Group · Meat
Lardons (bacon pieces)
Lardons are diced pork belly (pork), salted and often smoked. So they are two things at once: a meat and a cured meat, and it is the second nature that dominates the figures.
On the nutrition side, cooked lardons provide 324 kcal per 100 g, with 24.5 g of fat, of which 12.6 g is saturated fat, and 23.8 g of protein. The decisive figure is the salt: 3.8 g per 100 g, which is three quarters of the daily guideline in 100 g of product.
Macronutrient breakdown
Nutrition table per 100 g
| Calories | 324 kcal |
| Kilojoules | 1340 kJ |
| Protein | 23,8 g |
| Carbohydrate | 2 g |
| Fat | 24,5 g |
Micronutrients per 100 g
All measured nutrients, ranked by share of the daily reference intake.
- Vitamin B10,59 mg54 %
- Vitamin B36,9 mg43 %
- Vitamin B60,42 mg30 %
- Potassium572 mg29 %
- Vitamin B120,67 µg27 %
- Omega-6 LA2,41 g24 %
- Phosphorus156 mg22 %
- Selenium12 µg22 %
See the other 10 nutrients
- Zinc2,1 mg21 %
- Vitamin B50,8 mg13 %
- Vitamin B20,16 mg11 %
- Iodine12 µg8 %
- Magnesium22 mg6 %
- Iron0,5 mg4 %
- Vitamin E0,24 mg2 %
- Omega-3 ALA0,02 g1 %
- Calcium7,5 mg1 %
- Vitamin A1,17 µg0 %
Anses Ciqual 2025. Source: Anses, 2025, Ciqual food composition table
Tips
You do not eat 100 g, and that is what saves them. A quiche or carbonara for four contains 150 g, which is about 37 g per person: 120 kcal and 1.4 g of salt. That is already a lot for a supporting ingredient, but it is not the raw figure.
Never add salt to a dish with lardons. An absolute rule, and yet often forgotten: between the lardons, the cheese and the salted cooking water, a carbonara can by itself exceed a whole day’s guideline.
Fry them dry and discard the fat. They release a lot of it. A pan with no added fat, followed by a pass over kitchen paper, removes a real share of the fat from the finished dish.
Nitrites: the reason for the recommendations. Salted and smoked cured meats are subject to a limit recommendation: 150 g a week, all products combined, according to the French national nutrition and health programme (PNNS). Lardons count towards that total.
Unsmoked, nitrite-free versions exist. They are paler, keep for less time and cost more, but the difference in flavour in a slow-cooked dish is slight.
Pregnant? Raw cured meats and cooked cured meats kept cold are not recommended during pregnancy; anything cooked and served hot is allowed. See the list in our guide to cured meats in pregnancy.
Sources
Average nutrition values per 100 g, given as a guide only (they may vary by brand and preparation).
