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 1301–1350 of 2,883 foods
| # | Food | Category | Per 100 g | % DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1301 | Refried beans, canned, reduced sodium | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.44 mg | 8% |
| 1302 | Cookie, fortune | Baked Products | 1.44 mg | 8% |
| 1303 | Refried beans, canned | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.44 mg | 8% |
| 1304 | Snacks, potato chips, lightly salted | Snacks | 1.43 mg | 8% |
| 1305 | Coffee cake, cinnamon with crumb topping, dry mix, prepared | Baked Products | 1.43 mg | 8% |
| 1306 | Mushroom, straw, canned, drained solids | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.43 mg | 8% |
| 1307 | Sauce, plum, ready-to-serve | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 1.43 mg | 8% |
| 1308 | Black-eyed peas (cowpeas, crowder, southern), common, mature seeds, canned with pork | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.42 mg | 8% |
| 1309 | Cake, chocolate, pudding-type, dry mix, prepared, with chocolate icing (frosting) | Baked Products | 1.42 mg | 8% |
| 1310 | Wiener (frankfurter), meatless | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.41 mg | 8% |
| 1311 | Snacks, SUNCHIPS, Harvest Cheddar flavour | Snacks | 1.41 mg | 8% |
| 1312 | Nuts, Chinese chestnuts, raw | Nuts and Seeds | 1.41 mg | 8% |
| 1313 | Beans, legumes, mung (green gram), boiled | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.40 mg | 8% |
| 1314 | Beans, baked, canned, with pork and sweet sauce | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.40 mg | 8% |
| 1315 | Brussels sprouts, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.40 mg | 8% |
| 1316 | Pickles, chowchow, with cauliflower onion mustard, sweet | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.40 mg | 8% |
| 1317 | Snacks, corn cakes | Snacks | 1.40 mg | 8% |
| 1318 | Snacks, corn cakes, very low sodium | Snacks | 1.40 mg | 8% |
| 1319 | Beans, legumes, mung (green gram), boiled, salted | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.40 mg | 8% |
| 1320 | Bread, banana, homemade, made with margarine | Baked Products | 1.40 mg | 8% |
| 1321 | Tortilla, ready-to-bake / fry, corn, unsalted | Baked Products | 1.40 mg | 8% |
| 1322 | Apple, dried, sulphured, uncooked | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.40 mg | 8% |
| 1323 | Candies, bars, Mr Goodbar | Sweets | 1.39 mg | 8% |
| 1324 | Pumpkin, canned | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.39 mg | 8% |
| 1325 | Potato flour | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.38 mg | 8% |
| 1326 | Snacks, tortilla chips, ranch | Snacks | 1.38 mg | 8% |
| 1327 | Sauce, steak, tomato based, ready-to-serve | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 1.37 mg | 8% |
| 1328 | Cherry, sour, red, canned, water pack, solids and liquid | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.37 mg | 8% |
| 1329 | Cake, white, pudding-type, dry mix, unprepared | Baked Products | 1.36 mg | 8% |
| 1330 | Pie, pumpkin, commercial | Baked Products | 1.36 mg | 8% |
| 1331 | Potato, french-fried, frozen, restaurant prepared, fried in vegetable oil | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.36 mg | 8% |
| 1332 | Snacks, potato chips, barbecue flavour | Snacks | 1.36 mg | 8% |
| 1333 | Soy sauce (made with soy and wheat), shoyu, sodium reduced | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.35 mg | 8% |
| 1334 | Chili con carne with beans, canned | Mixed Dishes | 1.34 mg | 7% |
| 1335 | Mushroom, oyster, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.33 mg | 7% |
| 1336 | Pepper, chili, green, canned | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.33 mg | 7% |
| 1337 | Sweet potato, canned, mashed | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.33 mg | 7% |
| 1338 | Tomato, red, ripe, canned, stewed | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.33 mg | 7% |
| 1339 | Grains, barley, pearled, cooked | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 1.33 mg | 7% |
| 1340 | Beans, pinto, canned, drained solids | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.33 mg | 7% |
| 1341 | Candies, ALMOND JOY BITES | Sweets | 1.33 mg | 7% |
| 1342 | Swamp cabbage (skunk cabbage, water convulvolus), boiled, drained, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.32 mg | 7% |
| 1343 | Swamp cabbage (skunk cabbage, water convulvolus), boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.32 mg | 7% |
| 1344 | Cherry, sour, red, canned, light syrup pack, solids and liquid | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.32 mg | 7% |
| 1345 | Pasta, Japanese noodles, somen, dry | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 1.32 mg | 7% |
| 1346 | Potato, french-fried, frozen, extruded, unprepared | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.32 mg | 7% |
| 1347 | Snacks, tortilla chips, plain, yellow corn | Snacks | 1.32 mg | 7% |
| 1348 | Soybeans, mature seeds, sprouted, bean sprouts, steamed | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.31 mg | 7% |
| 1349 | Candies, bars, Twix, chocolate fudge cookie | Sweets | 1.31 mg | 7% |
| 1350 | Carissa (natalplum), raw | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.31 mg | 7% |
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