Brussels sprouts are a compact cruciferous vegetable packed with fiber, vitamin C, and a surprisingly high dose of potassium. The Brussels Potassium Calculator helps you quickly estimate how much potassium you're getting from raw, boiled, or frozen Brussels sprouts based on any amount you actually eat — whether you're tracking grams, ounces, cups, or individual sprouts.
Enter your serving size and prep method, and the calculator returns total potassium in milligrams, the percentage of your Daily Value, and a clear step-by-step breakdown of how the number was reached. This is a handy tool for athletes, people managing blood pressure, meal-preppers, and anyone who wants a better sense of their potassium intake without digging through nutrition databases. Just choose your units, pick how the sprouts were prepared, and hit Calculate.
🥬 Brussels Sprout Potassium Calculator
Estimate potassium from raw, boiled, or frozen Brussels sprouts
Step-by-Step Guide
Using the Brussels Potassium Calculator takes only a few seconds. First, enter the amount of Brussels sprouts you plan to eat in the numeric field. Then select the matching unit from the dropdown: grams, ounces, cups for raw or cooked sprouts, or individual medium sprouts. Choose your preparation form — raw, boiled, or frozen-and-boiled — because cooking changes both water content and potassium values.
Click Calculate Potassium to see the total milligrams of potassium in your serving, plus the percentage of the FDA Daily Value for potassium (4700 mg per day for adults). The result area also provides a breakdown that explains each conversion step, so you can verify every number and learn how the estimate was built. If you want to start over, press Reset or tap one of the quick preset chips like “1 cup raw” or “5 medium sprouts.”
The Math Behind It
Potassium densities for Brussels sprouts are based on standard USDA reference values for 100-gram portions:
- Raw Brussels sprouts: 389 mg potassium per 100 g
- Boiled Brussels sprouts (drained, no salt): 319 mg per 100 g
- Frozen Brussels sprouts (boiled, drained): 287 mg per 100 g
The calculator first converts your chosen unit into grams using these average conversions: 1 ounce = 28.3495 g, 1 cup raw = 88 g, 1 cup cooked = 156 g, and 1 medium sprout = 19 g. It then multiplies the gram weight by the potassium density for the selected preparation form and divides by 100 to get milligrams. Finally, it divides the potassium result by 4700 mg and multiplies by 100 to obtain the percent Daily Value.
Worked example: You eat 3 medium raw Brussels sprouts. That’s 3 × 19 g = 57 g. Raw potassium density is 389 mg per 100 g, so potassium = 57 × 389 / 100 = 221.7 mg, which is about 4.7% of the Daily Value. The calculator’s step-by-step breakdown shows each of these numbers clearly.
Real-World Applications
Potassium is an essential electrolyte that helps regulate blood pressure, support muscle contractions, and maintain healthy nerve signaling. Tracking it is especially important for athletes, people on low-sodium diets, and individuals managing hypertension. Brussels sprouts are not the single highest-potassium vegetable — that honor goes to leafy greens, potatoes, and avocados — but they still make a meaningful contribution, especially when eaten as a regular side dish.
This calculator is also useful for meal preppers who batch-cook vegetables. Since cooking changes the potassium concentration per gram, using the correct preparation form prevents over- or under-estimation. Registered dietitians and nutrition coaches can use the tool to quickly tailor serving recommendations for clients who need either more or less potassium in their daily plan.
Tips & Best Practices
- Weigh sprouts after trimming and before cooking if you want the most accurate raw measurement.
- If you boil Brussels sprouts, potassium can leach into the cooking water. Discarding the water reduces the potassium content slightly; the boiled option in this calculator already reflects that typical drained value.
- Don’t confuse cup measurements for raw versus cooked sprouts. Cooked sprouts shrink, so a cup of cooked sprouts contains more grams than a cup of raw sprouts.
- For potassium-sensitive individuals, such as those with chronic kidney disease, always check with a doctor or renal dietitian before changing intake.
Reference Data
| Measurement | Approximate Weight | Potassium (raw) | Potassium (boiled) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 medium sprout | 19 g | 74 mg | 61 mg |
| 1 cup raw | 88 g | 342 mg | 281 mg |
| 1 cup cooked | 156 g | 607 mg | 498 mg |
| 100 g | 100 g | 389 mg | 319 mg |
| 3.5 oz | 99 g | 385 mg | 316 mg |
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Brussels sprouts a good source of potassium? Yes. A 100-gram serving of raw Brussels sprouts (about 5 medium sprouts) provides 389 mg of potassium, which is roughly 8% of the recommended Daily Value. Combined with their high fiber and vitamin C content, they are a nutritious, kidney-friendly choice when eaten in normal portions.
Does roasting change the potassium content? The potassium mineral itself does not disappear during dry roasting, but water loss makes the same weight of roasted sprouts contain slightly more potassium per gram. Because roasted Brussels sprouts have no single standardized USDA value, the calculator’s raw or boiled settings are good approximations depending on how much moisture was lost.
Why does the boiling result differ from the raw result? Boiling causes water-soluble minerals to leach into the cooking liquid. If the water is poured off, the sprouts lose a small amount of potassium, which is why boiled Brussels sprouts show a lower value per 100g.
What is the FDA Daily Value for potassium? The current FDA Daily Value used on Nutrition Facts labels is 4700 mg for adults. Individual needs can vary based on age, health status, and medication use, so the percent DV in this calculator is a general reference rather than a personalized target.