Spinach vs Kale nutrition
Spinach has more iron, potassium and salt. Kale has more sugar, fiber and calories.
- Spinach100 g
- Kale100 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 | Spinach | Kale | Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 23 kcal (1%) | 35 kcal (2%) | 2,000 kcal |
| Protein | 2.9 g (6%) | 2.9 g (6%) | 50 g |
| Fat | 0.39 g (<1%) | 1.5 g (2%) | 78 g |
| Saturated fat | 0.06 g (<1%) | 0.18 g (<1%) | 20 g |
| Carbs | 3.6 g (1%) | 4.4 g (2%) | 275 g |
| Fiber | 2.2 g (8%) | 4.1 g (15%) | 28 g |
| Sugar | 0.42 g | 0.99 g | none set |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg (0%) | 0 mg (0%) | 300 mg |
| Salt (sodium) | 79 mg (3%) | 53 mg (2%) | 2,300 mg |
| Potassium | 558 mg (12%) | 348 mg (7%) | 4,700 mg |
| Calcium | 99 mg (8%) | 254 mg (20%) | 1,300 mg |
| Iron | 2.7 mg (15%) | 1.6 mg (9%) | 18 mg |
| Magnesium | 79 mg (19%) | 33 mg (8%) | 420 mg |
| Vitamin A | 469 µg (52%) | 241 µg (27%) | 900 µg |
| Vitamin C | 28.1 mg (31%) | 93.4 mg (104%) | 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 spinach and kale as USDA FoodData Central lists them: “Spinach, raw” (FDC 168462) and “Kale, raw” (FDC 168421). All figures start from 100 grams of the edible part.
Per 100 grams
Per 100 grams, spinach has more sodium (79 vs 53 mg), potassium (558 vs 348 mg, 1.6 times as much), iron (2.7 vs 1.6 mg, 1.7 times as much), magnesium (79 vs 33 mg, 2.4 times as much) and vitamin A (469 vs 241 µg, 1.9 times as much). Kale has more calories (35 vs 23 kcal, 1.5 times as much), fat (1.5 vs 0.39 g, 3.8 times as much), saturated fat (0.18 vs 0.06 g, 3.0 times as much), carbohydrate (4.4 vs 3.6 g), fiber (4.1 vs 2.2 g, 1.9 times as much), sugars (0.99 vs 0.42 g, 2.4 times as much), calcium (254 vs 99 mg, 2.6 times as much) and vitamin C (93.4 vs 28.1 mg, 3.3 times as much). They are within 3% of each other for protein and cholesterol.
Read the rest — 4 more sections
Per serving
A serving as USDA measures it is 1 cup of spinach (30 g) and 1 cup of kale (21 g). The spinach serving is 1.4 times as heavy, so per serving its numbers grow relative to the other. Switching to servings changes the leader for carbohydrate (now spinach). One serving is 6.9 kcal of spinach against 7.3 kcal of kale.
For the same calories
To get 100 kcal you would eat 435 g of spinach or 286 g of kale. At that equal energy, spinach carries 12.4 g of protein and kale 8.3 g. Fiber per 100 kcal is 9.6 g against 11.7 g. Measured per 100 kcal instead of per 100 g, the larger amount moves for carbohydrate (to spinach).
Where the calories come from
Roughly, 39% of the energy in spinach comes from protein, 12% from fat and 49% from carbohydrate; for kale it is 27%, 31% and 41%. 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 spinach reaches its largest shares of the Daily Value in vitamin A (16%), vitamin C (9%) and magnesium (6%); 1 cup of kale reaches its largest shares of the Daily Value in vitamin C (22%), vitamin A (6%) and calcium (4%). 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.