Quick answer
Beef liver, spinach, black-eyed peas and asparagus are among the richest natural sources, with 89 to 215 mcg DFE per serving. In the US, folic acid is added to enriched bread, flour, pasta, rice, cornmeal and many breakfast cereals. A food with 80 mcg DFE or more per serving counts as a high source.1,2
Key facts
- Only about half of the folate that occurs naturally in food is absorbed.1
- Since 2016, corn masa flour for tortillas and tamales may carry added folic acid in the US.1
- Folate is mostly in plant foods, while vitamin B12 occurs naturally only in animal foods.2,3
- Natural folate in food has no upper limit; the limit applies to folic acid from fortified foods and supplements.1
Folate per serving
| Food and serving | mcg DFE | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|
| Beef liver, braised, 3 ounces | 215 | 54 |
| Spinach, boiled, half a cup | 131 | 33 |
| Black-eyed peas, boiled, half a cup | 105 | 26 |
| Breakfast cereal fortified with 25% of the Daily Value | 100 | 25 |
| White rice, enriched, cooked, half a cup | 90 | 22 |
| Asparagus, boiled, 4 spears | 89 | 22 |
| Brussels sprouts, frozen, boiled, half a cup | 78 | 20 |
| Spaghetti, enriched, cooked, half a cup | 74 | 19 |
| Romaine lettuce, shredded, 1 cup | 64 | 16 |
| Avocado, sliced, half a cup | 59 | 15 |
| Spinach, raw, 1 cup | 58 | 15 |
| Broccoli, frozen, cooked, half a cup | 52 | 13 |
| Mustard greens, frozen, boiled, half a cup | 52 | 13 |
| White bread, enriched, 1 slice | 50 | 13 |
| Green peas, frozen, boiled, half a cup | 47 | 12 |
| Kidney beans, canned, half a cup | 46 | 12 |
| Wheat germ, 2 tablespoons | 40 | 10 |
| Orange juice, three quarters of a cup | 35 | 9 |
| Orange, 1 small | 29 | 7 |
| Peanuts, dry roasted, 1 ounce | 27 | 7 |
| Banana, 1 medium | 24 | 6 |
| Egg, hard boiled, 1 large | 22 | 6 |
Foods with 20% of the Daily Value or more, which is 80 mcg DFE, count as high sources. Leafy greens are densest cooked: half a cup of boiled spinach has 131 mcg DFE, while a full cup of raw spinach has 58 mcg DFE.1
Meat, poultry and fish are low in folate, apart from liver: a 3-ounce serving of chicken breast has 3 mcg DFE, ground beef 7 mcg DFE and halibut 12 mcg DFE.1
Where folic acid is added
In the US, folic acid is added to enriched bread, flour, cornmeal, pasta and rice, to fortified breakfast cereals, and to some corn masa flour used for tortillas and tamales.2
Since 1998 the FDA has required 140 mcg of folic acid per 100 g of enriched grain products, which raised average folic acid intake in the US by about 190 mcg a day.1
Corn masa flour has been allowed to carry up to 154 mcg of folic acid per 100 g since 2016. Canada has required folic acid in white flour, enriched pasta and cornmeal since 1998, and Costa Rica, Chile and South Africa also make fortification mandatory.1
A Nutrition Facts label has to list folate, in mcg DFE with the folic acid amount in parentheses, only when folic acid has been added. Foods with only natural folate do not have to list it.1,2
How much of food folate you absorb
Folate in food comes in forms with extra glutamate links that the gut trims off before absorbing them. About half of it is absorbed, against at least 85% of folic acid taken with food.1
That is what DFE adjusts for. A serving of fortified cereal and a serving of greens that each provide 100 mcg DFE deliver roughly the same usable folate, because the DFE figure already allows for the difference in absorption.1
Searches for foods high in methylfolate have a short answer. After absorption, food folates are converted to methyl and other forms, and methylfolate is the main form of folate in the blood. NIH does not rank foods by methylfolate content.1
Foods with both folate and vitamin B12
Folate is mostly in plants and vitamin B12 only in animal foods, so few foods are rich in both. Beef liver is the exception, and eggs, milk and fortified breakfast cereals carry smaller amounts of each.1,4
| Food and serving | Folate, mcg DFE | Vitamin B12, mcg |
|---|---|---|
| Beef liver, 3 ounces | 215 | 70.7 |
| Breakfast cereal fortified with 25% of the Daily Value of each | 100 | 0.6 |
| Egg, 1 large | 22 | 0.5 |
| Milk, 1 cup | 12 | 1.3 |
| Spinach, boiled, half a cup | 131 | 0 |
| Kidney beans, half a cup | 46 | 0 |
Can you get too much from food?
Folate that is naturally present in food and drinks is not harmful, and the upper limit does not apply to it.1,2
Supplements, not food, are what take most people over the limit for folic acid. From food alone, US men average 602 mcg DFE a day and women 455 mcg DFE, both above the 400 mcg DFE recommendation, and none of that counts toward the limit.1
Questions people ask
What fruit is highest in folate?
Among the fruits NIH lists, avocado leads at 59 mcg DFE per half cup, followed by orange juice at 35 mcg DFE per three quarters of a cup and a small orange at 29 mcg DFE. Papaya and banana add 24 to 27 mcg DFE a serving.1
Are frozen vegetables a good source of folate?
Yes. In NIH's list, half a cup of cooked frozen brussels sprouts has 78 mcg DFE, frozen broccoli 52 mcg DFE and frozen green peas 47 mcg DFE.1
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Sources
- National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Folate: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Updated November 30, 2022. Opened 2026-10-07.
- National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Folate: Fact Sheet for Consumers. Updated November 1, 2022. Opened 2026-10-07.
- National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin B12: Fact Sheet for Consumers. Updated December 15, 2023. Opened 2026-10-07.
- National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin B12: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Updated July 2, 2025. Opened 2026-10-07.
This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.