A single cup of raw chopped kale delivers meaningful amounts of vitamins K, C, and A, along with smaller contributions of several B vitamins. It’s one of the most vitamin-dense foods you can eat per calorie, and the specific mix of nutrients it provides is unusually well-rounded for a single vegetable.
Vitamin K: Kale’s Standout Nutrient
One cup of raw kale contains 113 micrograms of vitamin K1, covering 94% of the daily value in a single serving. Vitamin K1 is the form found in plants, and your body uses it primarily for blood clotting and bone metabolism. Kale is one of the richest food sources of this vitamin, outpacing broccoli and Brussels sprouts by a wide margin.
Because vitamin K is fat-soluble, your body stores what it doesn’t immediately use. If you eat kale regularly, you’re unlikely to run low. However, people taking blood-thinning medications should be aware that large or inconsistent intake of vitamin K can interfere with how those drugs work. Keeping your intake steady from week to week matters more than avoiding kale altogether.
Vitamin C: More Than Most Fruits
That same one-cup serving of raw kale provides about 80 milligrams of vitamin C, which is roughly 90% of the daily value. That’s more vitamin C than a medium orange, and far more than other leafy greens like spinach or romaine. Vitamin C supports immune function, helps your body produce collagen for skin and joint health, and acts as an antioxidant that protects cells from damage.
Vitamin C is water-soluble and sensitive to heat. Boiling kale for an extended time will leach a significant portion of its vitamin C into the cooking water. If you want to preserve it, eating kale raw in salads, lightly sautéing it, or steaming it briefly are better options.
Vitamin A and Carotenoids
Kale is rich in beta-carotene, the plant pigment your body converts into vitamin A. A cup of raw kale supplies well over 100% of the daily value for vitamin A, supporting vision, immune health, and cell growth. But kale’s carotenoid profile goes beyond beta-carotene. It also contains lutein and neoxanthin, both of which play a role in eye health, particularly in protecting against age-related damage to the retina.
Different varieties of kale contain different concentrations of these compounds. Lacinato kale (sometimes called Tuscan or dinosaur kale) tested highest in carotenoids, including lutein and beta-carotene, when researchers compared eight cultivars. If you’re eating kale specifically for eye health, lacinato is a strong choice.
B Vitamins in Smaller Amounts
Kale isn’t a powerhouse for B vitamins the way it is for K, C, and A, but it does contribute. One cup of raw kale provides about 5% of the daily value for riboflavin (B2), plus small amounts of folate (B9) and vitamin B6. These nutrients help your body convert food into energy and are involved in red blood cell production.
You won’t meet your B vitamin needs from kale alone, but these contributions add up when kale is part of a varied diet. The folate in kale is particularly relevant for anyone trying to increase their intake through whole foods rather than supplements.
Vitamin E Across Kale Varieties
Kale contains tocopherols, the compounds that make up vitamin E. The amount varies noticeably by variety. Scarlet kale (a red-purple type) tested highest in total tocopherols among several cultivars studied, making it a better pick if vitamin E is a priority. Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant, protecting cell membranes from oxidative stress, and plays a role in immune function and skin health.
How to Get the Most From Kale’s Vitamins
Kale contains both water-soluble vitamins (C, B vitamins) and fat-soluble vitamins (K, A, E). This distinction matters for how you prepare it. The fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids need dietary fat to be absorbed efficiently. Research from the University of Missouri found that pairing kale with olive oil, mayonnaise, or an oil-based dressing significantly increased carotenoid absorption, regardless of whether the kale was raw or cooked. Simply drizzling olive oil on a kale salad or sautéing it in a little fat makes a real difference.
For the water-soluble vitamins, the main enemy is prolonged cooking in water. Steaming or quick sautéing preserves more vitamin C than boiling does. Raw kale retains the most, which is one reason massaged kale salads have become popular.
Kale’s Calcium Advantage
While not a vitamin, kale’s mineral profile is worth noting because it directly affects how useful the vitamins are. Kale is a low-oxalate vegetable, which gives it a major advantage over spinach when it comes to calcium absorption. Oxalates are compounds that bind to calcium and prevent your body from using it. A study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that calcium absorption from kale averaged about 41%, compared to 32% from milk. Spinach, despite containing more total calcium on paper, delivers far less because its high oxalate content blocks most of it.
Goitrogens: A Real but Manageable Concern
Kale contains progoitrin, a compound that can be converted into goitrin by an enzyme called myrosinase. Goitrin interferes with thyroid hormone production by blocking iodine uptake in the thyroid gland. In animal studies, sustained goitrin exposure led to reduced thyroid function and gland enlargement.
Cooking kale destroys the myrosinase enzyme, which prevents the conversion of progoitrin into its active goitrogenic form. This means cooked kale poses less thyroid concern than raw kale. For most people with normal thyroid function and adequate iodine intake, eating kale in typical dietary amounts is not a problem. If you have an existing thyroid condition or eat very large quantities of raw kale daily, cooking it is a simple way to reduce any risk.