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 1701–1750 of 3,595 foods
| # | Food | Category | Per 100 g | % DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1701 | Beans, baked, canned, plain or vegetarian | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.19 mg | 7% |
| 1702 | Icing (frosting), chocolate, creamy, dry mix, unprepared | Sweets | 1.19 mg | 7% |
| 1703 | Tofu, silken, extra firm | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.19 mg | 7% |
| 1704 | Salad dressing, thousand island, commercial, regular | Fats and Oils | 1.18 mg | 7% |
| 1705 | Prune juice, canned | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.18 mg | 7% |
| 1706 | Taro leaves, steamed | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.18 mg | 7% |
| 1707 | Peas, green, canned, drained solids | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.18 mg | 7% |
| 1708 | Artichoke, marinated | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.18 mg | 7% |
| 1709 | Taro leaves, steamed, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.18 mg | 7% |
| 1710 | Pancake, plain, homemade with butter and maple syrup | Baked Products | 1.17 mg | 6% |
| 1711 | Sauce, Hollandaise (butter sauce) | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 1.17 mg | 6% |
| 1712 | Macaroni and cheese, box mix with cheese sauce, prepared | Mixed Dishes | 1.17 mg | 6% |
| 1713 | Prune, dehydrated (low moisture), cooked | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.17 mg | 6% |
| 1714 | Beans, kidney, all types, canned, solids and liquid | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.17 mg | 6% |
| 1715 | Snacks, rice cakes, brown rice, corn | Snacks | 1.17 mg | 6% |
| 1716 | Sauce, pepper, TABASCO, ready-to-serve | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 1.16 mg | 6% |
| 1717 | Lotus root, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.16 mg | 6% |
| 1718 | Beans, adzuki, yokan (bean jelly) | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.16 mg | 6% |
| 1719 | Cake, white, homemade, with coconut icing (frosting) | Baked Products | 1.16 mg | 6% |
| 1720 | Snacks, tortilla chips, nacho | Snacks | 1.16 mg | 6% |
| 1721 | Candies, M&M's peanut chocolate candies | Sweets | 1.16 mg | 6% |
| 1722 | Pasta, made with egg, homemade, cooked | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 1.16 mg | 6% |
| 1723 | Coffee whitener (non dairy), powdered | Dairy and Egg Products | 1.15 mg | 6% |
| 1724 | Egg, chicken, whole, cooked, fried | Dairy and Egg Products | 1.15 mg | 6% |
| 1725 | Cereal, ready to eat, fruit juice sweetened corn flakes, Nature's Path | Breakfast cereals | 1.15 mg | 6% |
| 1726 | Banana, dehydrated or banana powder | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.15 mg | 6% |
| 1727 | Eppaw, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.15 mg | 6% |
| 1728 | Fast foods, mexican, taco salad | Fast Foods | 1.15 mg | 6% |
| 1729 | Rice, Spanish rice | Mixed Dishes | 1.15 mg | 6% |
| 1730 | Cake, carrot, homemade, with cream cheese icing | Baked Products | 1.14 mg | 6% |
| 1731 | Pickle relish, hamburger | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.14 mg | 6% |
| 1732 | Snacks, rice cakes, brown rice, buckwheat | Snacks | 1.14 mg | 6% |
| 1733 | Snacks, rice cakes, brown rice, buckwheat, unsalted | Snacks | 1.14 mg | 6% |
| 1734 | Pasta, fresh-refrigerated, plain, cooked | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 1.14 mg | 6% |
| 1735 | Collards, boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.13 mg | 6% |
| 1736 | Collards, boiled, drained, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.13 mg | 6% |
| 1737 | Beans, adzuki, canned, sweetened | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.13 mg | 6% |
| 1738 | Candies, bars, Whatchamacallit | Sweets | 1.13 mg | 6% |
| 1739 | Pasta, made without egg, homemade, cooked | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 1.13 mg | 6% |
| 1740 | Cheese spread, cream cheese base, flavoured | Dairy and Egg Products | 1.13 mg | 6% |
| 1741 | Bread pudding, with raisins, homemade | Baked Products | 1.13 mg | 6% |
| 1742 | Salad, caesar, homemade | Mixed Dishes | 1.13 mg | 6% |
| 1743 | Melon, horned | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.13 mg | 6% |
| 1744 | Beverage, protein powder, whey based, powder | Beverages | 1.13 mg | 6% |
| 1745 | Mustard greens, frozen, boiled, drained, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.12 mg | 6% |
| 1746 | Muffin, blueberry, dry mix, prepared | Baked Products | 1.12 mg | 6% |
| 1747 | Collards, frozen, boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.12 mg | 6% |
| 1748 | Cowpeas (black-eyed peas), immature seeds, boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.12 mg | 6% |
| 1749 | Mustard greens, frozen, boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.12 mg | 6% |
| 1750 | Cowpeas, boiled, drained, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.12 mg | 6% |
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