Nutrition for Spinach

Calories, Protein, Vitamins and More


image of spinach source

Spinach Nutrition Summary

One cup of spinach (30 grams or 1.06 oz) contains 7 calories and 0.9 grams of protein. Spinach consist of 91% water, 4% carbohydrates, 3% protein, and less than 1% of fat.

Spinach is an excellent source of many nutrients, including Vitamin A, calcium, potassium, folate and Vitamin K. It also contains significant amounts of Vitamin C, magnesium and manganese.

In one cup of spinach:

  • Calories: 7
  • Protein: 0.9 g
  • Sugar: 0.1 g
  • Dietary fiber: 0.7 g
  • Fat: 0.1 g
  • Sodium: 23.7 mg
There is no significant amounts of saturated fat or cholesterol in spinach.

See the Spinach Nutrition Chart for complete recommended daily values.
The specific nutritional values from USDA is for: Spinach, raw.

Calories in Spinach

Spinach has 7 calories per cup or 23 calories for every 100 grams. Most of its calories are from carbohydrates, protein and fat.

49% of calories in spinach are from carbohydrates, 40% of calories are from protein and 10% of calories are from fat.

Calories from Carbs

A good portion, or 49% of the calories in spinach are from carbohydrates. The carbs in spinach are mostly in the form of dietary fiber and sugar (87% and 12%). A great high-fiber food, a single cup of spinach contains 3% of recommended daily values or 0.7 grams of dietary fiber.

  • Dietary fiber: 0.7 g
  • Sugar: 0.1 g
There is no significant amounts of starch in spinach.

Calories from Fat

About 10% the calories in Spinach are from fat. Spinach is very low in total fat, with 0.1 grams per cup. Most of the fat in spinach are healthier unsaturated fats.

Spinach is cholesterol free and trans-fat free.

  • Total fat: 0.1 g
  • Saturated fat: < 0.1 g
  • Polyunsaturated fat: < 0.1 g
There is no significant amounts of cholesterol, trans fat or monounsaturated fat in spinach.

Calories Similar to Spinach

Some other vegetables with similar calories to spinach by weight:


Protein in Spinach

One cup of Spinach has 0.9 grams of protein or about 2% of daily recommended intake. Although spinach is relatively low in protein, it does contain all 9 essential amino acids at small amounts.

  • Protein: 0.86 g
  • Tryptophan: 0.01 g
  • Threonine: 0.04 g
  • Isoleucine: 0.04 g
  • Leucine: 0.07 g
  • Lysine: 0.05 g
  • Methionine: 0.02 g
  • Phenylalanine: 0.04 g
  • Valine: 0.05 g
  • Histidine: 0.02 g

Protein Similar to Spinach

Some other vegetables with similar amounts of protein to spinach by weight:

Vitamins and Minerals in Spinach

An good source of many nutrients, spinach contains abundant amounts of Vitamin A, calcium, potassium, folate and Vitamin K. In fact, a single cup of spinach contains 161% of recommended daily values or 144.9 ug of Vitamin K. Also an excellent source of Vitamin A, a single cup of spinach contains 20% of recommended daily values or 140.7 ug of Vitamin A.

Vitamins in spinach (1 cup):
  • Vitamin a: 140.7 ug
  • Thiamin: < 0.1 mg
  • Riboflavin: 0.1 mg
  • Niacin: 0.2 mg
  • Vitamin b6: 0.1 mg
  • Vitamin c: 8.4 mg
  • Vitamin e: 0.6 mg
  • Folate: 58.2 ug
  • Vitamin k: 144.9 ug
Minerals in spinach (1 cup):
  • Calcium: 29.7 mg
  • Potassium: 167.4 mg
  • Iron: 0.8 mg
  • Magnesium: 23.7 mg
  • Zinc: 0.2 mg
  • Selenium: 0.3 ug
  • Phosphorus: 14.7 mg
  • Copper: < 0.1 mg
  • Manganese: 0.3 mg
  • Choline: 5.8 mg
There is no significant amounts of pantothenic acid or vitamin b12 in spinach.

Similar to Spinach for Vitamin K

Here are some other vegetables with similarly abundant amounts of Vitamin K to spinach:

Flavonoids and Carotenoids in Spinach [3]

Spinach contains a number of healthy phytonutrients and antioxidants, specifically carotenoids beta-carotene and lutein + zeaxanthin and flavonoids luteolin, kaempferol, myricetin and quercetin. In one cup of spinach:

  • beta-carotene: 1688 ug
  • lutein + zeaxanthin: 3659 ug
  • luteolin: 0.22 mg
  • kaempferol: 1.91 mg
  • myricetin: 0.11 mg
  • Quercetin: 1.19 mg

Spinach Nutrition Chart

Spinach:

( - g )

calories
KCAL %
carbohydrates
G %
dietary fiber
G %
sugar G
total fat
G %
saturated fat
G %
monounsaturated fat G
polyunsaturated fat G
protein
G %
sodium
MG %
Vitamin A
UG %
Vitamin C
MG %
calcium
MG %
iron
MG %
magnesium
MG %
potassium
MG %
thiamin (Vitamin B1)
MG %
riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
MG %
niacin (Vitamin B3)
MG %
Vitamin B6
MG %
pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5)
MG %
folate (Vitamin B9)
UG %
Vitamin K
UG %
Vitamin E
MG %
histidine
G %
isoleucine
G %
leucine
G %
lysine
G %
methionine
G %
phenylalanine
G %
threonine
G %
tryptophan
G %
valine
G %
zinc
MG %
manganese
MG %
choline
MG %
copper
MG %
Water G
phosphorus
MG %
selenium
UG %
Nutrition calculations are from Harvard Medical's nutrient guidelines [1] and USDA's food central database (2019) [2].
We calculated values from 2000 kCal daily recommended diet.

Spinach in Cooking

Spinach is in the top 10% of most popular ingredients for recipes. Spinach can be consumed raw and is often chopped before cooking or serving. Most recipes call for one or two cups of spinach.

Friends and Relatives of Spinach

Foods commonly cooked with spinach: Other similar relatives:


get Nutrition for food