Blog / Food around the world
Australian Food CaloriesMeat Pies, Sausage Sizzles, Smashed Avo and More
· 3 min read
Australian food is a mix of bakery classics, BBQ and a serious café culture, and most calorie apps are built around American menus. Here's a practical guide to what Aussies (and Kiwis) actually eat.
Bakery favourites
| Item | Calories (approx.) |
|---|---|
| Classic meat pie (~175 g) | 400-500 |
| Pie with sauce (tomato, 1 sachet) | +20-30 |
| Sausage roll (large) | 350-450 |
| Party pie (1 small) | 120-160 |
| Vanilla slice | 350-450 |
| Lamington (1 medium) | 250-350 |
| Ham and cheese croissant | 400-500 |
A pie and a sausage roll for lunch is easily 800-900 calories, a full meal in pastry. Pastry is where most of the energy is: the filling of a standard meat pie is only about a third of its calories.
BBQ and the sausage sizzle
| Item | Calories (approx.) |
|---|---|
| Sausage sizzle (snag in bread, onions, sauce) | 300-380 |
| Beef sausage, BBQ'd (1 thick) | 200-260 |
| Lamb chop (1 loin, grilled) | 150-250 |
| Steak, 250 g rump, grilled | 450-550 |
| Prawn (king, grilled), 6 large | 80-120 |
| Potato salad, 1 cup | 300-400 |
| Coleslaw with mayo, 1 cup | 150-250 |
| Pavlova, 1 slice with cream and fruit | 250-400 |
Café culture
| Item | Calories (approx.) |
|---|---|
| Smashed avo on sourdough (2 slices) | 400-550 |
| ...with feta and a poached egg | 550-700 |
| Big brekkie (eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, hash brown) | 900-1,300 |
| Banana bread (1 thick slice, buttered) | 350-500 |
| Açaí bowl (regular) | 400-650 |
| Flat white, regular, full cream | 120-160 |
| Flat white, regular, skim | 70-90 |
| Iced coffee with ice cream and cream | 300-450 |
The pub
| Item | Calories (approx.) |
|---|---|
| Chicken parmigiana with chips and salad | 1,100-1,500 |
| Fish and chips (pub serve) | 900-1,300 |
| Steak sandwich with chips | 900-1,200 |
| Schooner of beer (425 ml) | 160-220 |
| Pint of beer (570 ml) | 220-290 |
The parmy is one of the biggest single meals on a typical Aussie menu: crumbed chicken breast, ham, napoli sauce, melted cheese, plus a mountain of chips.
Snacks and icons
| Item | Calories (approx.) |
|---|---|
| Tim Tam (1 biscuit) | ~95 |
| Vegemite toast (1 slice, buttered) | 120-150 |
| Anzac biscuit (1 large) | 120-180 |
| Dim sim, steamed (1) | 60-80 |
| Dim sim, fried (1) | 100-140 |
| Chiko Roll | 250-300 |
Easy swaps
- Pie or sausage roll, not both. Add a piece of fruit instead.
- Skim or half-strength milk in your daily coffee saves 50-70 calories a cup, which adds up across two or three a day.
- Parmy with salad and veg instead of chips: saves 400-500.
- Half a big brekkie, or skip the hash brown and second sausage.
- Watch the schooners. Four beers is the calorie equivalent of another meal.
Logging Aussie food
"Meat pie" in an American database might be a whole pot pie. In DietTracker you just say "a meat pie with sauce and a flat white" or "chicken parmy with chips, ate about half the chips", and it estimates your actual serve with calories and macros. Used to kilojoules from food labels? 1 calorie is about 4.2 kJ, so a 2,000-calorie day is about 8,400 kJ.
New to tracking? Start with how many calories you should eat to lose weight, then try DietTracker free.