What Vitamins And Minerals Are In Spinach? | Nutrient Map

Spinach earns its keep because it brings a lot to the plate without weighing the meal down. One bowl adds color, fiber, and a long list of micronutrients, yet the calorie count stays low. That mix is why spinach keeps showing up in salads, omelets, soups, dal, smoothies, and weeknight pasta.

If you want a straight answer, spinach is loaded with vitamin K, vitamin A, folate, vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, iron, potassium, calcium, and a bit of vitamin E, copper, and vitamin B6. The details matter, though. Raw spinach and cooked spinach don’t give you the same amount per bite, and some nutrients stand out more than others.

Spinach Vitamins And Minerals At A Glance

Spinach is strongest as an all-rounder. It doesn’t lean on one lone nutrient and call it a day. It brings a broad spread, with a few standouts that jump off the label.

The Vitamins That Stand Out

Raw spinach is best known for these vitamins:

• Vitamin K: This is the star of the show. Spinach is one of the richest food sources around. Vitamin K helps with normal blood clotting and bone health.
• Vitamin A: Spinach carries carotenoids that your body can turn into vitamin A. That matters for vision, skin, and immune function.
• Folate: This B vitamin helps your body make DNA and new cells. That makes spinach a smart pick for daily meals, not just special “healthy” days.
• Vitamin C: Spinach has some, though it isn’t the strongest leafy source once heat enters the pan.
• Vitamin E And B6: These show up in smaller amounts, yet they still add to the total value of the leaf.

The Minerals That Do The Heavy Lifting

Spinach has a solid mineral lineup too, which is one reason it feels like more than just salad filler.

• Manganese: One of spinach’s top minerals by amount.
• Magnesium: Handy for muscle and nerve function.
• Iron: Present in useful amounts, though spinach contains non-heme iron, the form your body absorbs less easily than iron from meat.
• Potassium: Adds to the daily total many people fall short on.
• Calcium: Present in spinach, though the food’s oxalates mean the number on the label is not the whole story.
• Copper: A smaller player, yet still part of spinach’s broad mineral spread.

That last point is worth pausing on. Nutrient content and nutrient absorption are not the same thing. Spinach can post strong numbers on paper while your body takes in only part of them. That doesn’t make spinach weak. It just means the leaf shines brightest as one part of a mixed diet, not the whole show.

Nutrient	Rough Amount In 100 g Raw Spinach	What It Helps With
Vitamin K	483 mcg	Normal blood clotting and bone health
Vitamin A	469 mcg RAE	Vision, skin, and immune function
Folate	194 mcg DFE	DNA production and cell growth
Vitamin C	28 mg	Collagen formation and antioxidant activity
Manganese	0.9 mg	Enzyme activity and bone metabolism
Magnesium	79 mg	Muscle and nerve function
Iron	2.7 mg	Oxygen transport in the blood
Potassium	558 mg	Fluid balance and nerve signals
Calcium	99 mg	Bone and tooth structure
Copper	0.13 mg	Energy production and iron metabolism

What Vitamins And Minerals Are In Spinach? Fresh And Cooked Compared

Here’s where spinach gets a bit tricky. A giant bowl of raw leaves shrinks into a small scoop once cooked. That means cooked spinach often looks denser by weight, while raw spinach looks bulkier by volume. So the “best” form depends on how you plan to eat it and which nutrient you care about most.

If you want the source data, the USDA FoodData Central spinach search lets you pull detailed nutrient records for raw and cooked entries. For vitamin K, the NIH vitamin K fact sheet gives the plain-language rundown on what that nutrient does. For iron, the NIH iron fact sheet explains daily needs, food sources, and why food iron can vary in absorption.

Raw Spinach

Raw spinach is light, crisp, and easy to pile high. It keeps more vitamin C than cooked spinach and works well when you want volume without many calories. A salad or sandwich layer can add vitamin K, folate, and potassium with barely any effort. Raw spinach is a handy fit when you want that fresh bite and don’t need a dense serving.

Cooked Spinach

Cooked spinach is smaller, softer, and more concentrated per forkful. Since so much water cooks off, you can eat far more spinach in a few bites than you could raw. That often raises the amount of vitamin A, iron, magnesium, and calcium you get from one serving on the plate. The trade-off is that heat cuts vitamin C and can lower folate too.

Why The Numbers Shift

Water is the main reason. Raw spinach is mostly water, so its nutrients are spread through a larger volume. Cooking squeezes that volume down. That’s why a sautéed cup can feel like a nutrient shot, while a raw cup feels light. The label is still telling the truth in both cases; you’re just looking at the leaf in two different forms.

Nutrient	Raw Spinach, 100 g	Cooked Spinach, 100 g
Vitamin K	483 mcg	494 mcg
Vitamin A	469 mcg RAE	524 mcg RAE
Folate	194 mcg DFE	146 mcg DFE
Vitamin C	28 mg	10 mg
Iron	2.7 mg	3.6 mg
Magnesium	79 mg	87 mg
Calcium	99 mg	136 mg

How To Get More From Spinach On Your Plate

You don’t need a fancy method. A few smart pairings can make spinach work harder in a meal.

• Use raw spinach for bulk: It fills a bowl fast and keeps more vitamin C.
• Use cooked spinach for density: It packs more leaf into each bite, which can raise your intake of several minerals and vitamin A.
• Add a little fat: Olive oil, eggs, yogurt, nuts, or paneer can help carotenoids fit into the meal better.
• Pair it with vitamin C-rich foods: Lemon juice, tomatoes, oranges, or bell peppers can help you get more from spinach’s iron.
• Rotate your greens: Spinach is strong, though no single leaf wins every round. Mixing in other greens keeps the diet broader.

A Small Caution With Vitamin K

Spinach is so rich in vitamin K that big swings in intake can matter for people who take warfarin. The issue is not that spinach is “bad.” The issue is consistency. If spinach is already on your plate often, steady portions usually make more sense than eating none for days and then a huge pile at once.

Where Spinach Earns Its Spot

Spinach shines most when you want one food to bring a long list of nutrients without adding much energy. It won’t solve every gap by itself, and it shouldn’t have to. What it does well is stack vitamin K, vitamin A, folate, magnesium, manganese, iron, and potassium into a leaf that slips into all kinds of meals.

So if your question is what vitamins and minerals are in spinach, the plain answer is this: quite a few, with vitamin K, vitamin A, folate, manganese, magnesium, iron, and potassium doing the standout work. Raw spinach gives you more volume and more vitamin C. Cooked spinach gives you more leaf per bite. Put both to work, and spinach starts paying off all week long.