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 1801–1850 of 3,595 foods
| # | Food | Category | Per 100 g | % DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 | Pasta, spaghetti, whole-wheat, cooked | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 1.06 mg | 6% |
| 1802 | Candies, M&M's peanut butter chocolate candies | Sweets | 1.06 mg | 6% |
| 1803 | Yogourt, tofu | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.06 mg | 6% |
| 1804 | Rose hips, wild, native | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.06 mg | 6% |
| 1805 | Beans, snap (Italian, green or yellow), canned, drained solids, unsalted | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.06 mg | 6% |
| 1806 | Potato, french-fried, frozen, cottage cut, salt not added in processing, unprepared | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.05 mg | 6% |
| 1807 | Vegetables, mixed, canned, drained solids | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.05 mg | 6% |
| 1808 | Sweets, topping, nuts in syrup | Sweets | 1.05 mg | 6% |
| 1809 | Salad dressing, ranch dressing, fat free | Fats and Oils | 1.05 mg | 6% |
| 1810 | Babyfood, vegetables, jarred, peas, all stages | Babyfoods | 1.05 mg | 6% |
| 1811 | Prune, dried, cooked, added sugar | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.04 mg | 6% |
| 1812 | Bok choy, pak-choi, boiled drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.04 mg | 6% |
| 1813 | Nuts, acorns, dried | Nuts and Seeds | 1.04 mg | 6% |
| 1814 | Pie, banana cream, homemade | Baked Products | 1.04 mg | 6% |
| 1815 | Pasta, spaghetti, spinach, enriched, cooked | Cereals, Grains and Pasta | 1.04 mg | 6% |
| 1816 | Potato, O'brien, frozen, unprepared | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.03 mg | 6% |
| 1817 | Beans, snap (Italian, green or yellow), raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.03 mg | 6% |
| 1818 | Fast foods, side dish, potato, baked, topped with sour cream and chives | Fast Foods | 1.03 mg | 6% |
| 1819 | Wasabi, root, (Japanese horseradish), raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.03 mg | 6% |
| 1820 | Tofu, silken, firm | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.03 mg | 6% |
| 1821 | Soup, bouillon cubes and granules, low sodium, dry | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 1.03 mg | 6% |
| 1822 | Pear, dried halves, sulphured, cooked, no added sugar | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.02 mg | 6% |
| 1823 | Date, domestic, natural and dry | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.02 mg | 6% |
| 1824 | Balsam-pear (bitter gourd, bitter melon), leafy tips, boiled, drained | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.02 mg | 6% |
| 1825 | Beans, snap (Italian, green or yellow), canned, solids and liquid | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.02 mg | 6% |
| 1826 | Pie, vanilla cream, homemade | Baked Products | 1.02 mg | 6% |
| 1827 | Fast foods, mexican, taco salad with chili con carne | Fast Foods | 1.02 mg | 6% |
| 1828 | Fast foods, side dish, potato, baked, topped with cheese sauce | Fast Foods | 1.02 mg | 6% |
| 1829 | Dessert, frozen, ice cream, chocolate, rich | Sweets | 1.02 mg | 6% |
| 1830 | Fast foods, sandwiches and burgers, cheeseburger, large, single patty, with condiments | Fast Foods | 1.02 mg | 6% |
| 1831 | Balsam-pear (bitter gourd, bitter melon), leafy tips, boiled, drained, with salt | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.02 mg | 6% |
| 1832 | Peas, green, canned, solids and liquid, no salt added | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.02 mg | 6% |
| 1833 | Rice, spanish rice mix, prepared | Mixed Dishes | 1.02 mg | 6% |
| 1834 | Potato, whole, peeled, frozen, unprepared | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.01 mg | 6% |
| 1835 | Nuts, European chestnuts (sweet), raw, unpeeled | Nuts and Seeds | 1.01 mg | 6% |
| 1836 | Peanuts, all types, boiled, salted | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.01 mg | 6% |
| 1837 | Snacks, fruit leather, roll | Snacks | 1.01 mg | 6% |
| 1838 | Sauce, hoisin, ready-to-serve | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 1.01 mg | 6% |
| 1839 | Soup, consomme, dehydrated | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 1.00 mg | 6% |
| 1840 | Soup, oxtail, dehydrated | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 1.00 mg | 6% |
| 1841 | Gravy, mushroom, dehydrated | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 1.00 mg | 6% |
| 1842 | Gravy, onion, dehydrated | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 1.00 mg | 6% |
| 1843 | Gravy, unspecified, dehydrated | Soups, Sauces and Gravies | 1.00 mg | 6% |
| 1844 | Cereal, hot, corn grits (yellow), dry | Breakfast cereals | 1.00 mg | 6% |
| 1845 | Groundcherry, raw | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.00 mg | 6% |
| 1846 | Currant, red and white, raw | Fruits and fruit juices | 1.00 mg | 6% |
| 1847 | Cowpeas, young pods with seeds, raw | Vegetables and Vegetable Products | 1.00 mg | 6% |
| 1848 | Nuts, ginkgo nuts, raw | Nuts and Seeds | 1.00 mg | 6% |
| 1849 | Broadbeans (fava beans), canned, solids and liquid | Legumes and Legume Products | 1.00 mg | 6% |
| 1850 | Pie, lemon meringue, homemade | Baked Products | 1.00 mg | 6% |
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