High-Fiber Snacks: 25 Options With Fiber and Calories

The best high-fiber snacks are berries, pears, guava, chia seeds, roasted chickpeas, edamame, popcorn, pumpkin seeds and vegetables with hummus. Each gives you 3 to 12 grams of fiber per portion. A cup of raspberries, for example, has 8 grams of fiber for 64 calories^[1].

That matters because most people fall short. More than 90% of women and 97% of men in the U.S. do not meet the recommended fiber intake^[2].

Below are 25 fiber-rich snacks with the fiber, calories and protein for each portion, calculated from USDA FoodData Central. They are followed by picks for your desk, travel and kids, high-protein and low-calorie options, and what the extra fiber does for your gut bacteria.

The 25 best high-fiber snacks, ranked by fiber

We calculated each value from the USDA FoodData Central entry for that food at the portion shown^[1]. The bran cereal figure comes from the USDA and HHS list of food sources of fiber^[3]. Combinations add up their parts. Packaged brands vary, so check the label.

Figures can differ between databases. The USDA's fiber list gives 5.8 grams for 3 cups of popcorn and 4.8 grams for a medium apple^[3], compared with the 3.5 and 4.4 grams calculated above from the air-popped popcorn and raw apple entries^[1].

What snack has the highest fiber?

Bran cereal, chia seeds and berries lead. Unsweetened high-fiber bran cereal has 14.0 grams per half cup, the highest standard portion on the USDA fiber list^[3]. Among whole foods you can eat as they are, 1 ounce of chia seeds gives 9.8 grams. A cup of guava gives 8.9 grams, raspberries 8.0 grams and blackberries 7.6 grams^[1].

Pairing two foods is the easiest way past 6 grams. A Greek yogurt bowl with raspberries and a tablespoon of chia reaches about 12 grams. A pear with an ounce of pistachios reaches about 8 grams^[1].

How much fiber should a snack have?

Aim for at least 3 grams, and 5 to 6 grams if you can. Food labels use a Daily Value of 28 grams of fiber for adults^[4]. A food can be called "high in fiber" or an "excellent source" when one serving gives at least 20% of that value, about 5.6 grams. It counts as a "good source" at 10% to 19%, about 2.8 to 5.3 grams^[5]. Every snack in the table clears the "good source" bar.

Adult needs run from about 22 to 34 grams a day, depending on age and sex^[6]. The Dietary Guidelines set the target at 14 grams per 1,000 calories^[2]. Two snacks of 6 to 8 grams each cover roughly half of a 28-gram day.

The payoff is well documented. A Lancet series of meta-analyses pooled 185 cohort studies and 58 trials. People eating the most fiber had 15% to 30% lower rates of death from any cause, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer than those eating the least^[7].

The benefit was greatest at 25 to 29 grams a day. In the trials, higher fiber intake also lowered body weight, systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol^[7].

High-fiber snacks by situation

At your desk

Snacks that sit in a drawer without a fridge work best:

• Roasted chickpeas: 6.2 grams of fiber and 7.3 grams of protein per half cup of chickpeas^[1].
• Pumpkin seeds in the shell: 5.2 grams per ounce^[1].
• Air-popped popcorn: 3.5 grams per 3 cups for 93 calories^[1], or 7.0 grams with an ounce of almonds mixed in.
• Pears and apples: 5.5 and 4.4 grams per medium fruit^[1].

If you have a fridge, pre-cut jicama, carrots or red pepper with hummus give 4.7 to 6.4 grams. These are also a good choice if you want something that isn't sweet. A black bean dip works the same way: half a cup of cooked black beans has 7.5 grams^[3].

Travel and on the go

Choose snacks that survive a bag. Almonds, pistachios and sunflower seeds give 2.9 to 3.5 grams per ounce^[3]. A quarter cup of dried figs gives 3.7 grams and prunes 3.1 grams^[1].

A cup of dry spoon-size shredded wheat gives 6.1 grams^[1], and half a cup of dry oats packs 4.1 grams for overnight oats at your destination. Dried figs have about 249 calories per 100 grams compared with 52 for raspberries, so measure dried fruit rather than eating from the bag^[1]. Mixing nuts, whole pumpkin seeds and a few chopped figs makes a homemade trail mix with fiber from each part.

High-fiber snacks for kids (and how to sneak fiber into their diet)

Children need less fiber than adults. The goal is 14 grams a day at ages 2 to 3. It rises to 17 to 20 grams at ages 4 to 8 and 22 to 25 grams at ages 9 to 13^[2]. Half a cup of raspberries (4 grams), a kiwifruit (about 2 grams) or half a cup of edamame (4 grams) covers a real share of that^[1].

Fruit "hidden" in yogurt, oats or a smoothie made from whole fruit keeps its fiber. Juice does not: 100% fruit juice has less fiber than whole fruit^[2]. The USDA notes that some foods on its fiber list can be choking hazards for young children^[3]. Ask your pediatrician which textures suit your child's age.

What are the best high-protein, high-fiber snacks?

A Greek yogurt bowl wins clearly. It gives 20.8 grams of protein and 12.1 grams of fiber for 222 calories^[1]. Greek yogurt alone has 17.3 grams of protein but no fiber, so the berries and chia do the fiber work.

Values calculated from USDA FoodData Central^[1]. Edamame gives the most protein per calorie among the plant-based snacks here.

Which high-fiber snacks are low in calories and good for weight loss?

Berries, jicama, kiwifruit and edamame give the most fiber for the fewest calories. Raspberries give 8.0 grams for 64 calories, blackberries 7.6 grams for 62 and jicama 6.4 grams for 49. Two kiwifruit give 4.1 grams for 84 calories and edamame 4.0 grams for 94^[1]. Air-popped popcorn gives 3.5 grams for 93 calories.

Don't expect fiber alone to curb your appetite at the next meal. A systematic review analyzed 107 short-term tests of 38 fiber sources. Only 39% reduced self-rated appetite and 22% reduced how much people ate^[8].

Beta-glucan, rye and mixed high-fiber diets had the most consistent support^[8]. Over longer periods, trials do link higher fiber intake with lower body weight^[7].

Nuts are higher in calories but did not cause weight gain in a meta-analysis of 55 trials. Body weight, BMI and waist size did not change when people added nuts or nut snacks to their diets^[9].

Which high-fiber snacks help with constipation?

Kiwifruit and prunes have the best trial evidence among snack foods. In a U.S. trial of 79 adults with chronic constipation, two green kiwifruit a day, 100 grams of prunes a day and 12 grams of psyllium a day all increased complete bowel movements over 4 weeks^[10]. Kiwifruit caused the fewest side effects and also eased bloating^[10]. 100 grams of prunes is about 10 pitted prunes^[1].

A 2023 meta-analysis of 23 studies found that fruit raised stool frequency slightly more than psyllium, by about 0.36 bowel movements a week, with kiwifruit doing best. Rye bread beat white bread^[11]. Fiber supplements help too: in 16 trials, 66% of people taking fiber responded compared with 41% on control. The best results came from more than 10 grams a day for at least 4 weeks, with psyllium husk and pectin showing clear effects^[12].

For other options, see our guide to probiotics for constipation.

What fiber snacks do for your gut microbiome

Your gut bacteria ferment the fiber you can't digest, producing metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids that affect your gut and the rest of your body^[13]. Different snacks bring different fibers. The beta-glucan in oats is the soluble fiber behind the FDA's heart-health claim: 3 grams or more a day from whole oats or barley^[14].

Beta-glucan, psyllium husk and pectin are among the isolated fibers the FDA counts as dietary fiber^[4]. Resistant starch and inulin are other fermentable fibers covered on their own pages.

More fiber does not automatically mean more microbial diversity. In a 17-week Stanford trial, a high-fiber diet increased the bacterial enzymes that break down fiber. However, the variety of species stayed the same, and immune responses differed depending on each person's starting microbiome^[15].

In mice, a low-fiber diet's effects were largely reversible within one generation but caused lasting loss of microbial diversity over several generations^[16]. That is a mouse finding and has not been shown in people.

For foods chosen mainly to feed beneficial bacteria, see our prebiotic foods list and our guide to gut healthy foods. For the bigger picture, see how to improve your gut microbiome.

How to increase fiber without extra gas or calories

More fiber can mean more gas. In the fiber supplement trials, flatulence was more common with fiber than with control treatments^[12]. To keep it comfortable:

1. Add one snack at a time. The NIH advises adding fiber a little at a time so your body gets used to it^[6].
2. Drink fluids. Water and other liquids help fiber work better and soften stools^[6].
3. Start with low-calorie sources. Berries, jicama and raw vegetables add 3 to 8 grams of fiber for under 70 calories a portion^[1].
4. Mix sources. Fruit, seeds, legumes and whole grains each bring different fibers to your gut bacteria^[13].
5. Read labels on packaged snacks. Only intact plant fiber and isolated fibers the FDA has accepted count toward the fiber number^[4], and "high fiber" means at least 20% of the Daily Value per serving^[5].

If you have a digestive condition or your symptoms persist, a clinician or dietitian can help you plan a fiber intake that suits you^[6].

This article is for general educational purposes and is not medical advice. Nutrient values were calculated from USDA FoodData Central and the USDA and HHS fiber list retrieved in October 2026; packaged products vary, so check labels. Talk to a qualified healthcare professional before making major changes to your diet, particularly if you are pregnant, immunocompromised, taking prescription medication, or managing a diagnosed condition such as IBS or inflammatory bowel disease.