Group · Vegetables
Samphire
Samphire is a plant of salt marshes and estuaries, nicknamed sea beans. It grows with its feet in salt water and accumulates that salt in its fleshy stems: this is the key to this page.
In terms of nutrition facts, raw it provides just 13.1 kcal per 100 g, with 1.79 g of fibre and 1.02 g of protein. It provides 79.3 µg of vitamin K1, 53 mg of magnesium and 2.6 mg of iron per 100 g. But it carries 2.96 g of salt per 100 g, which is considerable for a vegetable.
Macronutrient breakdown
Nutrition table per 100 g
| Calories | 13 kcal |
| Kilojoules | 55 kJ |
| Protein | 1,1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 1 g |
| Fat | 0,2 g |
| Fibre | 1,8 g |
Micronutrients per 100 g
All measured nutrients, ranked by share of the daily reference intake.
- Vitamin K179,3 µg106 %
- Manganese0,6 mg30 %
- Phosphorus201 mg29 %
- Iron2,6 mg19 %
- Magnesium53 mg14 %
- Potassium201 mg10 %
- Zinc0,5 mg5 %
- Calcium39,7 mg5 %
- Vitamin B9dietary folate equivalents29,8 µg
See the other 8 nutrients
- Vitamin B60,04 mg3 %
- Vitamin B30,23 mg1 %
- Vitamin C1,05 mg1 %
- Vitamin D0,06 µg1 %
- Selenium0,4 µg1 %
- Vitamin B10,01 mg1 %
- Vitamin B20,01 mg1 %
- Vitamin A0,09 µg0 %
Anses Ciqual 2025. Source: Anses, 2025, Ciqual food composition table
Tips
2.96 g of salt: this is what defines it. A 50 g portion provides nearly 1.5 g of salt, or 30% of the daily reference intake, from a vegetable. Treat it as a condiment, not a side.
Blanch it, which removes some of the salt. Two minutes in unsalted boiling water, then rinse in cold water. The taste stays strong, and the sodium content genuinely falls. See salt.
Never salt a dish that contains it. With fish, potatoes or eggs, it provides all the seasoning needed. That is in fact its best use: replacing salt rather than adding to it.
High blood pressure and low-sodium diets: avoid it. It is one of the few vegetables affected by this restriction, alongside an olive or a gherkin.
Its season is short: May to August. Out of season, it is found pickled in vinegar, which adds even more salt. The fresh kind, crisp and bright green, is nothing like it.