Plant-based foods › Cooked kale
Kale on a plant-based diet
Kale is one of the best leafy greens for a dairy-free diet because it is low in oxalates, so the calcium and iron it contains are relatively well absorbed. That sets it apart from spinach, whose minerals are largely locked away.
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Kale brings calcium and iron in a form your body can actually use, plus plenty of vitamin C in the same leaf, which conveniently helps with the iron. It is a genuinely useful everyday green on a plant-based diet.
How to get the most from it
Massage raw kale with a little oil and lemon for salads, or sauté and stir it through stews, dals and pasta near the end of cooking. Its own vitamin C means it is already set up for good iron absorption.
Cooked kale nutrition
| Nutrient | Per 1 cup cooked (130g) | % of RNI |
|---|---|---|
| Iron | 1.09mg | 13% |
| Calcium | 195mg | 28% |
Per-serving figures from the Plentish dataset (source: USDA FoodData Central). % of RNI uses the adult UK reference intake.
What it covers on your watch-list
Recipes with Cooked kale
- Butter bean and kale stew (Plus)
- Rainbow buddha bowl (Plus)
Common questions
Is kale a good source of calcium?
Yes. Kale is low in oxalates, so its calcium is well absorbed, making it one of the better leafy greens for calcium on a dairy-free diet.
Is kale better than spinach?
For calcium and iron, yes, because spinach locks much of its minerals behind oxalates. Both are nutritious, but kale, pak choi and broccoli are more reliable mineral sources.