Red meat and poultry dominate this ranking because their iron binds easily to the proteins that carry oxygen through your blood. Animal tissues contain haem iron, the form your body absorbs with the fewest obstacles. Plant foods hold non-haem iron, which your gut takes up less readily and only when other compounds in the meal do not block it.
Iron concentrates in organ meats, then muscle meats, then leafy greens and legumes. A single ranking cannot show you absorption rates. Two foods with the same iron count per 100 g deliver different amounts to your bloodstream depending on what else you eat alongside them.
Without animal foods, you lose access to haem iron. Plant sources and fortified foods supply non-haem iron instead, which your body absorbs at a lower rate and loses to interference from phytates, tannins and polyphenols in the same meal. Eating vitamin C alongside iron-rich plants improves uptake substantially. Many fortified cereals and plant milks contain added iron in amounts comparable to meat, but absorption remains the limiting factor on a vegetarian or vegan diet.
FDA daily value: 18 mg
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Showing 501–550 of 2,883 foods
| # | Food | Category | Per 100 g | % DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 501 | Nuts, almonds, oil roasted, unblanched, salted | Nuts and Seeds | 3.68 mg | 20% |
| 502 | Cereal, ready to eat, Heritage O's, Nature's Path | Breakfast cereals | 3.68 mg | 20% |
| 503 | Nuts, almonds, oil roasted, lightly salted | Nuts and Seeds | 3.68 mg | 20% |
| 504 | Seeds, breadfruit seeds, raw | Nuts and Seeds | 3.67 mg | 20% |
| 505 | Nuts, almond butter, honey and cinnamon, salted | Nuts and Seeds | 3.66 mg | 20% |
| 506 | Cracker, standard snack-type, with whole-wheat | Baked Products | 3.65 mg | 20% |
| 507 | Agave, dried | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.64 mg | 20% |
| 508 | Borage, boiled, drained, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.64 mg | 20% |
| 509 | Borage, boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.64 mg | 20% |
| 510 | Bread, rye | Baked Products | 3.64 mg | 20% |
| 511 | Pasta, spaghetti, whole-wheat, dry | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 3.63 mg | 20% |
| 512 | Bread, white, commercial, reduced sodium | Baked Products | 3.63 mg | 20% |
| 513 | Pasta, macaroni (elbow), whole wheat, dry | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 3.63 mg | 20% |
| 514 | Bread, white, commercial | Baked Products | 3.63 mg | 20% |
| 515 | Bread, rice bran, gluten free | Baked Products | 3.61 mg | 20% |
| 516 | Grains, barley, dry | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 3.60 mg | 20% |
| 517 | Cracker, standard snack type, low sodium | Baked Products | 3.60 mg | 20% |
| 518 | Hot chocolate, cocoa, without sugar, mix, powder | Beverages | 3.60 mg | 20% |
| 519 | Sweets, syrups, cane | Sweets | 3.60 mg | 20% |
| 520 | Grains, wheat, hard red spring | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 3.60 mg | 20% |
| 521 | Cereal, ready to eat, Muesli: organic, Jordans | Breakfast cereals | 3.60 mg | 20% |
| 522 | Muffin, wheat bran, dry mix, unprepared | Baked Products | 3.60 mg | 20% |
| 523 | Doughnut (donut), cake-type, chocolate, sugared or glazed | Baked Products | 3.59 mg | 20% |
| 524 | Cookie, ladyfinger (without lemon juice or peel) | Baked Products | 3.58 mg | 20% |
| 525 | Cereal, ready to eat, Mesa Sunrise, Nature's Path | Breakfast cereals | 3.58 mg | 20% |
| 526 | Cookie, ladyfinger (with lemon juice and rind) | Baked Products | 3.58 mg | 20% |
| 527 | Bagel, plain (with onion, poppy seed and/or sesame seed) | Baked Products | 3.57 mg | 20% |
| 528 | Spinach, boiled, drained, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.57 mg | 20% |
| 529 | Spinach, boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.57 mg | 20% |
| 530 | Cracker, whole-wheat, reduced fat | Baked Products | 3.56 mg | 20% |
| 531 | Bread, sprouted wheat, commercial, toasted | Baked Products | 3.55 mg | 20% |
| 532 | Roll, dinner, wheat (60% whole wheat flour) | Baked Products | 3.55 mg | 20% |
| 533 | Soybeans, green (edamame), raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.55 mg | 20% |
| 534 | Agave, cooked | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.55 mg | 20% |
| 535 | Seeds, lotus seeds, dried | Nuts and Seeds | 3.53 mg | 20% |
| 536 | Nuts, pilinuts-canarytree, dried | Nuts and Seeds | 3.53 mg | 20% |
| 537 | Cereal, ready to eat, Hemp Plus Granola, Nature's Path | Breakfast cereals | 3.52 mg | 20% |
| 538 | Prune, dehydrated (low moisture), uncooked | Fruits and fruit juices | 3.52 mg | 20% |
| 539 | Grains, wheat, durum | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 3.52 mg | 20% |
| 540 | Potato, mashed, dehydrated, granules with milk, unprepared | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.50 mg | 19% |
| 541 | Nuts, almond butter, plain | Nuts and Seeds | 3.49 mg | 19% |
| 542 | Nuts, almond butter, plain, salted | Nuts and Seeds | 3.49 mg | 19% |
| 543 | Cereal, ready to eat, Shredded Wheat, Post | Breakfast cereals | 3.49 mg | 19% |
| 544 | Tomato products, canned, sauce, spanish style | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.48 mg | 19% |
| 545 | Cereal, ready to eat, Kashi: high fibre flakes and granola, Kashi | Breakfast cereals | 3.48 mg | 19% |
| 546 | Mushroom, Chanterelle, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.47 mg | 19% |
| 547 | Cracker, wheat, low fat | Baked Products | 3.47 mg | 19% |
| 548 | Grains, cornmeal (yellow), whole-grain | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 3.45 mg | 19% |
| 549 | Bread, wheat germ | Baked Products | 3.45 mg | 19% |
| 550 | Bread, Italian | Baked Products | 3.44 mg | 19% |
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