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Calories · Thai & Vietnamese

Calories in som tam

A typical restaurant serving of som tam (one plate of som tam Thai: pounded green papaya with dried shrimp, peanuts, tomato and palm sugar dressing, about 200 g) is about 210 calories, usually 60–350.

Restaurant portions vary; this is a typical estimate, not a label. Also called green papaya salad, Thai papaya salad, som tum, som tam Thai.

~210
Som tam

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

  • Protein9 g
  • Carbs29 g
  • Fat5 g

One serving

Serving
one plate of som tam Thai: pounded green papaya with dried shrimp, peanuts, tomato and palm sugar dressing
Weight
~200 g
Per 100 g
~105

The dish

About som tam

Som tam is shredded green papaya pounded in a mortar with chilli, garlic, lime, fish sauce and palm sugar; the Bangkok-style som tam Thai adds dried shrimp and peanuts. The papaya is light, so the sugar and peanuts set the number, and the sticky rice and grilled chicken served with it matter more than the salad. Numbers from Mahidol University’s Thai food tables for som tam Thai (105 per 100 g), for a 200 g plate; the portion is our estimate.

Ways it comes

One dish, a few numbers

Som tam · rough numbers

  • Isan style with pla ra~60
  • With sticky rice~440
  • With crab and dried shrimp (som tam poo)~170

What moves the number

Why one plate is 60 and another 350

  • Palm sugar in the dressing
  • Roasted peanuts
  • Sticky rice and grilled chicken eaten with it
  • Style: sweet som tam Thai versus salty Isan-style with pla ra

Ordering lighter

If you want a lighter plate

  • Ask for less sugar (wan noi)
  • Go easy on the peanuts
  • Pick the Isan style with pla ra

Side by side

Next to other Thai & Vietnamese dishes

Thai & Vietnamese · typical restaurant servingAll about Thai & Vietnamese food →

  • Tom yum~160one bowl of clear shrimp tom yum with broth, rice not included · usually 100–350
  • Som tam~210one plate of som tam Thai: pounded green papaya with dried shrimp, peanuts, tomato and palm sugar dressing · usually 60–350
  • Larb~240one plate of larb (about 200 g): minced meat tossed with lime, fish sauce, chilli, herbs and toasted rice powder · usually 180–400
  • Thai milk tea~280one regular cup (400 ml) of Thai milk tea over ice, sweetened with sugar and milk or creamer · usually 150–400
  • Fresh spring rolls~300about three rice-paper rolls with vegetables and meat, dipping sauce not included · usually 200–400
  • Tom kha gai~370one bowl of tom kha gai: chicken, galangal, lemongrass and mushrooms in coconut milk broth · usually 250–550
  • Pho~440one medium bowl with broth · usually 330–650
  • Mango sticky rice~490one plate of sticky rice, sweet coconut sauce and half a mango · usually 380–650
  • Khao pad (Thai fried rice)~500one plate of khao pad: jasmine rice fried with pork, egg, onion and tomato, with lime and cucumber · usually 400–750
  • Boat noodles~530one full-size bowl of pork boat noodles with meatballs and rice noodles in dark spiced broth · usually 380–940
  • Bánh mì~550one mixed-pork bánh mì on an 80 g roll · usually 400–750
  • Moo ping~560three moo ping skewers (about 120 g of pork) with a bag of sticky rice (100 g) · usually 400–750

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. Thai Food Composition Database (INMU, Mahidol University) — Papaya salad, spicy, with dried shrimps and roasted peanuts, Som-tum Thai (food ID 1513); Papaya salad, northeastern style, Som-tum Isan (food ID 1515); Papaya salad with crab and dried shrimps (food ID 1514); Rice, glutinous, polished, steamed (food ID 149)

Questions

Questions people ask.

How many calories are in som tam?

A typical restaurant serving of som tam (one plate of som tam Thai: pounded green papaya with dried shrimp, peanuts, tomato and palm sugar dressing, about 200 g) is about 210 calories, usually 60–350. The number depends mostly on the portion and how it is cooked.

Is som tam low in calories?

Yes, for a plate of food: about 210 for som tam Thai and about 60 for the Isan style, which has no sugar or peanuts.

How many calories is som tam with sticky rice?

About 440 with a 100 g basket of sticky rice.

Is som tam healthy?

That depends on more than calories. On calories alone it is one of the lightest Thai plates; it is often salty, from fish sauce and dried shrimp.

What changes the calories in som tam?

Palm sugar in the dressing. Roasted peanuts.

How can I order som tam lighter?

Ask for less sugar (wan noi). Go easy on the peanuts.

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.