Green peas and winter squash top the list at 9 grams of fiber per cup, making them the highest-fiber vegetables you can put on your plate. That’s roughly a third of the daily recommended intake of 28 grams in a single serving. But plenty of other vegetables deliver impressive fiber counts too, and mixing several of them into your meals is the easiest way to hit your daily target.
The Highest-Fiber Vegetables, Ranked
Here’s how common vegetables stack up, measured per standard serving:
- Green peas: 9g per cup
- Winter squash (baked): 9g per cup
- Pumpkin (cooked): 7g per cup
- Artichoke: 6.5g per medium artichoke
- Jicama (sliced): 6g per cup
- Sweet potato (mashed): 6g per cup
- Broccoli (cooked): 5g per cup
- Carrots (cooked): 5g per cup
- Corn: 5g per cup
- Turnip greens (cooked): 5g per cup
A second tier of vegetables clusters around 4 grams per serving: asparagus, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, green beans, cooked spinach, raw carrots, and a baked russet potato with its skin on. These aren’t headline-grabbing numbers on their own, but a cup of Brussels sprouts alongside a baked sweet potato adds up to 8 or 10 grams before you’ve even looked at the rest of your meal.
Legumes Blow Everything Else Away
If you count beans and lentils as vegetables (many people do, at least on the dinner plate), they outperform every other option by a wide margin. Split peas deliver 16 grams per cooked cup, lentils come in at 15.5 grams, and black beans hit 15 grams. That’s more than half your daily fiber in one side dish.
The tradeoff is digestive comfort. Beans contain a carbohydrate called raffinose that your stomach and small intestine can’t break down. It passes intact to your colon, where gut bacteria ferment it and produce gas. If you’re not used to eating beans regularly, starting with a half-cup serving and increasing gradually over a week or two gives your digestive system time to adjust.
Why Cooking Method Matters
Cooking changes the fiber profile of vegetables, though not always in the way you’d expect. Research on cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts) found that both boiling and steaming reduce insoluble fiber while increasing soluble fiber. The total fiber stays roughly the same, but the balance shifts. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and forms a gel-like substance that slows digestion, while insoluble fiber adds bulk and helps keep things moving. Both types are beneficial, so this shift isn’t a problem. It just means cooked and raw versions of the same vegetable contribute fiber in slightly different ways.
Steaming and boiling had a similar effect in the research, so there’s no reason to favor one method over the other from a fiber standpoint. Raw broccoli, for what it’s worth, is heavier on insoluble fiber. If you enjoy eating it raw with dip, you’re getting a different fiber mix than you would from a steamed floret, but neither version is superior.
Don’t Peel Away the Fiber
Up to 31% of a vegetable’s total fiber lives in its skin. This is especially relevant for potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots. A baked russet potato with skin provides 4 grams of fiber per serving, but peeling it before cooking strips away a meaningful chunk of that. The same logic applies to carrots: a good scrub under running water is all they need. Leaving skins on is one of the simplest ways to boost your fiber intake without changing what you eat.
Building a High-Fiber Plate
Rather than relying on a single superstar vegetable, the practical approach is stacking several moderate sources. A cup of cooked broccoli (5g), a medium baked sweet potato with skin (4g), and a side of green peas (9g) gives you 18 grams from vegetables alone. Add a cup of lentils and you’ve exceeded 28 grams before counting any fiber from grains, fruit, or nuts.
If bloating is a concern, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage are the most common culprits. They contain the same raffinose found in beans. Over-the-counter products containing alpha-d-galactosidase (sold as Beano) help break down these carbohydrates before they reach your colon. The more reliable long-term fix is gradual increases. Adding one new high-fiber vegetable per week, rather than overhauling your diet overnight, lets your gut bacteria adapt without the discomfort.