Watercress is one of the most nutrient-dense leafy greens around — yet a 100 g serving delivers only about 2.3 g of protein. This Watercress Protein Per 100g Calculator lets you translate any portion size into its actual protein content, using grams, ounces, or US cups, so you can log your intake without second-guessing serving sizes.
Whether you're counting daily protein for muscle building, diet planning, or just tracking macronutrients, this tool gives you a reliable per-100g baseline and shows how a handful, cup, or whole bunch compares. It also includes an optional daily protein target field, so you can see at a glance how much of your goal a watercress meal covers.
Perfect for nutrition students, meal-preppers, and anyone curious about leafy green macros. The calculation uses the USDA reference value for raw watercress and then scales it to your chosen portion in two simple steps, with a clear breakdown shown beneath every result.
🥬 Watercress Protein Calculator
Find the protein in any portion of fresh raw watercress, scaled to 100 g.
How It Works
The calculator starts with the USDA nutrient reference for raw watercress: 2.3 g of protein per 100 g of edible, raw leaves. Because food labels and nutrition databases express leafy greens in 100 g servings, any protein count can be scaled linearly from that baseline:
Protein (g) = portion weight (g) × 2.3 ÷ 100
If you enter ounces, the calculator first converts to grams (1 oz = 28.3495 g). If you select US cups, it uses the average weight of 34 g per cup of loosely packed, chopped raw watercress — the figure used by the USDA for a '1 cup chopped' serving. Once everything is in grams, the multiplication above gives you the protein. The optional daily target simply turns that result into a percentage of your personal protein goal. You can look up the current nutrient values in USDA FoodData Central.
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the amount of watercress in the portion size box. You can type any number from a few grams to a whole bunch.
- Choose the matching unit: grams, ounces, or US cups. If you use cups, keep in mind the calculator assumes loosely packed chopped leaves.
- Optionally enter your daily protein target in grams to see what percentage of your goal this watercress portion provides.
- Press Calculate Protein. The result card shows the exact protein grams, portion weight, Daily Value percentage, and a step-by-step breakdown.
Reference Table: Watercress Protein by Portion
To see what typical servings look like before you use the calculator, this table lists common portions and their approximate protein content using the same 2.3 g per 100 g figure.
| Portion | Approximate weight | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cup chopped | 34 g | 0.78 g |
| 1 oz | 28.35 g | 0.65 g |
| 50 g (about 1.5 cups) | 50 g | 1.15 g |
| 100 g (standard reference) | 100 g | 2.30 g |
| 3 oz | 85 g | 1.96 g |
| 200 g | 200 g | 4.60 g |
Weights are for fresh raw watercress; packaged watercress with longer stems or extra water may weigh differently.
Worked Examples
It can be hard to picture 100 g of leaves, so here are three real-world scenarios you can reproduce in the calculator.
Example 1: Salad topping. You add 1.5 cups of chopped watercress to a lunch salad. At 34 g per cup, that is 51 g. Protein = 51 × 2.3 ÷ 100 = 1.17 g. For most people this is a small side contribution, but it comes with almost no calories.
Example 2: Green smoothie. You blend 2 oz (about 57 g) of watercress into a smoothie. Protein = 56.7 × 2.3 ÷ 100 = 1.30 g. If you add a scoop of protein powder, the watercress protein is a bonus, not the main source.
Example 3: Full 100 g serving. A large bunch of trimmed watercress weighs close to 100 g. That serving provides 2.3 g of protein, which is about 4.6% of the Daily Value based on a 50 g reference.
Tips for Logging Watercress Accurately
Weigh watercress after trimming thick stems and gently patting it dry. Wet leaves retain water, and stems contribute mostly bulk and water, which inflates your portion weight without adding meaningful protein.
- Use a digital kitchen scale for the most accurate grams. Cup measurements vary with chopping and packing; a packed cup can weigh noticeably more than a loose cup.
- If you follow recipes that call for 'one bunch of watercress', assume 100–150 g after trimming, then weigh yours to be precise.
- For cooked watercress, the per-100g protein value changes because water leaves the leaves. This calculator is designed for the raw form; if you cook watercress, use a cooked vegetable entry from the USDA database instead.
- Remember that watercress is a low-protein food. It shines for its vitamin K, vitamin C, and antioxidants, not for hitting protein targets on its own. Combine it with beans, eggs, fish, or dairy in a meal when protein is the priority.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is watercress protein so low per 100 g? Leafy greens are mostly water — raw watercress is about 95% water. That means a 100 g pile looks huge but contains only a small amount of macronutrients. By weight, protein is still higher than many people expect for a green.
Does watercress protein count toward my daily total? Yes, all dietary protein from plants counts. Even 1–2 g from a leafy green adds to your total, and when you combine several vegetables, legumes, grains, and other foods it can become a meaningful contribution.
Is 50 g Daily Value used correctly here? The FDA's Daily Value for protein is 50 g for a standard 2,000-calorie diet. The calculator uses that as a simple benchmark. Your personal target may be higher or lower depending on age, activity, and goals, which is why the optional target field is useful.
Can I use the same math for watercress soup or juice? No. Soups dilute protein according to other ingredients, and juicing discards fiber and changes the weight-to-protein ratio. Stick to raw whole leaves with the calculator, and for cooked dishes use prepared food entries in a nutrition database.
If you're also tracking fiber in leafy greens, the watercress fiber per 100g calculator shows a similar per-100g breakdown for watercress fiber.