how can a food have more calories than the sum of its ingredients?

safiratynon

3 eggs--210 calories
ham --35 calories
peppers--5 calories
cheese --110 calories
onions --16 calories
total calories 376
Village Inn Denver omelette 840 calories for exactly same ingredients?

Sojo15

Because of the oil/fat they are using to fry it?

kelly_stevens81

I wouldn't expect it to be such a large difference but perhaps its cooked in butter, which is common for omelettes.
Also are they including the sides that come with the omelette such as toast/fruit/hash-browns/pancakes?.

TurtleTape

They aren't the same ingredients. Different hams and cheeses have different amounts of calories. Different sizes of eggs have different amounts of calories. You don't know how much of each one they're putting in, which affects the calories. You don't know what oils and butters they're using, which, again, affects the calories.

diannethegeek

Their omelettes come with a wheat allergy warning which usually indicates that they use pancake batter in the eggs to help make them fluffier. They also may include milk or cream in the eggs and will likely include the oil they cook anything in.

ZoneFive

Some restaurants add things to the eggs -- I think IHOP used to add a little pancake batter -- to make them thicker. Does the entry for Village Inn add hashbrowns to the entry (numbers for the whole meal, not just the omelet)?

PAV8888

And the more cheese than you think that they may be using?

And the pancake mix they may be adding (looking at you IHOP)?

And the butter or margarine they use to cook?

Also. Some places include sides (hash browns for example, or two margarined slices of bread). Others do not. Depends on the restaurant and their fine print.

jennybearlv

I'm confused. How do you know the exact ingredients and their quantities in this omelet? Do you work there and prepare the omelets yourself?

collectingblues

diannethegeek wrote: »

Their omelettes come with a wheat allergy warning which usually indicates that they use pancake batter in the eggs to help make them fluffier. They also may include milk or cream in the eggs and will likely include the oil they cook anything in.

Exactly what I was going to say. It's common for restaurants to add pancake batter to it to make them fluffier.

Spliner1969

They likely use full fat high calorie cheese, loads of real butter and toss in some olive oil if they can get away with it to make it more moist. Even the onions and peppers were probably sauteed in oil first.

Calliope610

When I get an omelet, I hope to hell there is more than less than a ounce of ham in it. 35cals of ham is a tiny scrap, not a main ingredient.

collectingblues

I'd also be surprised if it were only an ounce of cheese and an ounce of ham. An ounce isn't a lot -- and I'd expect at least two or three in an omelette.

diannethegeek

I'd also say I doubt any chain restaurant would use only an ounce of cheese in a 3 egg omelette. You can expect at least double that in most restaurant kitchens.

pinuplove

diannethegeek wrote: »

I'd also say I doubt any chain restaurant would use only an ounce of cheese in a 3 egg omelette. You can expect at least double that in most restaurant kitchens.

And that's not even accounting for overgenerous cooks in restaurant kitchens. They're usually just throwing stuff on there, not assembling from neat, rigorously weighed and portioned piles like *some* of us might do at home

HoneyBadger302

I think I've once ordered an omelet that included some cheese where it was probably only 1 oz of cheese (veggie omelet and the cheese was just sprinkled on top very lightly).

There's probably 3x that much cheese on there, and similar for the ham. And anything else they cook it in/add in. Pretty common to mix butter in with the eggs and other things that can add calories FAST.

Spliner1969

Agree with everyone.. it probably looks more like:

3 large eggs - 210 cals
2 oz chopped ham - 100 cals (that would be trimmed, conservative estimate)
2 oz shredded cheddar - 110 cals
2 tbsp sweet cream full fat butter salted - 200 cals
onions and peppers - 25 cals (guesstimate)
1 tbsp EVOO (to sautee the onions and peppers) - 120 cals

That's 765, and like I said, I was being conservative. They probably melt more cheese on top, and add other ingredients.

apullum

As others have said, your post doesn't take portion sizes into account. The numbers you provided would make a very small omelet by most restaurant standards. You're likely eating far more ham, cheese, oil, and/or butter than you expect. Restaurants tend to cook with a lot more fat than we do at home!

steph2strong

If you look at the macronutrient breakdown of the Village Inn Denver omelette, there is 52 gm of fat, 37 gm of protein and 61 gm of carbs! indicating that there is a lot more ham/cheese/oil/butter and likely pancake batter in the omelette than you are considering.

collectingblues

Spliner1969 wrote: »

Agree with everyone.. it probably looks more like:

3 large eggs - 210 cals
2 oz chopped ham - 100 cals (that would be trimmed, conservative estimate)
2 oz shredded cheddar - 110 cals
2 tbsp sweet cream full fat butter salted - 200 cals
onions and peppers - 25 cals (guesstimate)
1 tbsp EVOO (to sautee the onions and peppers) - 120 cals

That's 765, and like I said, I was being conservative. They probably melt more cheese on top, and add other ingredients.

I'd say you could add another 110 calories to the cheddar -- cheddar is usually 110 calories per ounce. So that takes us to 875, which is pretty close to the 840.

Calliope610

Spliner1969 wrote: »

Agree with everyone.. it probably looks more like:

3 large eggs - 210 cals
2 oz chopped ham - 100 cals (that would be trimmed, conservative estimate)
2 oz shredded cheddar - 110 cals
2 tbsp sweet cream full fat butter salted - 200 cals
onions and peppers - 25 cals (guesstimate)
1 tbsp EVOO (to sautee the onions and peppers) - 120 cals

That's 765, and like I said, I was being conservative. They probably melt more cheese on top, and add other ingredients.

more like 220 cals for 2 oz, bringing the total to 865

CattOfTheGarage

Yes, there's definitely more than an ounce of cheese on a restaurant omelette!

jasondjulian

This is why what we make at home with whole, real ingredients will almost always be better for our health and nutrition than restaurants.