Lentils vs Quinoa nutrition
Boiled lentils has more fiber, sugar and protein. Cooked quinoa has more fat, carbs and calories.
- Boiled lentils100 g
- Cooked quinoa100 g
Each row is scaled on its own: the larger amount fills the bar. The numbers on the right are the real amounts.
Each food is weighed the same: 100 grams of each. The longer bar has more.
Show all 15 nutrients
Exact amounts and % Daily Value
| Nutrient | Boiled lentils | Cooked quinoa | Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 116 kcal (6%) | 120 kcal (6%) | 2,000 kcal |
| Protein | 9 g (18%) | 4.4 g (9%) | 50 g |
| Fat | 0.38 g (<1%) | 1.9 g (2%) | 78 g |
| Saturated fat | 0.05 g (<1%) | 0.23 g (1%) | 20 g |
| Carbs | 20.1 g (7%) | 21.3 g (8%) | 275 g |
| Fiber | 7.9 g (28%) | 2.8 g (10%) | 28 g |
| Sugar | 1.8 g | 0.87 g | none set |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg (0%) | 0 mg (0%) | 300 mg |
| Salt (sodium) | 2 mg (<1%) | 7 mg (<1%) | 2,300 mg |
| Potassium | 369 mg (8%) | 172 mg (4%) | 4,700 mg |
| Calcium | 19 mg (1%) | 17 mg (1%) | 1,300 mg |
| Iron | 3.3 mg (19%) | 1.5 mg (8%) | 18 mg |
| Magnesium | 36 mg (9%) | 64 mg (15%) | 420 mg |
| Vitamin A | 0 µg (0%) | 0 µg (0%) | 900 µg |
| Vitamin C | 1.5 mg (2%) | 0 mg (0%) | 90 mg |
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How the numbers are taken. Amounts are per 100 g of the edible part, from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy, public domain), in the state named — raw, boiled, roasted and so on. Percentages use the FDA Daily Values for adults and children aged 4 and over, set around a 2,000-calorie diet; your own needs can be different. This site compares amounts — it does not give diet or medical advice. Sources and limits.
What is being compared
This page compares boiled lentils and cooked quinoa as USDA FoodData Central lists them: “Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt” (FDC 172421) and “Quinoa, cooked” (FDC 168917). All figures start from 100 grams of the edible part. A search for “lentils” is taken here as boiled lentils; dry red lentils and dry lentils are in the comparer above. A search for “quinoa” is taken here as cooked quinoa; dry quinoa is in the comparer above. One is listed boiled and the other cooked. Cooking changes how much water is in 100 grams, so the same food can look richer or poorer per 100 g depending on its state.
Per 100 grams
Per 100 grams, boiled lentils has more protein (9 vs 4.4 g, 2.0 times as much), fiber (7.9 vs 2.8 g, 2.8 times as much), sugars (1.8 vs 0.87 g, 2.1 times as much), potassium (369 vs 172 mg, 2.1 times as much), calcium (19 vs 17 mg), iron (3.3 vs 1.5 mg, 2.2 times as much) and vitamin C (1.5 vs 0 mg, against none). Cooked quinoa has more calories (120 vs 116 kcal), fat (1.9 vs 0.38 g, 5.1 times as much), saturated fat (0.23 vs 0.05 g, 4.6 times as much), carbohydrate (21.3 vs 20.1 g), sodium (7 vs 2 mg, 3.5 times as much) and magnesium (64 vs 36 mg, 1.8 times as much). They are within 3% of each other for cholesterol and vitamin A.
Read the rest — 4 more sections
Per serving
A serving as USDA measures it is 1 cup of boiled lentils (198 g) and 1 cup of cooked quinoa (185 g). The two servings weigh about the same, so the per-serving picture follows the per-100 g one closely. Switching to servings changes the leader for calories (now boiled lentils). One serving is 230 kcal of boiled lentils against 222 kcal of cooked quinoa.
For the same calories
To get 100 kcal you would eat 86.2 g of boiled lentils or 83.3 g of cooked quinoa. At that equal energy, boiled lentils carries 7.8 g of protein and cooked quinoa 3.7 g. Fiber per 100 kcal is 6.8 g against 2.3 g. Measured per 100 kcal, every nutrient keeps the same leader as per 100 g.
Where the calories come from
Roughly, 30% of the energy in boiled lentils comes from protein, 3% from fat and 67% from carbohydrate; for cooked quinoa it is 15%, 14% and 71%. These shares use the general 4, 9 and 4 kcal per gram and can differ slightly from USDA's own energy factors.
Against the Daily Value
1 cup of boiled lentils reaches its largest shares of the Daily Value in fiber (56%), iron (37%) and protein (36%); 1 cup of cooked quinoa reaches its largest shares of the Daily Value in magnesium (28%), fiber (19%) and protein (16%). Daily Values are the FDA label reference amounts for adults and children aged 4 and over, set around a 2,000-calorie diet; they are a yardstick for reading labels, not a target for any one person.