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October 21, 2023
It seems that most people are usually focused on losing weight and getting rid of fat. However, that's not right for everyone. Whether you are trying to put on weight to compete in a weight lifting competition, to build muscle, or simply because you are underweight, you want to do so in a healthy way. Or, maybe you just want to pick something that is both filling and healthy, and these high calorie vegetables are a great way to do that.
While it may be tempting to eat as many carbs and sweets as possible to hit your goal, there are better and healthier ways to get more calories. Eating high calorie vegetables is a healthy and productive form of weight management. Here is a list of some of the most caloric vegetables and how to incorporate them into your diet.
It may come as no surprise that this is a higher calorie vegetable, considering they are used to make french fries, potato wedges, and other fried foods. Potatoes pair well with cheese, sour cream, and chives, and there are many things you can do with them.
A baked potato is a simple but effective way to eat potatoes. Add toppings after baking them in the oven and enjoy it either with or without the skin; the choice is yours. You can also sautee vegetables in a skillet. Of course, you can fry potatoes. While this isn't the healthiest option, it's certainly tasty.
Potatoes have about 116 calories per cup. If you want to plant potatoes, plant them in spring to have potatoes in about three months.
While botanically it is considered a fruit (in fact, it’s a berry), avocado is a culinary vegetable. Lacking the sweet flavor of most other fruit, avocado is an excellent source of healthy fat. One cup of avocado has a whopping 234 calories, so it is a perfect option for gaining weight or adding healthy calories.
Use avocados to make zesty guacamole, or slice some up to add it to the top of a burger or chicken sandwich. Mashed avocado with salt and other seasoning also makes a great spread for sandwiches or wraps. Growing an avocado tree requires you to live in one of the warmest areas of the US, such as California, Hawaii, or southern Florida. Once you've planted the tree, avocados will take a few years to grow.
There's nothing quite like an ear of fresh corn on the cob at a summer BBQ. Corn, like many other vegetables, can be eaten in a variety of ways. You can eat it directly off the cob, have a serving with dinner, or put it in salsa. Yes, that's right, corn can add sweetness and a nice texture to salsa.
Corn harvests about three months, or 100 days, after it has been planted. It has 177 calories per cup, so enjoy that sweet flavor and use it to up your caloric intake.
Not just good for chasing away vampires, garlic is a great option for people trying to up their calorie intake. While not something you are likely to eat on its own, garlic is a ubiquitous flavor base in many cuisines. It adds a great element of flavor to dishes and can be eaten in cloves as well. Garlic also has antibacterial and antiviral properties, so it is often used to combat a cold or flu virus.
Plant garlic in the fall and get your first harvest in spring or summer. At 200 calories a cup, they are great energy-dense vegetables.
Chickpeas have 729 calories per cup. Yes, you read that right. Chickpeas aid in digestion, strengthen bones and may improve mental health. You can throw some chickpeas in a stew or soup to enjoy a hearty meal over the cold winter months. Chickpeas can thicken your soup, making it fill you up for a long time.
Do you enjoy sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving? Do you have them year-round? Sweet potatoes are a high calorie vegetable that offers many health benefits. For example, they are a great source of fiber. Have some sweet potato soup, or make some sweet potato french fries. Again, frying foods is definitely not the healthiest way to consume a fruit or vegetable, but it sure is delicious.
Sweet potatoes contain 114 calories per cup. They take approximately 120 days to harvest once they've been planted in the spring.
You may associate pumpkins with fall, but they can be eaten year-round. This vegetable has 30 calories per cup and can be pureed, roasted, or added to a dessert. Plant your pumpkins at the end of spring or the beginning of summer. If you do, you should get good sized pumpkins by Halloween to carve, make into a pie, or do whatever you'd like with. You can also get pumpkins from a pumpkin patch in the fall.
These are all excellent energy-dense vegetables for when you are trying to put on weight or up your calories. You need to consume more calories than you expend during the day, and each pound equates to about 3,500 calories. You can use this information to set your goals and find realistic expectations. Check out our app for more tools for meal planning and improving your diet.