Foods High in Magnesium: Top 30 per 100 g & per Serving

Highest in magnesium per 100 g

30 of 370 ranked foods, most magnesium first. % = share of the FDA Daily Value. n/r = not reported.

Most magnesium per typical serving

The same foods ranked by what one typical USDA portion gives, which is what you eat.

Most magnesium per 200 kcal

Nutrient density: magnesium for the same 200 calories of each food.

Best by food group

The top three of each group per 100 g (rank within the group).

• Fruits

  1. 1. Prickly pears (raw): 85 mg
  2. 2. Dark raisins (seedless): 36 mg
  3. 3. Golden raisins (seedless): 35 mg

• Vegetables

  1. 1. Sun-dried tomatoes: 194 mg
  2. 2. Navy beans (mature seeds, sprouted, raw): 101 mg
  3. 3. Grape leaves (raw): 95 mg

• Legumes

  1. 1. Peanut butter with omega-3 (creamy): 191 mg
  2. 2. Peanuts (valencia, raw): 184 mg
  3. 3. Pigeon peas (mature seeds, raw): 183 mg

• Nuts and Seeds

  1. 1. Pumpkin and squash seed kernels (dried): 592 mg
  2. 2. Flaxseed: 392 mg
  3. 3. Sesame butter (paste): 362 mg

• Grains

  1. 1. Oat bran (raw): 235 mg
  2. 2. Oats: 177 mg
  3. 3. Barley (hulled): 133 mg

• Dairy Foods

  1. 1. Parmesan cheese (shredded): 51 mg
  2. 2. Parmesan cheese topping (fat free): 40 mg
  3. 3. Ice cream bar (covered with chocolate and nuts): 37 mg

• Meats

  1. 1. Turkey breast (meat only, cooked, roasted): 32 mg
  2. 2. Chicken breast (meat only, cooked, roasted): 29 mg
  3. 2. Ground turkey (fat free, raw): 29 mg

• Fish and Seafood

  1. 1. Tuna (yellowfin, fresh, cooked, dry heat): 42 mg
  2. 2. Salmon (Atlantic, wild, cooked, dry heat): 37 mg
  3. 3. Tuna (white, canned in oil, without salt, drained solids): 34 mg

Plant-based (vegan) sources

Fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, grains and oils with no animal ingredient, ranked among themselves per 100 g.

Concentrated forms (not ranked)

Flours, powders, concentrates, sugars and fortified foods with magnesium, listed by value per 100 g but left out of the rankings above.

Which foods are ranked

• The 377 foods on CalorieExplorer with a reported magnesium value. They are generic USDA FoodData Central rows (Foundation Foods and SR Legacy) with a plain name: no branded products, restaurant items, survey mixed dishes, baby foods or regional specialty rows.
• Only foods with more than 0 mg are ranked (370 foods); a food with no reported value is left out, never counted as 0.
• Flours, crude brans, powders and dehydrated foods, juice concentrates, mixes, sugars and fortified foods are not ranked: per 100 g they beat every food eaten as is. They are listed separately below.
• Ties share a rank: foods with the same value per 100 g get the same number, and the next number is skipped.
• Typical portion = USDA's own serving weight for that food (a medium fruit, 1 cup, 1 oz…), as on its food page. Per 200 kcal shows how much you get for the same calories; foods under 5 kcal per 100 g are not ranked that way (–).
• % DV = share of the FDA Daily Value for magnesium, 420 mg a day for adults and children 4 and older.
• FDA lets a label call a food “high in” a nutrient when one reference serving gives 20% of the Daily Value or more, and a “good source” at 10–19% (21 CFR 101.54). We apply it to the typical USDA portion, which is not always the label's reference amount.

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