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Low calorie vegetables, by USDA FoodData Central values, begin with watercress at about 11 calories per 100 grams and about 4 calories in a chopped cup, then the lettuces, Chinese cabbage, celery, cucumber and radishes, all at 16 calories or fewer per 100 grams. The table below ranks 27 raw vegetables from the USDA SR Legacy database by calories per 100 grams, shows the calories in a one-cup USDA serving, and adds water per 100 grams and fiber per cup with its percent of the FDA Daily Value. Two starchy entries, peas and corn, close the list of low calorie veggies for scale.
Peptide Labs does not sell foods. This article is general nutrition information, not medical advice.
Key Takeaways
- In USDA data, watercress, butterhead lettuce, Chinese cabbage, iceberg and celery all list 14 calories or fewer per 100 grams, the lowest calorie vegetables ranked here.
- Per cup the ranking changes: USDA weighs a cup of raw salad leaves at only 20 to 72 grams, so a cup of arugula lists about 5 calories.
- USDA lists 95 to 96 grams of water per 100 grams for lettuce, celery, cucumber, radishes, zucchini and tomatoes, against about 76 to 79 grams for corn and peas.
- No raw vegetable in the table meets the FDA definition of calorie free (less than 5 calories per reference amount), but FDA's own example of a naturally low calorie food is celery.
- Plain cooking does not add calories, but it changes what fits in a cup: USDA lists a cup of raw spinach at about 7 calories and a cup of boiled spinach at about 41.
Low calorie vegetables ranked by USDA calories per 100 grams
The table uses raw USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy entries, ranked from the fewest calories per 100 grams to the most. The serving is the USDA one-cup portion for that entry (for cucumber, endive and arugula, where USDA lists only a half cup, the cup is twice that weight). Fiber is grams per cup, with the percent Daily Value (%DV) against the FDA Daily Value for dietary fiber of 28 grams for adults and children 4 and older.
| Vegetable (USDA FDC ID) | Serving | Calories | Per 100 g | Water per 100 g | Fiber | Fiber % DV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watercress, raw (170068) | 1 cup chopped | 4 | 11 | 95 g | 0.2 g | 1% |
| Lettuce, butterhead, raw (168429) | 1 cup shredded | 7 | 13 | 96 g | 0.6 g | 2% |
| Cabbage, Chinese, raw (170390) | 1 cup shredded | 9 | 13 | 95 g | 0.7 g | 2% |
| Lettuce, iceberg, raw (169248) | 1 cup shredded | 10 | 14 | 96 g | 0.9 g | 3% |
| Celery, raw (169988) | 1 cup chopped | 14 | 14 | 95 g | 1.6 g | 6% |
| Lettuce, green leaf, raw (169249) | 1 cup shredded | 5 | 15 | 95 g | 0.5 g | 2% |
| Cucumber, with peel, raw (168409) | 1 cup slices | 16 | 15 | 95 g | 0.5 g | 2% |
| Radishes, raw (169276) | 1 cup slices | 19 | 16 | 95 g | 1.9 g | 7% |
| Lettuce, romaine, raw (169247) | 1 cup shredded | 8 | 17 | 95 g | 1.0 g | 4% |
| Endive, raw (168412) | 1 cup chopped | 8 | 17 | 94 g | 1.6 g | 6% |
| Zucchini, with skin, raw (169291) | 1 cup chopped | 21 | 17 | 95 g | 1.2 g | 4% |
| Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw (170457) | 1 cup chopped | 32 | 18 | 95 g | 2.2 g | 8% |
| Chard, Swiss, raw (169991) | 1 cup | 7 | 19 | 93 g | 0.6 g | 2% |
| Asparagus, raw (168389) | 1 cup | 27 | 20 | 93 g | 2.8 g | 10% |
| Peppers, sweet, green, raw (170427) | 1 cup chopped | 30 | 20 | 94 g | 2.5 g | 9% |
| Mushrooms, white, raw (169251) | 1 cup pieces | 15 | 22 | 92 g | 0.7 g | 2% |
| Spinach, raw (168462) | 1 cup | 7 | 23 | 91 g | 0.7 g | 2% |
| Arugula, raw (169387) | 1 cup | 5 | 25 | 92 g | 0.3 g | 1% |
| Eggplant, raw (169228) | 1 cup cubes | 20 | 25 | 92 g | 2.5 g | 9% |
| Cabbage, green, raw (169975) | 1 cup chopped | 22 | 25 | 92 g | 2.2 g | 8% |
| Cauliflower, raw (169986) | 1 cup chopped | 27 | 25 | 92 g | 2.1 g | 8% |
| Peppers, sweet, red, raw (170108) | 1 cup chopped | 39 | 26 | 92 g | 3.1 g | 11% |
| Beans, snap, green, raw (169961) | 1 cup | 31 | 31 | 90 g | 2.7 g | 10% |
| Broccoli, raw (170379) | 1 cup chopped | 31 | 34 | 89 g | 2.4 g | 8% |
| Kale, raw (168421) | 1 cup | 7 | 35 | 90 g | 0.9 g | 3% |
| Onions, raw (170000) | 1 cup chopped | 64 | 40 | 89 g | 2.7 g | 10% |
| Carrots, raw (170393) | 1 cup chopped | 52 | 41 | 88 g | 3.6 g | 13% |
| Peas, green, raw (170419) | 1 cup | 117 | 81 | 79 g | 8.3 g | 30% |
| Corn, sweet, yellow, raw (169998) | 1 cup | 125 | 86 | 76 g | 2.9 g | 10% |
The Chinese cabbage row is the USDA entry for bok choy, and the snap bean row is the entry for green beans. Our guides go deeper on cucumber, zucchini, celery, radishes, mushrooms, bell peppers, cauliflower and tomatoes; for the picture across food groups, see low calorie foods and the sibling list of low calorie fruits.
Salad leaves: lowest per cup, not always lowest per 100 grams
Raw leaves are light, so their per-cup figures are the smallest in the table even when their per-100-gram figures are not. USDA SR Legacy weighs a cup of raw arugula at 20 grams, raw kale at 21 grams, raw spinach at 30 grams and shredded iceberg at 72 grams, so a cup of raw kale lists about 7 calories against about 10 for iceberg. The Dietary Guidelines handle this the same way: their quantity equivalents count 2 cups of leafy salad greens as one cup equivalent of vegetables. Our guides to leafy greens, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, arugula, spinach, kale, watercress, endive and Swiss chard cover each leaf on its own.
Water content and the Daily Value columns
Water sets the ranking of vegetables low in calories. USDA lists about 96 grams of water in every 100 grams of butterhead lettuce and iceberg and about 95 grams for watercress, Chinese cabbage, celery, cucumber, radishes, romaine, zucchini and tomatoes, which is why all of them sit at 18 calories or fewer per 100 grams. Water contributes no calories in the FDA calculation methods, which count protein, carbohydrate and fat (21 CFR 101.9). Our guide to hydrating foods ranks foods by that column, and our guide to starchy vegetables explains the green pea and corn end of the table.
The fiber column favors the heavier cups: in USDA data a cup of raw peas lists about 8.3 grams, while a cup of watercress lists about 0.2 grams. The percent Daily Value divides those grams by the FDA Daily Value for dietary fiber, 28 grams, which FDA bases on a reference caloric intake of 2,000 calories for adults and children 4 years and older (21 CFR 101.9); it is a labeling reference, not a personal target. Our high-fiber foods guide and our article on fiber for constipation cover fiber across all food groups.
How FDA defines low calorie and calorie free
On a packaged food the words have fixed meanings. Under 21 CFR 101.60(b)(2), “low calorie,” “few calories” or “low in calories” may be used when a food whose reference amount customarily consumed is more than 30 grams does not provide more than 40 calories per reference amount. If a food meets the test without special processing, alteration, formulation or reformulation, the label must refer to all foods of its type rather than one brand, and the regulation’s own example is “celery, a low calorie food.”
“Calorie free” is stricter: 21 CFR 101.60(b)(1) requires less than 5 calories per reference amount and per labeled serving, with FDA’s example being cider vinegar. No raw vegetable in the USDA table reaches that threshold, since even watercress lists 11 calories per 100 grams, so whole vegetables are low calorie in FDA’s terms, not calorie free. The popular claim that some vegetables provide fewer calories than the body uses to process them is examined in our guide to negative calorie foods. FDA rounding also matters: 21 CFR 101.9 lets amounts under 5 calories be shown as zero, so a 4-calorie cup of watercress could legally be labeled 0.
Raw and cooked entries in USDA data
Every row in the table is a raw entry. Plain cooking in water does not add calories; it changes the weight of a cup. USDA SR Legacy lists a cup of raw spinach at 30 grams and about 7 calories, and a cup of boiled spinach at 180 grams and about 41 calories, with both entries at 23 calories per 100 grams. Kale behaves the same way in USDA data: a cup of raw kale weighs 21 grams and lists about 7 calories, while a cup of boiled kale weighs 118 grams and lists about 42.
How the Dietary Guidelines group these vegetables
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, call for a variety of vegetables from all five vegetable subgroups, which they list as “dark green; red and orange; beans, peas, and lentils; starchy; and other vegetables.” The dark-green subgroup, as the Guidelines describe it, covers dark-green leafy vegetables and broccoli, with examples that include chard, kale, spinach and watercress; the other-vegetables subgroup includes, among its examples, cabbage, celery, cucumber, mushrooms and radish. Carrots, tomatoes and red bell peppers belong to the Guidelines’ red and orange subgroup, and peas and corn are examples in the starchy subgroup.
The 2025-2030 Guidelines add a line that applies to every row here: “Eat whole vegetables and fruits in their original form. Wash thoroughly prior to eating raw or cooking.” Those are the Guidelines’ words on the group; they do not rank vegetables by calories, and this list does not turn their serving goals into advice for any one person. Our guides to broccoli, cabbage, asparagus, eggplant, onions and carrots cover the rest of the table.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which vegetable has the fewest calories per 100 grams?
In USDA SR Legacy data, watercress lists about 11 calories per 100 grams, followed by butterhead lettuce and Chinese cabbage at 13 and iceberg and celery at 14.
Which vegetable has the fewest calories per cup?
Among the USDA one-cup portions in our table, chopped watercress lists about 4 calories, arugula and shredded green leaf lettuce about 5, and raw kale, raw spinach and chard about 7.
Is any vegetable calorie free under FDA rules?
No raw vegetable in the USDA table qualifies. FDA’s calorie free claim in 21 CFR 101.60 requires less than 5 calories per reference amount, and even watercress lists 11 calories per 100 grams in USDA data.
Do cooked vegetables have more calories than raw?
Not per 100 grams when plainly boiled: USDA lists raw and boiled spinach at 23 calories per 100 grams. A cooked cup weighs more, so it carries more calories, about 41 against 7 in USDA data.
How do the Dietary Guidelines group these vegetables?
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, use five subgroups: dark green; red and orange; beans, peas, and lentils; starchy; and other vegetables. Most of this table falls in the dark-green and other subgroups.
Questions about a label? Contact us or read our Buyer’s Guide. Food comes first; follow the label and ask a healthcare provider before starting a supplement, especially if you take medicines, are pregnant or have a health condition. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Last reviewed October 2026.
Related guides: Low Calorie Fruits: USDA Calories per Cup, Ranked, Low Calorie Foods: A USDA List and What Makes Them Filling, Cucumber Benefits: USDA Cucumber Nutrition, Calories and Safety, Zucchini: Nutrition, Benefits, Calories and Bitter Squash Safety.