How much potassium is in salmon?

Most people file potassium under “fruits and vegetables” and stop there — but a cooked piece of salmon quietly competes. A 3 oz cooked serving (85 g) carries about 326 mg of potassium, which is roughly 7% of the 4,700 mg Daily Value and about 0.8× the potassium of a medium banana (~422 mg). On a per-100 g basis that’s 384 mg, and because nobody eats just 85 grams at dinner, a realistic 6 oz fillet pushes past 650 mg — more than a banana and a half in one piece of fish.

Why potassium from a protein matters

Potassium is the blood-pressure mineral. It works against sodium to help relax blood-vessel walls, which is why potassium-rich, lower-sodium eating patterns like DASH are associated with healthier blood pressure — and why most people, who land well under the 4,700 mg target, are told to get more of it. What makes salmon useful here is the company potassium keeps: salmon is naturally low in sodium (~52 mg per serving) while supplying potassium, so it sits on the favorable side of that sodium-to-potassium ratio heart guidelines care about. Lean white meats like chicken breast give you protein with relatively little potassium; salmon gives you both.

A protein, a potassium source, and omega-3s in one

The honest framing is that salmon isn’t a potassium food the way a potato or a banana is — it’s a protein food that also brings potassium, plus something almost no other protein offers. The same 3 oz that delivers ~326 mg of potassium also carries about 19 g of complete protein and a meaningful dose of omega-3 fats (EPA and DHA) tied to heart and brain health. So when you build a meal around salmon, you’re covering a protein target, nudging your potassium higher, and getting fats most other proteins make you source separately — all from one fillet. (One note for context, not alarm: people with kidney disease are often advised to limit potassium, so this is reference data rather than medical advice.)

For the full muscle-and-satiety side of the same fish, see protein in salmon.