Ranking
Healthy grocery staples
Ranked by nutrient density per calorie across the whole database — produce and pantry together.
| # | Food | Nutrient density | Verdict | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🍃Spinach1,277 conventional samples · 120 organic | 96/100 | Consider organic | $3.29org $4.49 |
| 2 | 🌿Kale1,239 conventional samples · 175 organic | 95/100 | Consider organic | $2.79org $3.79 |
| 3 | 🫘Lentils | 93/100 | Not applicable | $2.29org $3.29 |
| 4 | 🐟Salmon | 92/100 | Not applicable | $12.99no organic |
| 5 | 🫘Black beans | 91/100 | Not applicable | $1.29org $1.89 |
| 6 | 🐟Sardines | 90/100 | Not applicable | $2.49no organic |
| 7 | 🌱Chia seeds | 90/100 | Not applicable | $6.99org $8.99 |
| 8 | 🫛Frozen edamame | 90/100 | Not applicable | $3.29org $4.29 |
| 9 | 🫘Chickpeas | 89/100 | Not applicable | $1.29org $1.89 |
| 10 | 🥛Plain Greek yogurt | 89/100 | Not applicable | $6.49org $8.49 |
| 11 | 🥦Broccoli2,028 conventional samples · 66 organic | 88/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $2.49org $3.69 |
| 12 | 🥣Rolled oats | 88/100 | Not applicable | $5.49org $7.49 |
| 13 | 🧊Tofu | 87/100 | Not applicable | $2.79org $3.49 |
| 14 | 🌰Walnuts | 87/100 | Not applicable | $10.99org $14.49 |
| 15 | 🍇Blackberries883 conventional samples · 138 organic | 86/100 | Higher priority | $3.49org $4.99 |
Why this ranking looks the way it does
A staple is a food that earns a permanent slot: it keeps, it is cheap per serving, it works in more than one meal, and it moves a nutritional needle that matters. The items at the top of this list do all four.
Lentils are the clearest example. Under two dollars a pound, twenty minutes to cook without soaking, eighteen grams of protein and sixteen grams of fiber per cooked cup. Nothing else in the store matches that combination on either axis per dollar.
The produce entries here mostly overlap with the higher-residue rankings, which is not a contradiction. Leafy greens are simultaneously the most nutrient-dense things in the store and the foods with the most residue evidence. That tension is exactly the one this site exists to price out: keep eating them, and spend the organic budget here first.
Build a grocery list that applies this automatically, or open the organic budget optimizer to price the upgrades.