How many calories are in lettuce?
A cup of shredded iceberg lettuce weighs 72 g and carries 10 calories. Per 100 g, raw lettuce runs 14 calories, one of the lowest numbers in the produce aisle. A whole medium head, all 539 g of it, still comes to just 75. What lands on the salad after the leaves is what moves the total.
On this page
- Lettuce quick facts
- US servings, from one leaf to a whole head
- Iceberg, romaine, green leaf, red leaf and butterhead
- Cooked lettuce is 49 calories per 100 g, not 14
- Fiber and potassium are the rows that matter
- How does lettuce compare?
- Most popular lettuce brands
- FAQ
Lettuce quick facts
The number above comes from SR Legacy record 169248, "Lettuce, iceberg (includes crisphead types), raw". Iceberg is the lettuce most Americans actually hold: a solid head in the crisper, or a bag of shreds emptied over tacos. That record is also the most complete one USDA publishes for lettuce, with sugars, saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol all measured, plus household measures for a cup, a leaf and a head.
Newer Foundation records exist for romaine, but they calculate calories by Atwater factors and leave sodium and sugars blank, so they belong in the comparison table further down rather than in the headline row. Every other type of lettuce gets its own section below, with its own record.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 cup shredded (72 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 14 | 10 | — |
| Total fat | 0.14 g | 0.1 g | 0% |
| Saturated fat | 0.02 g | 0.0 g | 0% |
| Carbohydrate | 2.97 g | 2.1 g | 1% |
| Dietary fiber | 1.2 g | 0.9 g | 3% |
| Total sugars | 1.97 g | 1.4 g | — |
| Protein | 0.9 g | 0.6 g | 1% |
| Sodium | 10 mg | 7 mg | 0% |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0 mg | 0% |
| Potassium | 141 mg | 102 mg | 2% |
% 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 row here, because the SR Legacy record does not carry one — raw lettuce has no added sugars at all, and the 1.97 g per 100 g listed above is the sugar the plant grew. Trans fat is 0 g and is left out for the same reason. Percentages follow the FDA Daily Values printed on every Nutrition Facts label.
US servings, from one leaf to a whole head
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 leaf, large | 15 g | 2 kcal |
| 1 cup, chopped into half-inch pieces | 57 g | 8 kcal |
| 1 cup shredded | 72 g | 10 kcal |
| 1 oz | 28 g | 4 kcal |
| 1 head, medium, 6 inches across | 539 g | 75 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 14 kcal |
The leaf, the two cups and the head are USDA household measures attached to record 169248. The ounce is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not a USDA serving, and it is the useful one when you are weighing a bag of shreds instead of scooping.
Notice the two cups. A cup of shreds weighs 72 g; a cup of half-inch chopped pieces, loosely packed, weighs only 57 g. Same cup, same lettuce, 15 g apart, because chopped chunks trap air that fine shreds do not. If you log lettuce by the cup, you are logging a guess with a 25% spread built into it — which barely matters at 8 versus 10 calories, but matters a lot if you use the same eyeball habit on rice or cheese.
Bagged shredded iceberg is where labels and USDA drift apart. Store labels declare an 85 g serving, roughly 1.5 cups, and read anywhere from 10 to 15 calories depending on how the brand rounds: Marketside and Dole shredded iceberg both print 12 calories per 100 g, while Good & Gather prints 18 for the same product. USDA's 14 sits in the middle, and at this scale the difference is noise.
Iceberg, romaine, green leaf, red leaf and butterhead
| Type | Per 100 g | Typical cup | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iceberg | 14 kcal | 1 cup shredded, 72 g | 10 kcal |
| Romaine | 17 kcal | 1 cup shredded, 47 g | 8 kcal |
| Green leaf | 15 kcal | 1 cup shredded, 36 g | 5 kcal |
| Red leaf | 13 kcal | 1 cup shredded, 28 g | 4 kcal |
| Butterhead (Boston, Bibb) | 13 kcal | 1 cup shredded or chopped, 55 g | 7 kcal |
| Lettuce, raw, mixed types | 20 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 6 kcal |
Here is the trap nobody mentions. Romaine is the denser leaf on paper, 17 calories per 100 g against iceberg's 14. But a cup of shredded romaine weighs 47 g and a cup of shredded iceberg weighs 72 g, so the cup of romaine comes to 8 calories and the cup of "lighter" iceberg comes to 10. Per gram iceberg wins; per cup it loses. Cup weight matters even more with red leaf, which ties butterhead as the lightest of the five at 13 calories per 100 g and shreds down to 28 g a cup, or 4 calories.
Butterhead carries the fewest carbohydrates of the common types, 2.23 g per 100 g against iceberg's 2.97 g, and the least sodium too, 5 mg per 100 g. Green leaf runs the other way on sodium, 28 mg per 100 g, which is soil chemistry rather than anything added.
The FNDDS record simply called "Lettuce, raw" reads 20 calories per 100 g. That is not a sixth variety — it is a weighted blend of what Americans actually eat, romaine and darker leaves included, so it lands above every single-variety number. If your tracker shows 20 for plain lettuce, that is the record it pulled.
Cooked lettuce is 49 calories per 100 g, not 14
Wilted lettuce shows up in stir-fries, soups and warm salads, and USDA's cooked record reads 49 calories per 100 g — three and a half times the raw figure. An ounce of it is 14 calories, which is what a whole 100 g of raw lettuce costs.
The jump is not the lettuce. Fat goes from 0.14 g per 100 g raw to 3.11 g cooked, saturated fat from 0.02 g to 0.81 g, and sodium from 10 mg to 169 mg — almost seventeen times more. That is oil, butter and salt in the pan, measured as part of the dish. The leaves themselves lose water and shrink, so a cooked cup packs far more original lettuce than a raw one does. Log the raw record when you build a salad, the cooked one when the lettuce came out of a skillet.
Fiber and potassium are the rows that matter
At 10 calories a cup, calorie counting is not the reason to pay attention to lettuce. The interesting rows are further down the label.
A cup of shredded iceberg gives 0.9 g of fiber, 3% of the 28 g Daily Value. A cup of shredded romaine gives 1.0 g, 4% of the Daily Value, from 25 g less weight — romaine's 2.1 g of fiber per 100 g nearly doubles iceberg's 1.2 g. If you eat salad by volume rather than by weight, switching bases is a free upgrade.
Potassium is the sleeper. Iceberg carries 141 mg per 100 g, so the 72 g cup contributes 102 mg, only 2% of the 4,700 mg Daily Value. A whole medium head is a different story: 760 mg of potassium, 16% of the Daily Value, alongside 6.5 g of fiber (23%) and 54 mg of sodium (2%), for a grand total of 75 calories. Very few foods let you take a quarter of a day's fiber for that price. MyPlate counts every cup of raw leafy greens as half a cup toward the vegetable group, which is worth knowing before you assume a big salad has covered the day.
If you are watching sodium, raw lettuce of any type is effectively free — 5 to 28 mg per 100 g. It is the dressing, cheese and croutons that carry the label, not the base.
How does lettuce compare?
| Vegetable, raw | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lettuce, iceberg | 14 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 4 kcal |
| Celery | 14 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 4 kcal |
| New Zealand spinach | 14 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 4 kcal |
| Radishes, white icicle | 14 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 4 kcal |
Our take: lettuce has no calorie advantage over its neighbors — celery, New Zealand spinach and white icicle radishes all land on exactly 14 calories per 100 g, and all four give 4 calories an ounce. Once foods are this light, calories stop being the tiebreaker. Pick on what else comes with them: New Zealand spinach brings 1.5 g of protein per 100 g against lettuce's 0.9 g, and romaine brings 2.1 g of fiber against iceberg's 1.2 g. For weight control the honest advice is to stop optimizing the leaves and start weighing the dressing, which can outweigh the entire bowl in a single spoonful.
Most popular lettuce 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) |
|---|---|
| Marketside Shredded Iceberg Lettuce | 12 cal |
| O Organics Baby Lettuce | 25 cal |
| Dole Iceberg Shredded Lettuce | 12 cal |
| Good & Gather Iceberg Shredded Lettuce | 18 cal |
| Green Giant Red Leaf Lettuce | 18 cal |
| Green Giant Romaine Lettuce | 18 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Lettuce FAQs
How many calories are in a cup of lettuce?
A cup of shredded iceberg weighs 72 g and carries 10 calories. Chopped into half-inch pieces, the same cup holds only 57 g and 8 calories, because loose chunks trap air that shreds do not. Romaine shreds lighter still, 47 g a cup, so that cup is 8 calories.
How many calories are in a whole head of lettuce?
A medium head of iceberg, about 6 inches across, weighs 539 g and totals 75 calories. It also carries 6.5 g of fiber, 4.9 g of protein, 760 mg of potassium and only 54 mg of sodium. The fiber and potassium, not the calorie count, are the reason to eat the whole thing.
Does romaine have fewer calories than iceberg?
Not per gram: romaine is 17 calories per 100 g against iceberg's 14. Cups flip the answer. A cup of shredded romaine weighs 47 g and gives 8 calories, while a cup of shredded iceberg weighs 72 g and gives 10. Denser leaf, lighter cup.
How many carbs are in lettuce?
Iceberg lettuce has 2.97 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, and 1.2 g of that is fiber. A 72 g cup works out to 2.1 g of carbohydrate, 1% of the Daily Value. Butterhead is the lowest of the common types at 2.23 g per 100 g, red leaf next at 2.26 g.
How much fiber does lettuce have?
Iceberg carries 1.2 g of fiber per 100 g, which is 0.9 g in a 72 g cup, or 3% of the 28 g Daily Value. Romaine nearly doubles it at 2.1 g per 100 g, so a 47 g cup delivers 1.0 g and 4% of the Daily Value from less weight.
Does lettuce have any protein?
Barely: 0.9 g of protein per 100 g of iceberg, which is 0.6 g in a 72 g cup, 1% of the Daily Value. Green leaf and red leaf are slightly higher at 1.36 g and 1.33 g per 100 g. No lettuce is a meaningful protein source at any realistic serving size.
How many calories in shredded lettuce for tacos?
A taco's worth of shredded iceberg is roughly 15 to 30 g, so 2 to 4 calories, scaled from the USDA 100 g figure rather than taken from a USDA serving. Bagged shreds list 85 g on the label, around 1.5 cups, at 10 to 15 calories depending on the brand's rounding.
Is lettuce good for weight loss?
At 14 calories per 100 g, lettuce adds volume for almost nothing, and a whole 539 g head is still only 75 calories. Treat it as a filler rather than a meal: 0.9 g of protein and 1.2 g of fiber per 100 g will not hold you on their own, and the dressing decides the total.
Similar foods
- Cucumber — 45 cal per whole cucumber
- 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
- Bell Pepper — 31 cal per medium
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the bowl and BodyPal counts the leaves and everything you put on them.
