Real numbers · sources cited
Calories in ful medames: the best breakfast deal in the region — until the oil flood
The clean number first: cooked fava beans — the entire base of ful — are USDA FDC 2707367 — 161 kcal per 100 g (7.1 P / 18.3 C / 6.9 F). So a 250 g restaurant bowl is ≈400 kcal, with more fiber and plant protein per calorie than nearly anything else on a breakfast table. Then the bowl gets dressed:
The honest breakfast math
| What actually happens | Amount | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Ful, the bowl itself (cooked fava base) | 250 g | ≈400 |
| Olive-oil pour on top | 1–2 tbsp (typical) | ≈120–240 |
| Bread for scooping | ⅔–1 flatbread (~65–100 g, typical flatbread ≈275/100 g) | ≈180–275 |
| Boiled egg, tahini drizzle, extras | 1 egg ≈75 · 1 tbsp tahini ≈90 (typical) | +75–165 |
The oil and the bread turn a 400-kcal bowl into a 700–900 kcal breakfast. Full honest range: ≈350 — light bowl, restrained oil, half the bread — to ≈900 loaded. The beans were never the problem; the pour and the scooping are.
Every ladle dresses the beans differently
Cairo carts, Gulf cafeterias, and home pots start from the same fava and finish kilometres apart — the oil on top is the single biggest swing. The scan estimates your actual bowl as served — editable grams, cited receipt, same answer every time — and Proba is fully localized in Arabic.
Scan your ful — free, 3 scans/dayMethod & limitations: how Proba counts. Cited entries link to FoodData Central; values per 100 g as published.