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 301–350 of 2,883 foods
| # | Food | Category | Per 100 g | % DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 301 | Wheat, vital wheat gluten | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 5.20 mg | 29% |
| 302 | Snacks, soy chips or crisps, salted | Snacks | 5.20 mg | 29% |
| 303 | Nuts, mixed nuts, oil roasted without peanuts, lightly salted | Nuts and Seeds | 5.18 mg | 29% |
| 304 | Grains, wheat flour, white, cake flour | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 5.16 mg | 29% |
| 305 | Soybeans, dry, boiled, salted | Legumes and Legume Products | 5.14 mg | 29% |
| 306 | Cereal, ready to eat, Flax plus Raisin Bran, Nature's Path | Breakfast cereals | 5.14 mg | 29% |
| 307 | Soybeans, dry, boiled | Legumes and Legume Products | 5.14 mg | 29% |
| 308 | Kanpyo (dried gourd strips) | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 5.12 mg | 28% |
| 309 | Beans, hyacinth, raw | Legumes and Legume Products | 5.10 mg | 28% |
| 310 | Grains, wheat flour, white, bread flour | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 5.09 mg | 28% |
| 311 | Peppermint, fresh | Spices and Herbs | 5.08 mg | 28% |
| 312 | Beans, pinto, raw | Legumes and Legume Products | 5.07 mg | 28% |
| 313 | Snacks, bagel chips | Snacks | 5.05 mg | 28% |
| 314 | Nuts, cashew butter, plain | Nuts and Seeds | 5.03 mg | 28% |
| 315 | Beans, black, mature seeds, raw | Legumes and Legume Products | 5.02 mg | 28% |
| 316 | Beans, cranberry (roman), raw | Legumes and Legume Products | 5.00 mg | 28% |
| 317 | Grains, wheat flour, white, all purpose, unbleached | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 4.99 mg | 28% |
| 318 | Bread, sprouted wheat with added calcium and vitamin D, commercial | Baked Products | 4.99 mg | 28% |
| 319 | Beans, adzuki, raw | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.98 mg | 28% |
| 320 | Hot chocolate, low calorie, with aspartame, mix, powder, with added calcium and phosphorus, without added sodium or vitamin A | Beverages | 4.96 mg | 28% |
| 321 | Hot chocolate, with aspartame, mix, powder | Beverages | 4.96 mg | 28% |
| 322 | Nuts, almonds, toasted, unblanched | Nuts and Seeds | 4.92 mg | 27% |
| 323 | Nuts, cashew butter, plain, salted | Nuts and Seeds | 4.91 mg | 27% |
| 324 | English muffin, raisin-cinnamon, (apple cinnamon) toasted | Baked Products | 4.90 mg | 27% |
| 325 | Seeds, safflower seed kernels, dried | Nuts and Seeds | 4.90 mg | 27% |
| 326 | Tofu, fried | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.87 mg | 27% |
| 327 | Tofu, fried (prepared with calcium sulphate) | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.87 mg | 27% |
| 328 | Breakfast bar, corn flake crust with fruit | Baked Products | 4.86 mg | 27% |
| 329 | Chickpea flour (besan) | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.86 mg | 27% |
| 330 | Seeds, safflower seed meal, partially defatted | Nuts and Seeds | 4.86 mg | 27% |
| 331 | Bread crumbs, dry, grated, plain | Baked Products | 4.83 mg | 27% |
| 332 | Peas, split, raw | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.82 mg | 27% |
| 333 | Grains, wheat flour, white, all purpose, bleached | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 4.80 mg | 27% |
| 334 | Jute, potherb, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 4.76 mg | 26% |
| 335 | Coffee, instant with chicory, powder | Beverages | 4.76 mg | 26% |
| 336 | Peanut flour, low-fat | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.74 mg | 26% |
| 337 | Pasta, Chinese noodles, chow mein | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 4.73 mg | 26% |
| 338 | Pancake, buckwheat, dry mix, incomplete, unprepared | Baked Products | 4.73 mg | 26% |
| 339 | Sweets, fancy molasses | Sweets | 4.72 mg | 26% |
| 340 | Grains, oats | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 4.72 mg | 26% |
| 341 | Grains, barley, malt flour | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 4.71 mg | 26% |
| 342 | Nuts, filberts or hazelnuts, dried | Nuts and Seeds | 4.70 mg | 26% |
| 343 | Cake mix, gingerbread, dry, unprepared | Baked Products | 4.70 mg | 26% |
| 344 | Pasta, spaghetti, protein-fortified, enriched, dry | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 4.70 mg | 26% |
| 345 | Cereal, hot, oats, instant: Weight Control, Cinnamon, prepared, Quaker | Breakfast cereals | 4.66 mg | 26% |
| 346 | Cracker, matzo, whole-wheat | Baked Products | 4.65 mg | 26% |
| 347 | English muffin, plain (also sourdough), toasted | Baked Products | 4.65 mg | 26% |
| 348 | Cracker meal | Baked Products | 4.64 mg | 26% |
| 349 | Cereal, ready to eat, Maximum Raisin Bran Flakes, Compliments | Breakfast cereals | 4.63 mg | 26% |
| 350 | Cereal, hot, oats, instant: Weight Control, Maple and Brown Sugar, prepared, Quaker | Breakfast cereals | 4.63 mg | 26% |
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.