8 calcium-rich foods that are dairy free

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Dairy free?

If you don’t eat dairy, you can still meet your daily calcium needs. Take your pick from these tasty, calcium-rich foods, the calcium content of which we’ve compared to a cup of dairy milk.

1 Almonds

These have the highest calcium content of all nuts. Just a quarter of a cup provides
around 100mg calcium.

¼ cup almonds = calcium in ¹⁄³ cup milk

2 Broccoli

As well as an antioxidant boost, adding one cup of cooked broccoli to your dinner also provides 60mg calcium.

1 cup cooked broccoli = calcium in ⅕ cup milk

3 Legumes

Beans, such as borlotti or haricot beans, contain small amounts of calcium, so add half a cup to dishes for around 60mg calcium.

½ cup legumes = calcium in ⅕ cup milk

4 Shellfish

Oysters, mussels and clams filter seawater to get food, accumulating minerals like calcium in the process. A dozen raw oysters provides 125mg calcium.

12 raw oysters = calcium in ⅖ cup milk

5 Seaweed

Seawater has many minerals, so seaweed does, too. Half a cup of raw seaweed contains 50mg calcium, so order a seaweed salad or sushi wrapped in seaweed for your next Japanese takeaway.

½ cup raw seaweed = calcium in ⅙ cup milk

6 Silverbeet

This leafy green is also a good source of iron and vitamins A and K. Add it to frittatas or use for pie filling with spring onions, eggs and cottage and/or feta cheese.

¾ cup cooked silverbeet = calcium in ⅓ cup milk

7 Soy beverages

Soy milk is naturally low in calcium, so extra calcium is usually added to this milk during its manufacture.

1 cup calcium-fortified soy milk = calcium in 1 cup milk

8 Tofu

Calcium is often used to thicken the soy milk that is used to make tofu. Choose tofu that is labelled ‘calcium-precipitated’ or ‘calcium sulfate’. Try adding diced tofu to stir-fries or miso packet soups.

100g tofu = calcium in ½ cup milk