Foods highest in Zinc
Zinc supports immune function, wound healing, and your senses of taste and smell.
Below are the whole foods with the most zinc per 100 g, straight from USDA FoodData Central — plus how much you need and how to keep track without doing any math.
What zinc does
Zinc supports immune function, wound healing, and your senses of taste and smell.
Vegetarians and older adults are the most likely to come up short.
How much you need
The Daily Value used on food labels is 11 mg a day for adults. The tolerable upper limit is about 40 mg — with zinc, 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 zinc (per 100 g)
| Food | per 100 g | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|
| Mollusks, oyster, eastern, canned | 91 mg | 827% |
| Beef, chuck, short ribs, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, select, cooked, braised | 12 mg | 112% |
| Veal, variety meats and by-products, liver, raw | 12 mg | 109% |
| Beef, ribeye filet, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, select, cooked, grilled | 11 mg | 100% |
| Beef, chuck eye Country-Style ribs, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, choice, cooked, braised | 11 mg | 100% |
| Beef, top loin filet, boneless, separable lean and fat, trimmed to 1/8" fat, select, cooked, grilled | 11 mg | 99% |
| Beef, ribeye petite roast, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, select, cooked, roasted | 11 mg | 98% |
| Beef, top loin petite roast, boneless, separable lean and fat, trimmed to 1/8" fat, select, cooked, roasted | 11 mg | 97% |
| Beef, chuck eye steak, boneless, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, select, cooked, grilled | 11 mg | 96% |
| Beef, shank crosscuts, separable lean only, trimmed to 1/4" fat, choice, cooked, simmered | 10 mg | 95% |
| Seeds, sesame butter, tahini, from unroasted kernels (non-chemically removed seed coat) | 10 mg | 95% |
| Seeds, pumpkin and squash seeds, whole, roasted, with salt added | 10 mg | 94% |
Amounts are per 100 g from USDA FoodData Central (whole foods), sorted highest first. In the app, every amount scales to the exact serving you log — no conversions.
Track zinc free
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Open Healthy Squirrel and log a food to see your zinc for the day.
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