Calories in Spinach: Raw, Cooked, and Per Cup

One cup (30 g) of raw spinach contains just 7 calories, making it one of the lowest-calorie foods measured by the USDA FoodData Central (FDC ID 168462).

If you are trying to fill your plate without filling your calorie budget, spinach is hard to beat. Below we break down the numbers by portion and form so you always know exactly what you are logging.

Calories and Macros by Serving

The table below covers the most common ways people eat spinach. Cooked weights are for plain boiled or steamed spinach with no added fat.

Serving	Weight	Calories	Protein	Carbs	Fiber	Fat
1 cup raw	30 g	7 kcal	0.9 g	1.1 g	0.7 g	0.1 g
100 g raw	100 g	23 kcal	2.9 g	3.6 g	2.2 g	0.4 g
1 cup cooked	180 g	41 kcal	5.3 g	6.8 g	4.3 g	0.5 g
1/2 cup cooked	90 g	21 kcal	2.7 g	3.4 g	2.2 g	0.2 g

Source: USDA FoodData Central, spinach raw (FDC 168462) and cooked-boiled-drained (FDC 170091).

What the Macros Mean

Spinach is primarily water (about 91% by weight when raw). The carbohydrates it does contain are largely fiber, which means the net digestible carbs in a raw cup sit well under 1 g — a vanishingly small glycemic contribution. Protein is surprisingly decent for a leafy green: a cup of cooked spinach delivers over 5 g, which counts toward your daily target even if it is not a primary protein source. Fat is negligible. If you want to see how spinach slots into your full macro picture, the macro calculator can show your daily protein, carb, and fat targets in seconds.

Does It Fit Your Goals?

Weight loss. With 7 calories per raw cup, spinach is one of the highest-volume, lowest-calorie foods available. Eating a large spinach salad before a meal is a proven strategy for reducing total meal intake. A 500-calorie deficit diet built around high-volume vegetables like spinach is far easier to sustain than one built around calorie-dense processed foods — see our guide on counting calories to lose weight for the full framework.

Blood sugar management. Spinach has an extremely low glycemic load — the combination of low digestible carbs and high fiber means it causes virtually no blood-glucose spike. People managing prediabetes or type 2 diabetes can eat spinach freely across meals. To understand how a full meal’s carbohydrate load affects blood sugar, use the glycemic load calculator alongside your spinach-based dishes.

Micronutrients worth noting. Beyond macros, spinach is a meaningful source of folate, vitamin K, vitamin A (as beta-carotene), iron, and magnesium. These nutrients matter for energy metabolism and bone health, which makes spinach a smart base for any meal pattern — not just calorie-controlled ones.

Practical Tips for Tracking Spinach

Raw spinach compresses dramatically when cooked: roughly 5 cups of raw leaves yields 1 cup cooked. If you are logging by cup, it matters whether you are measuring raw or cooked. Always specify the form when logging manually — or skip the guesswork and photograph the bowl instead.

Photograph your spinach bowl in CalEye and let the AI log the calories and macros in seconds.