How much protein is in spinach?
Spinach has 0.9 g of protein per 1 cup raw (30 g) — that's 2.9 g per 100 g, or about 0.8 g per ounce. One 1 cup raw is roughly 2% of the 50 g Daily Value for protein.
USDA FoodData Central · raw · FDC 168462
Protein & macros by portion
| Portion | Protein | Calories | Fat | Carbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup raw (30 g) | 0.9 g | 7 | 0.1 g | 1.1 g |
| 100 g | 2.9 g | 23 | 0.4 g | 3.6 g |
| 1 oz (28 g) | 0.8 g | 7 | 0.1 g | 1 g |
Values computed from USDA per-100 g data (FDC 168462, SR Legacy). raw.
If you searched “protein in spinach,” the per-100g number can mislead you. On paper spinach shows 2.9 g of protein per 100 g — not bad for a leafy green. But a realistic serving tells a different story: 1 cup of raw spinach (30 g) is mostly air and water, so it delivers only about 0.9 g of protein for a barely-there 7 calories. Spinach is an iron-and-folate green, not a protein source, and the gap between the per-100g figure and the per-cup reality is the whole story.
Why a cup of raw spinach is almost no protein
The trap with spinach is volume. Raw leaves are so light and fluffy that a cup weighs just 30 grams — about a third of the 100 g the headline figure is based on. Multiply it out and a raw cup lands at under a gram of protein and only ~7 calories, because spinach is overwhelmingly water. The 2.9 g per 100 g is technically accurate; it just describes a quantity of raw spinach (a packed cup is closer to a salad bowl’s worth) that nobody actually eats in one sitting as loose leaves.
This is also why cooked spinach reads so differently. Spinach wilts down to a fraction of its raw volume, so a cup of cooked spinach crams in many times the leaves — and with them several times the protein, iron, and calories of a raw cup. Per 100 g the cooked and raw numbers are similar; what changes is how much fits in a cup once the water cooks off. If you see a higher per-cup protein number elsewhere, it’s almost always cooked spinach being measured.
What spinach is genuinely great for
The reason to eat spinach was never protein — it’s the micronutrients. A serving brings iron, folate, vitamin K, vitamin A, and antioxidants like lutein for almost no calories. One honest caveat on the iron: spinach’s is non-heme (plant) iron, which your body absorbs less efficiently than the heme iron in meat, and its oxalates limit uptake further — so the iron is real but less available than a steak’s. Adding a vitamin-C source alongside helps.
The reliable move is to build spinach into a meal that a real protein anchors. Wilt a few handfuls into eggs, fold it through a chicken or salmon dish, or pile raw leaves under a protein-topped salad — the spinach contributes iron, folate, and volume while the protein does the heavy lifting. For a fellow nutrient-dense vegetable see broccoli, an easy protein pairing in eggs, and our guide on how much protein per day to set the target your greens are rounding out.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein is in spinach?
About 0.9 g of protein in a 1 cup raw serving (30 g), which is 2.9 g per 100 g (USDA FDC 168462). The per-100g figure looks respectable for a green, but a raw cup is so light — only about 7 calories — that the actual protein per cup is under a gram.
Is spinach a good source of protein?
No. Raw spinach is mostly water, so a cup gives you under a gram of protein. The 2.9 g per 100 g number is real, but you'd have to eat a huge volume of raw leaves to get there. Spinach is an iron, folate, and vitamin-K green — lean on actual protein foods and use spinach for its micronutrients.
Does cooked spinach have more protein than raw?
Per cup, yes — because it concentrates. Spinach wilts dramatically when cooked, so a cup of cooked spinach packs in far more leaves (and therefore several times the protein, iron, and calories) than a cup of raw. Per 100 g the two are similar; the difference is how much actually fits in a cup.
Is the iron in spinach as good as the iron in meat?
Not quite. Spinach genuinely contains iron, but it's non-heme (plant) iron, which the body absorbs less efficiently than the heme iron in meat — and spinach's oxalates further limit uptake. Pairing it with a vitamin-C source helps absorption. The iron is real, just less available than meat iron.
What is spinach actually good for nutritionally?
Iron, folate, vitamin K (a cup of raw covers a large share of the day's vitamin K), vitamin A, and antioxidants like lutein — all for almost no calories. Spinach is a micronutrient powerhouse and an easy way to add volume and nutrients to a protein-anchored meal.
When was this data last verified?
2026-06-04, against USDA FoodData Central FDC 168462 (Spinach, raw; SR Legacy). We re-verify reference pages periodically and update when USDA revises its underlying data.
Whole-food values are USDA reference data and are not assigned a Labelgrade — that score is for branded packaged products, where ingredients and added sugar/sodium actually vary. See our methodology and how much protein you need per day.