Kidney beans contain 2.9 milligrams of iron per 100 grams. Grams is a measure of weight. To put 100 grams in perspective, consider alternative measures for this food:
- 1 cup equals 177 grams.
In the category of beans, we excluded protein isolates and other processed foods from the Top 10 list and include only whole beans. You can assume that if the whole version made the top 10 list, so too would the refined version.The food tested for the particular graph below can be described more specifically as:
Beans, kidney, red, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt
Read more about iron in beans or visit our iron-rich foods list.
Iron in Kidney Beans
Kidney beans are a great source of iron. In just one cup of kidney beans there is nearly thirty percent of the daily required iron for a woman aged twenty to forty. That is a powerful amount of iron. Kidney beans, like all legumes, contain an iron inhibitor called phytic acid that reduce your absorption of iron in the kidney bean. However, there are very simple kitchen preparation strategies that help reduce the phytic acid in your kidney beans and unlock their iron. You can read in detail about these processes on the iron rich foods tips page and in the Iron Rich Foods book. You will also benefit from the abundance of iron in kidney beans if you eat the kidney beans with foods high in vitamin C like bell peppers or citrus fruit.
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