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Ingredient guide

Foods high in vitamin A, with amounts per serving

Written by the Full Measure editorial team, which sells supplements. Approved for publication by the Full Measure owners. Updated .

Drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed below. How we write these

Quick answer

Beef liver is the richest common source, with 6,582 mcg RAE of vitamin A in 3 ounces. A baked sweet potato has 1,403 mcg RAE, half a cup of boiled frozen spinach 573 and half a cup of raw carrots 459. Each of these gives more than half the Daily Value of 900 mcg RAE.1

Key facts

  • Liver, fish, eggs and dairy foods supply preformed vitamin A; colorful vegetables and fruits supply beta-carotene.1
  • A food with 180 mcg RAE or more per serving, 20% of the Daily Value, counts as a high source.1
  • Enriched and fortified foods provide 34% to 40% of the vitamin A that US children and teens get from food.1
  • Not every carotenoid counts: lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin are not converted into vitamin A.1

Vitamin A in common foods

Vitamin A per serving, from NIH's table of USDA data1
Foodmcg RAE% Daily Value
Beef liver, pan fried, 3 ounces6,582731
Sweet potato, baked in skin, 1 whole1,403156
Spinach, frozen, boiled, half cup57364
Pumpkin pie, 1 piece48854
Carrots, raw, half cup45951
Herring, pickled, 3 ounces21924
Ice cream, French vanilla, soft serve, two thirds cup18521
Skim milk with added vitamins A and D, 1 cup14917
Cantaloupe, raw, half cup13515
Ricotta cheese, part skim, half cup13315
Sweet red pepper, raw, half cup11713
Mango, raw, 1 whole11212
Egg, hard boiled, 1 large758
Black-eyed peas, boiled, 1 cup667
Dried apricots, 5637
Broccoli, boiled, half cup607
Salmon, sockeye, cooked, 3 ounces597
Tomato juice, canned, three quarters cup425

Retinol foods and beta-carotene foods

Preformed vitamin A is found in beef liver and other organ meats, fish such as herring and salmon, eggs, and dairy products such as milk and cheese.1,2

Beta-carotene and other provitamin A carotenoids come from green leafy vegetables, orange and yellow vegetables such as sweet potatoes, carrots and winter squash, tomato products, and fruits such as cantaloupe, mangos and apricots.1,2

Vitamin A is added to some foods, including milk, margarine and some breakfast cereals.1,2

If you are looking for foods high in retinol specifically, those are the animal foods: liver above all, then fish such as herring, dairy foods and eggs. Plant foods contain no retinol. Their vitamin A arrives as carotenoids, which the body converts.1

How much your body takes up

From food, the body may absorb 75% to 100% of retinol but usually only 10% to 30% of beta-carotene. Cooking and heating can make the beta-carotene in vegetables easier to absorb.1

In the United States and other high-income countries, 65% to 80% of the vitamin A people eat is preformed vitamin A. In low-income countries, most comes from plants.1

The mcg RAE figures in the table already allow for this. RAE counts 12 mcg of beta-carotene from food as equal to 1 mcg of retinol, so a carrot's number reflects what the body can make from it.1

Foods high in vitamin A and vitamin C, E or D

Foods that supply both vitamin A and vitamin C1,3
FoodVitamin A, mcg RAEVitamin C, mg
Sweet red pepper, raw, half cup11795
Cantaloupe, raw, half cup13529
Broccoli, cooked, half cup6051
Tomato juice, three quarters cup4233

For vitamins A and E together, spinach stands out among the foods NIH lists: half a cup, boiled, gives 573 mcg RAE of vitamin A (frozen spinach) and 1.9 mg of vitamin E. For vitamins A and D, skim milk with both added supplies 149 mcg RAE of vitamin A per cup.1,4

A caution about liver

Beef liver is the richest common source: 3 ounces, pan fried, has 6,582 mcg RAE, 731% of the Daily Value.1

That one serving is more than twice the adult upper limit for preformed vitamin A, 3,000 mcg a day, which counts food as well as supplements. Anyone who is or might be pregnant should take particular care, because too much preformed vitamin A can harm the baby. NIH also suggests limiting organ meats because they are high in cholesterol.1,2

Questions people ask

Which fruits are high in vitamin A?

Among the fruits NIH lists, half a cup of cantaloupe has 135 mcg RAE, a whole mango 112 and five dried apricots 63. All of it comes as beta-carotene and related carotenoids.1

Does cooking destroy the vitamin A in vegetables?

For beta-carotene, NIH notes the opposite: cooking and heat can make more of it available to absorb.1

Can you get too much vitamin A from carrots and sweet potatoes?

Not the harmful kind. Plant foods supply beta-carotene, which has no upper limit, although very large amounts over time can tint the skin yellow-orange. The upper limit is for preformed vitamin A from animal foods and supplements.1,2

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Sources

  1. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin A and Carotenoids: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Updated March 10, 2025. Opened 2026-10-07.
  2. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin A and Carotenoids: Fact Sheet for Consumers. Updated March 10, 2025. Opened 2026-10-07.
  3. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin C: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Updated July 31, 2025. Opened 2026-10-07.
  4. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin E: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Updated March 26, 2021. Opened 2026-10-07.

This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.