Artichokes, green peas, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli top the list of high-fiber vegetables, with a single medium artichoke delivering nearly 6.5 grams of fiber on its own. Most adults need between 25 and 38 grams of fiber per day, and vegetables can cover a surprising share of that target when you know which ones to reach for.
The Highest-Fiber Vegetables at a Glance
Not all vegetables are created equal when it comes to fiber. A cup of cooked Brussels sprouts packs about 7.6 grams (doubling the half-cup measure of 3.8 grams), while a cup of iceberg lettuce has just half a gram. The difference is enormous, and choosing the right vegetables can mean the gap between hitting your daily fiber goal or falling well short.
Here are the standouts, ranked by fiber per serving:
- Artichoke (1 medium, boiled): 6.5 g
- Green peas (1 cup, cooked): 8.6 g
- Brussels sprouts (1 cup, cooked): 7.6 g
- Turnips (1 cup, cooked): 9.6 g
- Sweet potato (1 cup, cooked): 8.0 g
- Broccoli (1 cup, cooked): 5.0 g
- Okra (1 cup, cooked): 8.2 g
- Asparagus (1 cup, cooked): 5.6 g
- Kale (1 cup, cooked): 5.0 g
- Carrots (1 cup, cooked): 4.0 g
At the lower end, raw tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers, and iceberg lettuce all land under 2 grams per cup. They’re fine for hydration and micronutrients, but they won’t move the needle on fiber.
Legumes: The Fiber Powerhouses
If you count beans and lentils among your vegetables (as many people do when building a plate), they outperform nearly everything else. A half cup of cooked kidney beans contains 7.9 grams of fiber, and navy beans provide 6.5 grams in the same serving. Black beans and pinto beans each deliver about 6.1 grams per half cup, and lentils come in at 5.2 grams. Chickpeas offer 4.3 grams per half cup.
What makes legumes especially valuable is their mix of soluble and insoluble fiber. Black beans, for example, contain 2.4 grams of soluble fiber and 3.7 grams of insoluble fiber per half cup. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and forms a gel-like substance that helps slow digestion and can lower cholesterol. Insoluble fiber adds bulk and helps move food through your digestive tract. Most high-fiber vegetables lean heavily toward insoluble fiber, but legumes give you a more balanced ratio of both.
Cruciferous Vegetables
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower are the familiar trio people think of when they hear “eat more vegetables,” and two of the three are genuinely high in fiber. A cup of cooked Brussels sprouts delivers about 7.6 grams, and a cup of cooked broccoli provides around 5 grams. Cauliflower is the underperformer here, with only about 2 grams per raw cup.
Brussels sprouts have a particularly interesting fiber profile. Per half cup, they contain 2.0 grams of soluble fiber and 1.8 grams of insoluble, making them one of the more balanced vegetables. Broccoli is similarly split, with 1.2 grams of each type per half cup. This balance matters because soluble fiber feeds beneficial gut bacteria, while insoluble fiber keeps things moving.
Root Vegetables Worth Adding
Root vegetables often get overlooked in fiber conversations, but several hold their own against leafy greens and cruciferous options. Turnips stand out at 4.8 grams per cooked half cup, with a solid 1.7 grams of that being soluble fiber. Sweet potatoes come close at 4.0 grams per half cup, also with a decent soluble fiber share of 1.8 grams.
Carrots are more moderate at 2.0 grams per half cup cooked, and beets land at 1.8 grams. These aren’t fiber superstars on their own, but they add up quickly when you combine them in a roasted vegetable sheet pan or a stew. A plate with sweet potato, carrots, and turnips easily clears 10 grams of fiber from root vegetables alone.
How Cooking Changes Fiber Content
Cooking doesn’t destroy fiber the way it can destroy certain vitamins, but it does shift the balance between fiber types. Research on cruciferous vegetables found that both boiling and steaming cause insoluble fiber to decrease while soluble fiber increases significantly. On average, insoluble fiber dropped from about 34 grams per 100 grams (dry weight basis) to around 26 grams, while soluble fiber jumped from roughly 3 grams to 11 grams.
The total amount of fiber stays relatively stable for most vegetables. What changes is the form. Heat breaks down large polysaccharide chains into smaller fragments, which shifts fiber from the insoluble category into the soluble category. Steaming tends to preserve more of the original insoluble fiber compared to boiling in water, because the gentler heat transfer does less damage to cell structures. If you want to keep more insoluble fiber intact, steaming is the better choice. If you’re after the cholesterol-lowering and blood-sugar-stabilizing benefits of soluble fiber, boiling actually works in your favor.
Why Vegetable Fiber Matters for Gut Health
Fiber from vegetables doesn’t just add bulk to your diet. Certain types act as prebiotics, meaning they feed the beneficial bacteria already living in your colon. Vegetables with naturally occurring prebiotic fibers include asparagus, garlic, onions, leeks, and Jerusalem artichokes. These foods contain compounds like inulin and oligofructose that resist digestion in your small intestine and arrive intact in the colon, where gut bacteria ferment them.
This fermentation process selectively promotes the growth of beneficial bacterial groups, particularly bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. These bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids as a byproduct, which nourish the cells lining your colon and help regulate inflammation. A diet consistently rich in vegetable fiber creates a more diverse gut microbiome over time, which is linked to better immune function and metabolic health.
How Much You Actually Need
The recommended daily fiber intake varies by age and sex. Women 50 and younger need about 25 grams per day, while women over 50 need 21 grams. Men 50 and younger should aim for 38 grams, dropping to 30 grams after 50. Most Americans get roughly 15 grams, about half of what they need.
Closing that gap with vegetables alone is possible but takes some planning. A cup of cooked green peas (8.6 g), a medium artichoke (6.5 g), and a cup of cooked broccoli (5 g) would give you about 20 grams from three servings. Add a half cup of lentils and you’re over 25. The key is variety. Mixing cruciferous vegetables, root vegetables, legumes, and prebiotic-rich options like onions and asparagus ensures you get both soluble and insoluble fiber in useful amounts, rather than relying on one type alone.