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Calories · Café & desserts

Calories in a milkshake

A typical restaurant serving of a milkshake (one small 12 fl oz shake, no whipped cream, about 405 g) is about 600 calories, usually 400–1,300.

Restaurant portions vary; this is a typical estimate, not a label. Also called chocolate milkshake, vanilla milkshake, shake.

~600
Milkshake

The usual range

Drawn on one 0–2,000 scale shared by every dish page, so plates compare at a glance.

Protein, carbs and fat

  • Protein14 g
  • Carbs79 g
  • Fat26 g

One serving

Serving
one small 12 fl oz shake, no whipped cream
Weight
~405 g
Per 100 g
~148

The dish

About a milkshake

A milkshake is ice cream blended with milk and syrup, so it's sugar and dairy fat in a cup. Size swings it most: a large is about 70% more than a small, and mix-ins add more.

Ways it comes

One dish, a few numbers

Milkshake · rough numbers

  • Medium (526 g)~780
  • Large (690 g)~1,020

What moves the number

Why one plate is 400 and another 1,300

  • Cup size
  • Ice cream share vs milk
  • Whipped cream, cookies and candy blended in

Ordering lighter

If you want a lighter plate

  • Order a small or kids' size
  • Share a large one with two straws
  • Skip the whipped cream

Side by side

Next to other Café & desserts dishes

Café & desserts · typical restaurant servingAll about Café & desserts food →

  • Cappuccino~100one small café cappuccino, 12 fl oz · usually 60–180
  • Latte~210one medium café latte, 16 fl oz · usually 100–300
  • Glazed donut~250one medium glazed yeast donut · usually 190–450
  • Ice cream~250one generous parlor scoop in a cup · usually 130–500
  • Matcha latte~250one 16 oz café matcha latte with 2% milk, sweetened · usually 180–400
  • Bubble tea (milk tea with pearls)~280one 500 ml cup with tapioca pearls, regular sugar · usually 180–450
  • Croissant~280one café butter croissant · usually 200–450
  • Banana bread~320one thick café slice, without butter · usually 250–550
  • Mocha~320one medium café mocha, 16 fl oz · usually 150–500
  • Fruit smoothie~360one small café smoothie with fruit and yogurt or milk · usually 200–750
  • Hot chocolate~380one 12 fl oz café hot chocolate with whipped cream · usually 150–600
  • Brownie~400one café brownie · usually 250–750

In PlateDiary

A rough number for the dishes you save — only if you want one.

Off unless you turn them on

Calories in PlateDiary are off unless you turn them on. Switch them on and, when PlateDiary AI reads your photo of the table, each dish gets one rough “~” number. Accept it or change it; a number you correct is remembered for that dish. With Calories off, the app looks exactly as it did before.

A read sends small pictures of the cut-out dishes, with the place's name as a hint — never the table photo, faces or your location. Calorie numbers never go to analytics, and nothing is written to a health app. PlateDiary AI starts with free tries; here is how it works.

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How these numbers were made

Method and sources

Last reviewed

Restaurant portions and cooking vary, so these are typical estimates for one serving, built from the sources below. Treat it as a rough number: your plate may land anywhere in the range.

If you manage a health condition, ask a doctor or registered dietitian.

AI helped draft this page; every number was checked against the sources.

  1. USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS 2021–2023) — Milk shake, fast food, flavors other than chocolate, FDC 2705509 (small 405 g, medium 526 g, large 690 g)
  2. USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS 2021–2023) — Milk shake, fast food, chocolate, FDC 2705508
  3. UK CoFID 2021 (McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods) — Milkshake, thick, takeaway, code 12-327

Questions

Questions people ask.

How many calories are in a milkshake?

A typical restaurant serving of a milkshake (one small 12 fl oz shake, no whipped cream, about 405 g) is about 600 calories, usually 400–1,300. The number depends mostly on the portion and how it is cooked.

How many calories are in a medium or large milkshake?

About 780 for a medium and about 1,020 for a large.

Is a milkshake higher than a blended coffee?

Yes: a small shake is about 600, against about 410 for a medium blended coffee, because ice cream is the base.

What changes the calories in a milkshake?

Cup size. Ice cream share vs milk.

How can I order a milkshake lighter?

Order a small or kids' size. Share a large one with two straws.

Can PlateDiary show calories for the dishes I eat out?

Yes, if you want it to: calories in PlateDiary are off unless you turn them on. Switch them on and each dish you save from a photo of the table gets one rough “~” number you can accept or change.