The Calories in Jacket Potatoes With Cottage Cheese

Potatoes with cottage cheese and caraway seeds

Paweł Burgiel/iStock/Getty Images

Jacket potato is simply the British term for what Americans know as a baked potato. When you top your baked potato with cottage cheese, you can end up with a wide range of calories, depending on the size of the potato and the amount of fat in the cottage cheese. The two have complementary nutritional values, as jacket potatoes are high in carbohydrates and low in protein, while cottage cheese is rich in protein and low in carbohydrates.

Calories in the Potato

The calories you'll get from the potato vary significantly depending on its size. A small baked potato, which is about 2 inches in diameter, only has 134 calories. A medium-sized potato has 168 calories, while a large one contains 290 calories.

Calories in Cottage Cheese

Choose low-fat cottage cheese -- and avoid creamed cottage cheese -- to keep your fat and calories down. One cup of low-fat cottage cheese made from 1 percent milk contains 163 calories and only 2 grams of fat. However, the calories jump to 220 and you'll get 10 grams of fat in a 1-cup serving of creamed cottage cheese.

Calories From Carbs

One cup of low-fat cottage cheese contributes 6 grams of total carbohydrates, which only accounts for 24 of its total calories. However, nearly 90 percent of a baked potato consists of carbohydrates. A small potato has 30 grams of carbs, or 120 calories. You'll get 64 grams of carbs, which equals 256 calories, from a large potato.

Calories From Protein

A small potato contains 3.6 grams of protein, while a large-sized baked potato delivers 8 grams. These values represent 14 and 32 calories respectively. On the flip side, cottage cheese is a rich source of complete protein, containing 25 to 28 grams, or 100 to 112 calories, in 1 cup of most varieties.

Total Calories

If you choose a small potato with 1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese, your pocket potato supplies 297 calories. At the highest end, a large baked potato with 1 cup of creamed cottage cheese has a whopping 510 calories.