A tablespoon of almond oil contains about 120 calories and 14 grams of fat, and that fat is the whole story: pure almond oil has no carbohydrate, no protein, no sugar, and no fibre. The fat is dominated by monounsaturated oleic acid, with a modest amount of polyunsaturated fat and only around a gram of saturated fat. It also carries a meaningful amount of vitamin E, roughly 5 mg per tablespoon.
Everything below refers to sweet almond oil (Prunus dulcis), the type pressed for food and cosmetics. Bitter almond oil is a different product, is not used as an edible oil in the same way, and shouldn't be treated as a kitchen ingredient — so the nutrition figures here don't apply to it. For the edible figures to mean anything, the oil also needs to be food-grade; cosmetic-grade oil isn't produced or tested for eating.
Almond oil nutrition per tablespoon
The table below shows typical amounts for one tablespoon (about 13.6–14 g) of plain almond oil. Percent daily values (%DV) use a 2,000-calorie reference diet.
| Nutrient | Per 1 tbsp (~14 g) | %DV* |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | ~120 kcal | 6% |
| Total fat | ~14 g | 18% |
| Saturated fat | ~1 g | 5% |
| Monounsaturated fat | ~9.5 g | — |
| Polyunsaturated fat | ~2.5 g | — |
| Trans fat | 0 g | — |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0% |
| Sodium | 0 mg | 0% |
| Total carbohydrate | 0 g | 0% |
| Protein | 0 g | 0% |
| Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) | ~5 mg | ~26% |
| Vitamin K | ~1 mcg | ~1% |
*These are typical USDA-style values for a generic sweet almond oil. Real products differ — the fatty-acid split in particular shifts with the almond variety and growing region, and refined oils often carry less vitamin E than unrefined ones. Treat the numbers as a reliable ballpark, not an exact spec, and check the panel on your own bottle.
What each component does
Because almond oil is essentially all fat plus vitamin E, the nutrition story is really about the kind of fat and that one vitamin.
Monounsaturated fat (oleic acid)
The largest fraction — around 9–10 g per tablespoon — is monounsaturated, mostly oleic acid, the same fat that dominates olive oil. Diets where monounsaturated fats replace saturated fats are generally associated with better blood-lipid patterns. That's an association tied to overall dietary pattern, not a promise that adding almond oil to a poor diet changes anything on its own. We cover the cardiovascular angle in more depth in the guide to almond oil and heart health.
Polyunsaturated fat (linoleic acid)
A smaller share, around 2–3 g, is polyunsaturated — chiefly linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid the body can't make itself. It's an essential fat, though most modern diets already supply plenty of omega-6, so almond oil isn't a notable source you'd seek out for that reason.
Saturated fat
Only about a gram per tablespoon is saturated, which is low compared with tropical oils like coconut. That low saturated share is part of why almond oil is often grouped with the "heart-healthier" cooking oils.
Vitamin E
The standout micronutrient is vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), at roughly 5 mg — about a quarter of an adult's daily value — per tablespoon. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant that helps protect cell membranes from oxidative damage and, conveniently, helps the oil itself resist going rancid. For a fuller look at how much there is and what it can and can't do, see almond oil and vitamin E.
Notice what's absent: there's no fibre, protein, magnesium, or the other minerals you'd get from eating whole almonds. Those stay in the leftover press cake. So almond oil and a handful of almonds are nutritionally very different foods — the oil is concentrated energy and fat-soluble vitamins, nothing more.
There's also a trace of vitamin K and small amounts of plant compounds called phytosterols, but the quantities are minor and not a reason to choose the oil. The two things worth caring about, nutritionally, are the fatty-acid ratio — favourably tilted toward monounsaturated fat — and the vitamin E. Everything else is rounding error. That simplicity is actually a strength: with a single-ingredient oil there are no additives, sweeteners, or hidden sodium to account for, so the panel really is the whole story.
One more point about the fat itself. Because almond oil is so heavily unsaturated, it oxidises more readily than a saturated fat like coconut oil. That's chemistry, not a defect, but it explains why the naturally present vitamin E matters, why storing the bottle cool and dark helps, and why an oil past its prime smells sharp or paint-like. Oxidised oil is best discarded rather than used up, so buying a size you'll finish within a few months is the practical move.
Does the nutrition matter for cooking or skin?
How much these numbers matter depends entirely on how you use the oil.
In the kitchen
Eaten, almond oil behaves like any calorie-dense fat: about 120 calories a tablespoon adds up quickly, so portion control is the main thing to keep in mind. Its value in cooking is the favourable fat split and the gentle, faintly nutty flavour of unrefined versions. Refining changes the picture slightly — it raises the smoke point and stabilises the oil but tends to strip some vitamin E and flavour, which is why the type you buy affects both how it cooks and what's left in it nutritionally. If you're weighing this up, the refined vs unrefined guide explains the trade-offs, and can you cook with almond oil covers practical use and heat.
On skin and hair
Applied topically, the calorie and macronutrient figures are irrelevant — you're not eating it. What matters there is the fatty-acid makeup (oleic and linoleic acids that soften skin and slow water loss) and the vitamin E, which acts as an antioxidant and a natural preservative. In other words, the same components do different jobs depending on whether the oil goes in your mouth or on your body.
This is also where the grade of the oil matters most. Food-grade almond oil is produced and tested for eating; cosmetic-grade oil is intended for skin and isn't held to food-safety standards, even though the underlying fat is similar. If you only ever put it on your skin, cosmetic-grade is fine and the nutrition panel is beside the point. If there's any chance the oil ends up in food — finishing a dish, dressing a salad, or simply a shared bottle — buy food-grade. When in doubt, treat the two as separate products rather than interchangeable.
A note on these figures and their sources
The values here are drawn from typical USDA-style food-composition data for plant oils and from published fatty-acid analyses of sweet almond oil. We've rounded them to round numbers because precision would be false: independent lab analyses of commercial almond oils show real spread, especially in the oleic-to-linoleic ratio and the vitamin E content. Variety of almond, climate, harvest year, pressing method, and degree of refining all move the needle.
So use this as a dependable reference for the shape of almond oil's nutrition — high fat, mostly monounsaturated, low saturated, a good slug of vitamin E, nothing else — but for an exact figure on a specific bottle, the manufacturer's own nutrition panel is the authority. For the wider picture of what the oil offers beyond the numbers, the almond oil benefits overview pulls the skin, hair, culinary, and wellbeing threads together, and you can browse everything in the benefits hub.
This article is for general information and isn't medical or dietary advice. Nutrition figures are typical values and vary by product; check the label on your oil. People with a tree-nut allergy should avoid almond oil. Speak to a doctor or dietitian about your individual diet.