Top 10 Real Foods with Vitamin K, for Quick Healing and Healthy Bones

Found in many leafy greens, vitamin K is used by your body to form blood clots and is also essential in forming various bone proteins necessary for bone formation and repair.

The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for adult males is 120 μg (micrograms) and 90 μg for adult females.

Here are the top foods sources of vitamin K according to the USDA’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.

Another leafy vegetable high in beta carotene in the form of vitamin A, kale has 478 milligrams of the nutrient and 20 calories per half cup serving.

Kale recipes to try:
• Kale Chips
• Roast Cod with Bacon, Potatoes, and Kale
• Kale Salad with Glazed Onions and Cheddar
• Hearty Kale and Bean Salad

This soul food staple boasts 1059 μg per cup. And the nutrition doesn't stop with vitamin K. This superfood is also bursting with both Vitamin A and beta carotene. Look for collards at the winter farmers' market to find this leafy green in season.

Recipes:
Collard Greens with Bacon and Cider Vinegar
Southern Vegetable Saute
BBQ Chicken with Collard Greens and Crushed Sweet Potato
Red Bean and Collard Gumbo
Hot Collard Slaw
Apple Cider Braised Greens

Spinach is a widely recognized superfood – and for good reason. Popeye’s go-to health food was made famous for its iron content, and spinach is also recognized as a top source of Vitamin A and beta carotene but the number one nutrient in spinach is Vitamin K. One cup of these greens is filled with 1027 μg of the nutrient.

Another great thing about spinach? It's one of the first crops to mature in spring, so you can find it early at the farmers' market.

Recipes:
Grapefruit and Spinach Salad
Florentine Frittata
Japanese Spinach Soup
Pancakes with Spinach Filling
Spinach Strata
Creamy Rigatoni with Spinach

The greens on this common root vegetable are just as edible as they are nutritious. Half a cup of turnip greens have 441 milligrams of vitamin A, 851 micrograms of vitamin K, and just 24 calories. And with vitamin C, folate, and calcium as well, they're far more nutritious than the turnip itself.

Try young leaves as an accent to a salad, or boil twice, replacing the water in between, to serve as a side dish. Also look for mustard and dandelion greens for a similar leafy health boost.

Beet greens are a top source of several nutrients, with 276 milligrams of vitamin A, 697 micrograms of vitamin K, 655 milligrams of potassium, and just 19 calories per half a cup. Like turnip greens, you can find these at your local farmers' market (or you can grow them yourself). Try substituting this superfood in recipes for collards.

Arguably the first green veggie of spring, dandelions are a top source of Vitamin K. Before you let someone tell you those are weeds in your yard, remind them dandelion greens have 579 μg of Vitamin K per cup.

"Wildman" Steve Brill, the famous urban forager, recommends harvesting dandelion greens from plants without flowers early in spring and after a fall frost, when they're less bitter. You can also double-boil the leaves (losing many nutrients) to reduce bitterness and substitute them in recipes calling for collards or other bitter greens. "Dandelion greens are wonderful in salads, sauteed or steamed," Brill writes. "They taste like chicory and endive, with an intense heartiness overlying a bitter tinge."

You probably already grow them yourself, so pick them when in season and add them to Pasta with Dandelions and Prosciutto, this Beet and Dandelion Salad or other green salads.

Add a peppery flavor to your cooking with mustard greens, which have 419 μg of vitamin K per cup.

Recipe:
Grilled Pork Medallion with Preserved Lemon, Mustard Greens and Bulgur Wheat

This veggie may not be the most kid-friendly choice, but it is always a healthy pick — packed with both 48 milligrams of vitamin C, 300 micrograms of vitamin K, and just 28 calories.

Conventional broccoli doesn't retain so many pesticides because the crop faces fewer pest threats, which means less spraying.

Choose: Look for tightly bunched flower buds on the broccoli stalks that are immature. In other words, try not to buy them if their little yellow flowers have opened. Color-wise, the broccoli should be deep green and the stalks should be firm and not rubbery. Before use, wash in a cool water bath and change the water a couple of times in the process. Store in the refrigerator crisper.

Look for broccoli at the fall farmers' market, and if you're pinched for cash, don't fret about choosing a non-organic variety; broccoli generally doesn't end up with pesticide residue.

Recipes:
Root Cellar Salad
Broccoli and Cheddar Kugel
Warm Quinoa & Broccoli Salad With Carrot-Ginger Dressing
Szechuan Shrimp with Mango Rice and Sesame Broccoli
Vegetables with Sesame Vinaigrette
Whole Wheat Pita Pizzas with Vegetables
Broccoli-Cheese Polenta Pizza
Whole Wheat Pasta with Garlicky Greens

Used in many recipes around the world, these pungent greens have 207 μg of vitamin K. Look for these delightfully tasty "green onions" (they go many names) at spring farmers' markets or grow some yourself. Toss them in a salad, use them as a garnish or try them in one of these tasty recipes:

Recipes:
Wild Salmon with Ginger and Green Onions
Dried Tomato/Green Onion Couscous
Ricotta-Green Onion Gnocchi
Vegetables with Sesame Vinaigrette
Shrimp Spring Rolls and Lettuce Wraps
Wild Rice Salad with Basil and Tomatoes
Sesame Noodles