29 High Calorie Vegetarian Foods for Weight Gain

This article was written by University of Alabama dietetic student Rachael Switliski with review and edits by Katie Dodd, MS, RDN, CSG, LD, FAND.

Dietary restrictions can be difficult to navigate when trying to gain weight. Typical weight gain advice may rely on animal-based products and other foods that vegetarians avoid. Here are 29 ideas for high calorie vegetarian foods that you will actually be able to eat!

And if you’re interested in exclusively vegan foods, we have a blog article on that too: https://thegeriatricdietitian.com/high-calorie-vegan-foods/

Why Someone Need High Calorie Vegetarian Foods?

With unintended weight loss also comes unintended muscle loss. This is especially problematic in older adults who have declining muscle mass.

Why does this matter? In adults aged 65 and older, unintended weight loss increases the risk of poor health outcomes, including risks of early death, fractures, and much more.

If you want to learn more about unintended weight loss, here’s a great resource: https://thegeriatricdietitian.com/unexplained-weight-loss-in-older-adults.

29 High Calorie Vegetarian Foods

The following list will provide ways to incorporate the foods and calories based on brands you may be familiar with. If a brand is not provided, calories are based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture¹ or recipes from highcalorierecipes.com.

Other high calorie vegetarian foods include avocado, nuts, nut butters, seeds, whole fat Greek yogurt, and more.

Whole milk

Whole milk can be consumed by itself or used as a base for drinks such as smoothies and shakes. It can also be a way to add calories to coffee or tea. It can also be used in place of water in certain recipes, such as pancakes and waffles.

Kirkland Signature whole milk provides 150 calories per 1 cup.

Whole-fat Yogurt

Whole-fat yogurt can be used to make a yogurt parfait, smoothie bowl, popsicles, or frozen yogurt bark. Use with pudding mix for a sweet treat. You can also make dips with it. Use Greek yogurt for extra protein. Use it as a base for onion dip or make a yogurt dip for apples, peaches, and other fruits you love!

Friendly Farms’ plain whole milk Greek yogurt provides 170 calories per 2/3 cup.

Grits

What can’t you add to grits? Grits can be sweet or savory depending on your add-ins. Try egg, cheese, tomato, mushrooms, spinach, or garlic for a savory flavor. If you prefer a sweeter dish, try yogurt, peaches, sweet potato, blueberries, or honey.

Quaker Old Fashioned Grits provides 140 calories per ¼ cup, dry.

And if cheesy grits sound delicious to you, here’s a great 500-calorie grits recipe (omit animal-based ingredients as needed): https://highcalorierecipes.com/500-calorie-breakfast-cheesy-grits/.

Brown rice

Make a one-pot stir fry, serve with tofu, or make a rice salad. If you have leftovers, fried rice actually tastes better when using old rice!

Minute Brown Rice provides 180 calories per ½ cup, dry.

Cottage cheese

Make sure the cottage cheese is 4% milkfat (whole milk) for the biggest calorie boost.

Cottage cheese can be used as a topping for things like salads and baked potatoes. Or, you can add toppings such as peaches, pears, pineapple, or jam. It also goes great with avocado, walnuts, or cashews.

Daisy’s 4% milkfat cottage cheese provides 110 calories per ½ cup.

Olive oil

Use it as a salad dressing (by itself or make a vinegarette), to make garlic bread, roast veggies, or make a marinade.

Pompeian Robust Extra Virgin Olive Oil provides 120 calories per 1 tablespoon.

Honey

Drizzle some on toast or other breads or make a peanut butter and honey sandwich. Or drizzle it over oatmeal, grits, or yogurt. It also pairs well with mild cheeses such as brie and ricotta.

Full Circle Market’s Organic Raw Honey provides 60 calories per tablespoon.

Smoothies

Smoothies are versatile and come in a variety of flavors, textures, and fun colors.

A smoothie can range anywhere between 400 to over 1,000 calories.

And if you’re looking for smoothie recipe ideas: https://thegeriatricdietitian.com/high-calorie-smoothies/.

Juice

Sometimes after a meal, you don’t feel like you can stomach another bite, but you could drink a little more. Juice is great way to get calories in if you’re not hungry enough to eat anymore (or anything).

The calories from juice varies. Here are a few examples:

• Great Value’s 100% Prune Juice provides 180 calories per 1 cup.
• Welch’s White Grape Juice provides 140 calories per 1 cup.
• Motts’ 100% Apple Juice provides 120 calories per 1 cup.

Sweet potato mash

Who says that sweet potato mash is only for Thanksgiving? Top with pecans, a few marshmallows, or eat by itself.

Sweet potato mash provides approximately 130 calories per ½ cup.

Mashed potatoes

Make loaded mashed potatoes or pour on gravy for extra calories.

Idahoan Original Mashed Potatoes provide 150 calories per ½ cup as prepared.

Guacamole

Put on toast, a baked potato, or quesadillas. You can also eat it with tortilla chips or use in wraps.

Guacamole provides approximately 50 calories per two tablespoons.

Hummus

Pair with veggies including celery, carrot sticks, cucumbers, or bell peppers for a healthy snack. Or pair with crackers, pretzels, or pita bread for extra calories.

Sabra Classic Hummus provides 70 calories per two tablespoons.

Overnight Oats

Overnight oats have lots of potential high calorie add-ins, including nut butters, seed butters, dark chocolate, chia seeds, and hemp hearts.

If you don’t like the texture of overnight oats, they can also be blended for a creamier texture.

Overnight oats provide approximately 300 calories or more per cup.

Canola oil

Canola oil gets a bad reputation, but 42 different studies suggest that canola oil may lower cardiovascular risk factors.²

Use it in baking to replace vegetable oil or use it when you need an oil with a higher smoke point.

Good & Gather Canola Oil provides 130 calories per tablespoon.

Maple Syrup

Maple syrup can be used as a sweetener in baked goods, made into a balsamic vinegar for your salads. or poured over roasted carrots and baked beans.

Maple syrup provides approximately 200 calories per ¼ cup.

Egg muffins

Coat a muffin pan with olive oil, put your favorite add-ins such as mushrooms, garlic, or broccoli, and top with whole-fat cheese for added calories.

These can also be made in advance for a quick and easy breakfast.

Egg muffins provide approximately 130 calories per muffin.

Protein balls

Protein balls are bite-sized balls that come in about a hundred different flavors, such as cinnamon roll, chocolate brownie, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter chocolate chip, birthday cake, cookie dough, carrot cake, cookies n cream, strawberry, oatmeal pie, coconut, and more!

They can be quickly made from scratch, with the prep time often being 15 minutes or less. You can also buy them at the store, although your flavor options will be more limited.

SimplyFUEL chocolate coconut peanut butter protein balls are 200 calories per 2 balls.

Hemp hearts

Add to salads, breads, yogurt, pasta, soups, overnight oats, and baked goods.

Hemp hearts provide approximately 180 calories per ¼ cup.

Flaxseed

Flaxseeds can be used similarly to hemp hearts, such as in salads, breads, yogurt, pasta, soups, overnight oats, and baked goods. They are a great binding agent and can replace eggs in baking.

Flaxseed is approximately 170 calories per 3 tablespoons.

Almond flour

Almond flour can be used to make breadcrumbs, biscuits, muffins, bars, pancakes, waffles, and much more.

Almond flour provides approximately 80 calories per 2 tablespoons.

Bulgur Wheat

Bulgar wheat can be used in chili, risotto, soups, or stuffed vegetables. Use bulgur to make pilaf, a salad, or even your own breadcrumbs.

Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Red Bulgar provides 160 calories per ¼ cup, dry.

Parmesan cheese

Not all cheese is created equal. There are low calorie cheeses (such as ricotta which provides only 40 calories per ¼ cup), and there are high calorie cheeses. This is a high calorie ingredient that’s great for gaining weight and maintaining that weight.

It’s great for alfredo, red sauce pasta dishes, gnocchi, garlic bread, or scalloped potatoes.

Sargento Parmesan Shredded Cheese provides 110 calories per ¼ cup.

Cheddar cheese

Cheddar cheese can be used for paninis, popcorn, cheddar pie, biscuits, soups, dips, chilis, eggs, and pretty much everything savory. It also makes for a great mac n cheese.

Crystal Farms Sharp Cheddar Cheese provides 110 calories per ounce.

Dried pineapple

Dried pineapple is great on its own, but it can also be put in trail mix or as a topping on things like yogurt and oatmeal.

365 Whole Foods Market’s Organic Unsweetened Dried Pineapple slices provide 130 calories per 4 pieces.

Raisins

Raisins can be put on a bagel or toast, put into trail mix, and into various desserts.

Sun-Maid Raisins provide 120 calories per ¼ cup.

Mashed banana

Mashed banana is basically banana applesauce. You can eat with add-ins like cinnamon or use it to make pancakes or banana bread.

One medium mashed banana provides approximately 100 calories.

Granola

Eat it alone, with milk, or on top of various breakfast items.

Nature Valley ‘s vanilla almond reduced sugar granola provides 260 calories per 2/3 cup.

Extra-firm Tofu

Make a tofu burger, marinate and pair with rice, or put cubes of it in a salad. Extra-firm tofu has less water and holds its shape better when cooking compared to versions that are less firm.

Hodo’s organic extra firm tofu provides 120 calories per 3 ounces.

Disclaimer: The aforementioned products are unsponsored and are neither an endorsement of the product nor brand. Every product mentioned was intended as an example for educational purposes only.

Summary

You don’t need meat or fish to gain weight. There are dozens of high calorie foods vegetarian foods to help someone gain weight. Vegetarian foods can be high calorie, quick, easy, and versatile. Feel free to experiment with different combinations to find what works best for you.

If unintended weight loss persists, talk with your doctor. You may also want to consider seeing a geriatric dietitian.

References

1. FoodData Central. US Department of Agriculture. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-search/ 

2. Amiri M, Raeisi-Dehkordi H, Sarrafzadegan N, Forbes SC, Salehi-Abargouei A. The effects of canola oil on cardiovascular risk factors: a systematic review and meta-analysis with dose-response analysis of controlled clinical trials. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2020;30(12):2133-2145. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2020.06.007