Kidney beans are dark red in color and are shaped like a kidney. These beans are perfect in simmered dishes because they hold their shape well during cooking and absorb surrounding flavors, according to The World's Healthiest Foods, a website maintained by the George Mateljan Foundation. Dry kidney beans are inexpensive, as well as a good source of dietary fiber and a number of vitamins and minerals. All nutritional values are based on a 1-cup serving of cooked kidney beans.
Basic Nutrition
One cup of cooked kidney beans contains 225 calories, 40.4 g of total carbohydrates and 11.3 g of dietary fiber. Based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, these measurements represent 13 percent of the recommended daily value, or DV, for carbohydrates and 45 percent for dietary fiber. One serving also provides 15.3 g, or 31 percent of the DV, of protein.
Calories
One cup of cooked kidney beans has 225 calories, or 12 percent of the recommended daily value. Carbohydrates make up the majority of the calories, with 164 calories. Protein accounts for 53.3 calories, and fat contributes the remaining calories.
Fats
Kidney beans are low in fat, with a total fat content of only 0.9 g per serving. One serving contains 0.1 g of saturated fat; the remaining fat comes from healthy unsaturated fats. Kidney beans also contain heart-healthy fatty acids: of 0.30 g of Omega-3s and 0.19 g of Omega-6s.
Vitamins
Kidney beans are an excellent source of folate, with 229.39 mcg, or 57 percent of the DV. They also contain high amounts of thiamin, with 0.28 mg, or 19 percent of the DV, vitamin K, with 14.87 mcg, or 19 percent of the DV, and riboflavin, with 0.10 mg, or 6 percent of the DV. Other vitamins found in kidney beans include vitamin C, vitamin E, niacin, vitamin B6 and pantothenic acid.
Minerals
Kidney beans are a rich source of a number of minerals. Just one cup provides 0.84 mg of manganese, or 42 percent of the DV, 0.43 mg of copper, or 21 percent of the DV, 5.2 mg of iron, or 29 percent of the DV, 251.34 mg of phosphorus, or 25 percent of the DV, 713.31 mg of potassium, or 20 percent of the DV and 79.65 mg of magnesium, or 20 percent of the DV. Kidney beans also contain calcium, zinc and selenium.
Sodium
Kidney beans cooked without added salt contain little sodium, with less than 4 mg per serving. This is just 0.15 percent of the recommended daily value. If you cook the beans with salt, you will of course increase the amount of sodium.
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