Vitamin B3, commonly called niacin, is found in a wide range of foods including poultry, fish, peanuts, mushrooms, and fortified grains. Adults need 14 to 16 mg daily, and a single serving of chicken breast or tuna can deliver more than half that amount. Most people eating a varied diet get enough without trying, but knowing which foods pack the most helps if you’re tracking your intake or eating a restricted diet.
Poultry and Meat
Chicken breast is one of the richest everyday sources of niacin. A 3-ounce cooked serving provides roughly 10 mg, covering about two-thirds of a woman’s daily needs or more than half of a man’s. Turkey breast is similarly concentrated. Among red meats, beef liver stands out, though even a standard cut of beef or pork delivers a meaningful amount per serving.
The niacin in animal foods is highly bioavailable, meaning your body absorbs and uses it efficiently. Animal proteins also contain tryptophan, an amino acid your body can convert into niacin at a ratio of roughly 60 mg of tryptophan to 1 mg of niacin. That conversion is why protein-rich diets rarely lead to niacin deficiency, even when niacin intake from food alone looks modest on paper.
Fish and Seafood
Canned light tuna and cooked sockeye salmon each provide about 8.6 mg of niacin per 3-ounce serving. That’s a substantial contribution from a single portion. Anchovies, swordfish, and yellowfin tuna are also strong sources. If you eat fish two or three times a week, those meals alone account for a significant share of your weekly niacin.
Peanuts, Seeds, and Legumes
Among plant foods, peanuts are the standout. A small handful (about an ounce) provides around 4 mg of niacin. Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds fall in a similar range, typically delivering 1 to 5 mg per serving depending on portion size. Lentils and edamame also contribute, though at the lower end of that range.
There’s a catch with plant sources: niacin in grains, legumes, and seeds tends to be less well absorbed than niacin from animal foods. Some of it is bound to other compounds that resist digestion. This doesn’t make plant sources useless, but it means you may need to eat a wider variety of them to match what you’d get from a single serving of chicken or fish.
Fortified and Enriched Grains
In many countries, niacin is added to refined flour, bread, pasta, and breakfast cereals during manufacturing. This enrichment program was originally designed to prevent pellagra, a niacin deficiency disease, and it remains one of the most common ways people unknowingly meet their daily needs. A cup of ready-to-eat fortified cereal typically contains about 5 mg. A cup of cooked enriched spaghetti provides around 2 mg. You can check for the word “niacin” in a product’s ingredient list to confirm it’s been added.
If you avoid gluten or eat mostly whole, unprocessed grains, you won’t benefit from this fortification. Whole grains do contain naturally occurring niacin, but often in lower or less absorbable amounts compared to their enriched counterparts.
Mushrooms and Vegetables
Mushrooms are one of the few vegetables with notable niacin content. Portobello and crimini mushrooms are among the best options, providing a few milligrams per cooked cup. Green peas, potatoes, and avocados also contribute smaller amounts. No single vegetable will come close to meeting your full daily requirement, but these foods add up when combined with other sources throughout the day.
The Corn Exception
Corn contains niacin, but in a form that’s naturally bound up and poorly absorbed by the human body. This is why populations that historically relied on untreated corn as a staple food were vulnerable to pellagra. The traditional solution, still used in Mexican and Central American cooking, is a process called nixtamalization: boiling corn kernels in an alkaline solution (usually lime water). This breaks down the bound niacin and makes it available for absorption. Corn tortillas made this way contain meaningful amounts of B vitamins that would otherwise pass through undigested.
How Much You Need
The recommended daily intake for adult men is 16 mg, and for adult women it’s 14 mg. During pregnancy, that rises to 18 mg. These targets are measured in “niacin equivalents,” which account for both the niacin you eat directly and the small amount your body produces from tryptophan in protein foods.
Deficiency is rare in developed countries, largely because of food fortification and protein-rich diets. When it does occur, it’s usually linked to chronic alcohol use, severe malnutrition, or conditions that impair nutrient absorption. Symptoms include skin rashes, digestive problems, and fatigue. Getting too much niacin from food alone is essentially impossible. High-dose supplements, on the other hand, can cause flushing (a warm, tingling redness in the skin) and, at extreme levels, liver problems.
Quick Comparison of Top Sources
- Chicken breast (3 oz, cooked): ~10 mg
- Tuna, canned light (3 oz): 8.6 mg
- Sockeye salmon (3 oz, cooked): 8.6 mg
- Fortified cereal (1 cup): ~5 mg
- Peanuts (1 oz): ~4 mg
- Enriched spaghetti (1 cup, cooked): ~2 mg
- Lentils, seeds, edamame (1 serving): 1–5 mg
A lunch of grilled chicken over enriched pasta, or a tuna sandwich with a handful of peanuts on the side, easily covers a full day’s requirement. For people eating plant-based diets, combining fortified cereals, peanut butter, mushrooms, and legumes across the day achieves the same goal with a bit more planning.