Guide October 2026 · 11 min read

How to read the ranking

The ranking metric is simple: grams per 100 kcal = 100 ÷ kcal per 100 g × 100. The higher the number, the bigger the portion you can eat for the same 100 kcal. Nutrition researchers call the reverse of this number energy density, or calories per gram.

Food volume comes mostly from water. Water has no calories, fat has 9 kcal per gram, and protein and carbs have 4. That is why a cucumber (95 % water) and a potato chip (2 % water) sit at opposite ends of the list.

Does more grams actually mean less hunger? Two trials from Barbara Rolls's lab at Penn State suggest it can:

• In a 1999 study, 24 women ate a casserole, the same casserole with a glass of water, or the same ingredients cooked into a soup, shortly before lunch. After the soup they ate about 26 % less at lunch. Drinking the water next to the casserole made no difference: the water had to be in the food. (Rolls, Bell & Thorwart, Am J Clin Nutr 1999;70:448–455.)
• In a year-long trial, 97 women with obesity followed one of two weight-loss diets. The group told to cut fat and eat more fruit and vegetables ate a greater weight of food, reported less hunger and lost 7.9 kg, against 6.4 kg on a reduced-fat diet alone. (Ello-Martin et al., Am J Clin Nutr 2007;85:1465–1477.)

All values below are per 100 g from USDA SR Legacy, rounded as in the record. Portions are the record's own household measures.

Vegetables

Salad greens top the list, but a bowl of lettuce is light in weight: two cups of romaine weigh only 94 g. Tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli and peppers add more grams to a plate for each cup. Cooked vegetables shrink, so a cup of boiled broccoli weighs 156 g against 91 g for a cup of raw.

Fruit

Melons and berries give the most fruit per calorie. A cup of grapes has twice the calories of a cup of strawberries or watermelon. Raspberries stand out for fiber: 8 g in a cup. More on single fruits: calories in an apple, calories in a banana.

Soups, grains and starches

Broth-based soup is the clearest "volume" food: a full cup is 60–70 kcal. The catch is salt: a cup of the canned chicken noodle soup has about 830 mg of sodium and the vegetable soup about 810 mg, so look for low-sodium versions or make it at home (how much salt per day). Spaghetti squash is the swap that saves the most against a grain: a cup is 42 kcal against 205 for a cup of rice. Oats and potatoes take up water as they cook, which is why cooked oatmeal (71 kcal per 100 g) is so much lighter than dry oats. See calories in oatmeal, calories in potato and calories in rice.

Popcorn is the odd one. By weight it is dense (387 kcal per 100 g), but it is full of air: a cup weighs 8 g and has 31 kcal. Three cups of air-popped popcorn come to about 93 kcal. The same calories in potato chips fit in less than an ounce.

Protein foods and legumes

Protein foods are denser than vegetables, but the lean ones still give a real portion for 100 kcal. Lentils and black beans have about 15–16 g of fiber per cup, more than any other food on this list. For protein per calorie, see high-protein snacks and calories in Greek yogurt.

What 100 kcal looks like

The same 100 kcal, in grams and in everyday portions:

Low-volume foods are not "bad": almonds and dark chocolate bring fat, fiber and minerals. They just take up little room on the plate for their calories. See calories in nuts and seeds and calories in bread.

Swaps that add volume

The first swap keeps the rice: the plate gets bigger and lighter at the same time. The popcorn swap saves fewer grams but gives three cups to eat instead of a small bag.

How to use it without going hungry

1. Fill half the plate with vegetables from the first table. It adds weight to the meal for 10–55 kcal a cup.
2. Start with a broth-based soup or a salad. In the 1999 study, a soup eaten before lunch was followed by a smaller lunch.
3. Keep a protein food at each meal. Cod, shrimp, egg whites and nonfat yogurt all fit 100 kcal into a normal portion. How much protein per day →
4. Count the extras. A tablespoon of oil, a handful of cheese or a creamy dressing can turn a 50-kcal bowl of vegetables into a 200-kcal one. Volume only works if what you add to it is logged too.
5. Keep the dense foods you like, in measured portions. An ounce of nuts or a few squares of chocolate fit any calorie target when you know their size. Calorie deficit for weight loss →

How to log it

High-volume meals are easy to underestimate in a different way: the vegetables are light, but the oil, dressing and cheese on top are not.

Say what you ate with amounts: "two cups of romaine with a tablespoon of olive oil and 30 grams of feta", "a cup of chicken noodle soup", "three cups of air-popped popcorn". In CalMePlease you can log it by voice, text or a photo, and the app shows the estimated weight in grams. If it's off, you can correct it in one tap. For canned soup or packaged popcorn, scan the barcode so the numbers match your exact product. Voice food logging →

The app also tracks fiber alongside calories, protein, carbs and fat, so you can see whether the extra volume is coming from vegetables and beans or just from water. How much fiber per day →

FAQ

What is the most filling low-calorie food? By grams per calorie, watery vegetables lead: iceberg lettuce, cucumber, celery and zucchini give 590–715 g per 100 kcal. For a meal, broth-based soup works well: in a Penn State study, women ate about 26 % less at lunch after a soup than after the same ingredients served as a casserole.

What is volume eating? Choosing foods with few calories per gram, so a normal-size plate fits a lower calorie target. In practice it means more vegetables, fruit, soups and lean protein, and smaller portions of dry, fatty foods like chips, cheese and nuts.

Is popcorn a high-volume food? By the cup, yes: 3 cups of air-popped popcorn have about 93 kcal. By weight it is dense, at 387 kcal per 100 g. Butter and oil change that fast, so log what goes on it.

Are high-volume foods enough to lose weight? They make a calorie deficit easier to hold, but they don't replace it. In the year-long trial, women eating more fruit and vegetables lost more weight (7.9 vs 6.4 kg) while eating a greater weight of food, but both groups were on weight-loss diets that cut fat.

Does drinking water before a meal do the same thing? Not in the 1999 study: a glass of water with the casserole did not reduce lunch intake, while the same water cooked into soup did. The water seems to work when it is part of the food.

Do cooked vegetables count as high-volume? Yes. Cooking removes some water, so a cup of cooked vegetables holds more grams and slightly more calories than a cup of raw. Boiled broccoli and green beans are still about 35 kcal per 100 g.

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Related: Snacks under 100 calories · High-protein snacks · How much fiber per day · Calorie deficit for weight loss

CalMePlease logs a big plate of vegetables, soup or a bowl of popcorn from a photo, a voice note or a few words of text, and tracks fiber alongside calories. Free on the App Store.