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 51–100 of 301 foods
| # | Food | Category | Per 100 g | % DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | Beans, Dry, Small White (0% moisture) | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.93 mg | 27% |
| 52 | Beans, Dry, Small White (0% moisture) | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.93 mg | 27% |
| 53 | Beans, Dry, Brown (0% moisture) | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.70 mg | 26% |
| 54 | Beans, Dry, Brown (0% moisture) | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.70 mg | 26% |
| 55 | Flour, quinoa | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.53 mg | 25% |
| 56 | Beans, Dry, Flor de Mayo (0% moisture) | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.47 mg | 25% |
| 57 | Beans, Dry, Flor de Mayo (0% moisture) | Legumes and Legume Products | 4.47 mg | 25% |
| 58 | Flour, corn, yellow, fine meal, enriched | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.44 mg | 25% |
| 59 | Seeds, sunflower seed, kernel, raw | Nut and Seed Products | 4.37 mg | 24% |
| 60 | Oats, whole grain, rolled, old fashioned | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.34 mg | 24% |
| 61 | Egg, yolk, raw, frozen, pasteurized | Dairy and Egg Products | 4.13 mg | 23% |
| 62 | Almond butter, creamy | Nut and Seed Products | 4.11 mg | 23% |
| 63 | Flour, oat, whole grain | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 4.00 mg | 22% |
| 64 | Flour, cassava | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.99 mg | 22% |
| 65 | Sorghum, whole grain, white, dry, raw | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 3.90 mg | 22% |
| 66 | Khorasan, grain, dry, raw | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 3.87 mg | 22% |
| 67 | Flour, whole wheat, unenriched | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 3.86 mg | 21% |
| 68 | Flour, buckwheat | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 3.84 mg | 21% |
| 69 | Oats, whole grain, steel cut | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 3.80 mg | 21% |
| 70 | Flour, spelt, whole grain | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 3.77 mg | 21% |
| 71 | Nuts, almonds, whole, raw | Nut and Seed Products | 3.74 mg | 21% |
| 72 | Flour, sorghum | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 3.72 mg | 21% |
| 73 | Einkorn, grain, dry, raw | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 3.69 mg | 20% |
| 74 | Nuts, hazelnuts or filberts, raw | Nut and Seed Products | 3.46 mg | 19% |
| 75 | Nuts, pistachio nuts, raw | Nut and Seed Products | 3.46 mg | 19% |
| 76 | Bread, white, commercially prepared | Baked Products | 3.36 mg | 19% |
| 77 | Flour, barley | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 3.30 mg | 18% |
| 78 | Flour, almond | Nut and Seed Products | 3.23 mg | 18% |
| 79 | Farro, pearled, dry, raw | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 3.19 mg | 18% |
| 80 | Tomato, paste, canned, without salt added | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.19 mg | 18% |
| 81 | Nuts, almonds, dry roasted, with salt added | Nut and Seed Products | 3.17 mg | 18% |
| 82 | Beet greens, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 3.16 mg | 18% |
| 83 | Fonio, grain, dry, raw | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 2.66 mg | 15% |
| 84 | Bulgur, dry, raw | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 2.62 mg | 15% |
| 85 | Bread, whole-wheat, commercially prepared | Baked Products | 2.56 mg | 14% |
| 86 | Flour, rye | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 2.54 mg | 14% |
| 87 | Millet, whole grain | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 2.53 mg | 14% |
| 88 | Nuts, brazilnuts, raw | Nut and Seed Products | 2.47 mg | 14% |
| 89 | Buckwheat, whole grain | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 2.44 mg | 14% |
| 90 | Flour, semolina, fine | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 2.43 mg | 14% |
| 91 | Hummus, commercial | Legumes and Legume Products | 2.41 mg | 13% |
| 92 | Nuts, pecans, halves, raw | Nut and Seed Products | 2.37 mg | 13% |
| 93 | Cookies, oatmeal, soft, with raisins | Baked Products | 2.28 mg | 13% |
| 94 | Tomatoes, crushed, canned | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 2.27 mg | 13% |
| 95 | Nuts, walnuts, English, halves, raw | Nut and Seed Products | 2.23 mg | 12% |
| 96 | Sorghum flour, white, pearled, unenriched, dry, raw | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 2.23 mg | 12% |
| 97 | Sorghum grain, white, pearled, unenriched, dry, raw | Cereal Grains and Pasta | 2.04 mg | 11% |
| 98 | Figs, dried, uncooked | Fruits and Fruit Juices | 2.03 mg | 11% |
| 99 | Figs, dried, uncooked | Fruits and Fruit Juices | 2.03 mg | 11% |
| 100 | Nuts, macadamia nuts, raw | Nut and Seed Products | 1.88 mg | 10% |
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