Green leaf lettuce calories come to 5 for 1 cup shredded (36 g) and 15 per 100 g, raw. The thing to notice is how little the portion matters: even 1 head (360 g) lands at 54 calories, so whatever you put on the leaves will usually count for more than the leaves themselves.
5kcal
1 cup, shredded · 36 g, raw
30%protein
0.5 gProtein
1 gCarbs
0.1 gFat
How to burn off 5 kcal
—Walking, brisk
—Jogging
—Cycling, moderate
—Swimming
Skip the math. BodyPal counts these calories from your steps and workouts automatically.
Nutrition facts
Raw · per 36 g
Calories
5 kcal
Protein
0.5 g
Carbohydrate
1 g
Fat
0.1 g
Saturated fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
10 mg
Potassium
70 mg
Iron
0.3 mg
Source: USDA FoodData Central
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Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified October 2026. How we verify our data →
Green leaf lettuce: calories, protein and sodium by serving
Percent of daily value uses the FDA reference of 2,000 kcal a day.
Serving
kcal
Protein
Carbs
Fat
Sodium
% DV kcal
1 cup shredded (36 g)
5
0.5 g
1 g
0.1 g
10 mg
0%
1 outer leaf (24 g)
4
0.3 g
0.7 g
0 g
7 mg
0%
1 head (360 g)
54
4.9 g
10.3 g
0.5 g
101 mg
3%
100 g
15
1.4 g
2.9 g
0.2 g
28 mg
1%
3 × 1 cup shredded (36 g)
16
1.5 g
30 mg
5 × 1 cup shredded (36 g)
27
2.4 g
50 mg
A whole head is only 54 calories
The USDA row behind this page is "Lettuce, green leaf, raw," and its portions scale cleanly. 1 cup shredded (36 g) is 5 calories, 1 outer leaf (24 g) is 4, and 1 head (360 g) is 54. That full head covers about 3% of the daily calorie value. Few vegetables let you finish the whole head and barely move your total.
Adding more cups changes very little. 2 cups (72 g) come to 11 calories, 3 cups (108 g) to 16, and 5 cups (180 g) to 27. A big dinner-size bowl of greens still costs less than many single bites of the foods people usually put on top of it. Protein climbs slowly along with it, from 1 g at 2 cups to 2.4 g at 5 cups.
So measuring lettuce precisely is rarely worth the effort. If you track by eye, your error on the greens is a few calories at most. Save your attention for the toppings, cheese, croutons and dressing, because that is where the real swings in a salad happen.
Carbs supply 63% of the calories
Per 100 g, green leaf lettuce has 2.9 g of carbs, 1.4 g of protein and 0.2 g of fat. In calorie terms that works out to 63% carbs, 30% protein and 7% fat. The protein share looks generous on paper only because the total is so small.
Don't read that 30% as a reason to count lettuce as a protein source. A whole head (360 g) gives 4.9 g of protein, about 10% of the daily value, and 1 cup shredded adds 0.5 g. Lettuce fills the plate. The protein has to come from somewhere else.
The carbs are not the starchy kind either. Of the 2.9 g of carbs in 100 g, 1.3 g is fiber and 0.8 g is sugars. Saturated fat and cholesterol both read 0, and the 0.2 g of fat is close to a rounding error. There is very little in this food that can tip a day off course.
Sodium is low; potassium and fiber carry the label
Sodium is not the row to watch here. 100 g carries 28 mg, 1% of the daily value, and 1 cup shredded has 10 mg. Even 1 head (360 g) reaches only 101 mg, or 4%. If you watch sodium, look at the dressing, cheese and cured toppings, not the lettuce.
Potassium runs the other way. Green leaf lettuce has 194 mg of potassium per 100 g, far more than its sodium. Fiber is modest per cup at 0.5 g, but it adds up when you eat the whole head, which gives 4.7 g against a daily value of 28 g.
Sugars stay low throughout: 0.3 g in 1 cup shredded and 2.8 g in a whole head. None of these rows is large enough to plan a meal around. The value of green leaf lettuce is the combination: lots of volume, a little fiber and potassium, and almost no calories, sodium or fat.
Treat it as the volume, not the meal
Green leaf lettuce does one job very well. It adds bulk for almost nothing. A plate built on 3 cups (108 g) starts at 16 calories, which leaves nearly all of the meal's calories for the parts that bring protein and fat.
Pair it with a protein you already eat, such as eggs, chicken, beans or tuna, plus something with a little fat if you want the meal to keep you full. The soft, ruffled outer leaves also work as wraps for burgers, tacos or chicken salad in place of a bun or tortilla, at 4 calories a leaf. If you log your food, log the lettuce so the habit sticks, but log the dressing first. BodyPal can log a salad from a photo, which saves weighing each layer.
Bagged options such as Good & Gather Shredded Green Leaf Lettuce use the same leaf. Mixes like Stater Bros. Romaine & Green Leaf Lettuce blend in romaine, which shifts the numbers only slightly, as the comparison below shows.
How does green leaf lettuce compare?
Here is how green leaf lettuce stacks up against iceberg, romaine and generic lettuce, per 100 g and per usual serving.
Verdict: The calorie gaps are tiny: iceberg and generic lettuce come in at 14 per 100 g, green leaf at 15 and romaine at 17, so pick on taste and texture rather than calories. For the least sodium choose romaine at 8 mg per 100 g; for a bit more protein choose green leaf, with 1.4 g against 0.9 g for iceberg.
Most popular green leaf lettuce brands in the United States
Ranked by popularity in the BodyPal database
# Productkcal / 100 g
1Green Giant Green Leaf Lettuce6 leaves · 85 g18 kcal
2Dandrea Green Leaf Lettuce3 oz · 85 g18 kcal
3Mike Pirrone Produce Green Leaf Lettuce4 g25 kcal
How many calories are in a cup of green leaf lettuce?
About 5 calories in one cup of shredded raw green leaf lettuce (36 g). A large outer leaf (24 g) has about 4.
Is green leaf lettuce good for weight loss?
It has 15 calories per 100 g, so a whole head (360 g) comes to about 54 calories. It also carries 1.3 g of fiber per 100 g.
Green leaf lettuce vs iceberg lettuce: which has fewer calories?
They are almost the same: 15 calories per 100 g for green leaf and 14 for iceberg. Green leaf has more protein (1.36 g vs 0.9 g) and potassium (194 mg vs 141 mg).
How many carbs are in green leaf lettuce?
Green leaf lettuce has 2.87 g of carbs per 100 g, including 1.3 g of fiber and 0.78 g of sugar. A shredded cup has about 1.0 g of carbs.
How many calories does USDA FoodData Central list for 100 g of raw green leaf lettuce?
USDA lists 15 calories per 100 g for "Lettuce, green leaf, raw" (FDC 169249). The same 100 g has 1.4 g of protein, 2.9 g of carbs, 0.2 g of fat and 1.3 g of fiber.
How many calories are in a whole head of green leaf lettuce?
A whole head (360 g) has 54 calories, about 3% of the daily value. It also brings 4.9 g of protein, 10.3 g of carbs, 4.7 g of fiber and 101 mg of sodium.
How many calories are in one leaf of green leaf lettuce?
1 outer leaf (24 g) has 4 calories, with 0.3 g of protein, 0.7 g of carbs and 7 mg of sodium. Using a few leaves as a wrap adds very little to a meal.
How much protein is in green leaf lettuce?
Green leaf lettuce has 1.4 g of protein per 100 g and 0.5 g per cup shredded. Protein makes up 30% of its calories, but a whole head still gives only 4.9 g.
Does green leaf lettuce have more calories than romaine?
No. Green leaf has 15 calories per 100 g and romaine has 17. Per usual serving, 1 cup shredded green leaf (36 g) is 5 calories, while 1 cup shredded romaine (47 g) is 8.
