Foods highest in Iron
Iron carries oxygen in your blood, low iron is a leading cause of fatigue.
Below are the whole foods with the most iron in a typical serving, straight from USDA FoodData Central, plus how much you need and how to keep track without doing any math.
What iron does
Iron carries oxygen in your blood, low iron is a leading cause of fatigue.
Menstruating women, pregnant people, vegetarians and endurance athletes are most likely to run low.
How much you need
The Daily Value used on food labels is 18 mg a day for adults. The tolerable upper limit is about 45 mg, with iron, more isn't better.
Your real target depends on your age, sex and body, Healthy Squirrel sets it for you from NIH / Institute of Medicine reference intakes, then shows every food against your number, not a generic one.
Foods highest in iron
| Food | Serving | Amount | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goose, liver, raw | 4 oz raw (113 g) | 34 mg | 192% |
| Duck, domesticated, liver, raw | 4 oz raw (113 g) | 34 mg | 192% |
| Pork, fresh, variety meats and by-products, liver, raw | 4 oz raw (113 g) | 26 mg | 146% |
| Soybean, curd cheese | 1 cup soybean (225 g) | 13 mg | 70% |
| Cereals, farina, enriched, cooked with water, with salt | 1 cup cereal (233 g) | 12 mg | 69% |
| Mollusks, clam, mixed species, cooked, breaded and fried | 3 oz (85 g) | 12 mg | 66% |
| Chicken, liver, all classes, cooked, pan-fried | 3 oz (85 g) | 11 mg | 61% |
| Lamb, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, cooked, braised | 3 oz (85 g) | 11 mg | 59% |
| Turkey, all classes, liver, raw | 4 oz raw (113 g) | 10 mg | 56% |
| Fish, caviar, black and red, granular | 3 oz (85 g) | 10 mg | 56% |
| Braunschweiger (a liver sausage), pork | 3 oz (85 g) | 9.5 mg | 53% |
| Mollusks, cuttlefish, mixed species, cooked, moist heat | 3 oz (85 g) | 9.2 mg | 51% |
Per typical serving, using the reference amounts food labels are built on (3 oz of meat or fish, 1 tbsp of oil, 1 oz of nuts or cheese, 1 cup of milk), or the everyday size for whole fruit and vegetables. Whole foods from USDA FoodData Central, highest first. In the app, every amount scales to the serving you actually log.
Track iron free
Healthy Squirrel is a free food tracker that fills in Iron, and every other vitamin and mineral, automatically as you log meals, so you can see where your day actually lands. No account needed to start, no ads, nothing sold.
Open Healthy Squirrel and log a food to see your iron for the day.
If you train
Endurance training can raise how much iron you need, and the app adjusts your target for it. The numbers and where they come from:
Every other nutrient
Ready to see your full nutrient profile?
Open Healthy Squirrel, it's free