Jalapeño Nutrition Calculator — Calories & Nutrition per Serving

Raw jalapeño (FDC 168576) delivers 118.6mg vitamin C per 100g — 132% of Daily Value — exceeding oranges (53.2mg), strawberries (58.8mg), and even green bell peppers (80.4mg). This makes jalapeño one of the highest vitamin C foods by weight, though most people consume it in much smaller quantities: a single jalapeño weighs only ~14g, providing about 16.6mg vitamin C (18% DV) ^[1].

Beyond vitamin C, the baseline profile is lean: 29 calories, 0.91g protein, 0.37g fat, and 6.5g carbohydrates per 100g. Fiber at 2.8g (10% DV) is notably high for a pepper — higher than green bell pepper (1.7g) and comparable to broccoli (2.6g). The combination of low calories, high vitamin C, and meaningful fiber makes jalapeño nutritionally denser than its small size suggests ^[1].

Vitamin B6 at 0.419mg per 100g (25% DV) is another standout — the highest among common pepper varieties. A cup of sliced raw jalapeños (~90g) provides 0.38mg B6 (22% DV), making jalapeño one of the more concentrated B6 sources in the vegetable category ^[1].

The most dramatic nutritional transformation in jalapeño cooking isn't heat — it's pickling. Canned/pickled jalapeños (FDC 170080) see vitamin C plummet from 118.6mg to just 12.1mg — a 90% reduction. The brine solution leaches water-soluble vitamins while the acidic environment and heat processing during canning degrade ascorbic acid ^[1].

Sodium explodes from 3mg to 1,670mg per 100g — a 557x increase. Five pickled jalapeño slices (~15g) add roughly 250mg sodium to your meal, which matters for sodium-tracking users. Paradoxically, iron jumps from 0.25mg to 1.88mg in the canned version, likely from the tin can leaching trace iron into the acidic brine over time ^[1].

Calories remain nearly identical (29 raw vs. 27 pickled per 100g), and protein stays at ~0.9g. The sugar content drops from 4.12g to 1.85g — fermentation and the brine solution dilute natural sugars. For meal logging, the choice between raw and pickled jalapeño dramatically changes which nutrients you're tracking: raw for vitamin C, pickled for convenience but with a sodium cost ^[1].

Jalapeños register 2,500-8,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), placing them in the mild-to-moderate range of hot peppers. For reference, bell peppers are 0 SHU, serranos are 10,000-25,000, and habaneros reach 100,000-350,000. Capsaicin — the compound responsible for heat — is not measured in the USDA FoodData Central database, so it won't appear in standard nutrient profiles ^[3].

Capsaicin concentration in jalapeños varies considerably based on growing conditions, ripeness, and where in the pepper you eat. The white placental tissue (the ribs and pith inside) contains the highest capsaicin concentration — removing it before eating significantly reduces perceived heat while preserving virtually all the listed nutrients ^[3].

Research by Luo et al. (2011) measured capsaicinoid content in jalapeño varieties, finding concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 0.2% dry weight. The compound has been extensively studied, but from a pure nutrition-logging perspective, capsaicin adds zero calories, zero macronutrients, and zero measurable vitamins — it affects flavor perception and thermogenesis but does not change the USDA nutrient profile ^[3][4].

Jalapeño's 3.58mg vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) per 100g (24% DV) is unusually high for a vegetable — most people associate vitamin E with nuts, seeds, and oils. For comparison: spinach has 2.0mg, broccoli has 0.78mg, and green bell pepper has 0.37mg per 100g. Jalapeño has nearly 10x the vitamin E of green bell pepper ^[1].

Combined with the 118.6mg vitamin C, jalapeño provides two of the most tracked antioxidant vitamins in a single food. A cup of sliced raw jalapeños (~90g) delivers 3.2mg vitamin E (21% DV) and 107mg vitamin C (119% DV) — at just 26 calories. Few vegetables offer both fat-soluble and water-soluble antioxidant vitamins at this density ^[1].

Vitamin K at 18.5mcg per 100g (15% DV) adds a third fat-soluble vitamin to the mix. While jalapeño isn't a primary vitamin K source (kale provides 817mcg per 100g), the combination of E, C, and K at 29 calories per 100g demonstrates nutrient density that the small pepper size tends to obscure ^[1].

A single raw jalapeño (~14g) provides: 4 calories, 0.13g protein, 16.6mg vitamin C (18% DV), 0.5mg vitamin E (3% DV), and 0.06mg B6 (4% DV). A medium green bell pepper (~119g) provides: 24 calories, 1.0g protein, 96mg vitamin C (107% DV), 0.44mg vitamin E (3% DV), and 0.27mg B6 (16% DV) ^[1].

Gram for gram, jalapeño outperforms green bell pepper in vitamin C density (118.6 vs. 80.4mg/100g), vitamin E (3.58 vs. 0.37mg), vitamin B6 (0.419 vs. 0.224mg), fiber (2.8 vs. 1.7g), and potassium (248 vs. 175mg). But the serving size difference matters enormously: people typically eat 100-200g of bell pepper in a sitting versus 14-28g of jalapeño ^[1].

For nutrient logging, the practical takeaway is this: a typical jalapeño serving (1-2 peppers, 14-28g) adds 4-8 calories and 17-33mg vitamin C as a garnish or topping. A typical bell pepper serving (half to whole, 60-119g) adds 12-24 calories and 48-96mg vitamin C as a dish component. Jalapeño wins the per-gram contest; bell pepper wins the per-serving contest ^[1].