Vitamin D in meat: small amounts vary by cut

Compare selected cooked entries

Per 100 g, USDA SR Legacy lists roasted chicken breast at 5 IU vitamin D, roasted chicken thigh at 7 IU, roasted lean pork tenderloin at 10 IU and braised beef liver at 49 IU. NIH ODS uses 40 IU per microgram, so these correspond to 0.125, 0.175, 0.25 and 1.225 mcg respectively. [1][2]

A food category is not a fixed vitamin amount

The records differ in animal, tissue and preparation. Do not transfer the liver value to all beef or the chicken value to eggs. These are historical reference figures, not tests of current packages. ODS identifies fatty fish and fortified foods as more prominent vitamin D sources; the presence of some vitamin D in meat does not mean a serving supplies a whole daily requirement. [2]

A hypothetical equal-weight comparison

At 85 g cooked weight, the listed beef liver supplies about 41.65 IU, versus 4.25 IU from chicken breast. Divide either number by 40 to express it in micrograms. This comparison is arithmetic, not a recommendation to eat large liver portions or to manage vitamin D deficiency with one food. [1][2]

Hypothetical example — apply reference composition to specified hypothetical portions
Cooked 85 g portion	Vitamin D estimate
Chicken breast	4.25 IU
Chicken thigh	5.95 IU
Pork tenderloin	8.5 IU
Beef liver	41.65 IU

Vitamin D in meat: small amounts vary by cut — original article outline diagram — Original editorial diagram of this article’s sections; no product photograph or clinical finding is depicted.

Sources for this article

USDA FoodData Central — SR Legacy April 2018 composition and portion tables
Source consulted: 2026-09-20. This is a reference resource, not a claim that we conducted the studies or tested a product.
Vitamin D - Health Professional Fact Sheet
Source consulted: 2026-09-20. This is a reference resource, not a claim that we conducted the studies or tested a product.