How many calories are in lettuce leaves?
A 1-cup shredded serving of green leaf lettuce weighs 36 g and holds 5 calories. Per 100 g the leaves run 15 calories. A whole 360 g head is 54. Almost nothing you put on a salad plate is lighter, which is why the dressing, not the greens, decides the total.
On this page
- Lettuce leaves quick facts
- US servings, from one leaf to a whole head
- Iceberg, romaine, red leaf and the rest
- Cooked lettuce is a different number
- Fiber and potassium ride on volume
- How do lettuce leaves compare?
- Most popular lettuce leaves brands
- FAQ
Lettuce leaves quick facts
The record behind this page is SR Legacy 169249, "Lettuce, green leaf, raw". That is the loose-leaf type in the photo — the ruffled green head you tear apart by hand, not the tight iceberg ball. USDA also keeps a Foundation entry for the same vegetable, but its calories are derived by Atwater factors and it publishes no fiber or saturated fat, so the SR Legacy row is the complete one.
Serving numbers below are for 1 cup shredded, 36 g, which is USDA's own household measure for this record.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 cup shredded (36 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 15 | 5 | — |
| Total fat | 0.15 g | 0.1 g | 0% |
| Saturated fat | 0.02 g | 0.0 g | 0% |
| Carbohydrate | 2.87 g | 1.0 g | 0% |
| Dietary fiber | 1.3 g | 0.5 g | 2% |
| Total sugars | 0.78 g | 0.3 g | — |
| Protein | 1.36 g | 0.5 g | 1% |
| Sodium | 28 mg | 10 mg | 0% |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0 mg | 0% |
| Potassium | 194 mg | 70 mg | 1% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
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 September 2026. How we verify our data →
There is no added sugars line here, because SR Legacy does not publish one for raw lettuce — fresh leaves have nothing added to them. The 0.78 g of total sugars per 100 g is what the plant made itself. Everything else on the label is close enough to zero that a full cup moves no percentage past 2%. The Daily Values used for those percentages come from the FDA's Nutrition Facts rules.
US servings, from one leaf to a whole head
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 inner leaf | 4.8 g | 1 kcal |
| 1 outer leaf | 24 g | 4 kcal |
| 1 oz | 28.3 g | 4 kcal |
| 1 cup shredded | 36 g | 5 kcal |
| 1 head | 360 g | 54 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 15 kcal |
The leaf, cup and head weights are USDA's household measures for record 169249. The ounce row is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not a USDA serving, and it lands within a calorie of a single outer leaf.
Bagged lettuce uses a different serving on the package: 85 g. Wegmans Lettuce Leaves, Ocean Mist Farms green leaf, Ocean Mist Farms romaine, Fresh Express 5-Lettuce Mix and State Garden Sweet Baby Lettuce all declare 18 calories per 100 g and 15 per 85 g bag serving, while Dole Shredded Iceberg reads 12 per 100 g and 10 per serving. Label math rounds; USDA's lab numbers do not. Either way you are arguing over single digits.
Iceberg, romaine, red leaf and the rest
| Variety | Per 100 g | Typical cup | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green leaf (main record) | 15 kcal | 1 cup shredded, 36 g | 5 kcal |
| Iceberg | 14 kcal | 1 cup shredded, 72 g | 10 kcal |
| Romaine | 17 kcal | 1 cup shredded, 47 g | 8 kcal |
| Red leaf | 13 kcal | 1 cup shredded, 28 g | 4 kcal |
| Butterhead, Boston or Bibb | 18 kcal | 1 cup, 25 g | 5 kcal |
| Mixed lettuce, survey average | 20 kcal | 1 cup, 35 g | 7 kcal |
Read that table twice, because the two columns disagree on purpose. Iceberg is the second-lightest type per gram at 14 calories per 100 g, yet its cup is the heaviest on the page — 10 calories — simply because shredded crisphead packs 72 g into the same measuring cup that holds 36 g of ruffled green leaf. Same word, double the food.
Red leaf is the lightest of the group per gram and per cup, 13 calories per 100 g and 4 in a cup, though a cup of it is only 28 g. The mixed-lettuce survey average sits highest per gram at 20 calories because it blends whatever people actually served, including the denser varieties.
Cooked lettuce is a different number
Wilted lettuce, braised romaine, lettuce dropped into a stir-fry at the end — USDA's survey record for cooked lettuce reads 49 calories per 100 g against 15 for the same weight raw. Fat climbs from 0.15 g to 3.11 g, saturated fat from 0.02 g to 0.81 g, and sodium from 28 mg to 169 mg.
None of that came out of the plant. The survey record assumes fat and salt in the pan, and the leaves shed water and shrink, so a given weight of cooked lettuce holds more of everything else. If you cooked it dry in a nonstick pan, you would be closer to the raw figure with a smaller pile. Log the oil separately and this stops mattering.
Fiber and potassium ride on volume
One cup of shredded leaves brings 0.5 g of fiber, which is 2% of the 28 g Daily Value. That is nothing. A whole 360 g head, though, is 4.7 g of fiber and 698 mg of potassium — 17% and 15% of the Daily Value — for 54 calories. Those two per-head figures are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g values rather than a published USDA serving.
That is the honest case for lettuce: not the nutrition in a cup, but the fact that you can eat an absurd volume of it. MyPlate counts 2 cups of raw leafy greens as one cup-equivalent of vegetables for exactly this reason — the leaves are mostly water, so they are measured at half rate.
Sodium is the one row where the varieties spread. Green leaf carries 28 mg per 100 g, the most of the four types in the comparison below; red leaf 25 mg, iceberg 10 mg, romaine 8 mg. Every one of those is under 2% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, so if you are watching sodium, the dressing bottle deserves your attention and the leaves do not.
How do lettuce leaves compare?
| Lettuce | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green leaf | 15 kcal | 1 cup shredded, 36 g | 5 kcal |
| Iceberg | 14 kcal | 1 cup shredded, 72 g | 10 kcal |
| Romaine | 17 kcal | 1 cup shredded, 47 g | 8 kcal |
| Red leaf | 13 kcal | 1 cup shredded, 28 g | 4 kcal |
Our take: pick your lettuce on texture and fiber, not calories, because the whole range here is 13 to 17 calories per 100 g and no cup on the table clears 10. Romaine is the one worth choosing deliberately — 2.1 g of fiber per 100 g, against 1.3 g for green leaf and 1.2 g for iceberg, and it holds up under a heavy dressing. Of the four types here, only red leaf and iceberg are lighter per gram than green leaf, by 2 and 1 calories per 100 g. If you are counting a salad, count everything except the leaves first.
Most popular lettuce leaves brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Wegmans Lettuce Leaves | 18 cal |
| Ocean Mist Farms Green Leaf Lettuce | 18 cal |
| Ocean Mist Farms Romaine Lettuce | 18 cal |
| Fresh Express 5-Lettuce Mix | 18 cal |
| State Garden Sweet Baby Lettuce | 18 cal |
| Dole Shredded Iceberg Lettuce | 12 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Lettuce leaves FAQs
How many calories are in a lettuce leaf?
One large outer leaf of green leaf lettuce weighs about 24 g and holds 4 calories. A small inner leaf, 4.8 g, is 1 calorie. At 15 calories per 100 g, you would have to work through most of a whole head before the number moved past 50.
How many calories in 1 cup of lettuce?
A cup of shredded green leaf lettuce weighs 36 g and carries 5 calories. The word cup hides a lot, though. A cup of shredded iceberg weighs 72 g and comes to 10 calories, because the dense crisphead leaves pack twice the weight into the same measure.
How many calories in a whole head of lettuce?
A 360 g head of green leaf lettuce is 54 calories, core and all. It also brings 4.7 g of fiber, 17% of the Daily Value, and 698 mg of potassium, 15%. Very few foods hand you that much volume on the plate for so little.
Is iceberg or romaine lettuce lower in calories?
Iceberg is lower per gram, 14 calories per 100 g against 17 for romaine. Per cup the order flips on weight rather than density: a cup of shredded iceberg is 72 g and 10 calories, a cup of romaine 47 g and 8. Romaine carries 2.1 g of fiber per 100 g, iceberg 1.2 g.
How many carbs are in lettuce leaves?
Green leaf lettuce has 2.87 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, and 1.3 g of that is fiber. A cup of shredded leaves works out to 1.0 g of carbohydrate, under 1% of the Daily Value. Total sugars are 0.78 g per 100 g, which is 0.3 g in a cup.
Does lettuce have any protein?
1.36 g per 100 g, so a cup of shredded leaves gives 0.5 g of protein, 1% of the Daily Value. A whole 360 g head adds up to 4.9 g, roughly 10%. Lettuce is not a protein food, but the number is not zero either.
Is lettuce a good source of fiber?
A cup of shredded green leaf lettuce has 0.5 g of fiber, 2% of the 28 g Daily Value, so one serving does very little. Volume changes the answer: a whole head is 4.7 g, or 17%. Romaine is the denser pick at 2.1 g per 100 g against 1.3 g.
Does cooking lettuce add calories?
Cooked lettuce runs 49 calories per 100 g in USDA's survey record, against 15 raw. Fat rises from 0.15 g to 3.11 g and sodium from 28 mg to 169 mg. That is the oil and the salt in the pan plus water lost from the leaves, not the vegetable itself.
Similar foods
- Cucumber — 45 cal per whole cucumber
- Lettuce — 10 cal per cup shredded
- Pico de gallo — 41 cal per cup
- Mushrooms — 15 cal per cup sliced
- Salad — 23 cal per side salad
- Cabbage — 22 cal per cup chopped
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the salad bowl and BodyPal counts the leaves, the dressing and everything else on top.
