Is Chicken Bad for Gout or High in Uric Acid? Every Cut Compared

TL;DR

• Chicken isn’t bad for gout in normal portions, but it isn’t a low-purine food: skinless breast has about 160 mg of purines per 100 g raw, which is in the high band.
• Breast, thigh, drumstick and wing all measure between about 135 and 160 mg per 100 g raw. Chicken liver, at about 245 mg, is the part to limit.
• Portion size matters more than the cut. Keep it to one palm-sized serving (3 to 4 oz cooked) per meal, and skip second helpings during a flare.

Chicken isn’t bad for gout in normal portions, but it isn’t the low-purine “safe” meat it’s often called. Skinless chicken breast has about 160 mg of purines per 100 g raw, which puts it in the high band, so one sensible portion fits a gout diet while large or repeated servings add up.

The cut you choose matters less than you might think, with one exception: chicken liver. Here’s how each part compares, how much is reasonable, and what the research says about chicken and uric acid.

Is chicken high in uric acid?

Chicken is high in purines, the compounds your body breaks down into uric acid. The USDA and NIH purine database puts raw skinless chicken breast at about 160 mg per 100 g (published analyses range from about 130 to 290). By the standard bands (low under 50, moderate 50 to 100, high 100 to 200, very high over 200 mg per 100 g), that’s high, though below organ meats and oily fish such as anchovies (about 355 mg) and canned sardines (about 400 mg).

In real portions, that works out to:

• 4 oz raw breast (113 g): about 180 mg
• 3 oz cooked breast (85 g): about 155 mg
• 6 oz cooked breast (170 g): about 315 mg

Cooked chicken measures more per 100 g (about 185 mg; analyses range from about 180 to 370) because cooking drives off water. The piece doesn’t gain purines; they’re just packed into less weight.

Food isn’t the only source of uric acid. Your body makes most of it, and dietary purines are only part of the picture. But for people who already have gout, what you eat over a couple of days still matters: in a study of 633 people with gout, the highest purine intake over two days was linked to almost five times the odds of a flare, and the link was much stronger for purines from animal foods than from plants.

Purines in chicken by cut

Values are from the USDA and NIH purine database unless marked. Portions are calculated from the per-100 g figure.

Cut	Purines per 100 g	Typical portion	Purines per portion	Band
Chicken liver (raw)	245 mg	4 oz raw	~275 mg	Very high
Ground chicken (raw)	195 mg	4 oz raw	~220 mg	High
Breast, skinless (cooked)	185 mg	3 oz cooked	~155 mg	High
Breast, skinless (raw)	160 mg	4 oz raw	~180 mg	High
Thigh meat (raw)	140 mg	4 oz raw	~160 mg	High
Wing (raw)	140 mg	4 oz raw	~160 mg	High
Drumstick (raw)	135 mg	4 oz raw	~155 mg	High
Rotisserie chicken, average (cooked)*	120 mg	3 oz cooked	~100 mg	High
Breast with skin (raw)*	110 mg	4 oz raw	~125 mg	High
Chicken nuggets (as sold)*	75 mg	4 oz	~85 mg	Moderate

*Not in the USDA and NIH database; these are our reference estimates.

Apart from liver, the raw cuts measured in the database sit between about 135 and 195 mg per 100 g, all in the high band. The gap between the lowest and highest of them is under 70 mg per 4-ounce serving, far less than the difference between eating one serving and two. For other meats on the same scale, see our purine content in meat chart.

Is chicken breast or thigh better for gout?

Neither is clearly better. Thigh meat measures a little lower than breast (about 140 versus 160 mg per 100 g raw), which is about 20 mg per 4-ounce portion, and breast values vary widely between analyses. Pick the one you enjoy. Thigh has a bit more fat: about 4.1 g per 100 g raw versus 2.6 g for skinless breast, according to USDA FoodData Central.

What about the skin? Skin-on breast comes out lower per 100 g in our reference estimate (about 110 mg) only because the skin, which is mostly fat, dilutes the meat. Two older analyses put chicken skin itself at about 60 and 105 mg per 100 g. Leaving the skin on doesn’t remove any purines from the meat underneath; it adds fat and calories (raw chicken skin is about 32 g of fat per 100 g). That’s a weight and heart question rather than a purine one, but weight matters for gout too: the ACR’s 2020 guideline recommends weight loss for people with gout who are overweight.

Are chicken livers bad for gout?

Yes, they’re the part of the chicken to limit. Chicken liver measures about 245 mg of purines per 100 g raw, in the very high band, based on 15 samples. A single liver (about 44 g) has roughly 110 mg, and a 4-ounce plate of livers about 275 mg. If you love them, keep them to a small, occasional portion and not during a flare. More in is liver bad for gout.

Is chicken good for uric acid?

No, chicken doesn’t lower uric acid. It’s a good source of lean protein, but research doesn’t single it out as a gout-friendly meat.

• US men. In the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (47,150 men followed for 12 years), those who ate the most meat had a 41% higher risk of developing gout and those who ate the most seafood a 51% higher risk. Total protein wasn’t linked to gout, and the highest dairy intake was linked to a 44% lower risk.
• Singapore. In the Singapore Chinese Health Study (63,257 adults enrolled; the gout analysis covered 51,114 of them, 2,167 of whom developed gout), the top quarter of poultry protein intake was linked to a 27% higher risk than the bottom quarter. Soy foods (14% lower risk) and other legumes (17% lower) went the other way.
• Versus red meat. Per 100 g, skinless chicken breast isn’t lower in purines than most beef: raw beef cuts measure about 105 mg per 100 g (analyses range from about 75 to 190). Swapping steak for chicken doesn’t lower purines by itself; smaller meat portions overall do.

If you want protein with very few purines, look at eggs (close to 0 mg per 100 g), milk (close to 0), plain yogurt (about 5 mg; analyses range from about 5 to 10) and tofu (two analyses found about 25 mg, ranging from about 20 to 30, though older tables list it higher; soy foods were linked to lower gout risk in the Singapore study). See are eggs bad for gout and is tofu bad for gout.

How much chicken can you eat with gout?

There’s no official gram limit. The ACR’s 2020 guideline advises limiting purine intake in general rather than banning single foods. A practical way to do that with chicken:

• One palm-sized portion per meal. That’s about 3 to 4 oz cooked, or roughly 155 to 210 mg of purines.
• Not at every meal. Chicken at lunch and dinner every day adds up quickly.
• Don’t stack it. Chicken plus shrimp, or chicken followed by a plate of wings, doubles the load.
• Fill the rest of the plate with vegetables, rice, potatoes or beans.
• Ease off during a flare. Smaller portions, no livers, more water.

Does cooking change purines in chicken?

Cooking mostly changes how purines are measured, not how many you eat.

• Baked, roasted or grilled. Water loss concentrates purines per 100 g. In one set of older analyses, roasted thigh measured about 149 mg per 100 g versus about 140 mg raw. The piece you started with has the same purines.
• Fried. Same concentration, plus breading and oil. Coatings add calories, not purines.
• Boiled, poached or stewed. Some purines may move into the cooking water, which is well documented for vegetables but much less so for meat. In one older analysis, stewed chicken breast measured about the same per 100 g as raw breast from the same lab. If you drink the broth or make gravy from it, you get back whatever leached out.

Poaching and discarding the liquid may help a little, but portion size is a far more reliable lever. If you want to see whether chicken is one of your own triggers, an app like Urica can log meals next to flares so the pattern shows up over time.

The Bottom Line

Chicken isn’t bad for gout in normal portions, but it’s a high-purine food, not a free one: about 160 mg per 100 g for raw skinless breast and between about 135 and 195 mg for the other common cuts. Breast versus thigh makes little difference, skin adds fat rather than purines, and chicken liver is the part to limit. Keep chicken to one palm-sized portion per meal, don’t eat it at every meal, and lean on eggs, dairy, tofu and beans for some of your protein.

Sources

• USDA and ODS-NIH. Database for the Purine Content of Foods, Release 2 (2025).
• USDA FoodData Central. Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, raw (SR Legacy, FDC ID 171077).
• Choi HK, et al. Purine-rich foods, dairy and protein intake, and the risk of gout in men. New England Journal of Medicine, 2004.
• Zhang Y, et al. Purine-rich foods intake and recurrent gout attacks. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 2012.
• Teng GG, et al. Food sources of protein and risk of incident gout in the Singapore Chinese Health Study. Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2015.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Talk to your rheumatologist or healthcare provider about your specific situation.