How to Make a High Fiber Salad [5 Recipes to Try]
“How to Make a High Fiber Salad [5 Recipes to Try]” was written by Grace Guthrie, MS & edited by Amanda Crowe, MS, RDN, CD. Final review/edit completed by Aly Bouzek, MS, RDN. Grace is a dietetic intern at Kansas State University.
Getting enough fiber throughout the day can be challenging. Salads can help! A salad is an easy and popular meal for lunch or dinner and helps ensure you are eating enough vegetables. You can increase the fiber in your salad with the ingredients you use.
In this article, we’re going to discuss the importance of fiber and an easy formula for you to use to create your own high fiber salad.
What is Fiber?
Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that our bodies can’t digest. All other carbohydrates, protein, and fat are broken down by our bodies to make energy. But fiber is different!
Fiber can be categorized as either soluble or insoluble. Both types are important, but they act in different ways in our bodies.
Soluble fiber can dissolve in water. When soluble fiber goes through your digestive tract, it forms a gel-like substance. This gel sticks to other substances, like cholesterol, and prevents them from being absorbed by your blood.
Insoluble fiber, on the other hand, stays mostly intact. Since it doesn’t dissolve, insoluble fiber helps to keep food moving along your digestive tract and adds bulk to your stools, which prevents constipation.
Why is Fiber Important?
Both soluble and insoluble fiber are important parts of our diet. Here are just a few of the health benefits of eating a high fiber diet:
- Lowers cholesterol, specifically LDL cholesterol (or “bad” cholesterol)
- Lowers risk of heart disease
- Better blood sugar management
- Feeling fuller for longer
- Weight management
- Prevents constipation
- Improves digestive health
Who Needs Fiber?
Everyone! Fiber is important at every stage of life, from childhood to old age.
According to the USDA, adults should be eating this much fiber every day:
- Women: at least 25 grams
- Men: at least 38 grams
Unfortunately, most Americans are only getting about 15 grams of fiber every day.
Building a High Fiber Salad
Salads are great for lunch or dinner (or breakfast – you do you!), because you can pack most of your veggies into one meal.
Vegetables are an amazing source of fiber, and they contain important vitamins and minerals to keep your body in tip-top shape. Let’s talk about a few ways you can maximize the amount of fiber in your salad for a filling and nutritious meal.
High Fiber Salad Base
Every salad starts with a good base. A few high-fiber greens you can use to start your salad are:
| Serving Size | Fiber (grams) | |
| Brussels sprouts, chopped | 1 cup | 3 |
| Kale, chopped | 1 cup | 2.7 |
| Green cabbage, chopped | 1 cup | 2.3 |
| Red cabbage, chopped | 1 cup | 1.9 |
| Green leaf lettuce, chopped | 1 cup | 0.5 |
| Red leaf lettuce, chopped | 1 cup | 0.3 |
| Arugula, chopped | 1 cup | 0.2 |
As you can see, some greens are more fibrous than others.
Now, what if you prefer green leaf lettuce and arugula more than kale?
Just because your favorite green doesn’t have as much fiber as another doesn’t mean you should dump it! Try a mixed base with 1 cup of your favorite green and a half cup of two other more fibrous greens.
A delicious mix to try:
- 1 cup arugula
- ½ cup chopped kale
- ½ cup shredded Brussels sprouts
High Fiber Salad Toppings
With our salad base covered, the next step is to dress up our salad with some toppings. We will go through some suggestions, but the opportunities are truly endless!
Vegetables
Veggies are a classic salad topping, and for good reason! Veggies add tons of extra nutrients to your salad, along with textures and flavors.
Another benefit of adding vegetables to your salads is for bulk. In general, veggies are low calorie foods, so you can add a lot without increasing the total calorie content too much.
If you’re trying to gain weight, it’s also good to keep in mind veggies are lower in calories than other salad toppings.
High fiber veggie toppings:
| Serving Size | Fiber (grams) | |
| Avocado | ½ avocado | 5 |
| Green peas | ½ cup | 4 |
| Russet potato (baked) | ½ medium potato | 3 |
| Broccoli (cooked) | ½ cup | 2 |
| Carrots | ½ cup | 1.7 |
| Yellow corn | ½ cup | 1.7 |
Legumes
Another great category of salad toppings are legumes. Legumes include beans, peas and pulses. They are a great source of fiber, and they also add protein to your salad.
Another reason legumes are a great choice are they’re inexpensive! Fancy salad toppings can start to add up, but legumes are inexpensive and convenient. Dry beans are a good place to start, but canned beans work just as well.
High fiber legume toppings:
| Serving Size | Fiber (grams) | |
| Black beans | ½ cup | 9.1 |
| Kidney beans | ½ cup | 7.2 |
| Lentils | ½ cup | 6.8 |
| Chickpeas | ½ cup | 6.6 |
| Edamame | ½ cup | 4 |
Grains and Pasta
Another wonderful way to top your salads is with grains and pasta! Using leftover noodles, rice, or quinoa will add texture to your salad while also packing in extra fiber.
| Serving Size | Fiber (grams) | |
| Bulgur, cooked | ½ cup | 3.2 |
| Pearl barley, cooked | ½ cup | 3 |
| Quinoa, cooked | ½ cup | 2.4 |
| Whole wheat rotini | ½ cup | 2.1 |
| Brown rice | ½ cup | 1.6 |
Fruit, Nuts, and Seeds
Fruits, nuts, and seeds are all fantastic sources of fiber. They also add different flavors to your salad. Adding one or more of these can turn a boring salad into an exciting meal.
When it comes to fruit, feel free to use fresh, dried, or both! If you opt for dried fruit, remember the serving sizes are smaller since the sugar and nutrients are concentrated.
| Serving Size | Fiber (grams) | |
| Sunflower seeds, shelled | ¼ cup | 3 |
| Sliced almonds | ¼ cup | 2.9 |
| Pumpkin seeds, shelled | ¼ cup | 2.3 |
| Dried cranberries | ¼ cup | 2.1 |
| Raisins | 1 oz (1 small box) | 1.3 |
High Fiber Salad Dressings
Now that you’ve assembled a colorful and nutritious salad, it’s time for the final touch: dressing. Some people forgo salad dressing, saying it’s too high in calories or just adds fat to your salad. Both of these are true, but that’s why you should use dressing!
Salad dressings can start with an oil base (or sometimes a mayo base), and the fat in oil helps our bodies absorb some amazing nutrients that are in our salad. Specifically, vitamins A, D, E, and K.
These are called fat-soluble vitamins because they are absorbed and transported with fat throughout your body. This is important because now, these vitamins can be transported in our body via the fat in the salad dressing!
Studies show how eating salads with dressing increases absorption of beta-carotene, lycopene, phylloquinone, and tocopherols. (1) These are all forms of fat-soluble vitamins.
We’ve covered why salad dressings are important, but how can we add fiber to them? Here are some ingredient ideas to increase the fiber in your salad dressing:
| Serving Size | Fiber (grams) | |
| Hummus | 2 Tbsp | 1.6 |
| Tahini | 1 Tbsp | 1.4 |
| Peanut butter | 1 Tbsp | 0.8 |
High Fiber Salad Recipes
To get you started on your salad adventure, here are some sample recipes you can try. All of these have at least 10 grams of fiber!
Southwestern Salad
- 2 cups green leaf lettuce (1 gram fiber)
- 1 cup chopped kale (2.7 grams fiber)
- ½ cup corn (1.7 grams fiber)
- ½ cup black beans (9.1 grams fiber)
- ½ avocado (5 grams fiber)
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds (2.3 grams fiber)
Dressing suggestion: Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
Total fiber (not including dressing): 21.8 grams
Greens Galore
- 1 cup green leaf lettuce (0.5 grams fiber)
- 1 cup chopped kale (2.7 grams fiber)
- ½ cup chopped Brussels sprouts (3 grams fiber)
- ½ cup chopped green cabbage (2.3 grams fiber)
- ½ cup green peas (4 grams fiber)
- ½ cup edamame (4 grams fiber)
- ½ cup whole wheat rotini (2.1 grams fiber)
Dressing suggestion: Green Goddess Dressing
Total fiber (not including dressing): 18.6 grams
Savory Slaw Salad
- 1 cup chopped Brussels sprouts (3.4 grams fiber)
- 1 cup chopped green cabbage (2.3 grams fiber)
- 1 cup chopped red cabbage (1.9 grams fiber)
- ½ cup shredded carrots (1.9 grams fiber)
- ½ cup chickpeas (8.1 grams fiber)
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds (3.3 grams fiber)
- 1 oz raisins (1.3 grams fiber)
Dressing suggestion: Coleslaw Dressing
Total fiber (not including dressing): 19.8 grams
Crunch-tastic Salad
- 1 cup chopped kale (2.7 grams fiber)
- ½ cup chopped green cabbage (1.2 grams fiber)
- ½ cup chopped red cabbage (1 gram fiber)
- ½ cup chopped carrots (1.7 grams fiber)
- ½ cup chickpeas* (6.6 grams fiber)
- ¼ cup sliced almonds (2.9 grams fiber)
*Try roasting chickpeas for extra crunch!
Dressing suggestion: Lemon Garlic Tahini Dressing
Total fiber (not including dressing): 16.1 grams
Keep it Simple Salad
- 1 cup green leaf lettuce (0.5 grams fiber)
- 1 cup red leaf lettuce (0.3 grams fiber)
- ½ cup chopped red cabbage (1.9 gram fiber)
- ½ cup green peas (4 grams fiber)
- ½ cup chopped carrots (1.7 grams fiber)
- ½ cup lentils (6.8 grams fiber)
- ½ cup brown rice (1.6 grams fiber)
Dressing suggestion: Easy Vinaigrette
Total fiber (not including dressing): 16.8 grams
Conclusion
And there you have it! A guide to building a delicious, nutritious, and fiber-filled salad. Fiber is important in our diet to keep our digestive tract and cardiovascular systems in proper working order.
Fiber is found in tons of food, but you need to know where to look. When making your salads, try to choose a fibrous base with fibrous toppings and dressings to help meet your goals.
And, don’t be afraid to get creative! We have included 5 high fiber salad recipes, but feel free to try more combinations. If you come up with a winning salad recipe, share it in the comments!