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
Selling a product with iron? Generate a print-ready nutrition label from your recipe.
Showing 801–850 of 3,584 foods
| # | Food | Category | Per 100 g | % DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 801 | Cereals ready-to-eat, ALPEN | Breakfast Cereals | 3.00 mg | 17% |
| 802 | Cookie, chocolate, with icing or coating | Baked Products | 3.00 mg | 17% |
| 803 | Cereals, QUAKER, oatmeal, REAL MEDLEYS, cherry pistachio, dry | Breakfast Cereals | 2.99 mg | 17% |
| 804 | Beans, white, mature seeds, canned | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.99 mg | 17% |
| 805 | Cornmeal, yellow (Navajo) | American Indian/Alaska Native Foods | 2.99 mg | 17% |
| 806 | Grape leaves, canned | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 2.98 mg | 17% |
| 807 | Tomato products, canned, paste, without salt added (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program) | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 2.98 mg | 17% |
| 808 | Beans, kidney, california red, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.98 mg | 17% |
| 809 | Beans, kidney, california red, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.98 mg | 17% |
| 810 | Cookies, shortbread, reduced fat | Baked Products | 2.98 mg | 17% |
| 811 | Cookies, shortbread, commercially prepared, plain | Baked Products | 2.98 mg | 17% |
| 812 | Popovers, dry mix, enriched | Baked Products | 2.97 mg | 16% |
| 813 | Bread, whole-wheat, commercially prepared, toasted | Baked Products | 2.96 mg | 16% |
| 814 | Snacks, granola bars, hard, plain | Snacks | 2.95 mg | 16% |
| 815 | Bread, oatmeal, toasted | Baked Products | 2.94 mg | 16% |
| 816 | Carob flour | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.94 mg | 16% |
| 817 | Beans, kidney, all types, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.94 mg | 16% |
| 818 | Beans, kidney, red, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.94 mg | 16% |
| 819 | Beans, kidney, red, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.94 mg | 16% |
| 820 | Cake, pudding-type, chocolate, dry mix | Baked Products | 2.92 mg | 16% |
| 821 | Mush, blue corn with ash (Navajo) | American Indian/Alaska Native Foods | 2.92 mg | 16% |
| 822 | Cornmeal, blue (Navajo) | American Indian/Alaska Native Foods | 2.91 mg | 16% |
| 823 | Baking chocolate, MARS SNACKFOOD US, M&M's Semisweet Chocolate Mini Baking Bits | Sweets | 2.91 mg | 16% |
| 824 | Nuts, walnuts, english | Nut and Seed Products | 2.91 mg | 16% |
| 825 | Bread, reduced-calorie, wheat | Baked Products | 2.91 mg | 16% |
| 826 | Babyfood, cookie, baby, fruit | Baby Foods | 2.90 mg | 16% |
| 827 | Bread, raisin, enriched | Baked Products | 2.90 mg | 16% |
| 828 | Cookies, fig bars | Baked Products | 2.90 mg | 16% |
| 829 | Tortilla, blue corn, Sakwavikaviki (Hopi) | American Indian/Alaska Native Foods | 2.89 mg | 16% |
| 830 | Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.89 mg | 16% |
| 831 | Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.89 mg | 16% |
| 832 | Pie crust, standard-type, prepared from recipe, baked | Baked Products | 2.89 mg | 16% |
| 833 | Cereals ready-to-eat, OAT BRAN FLAKES, HEALTH VALLEY | Breakfast Cereals | 2.88 mg | 16% |
| 834 | Cereals, QUAKER, QUAKER MultiGrain Oatmeal, dry | Breakfast Cereals | 2.88 mg | 16% |
| 835 | Cake, gingerbread, prepared from recipe | Baked Products | 2.88 mg | 16% |
| 836 | Bread, pan dulce, sweet yeast bread | Baked Products | 2.87 mg | 16% |
| 837 | Muffins, English, wheat | Baked Products | 2.87 mg | 16% |
| 838 | T.G.I. FRIDAY'S, classic sirloin steak (10 oz) | Restaurant Foods | 2.87 mg | 16% |
| 839 | Pasta mix, Italian lasagna, unprepared | Meals, Entrees, and Side Dishes | 2.87 mg | 16% |
| 840 | Snacks, popcorn, microwave, 94% fat free | Snacks | 2.87 mg | 16% |
| 841 | Bread, pumpernickel | Baked Products | 2.87 mg | 16% |
| 842 | Cereals ready-to-eat, QUAKER, QUAKER Puffed Rice | Breakfast Cereals | 2.86 mg | 16% |
| 843 | KFC, biscuit | Fast Foods | 2.86 mg | 16% |
| 844 | Seaweed, kelp, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 2.85 mg | 16% |
| 845 | Beans, black turtle, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.85 mg | 16% |
| 846 | Beans, black turtle, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.85 mg | 16% |
| 847 | Beans, small white, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.84 mg | 16% |
| 848 | Beans, small white, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.84 mg | 16% |
| 849 | Peanut spread, reduced sugar | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.84 mg | 16% |
| 850 | Bread, rye | Baked Products | 2.83 mg | 16% |
Need this on a label? Turn these foods into a print-ready Nutrition Facts label.
Make a labelBuild a recipe from any of these ingredients and export a print-ready FDA or Canada Nutrition Facts label. Free.