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HomeNutritionHigh Calorie Vegetables: Add These Veggies To Your Bulking Diet

High Calorie Vegetables: Add These Veggies To Your Bulking Diet

High Calorie Vegetables - Add These To Your Bulking Diet

The average hardgainers bulking diet is loaded with large quantities of a few staple bulking foods such as brown rice, sweet potato, oats, chicken breast and ground beef...
When you're trying to get your body into a hefty calorie surplus (essentially the only way a hardgainer to add and maintain additional weight!) it can be bland, boring and sometimes just downright suck. Enter these high calorie vegetables.

When we think of vegetables we generally associate them as a low calorie food and well, there's quite a variety of vegetables that are low in calories...

But there's also a bunch of high calorie vegetables out there too.

Eat them as they are, blend them up into your bulking shake or smoothie... do whatever you have to do to incorporate these high calorie vegetables into your diet and add a bit of variety to your bulking regime (not to mention the addition of vitamins and minerals!).

I personally like to 3 or 4 of the below veggies along with some chilli, make up a stir fry with brown rice and season some chicken breast strips... there's a delicious 1,000+ calorie meal, add this to your diet each day and you'll no doubt find yourself in a calorie surplus (the key to weight and muscle gain!).

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1 - Beans

When we're talking about beans being one of our high calorie vegetables we're not just talking about one variety of bean, essentially ALL variety of beans are high in calories - from lima beans and black beans to soy beans and kidney beans...

If you're a vegetarian or just don't like to eat a significant amount of meat adding a variety of beans into your diet is a great way to ensure you're able to hit your protein macronutrient goal each day without drinking a copious amount of whey protein shakes.

So how many calories are there exactly in beans? Below are the details of the most popular varieties.

1 cup of lima beans = 217 calories (15g of protein)

1 cup of kidney beans = 225 calories (15g of protein)

1 cup of black beans = 240 calories (15g of protein)

1 cup of soybeans = 298 calories (29g of protein)

2 - Butternut Squash

Although you can technically eat them raw, I recommend dicing up and cooking your butternut squash.
Inexpensive and loaded with vitamin E, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B-6, folate, pantothenic acid, manganese and potassium you'll find a cup of cooked butternut squash contains 82 calories.

If you want a simple recipe that'll also add additional calories to your butternut squash then cut it in half, glaze it with maple syrup and bake it - the simple carbohydrates in the maple syrup will make your squash significantly more calorie dense, ideal for bulking!

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3 - Carrots

Easily the cheapest on our list of high calorie vegetables, the carrot can be purchased for next to nothing at any supermarket or grocer and will give you approximately 60 calories per cup.
You'll find that they're loaded with carotenoids which converts into vitamin A (great for eye health and immune system function) as well as biotin.

You can easily snack on a few carrots throughout the day (eating them raw) in order to boost your daily caloric intake.

Baking your carrots with a light honey glaze will not only make them taste irresistible, it'll also add a few extra calories too.

4 - Corn

Corn isn't the most popular vegetable out there that's for sure, but it is without a doubt one of the most calorie dense.
An ear of corn is roughly the equivalent to 1 cup worth of corn contains 320 calories.

In terms of vitamins and minerals corn isn't particularly nutrient dense in comparison to a number of other high calorie vegetables, however it does contain lutein and zeaxanthin which are great for your eyes.

If you want to add a few more calories to your ear of corn (and make it taste delicious) glaze it with butter and put it on the BBQ for a few minutes.
You'll get an extra easy 50- 100 calories from the butter.

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5 - Parsnip

If you're after a high calorie vegetable to put in soups and stews you can't go past the parsnip.
In case you haven't seen one of these bad boys before the parsnip is a root vegetable and essentially looks like a white carrot.

You'll find just over 100 calories per cup of parsnip along with a solid dose of folic acid, vitamin B6, iron, calcium, and copper.

6 - Potatoes

Extremely inexpensive and versatile when it comes to cooking and serving, the good old white potato is a staple when it comes to bulking with high calorie vegetables.
Per cup of white potato you'll find 138 calories and a decent serving of vitamin B6 and vitamin C.

Mash them, roast them, serve them up with gravy (not a bad way to get some extra calories) you genuinely can't go wrong with potatoes when you're trying to put your body in a caloric surplus.

7 - Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are slightly lower in calories in comparison to white potatoes, you'll find approximately 117 calories per cup of sweet potato, however you'll find significantly more nutrients than you would in their white counterpart.

Loaded with beta-carotene and vitamin A, sweet potatoes are also excellent for your blood vessels as they assist in the breakdown of homocysteine, which is responsible for the hardening of vessels.

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8 - Yams

It's quite uncommon to find genuine African yams (genus Dioscorea) in your local grocery store, however they are one of the vegetables containing the highest number of calories so they've made it onto this list...

Yams contain 180 calories per cup.
The majority of 'yams' you'll find in the shops are essentially a sweet potato which only contain 117 calories per cup.

Looking For A Good Blender For Your High Calorie Vegetable Shakes?

I've literally used the Ninja 1100w blender to make thousands of shakes, many loaded with tons of yams, frozen berries etc. and this thing has never missed a beat.
I highly recommend you invest in a high quality blender such as this one, it'll last you forever.

Check out the Ninja 1100w blender I recommend here.

What're Your Go-To High Calorie Vegetables? Let Me Know Below!

Scott J.
Scott J.https://ignorelimits.com
I’m SJ. I’m a fitness enthusiast and published author. I transformed my body from a skinny fat 135lbs with 18% body fat to a solid 192lbs at 8% body fat. I became qualified in a field I was passionate about. I founded several online businesses that allow me to pursue ideas and projects in my life that I am passionate about without having to constantly worry about money. I published several eBooks explaining the training and dieting techniques I used to achieve the body I have today. I learnt a plethora of new information on dieting and fitness by reading and applying what I read, to find out what does work and what doesn’t work, because as I’m sure you’ve noticed the health and fitness industry is full of non-sense claims and BS. I found out what was true and what worked for me and applied that knowledge. And you bet I had fun during the whole process.

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