New York-Style Pizza Calories: Match the Slice Size

For a plain cheese slice weighing about 170 g, roughly 380–450 calories is a reasonable working estimate. If you need one number for a quick log, use 400 calories, then replace it with the shop’s nutrition information when available.

That estimate uses two reference foods: Sbarro’s 17-inch NY cheese pizza and USDA’s regular-crust chain cheese pizza. They work out to about 2.22 and 2.66 calories per gram, respectively. This is a comparison-based estimate—not a measured average of New York pizzeria slices. (Sbarro nutrition guide, USDA record)

One slice can mean one-sixth or one-eighth

The number of cuts matters even when the pizza itself stays the same. Sbarro’s US guide dated October 12, 2022 lists 2,750 calories for a whole 17-inch NY cheese pizza and 3,110 for pepperoni. The guide remains linked from its US nutrition page as checked October 3, 2026.

Dividing those whole-pizza totals gives:

Pizza	If cut into 8 equal slices	If cut into 6 equal slices
17-inch NY cheese	About 344 calories each	About 458 calories each
17-inch NY pepperoni	About 389 calories each	About 518 calories each

These are calculated portions, not published slice values or a claim about how every Sbarro location cuts its pizzas. They assume equal slices and evenly distributed toppings. (Source totals)

A sixth of the same pizza contains one-third more food than an eighth. That portion difference alone can explain why two calorie lookups disagree.

If you can weigh the slice

For an unlabelled plain cheese slice, use this fallback calculation:

Slice weight in grams × roughly 2.22–2.66 = estimated calories

Rounded to the nearest ten calories:

• 150 g: about 330–400 calories
• 170 g: about 380–450 calories
• 200 g: about 440–530 calories

The lower reference comes from Sbarro’s listed 2,750 calories per 1,237 g whole NY cheese pizza. The upper reference is USDA’s 266 calories per 100 g for a 14-inch regular-crust chain cheese pizza, with energy data tied to a February 2011 acquisition date. Neither reference exactly identifies an independent shop’s recipe, so this range is not a universal error margin. (Sbarro, USDA)

What to enter in your tracker

Use the restaurant’s value first, matching the topping, pizza diameter and stated portion. If there is only a whole-pizza total, divide by the actual number of equal slices. If neither is available, weigh your slice and use a comparable food entry.

Keep pepperoni, extra-cheese and white-pizza entries separate from plain cheese. For two comparable 170 g plain slices, the working estimate above becomes about 760–900 calories; using the quick-log estimate gives 800.