking, using salted butter in a recipe written for unsalted adds salt you did not plan for.
For reference, the Dietary Guidelines set less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day for ages 14 and up. Our guide to sodium in foods shows where most sodium in the American diet actually comes from.
Is butter healthy? Saturated fat and the evidence
The case against butter rests on saturated fat. Both recent editions of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans keep the same ceiling: saturated fat below 10% of daily calories. The 2020-2025 edition named butter among foods higher in saturated fat and advised choosing oils higher in unsaturated fat instead. The 2025-2030 edition says to prioritize oils with essential fatty acids, such as olive oil, lists butter or beef tallow as other options, and adds that more high-quality research is needed on which dietary fats support long-term health.
What the research shows:
- Replacing saturated fat (AHA advisory, 2017): the American Heart Association reviewed randomized trials and found that replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated vegetable oils was linked to about 30% fewer cardiovascular events, while replacing it with refined carbohydrates and sugars was not. In other words, what butter is swapped for matters.
- Butter itself (PLoS One, 2016): a meta-analysis of 15 country cohorts with 636,151 people found butter weakly associated with all-cause mortality, not significantly associated with heart disease or stroke, and slightly inversely associated with diabetes. No randomized trials existed. The authors described the associations as relatively small or neutral.
Put together, butter is neither a health food nor uniquely harmful in these studies. It is a concentrated source of saturated fat, so how much you use and what it replaces carry more weight than the butter itself. Oils such as olive oil are higher in unsaturated fat; see our guides to seed oils, coconut oil, lard and beef tallow for how other cooking fats compare.
Butter, lactose and milk allergy
Butter is mostly fat, and USDA lists only traces of carbohydrate, so it contains little lactose; SR Legacy does not give a lactose value. It still contains small amounts of milk protein, and milk is one of the nine major food allergens under US law, so people with a milk allergy should count butter as a milk product unless an allergist says otherwise. For lactose, NIDDK notes that lactose intolerance is different from milk allergy; our lactase guide covers enzyme products, and our sibling guide to cheese covers lactose in aged cheeses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is butter healthy?
Butter is a concentrated source of saturated fat and vitamin A. Cohort studies found small or neutral associations with heart disease and mortality, and the Dietary Guidelines keep saturated fat below 10% of calories.
How many calories are in a tablespoon of butter?
About 102 calories in salted or unsalted butter per USDA data, about 69 in whipped butter and about 70 in light butter.
What is the difference between salted vs unsalted butter?
Only the salt. USDA lists about 91 milligrams of sodium per tablespoon of salted butter and about 2 in unsalted; fat and calories are the same.
How much fat does butter have to contain?
Federal law (21 U.S.C. 321a) requires butter to contain at least 80% milk fat by weight.
Does butter contain lactose?
Very little. Butter is mostly fat and USDA lists only traces of carbohydrate, though it still contains some milk protein, which matters for milk allergy.
Is whipped butter lower in calories?
Per tablespoon, yes, because air makes each spoonful lighter: about 69 calories vs 102 in USDA data. Gram for gram it is about the same.
Questions about a label? Contact us or read our Buyer’s Guide. Food comes first; follow the label and ask a healthcare provider before starting a supplement, especially if you take medicines, are pregnant or have a food allergy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Last reviewed October 2026.
Related guides: Cheese: Nutrition, Types of Cheese and Is Cheese Healthy?, Butter vs Margarine: Trans Fat, Saturated Fat and Modern Spreads, Ghee: What It Is, Nutrition, Ghee vs Butter and Is It Healthy?.