What Kind of Fat Is in Cricket Protein? A Look at the Fatty Acid Research

Most conversations about cricket protein stop at the protein. But dried crickets are also a source of fat, and if you read labels closely, you will want to know what kind. Here is what the published research says about the fatty acids in the house cricket (Acheta domesticus), the species most commonly farmed for food, and where the evidence is thinner than the marketing.

How much fat are we talking about?

Not a lot, relative to some other farmed insects. A University of Liège comparison of insect species, reported by NutraIngredients, found the three orthopterans it studied (crickets and a grasshopper) held roughly 10–15% lipids, while the yellow mealworm held about 32%. So crickets sit on the leaner side of the edible-insect family.

What is the fat made of?

A 2023 review in Trends in Food Science and Technology, “House cricket (Acheta domesticus): A review based on its nutritional composition, quality, and potential uses in the food industry”, describes dried house crickets as containing saturated fatty acids (palmitic and stearic) but especially unsaturated ones (oleic and linoleic).

For actual percentages, we have to go back to an older paper. In a classic 1968 analysis in Lipids, Hutchins and Martin reported that the major fatty acids in house cricket lipids were linoleic acid (30–40%), oleic acid (23–27%), palmitic acid (24–30%) and stearic acid (7–11%). In plain terms: the largest single component is linoleic acid, an omega-6 polyunsaturated fat that humans must get from food, followed by oleic acid, the monounsaturated fat that olive oil is known for. Palmitic and stearic acids are the saturated portion.

That 1968 data is a single, old study on lab-reared crickets, so treat the exact percentages as a rough picture rather than a label guarantee.

Omega-6 versus omega-3

The Liège study noted that A. domesticus carries its essential fatty acids mainly as omega-6, with essential fatty acids making up about 42.5% of its fat, whereas a grasshopper in the same comparison leaned towards omega-3. Both linoleic acid (omega-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3) are essential for humans, but most modern diets already supply plenty of omega-6. So crickets are not an obvious fix for a low omega-3 intake, and anyone looking for omega-3 will do better with oily fish or other established sources.

The fat profile depends on what the cricket eats

This is the caveat that gets skipped most often. Hutchins and Martin found cricket tissue fat reflected the diet but not in a simple one-to-one way: the feed contained 53% linoleic acid, versus 30–40% in the crickets themselves. More recently, a 2025 study in Proceedings by Ferreira and colleagues fed house crickets DHA-rich microalgae. Total lipids rose by 13% (5% supplement) and 17% (10% supplement), DHA appeared in the supplemented crickets but was absent in the control group, and the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio improved, while protein stayed stable at about 53–55%.

The takeaway: a cricket’s fat profile is not fixed. It shifts with feed, which means two cricket products from two farms may not match. It also means farmers have a lever to improve the profile, though that is research-stage rather than something you should assume of any pack on the shelf.

So is it “healthy fat”?

Cautiously, it is a reasonable picture: mostly unsaturated, led by linoleic and oleic acids, with a saturated portion that is real but not dominant. But no study here tested whether eating cricket-based snacks changes cholesterol or heart health in people, so we should not claim that. In a finished snack, the overall fat, saturated fat and sodium also depend heavily on the other ingredients and how it is cooked. The Nutrition Information Panel on the pack is still the number to trust.

The bottom line

  • Crickets are relatively lean (about 10–15% lipids in the study above).
  • Their fat is mostly unsaturated, led by linoleic and oleic acids.
  • They are an omega-6-leaning source, not an omega-3 shortcut.
  • Diet changes the profile, so results vary by producer.

Where HexaCrunch fits

HexaCrunch crackers are baked brown-rice crackers made with cricket protein, and we would rather you judge them by the label than by the buzz. If you are curious, the Try-All 3-Pack is an easy way to taste the range.

Sources

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