High Calorie Low Volume Foods (Least Filling)

High calorie low volume foods are foods that hold a lot of calories in a small amount, so they take up less room and fill you up less. The best are fats and dry foods: a tablespoon of olive oil is 119 calories and a tablespoon of peanut butter 94, against 13 for a tablespoon of cooked rice. For a ready-to-eat option, a Phoenix Bar, which I make, carries up to 557 calories in a compact, 120g bar you can eat in pieces or stir into water or milk as porridge.

The least filling food for its calories, in the best-known study on the subject, is the croissant. In the 1995 Satiety Index study from the University of Sydney, 240-calorie portions of 38 everyday foods were tested, and the croissant kept people less full than any other, at 47% of the score for white bread. Boiled potatoes were the most filling, at 323%.

If getting through a large amount of food is difficult, choose foods where a small amount carries a lot of calories, instead of trying to eat more. This page is for anyone who fills up before they have eaten enough: after illness, on a long expedition day when appetite goes, or while trying to put weight on with a small stomach. For the full ranking of foods by calories per 100g, see calorie-dense foods.

What makes a food high calorie but low volume?

It comes down to energy density, meaning how many calories a food holds for its size, and three things set that: water, fibre and fat. Water and fibre add bulk for few or no calories. Fat carries 9 calories per gram, more than twice the 4 in the same weight of carbohydrate or protein.

The Satiety Index study measured the effect on fullness directly. Foods with more water, fibre and protein kept people fuller for the same 240 calories. Fat did the opposite, and so did how much people enjoyed the food. The strongest link of all was serving weight: the heavier a 240-calorie portion, the more filling it was. So the least filling, most calorie-dense foods are dry, fatty and tasty, and those are the foods to choose when fullness is the problem.

A bowl of salad and a small handful of nuts can weigh about the same, but 30g of almonds is 174 calories and 30g of cucumber about 4. People sometimes search for "high calorie low density" foods; what they nearly always mean is this: dense in calories, low in bulk.

Which foods have the most calories for their volume?

Fats and nut butters fit the most calories into the least space, at about 90 to 120 calories a tablespoon. Here is how many calories fit into one level tablespoon, from the most concentrated down. The weights per tablespoon come from USDA FoodData Central; the double cream figure uses the UK's McCance and Widdowson tables.

• Olive oil: 119 calories a tablespoon. Stirred through pasta, soup or mash, it adds almost nothing to the size of the plate.
• Butter: 102 calories a tablespoon.
• Almond butter: 98 calories a tablespoon.
• Peanut butter: 94 calories a tablespoon, and the easiest of these to add to porridge, toast or a smoothie.
• Tahini: 89 calories a tablespoon, made from sesame, not nuts.
• Double cream: 74 calories a tablespoon.
• Honey: 64 calories a tablespoon.
• Whole macadamia nuts: 60 calories a tablespoon.
• Whole almonds: 52 calories a tablespoon.
• Raisins: 27 calories a tablespoon.
• Mashed avocado: 23 calories a tablespoon.
• Cooked white rice: 13 calories a tablespoon.

Two things stand out. Grinding nuts into a butter nearly doubles what fits on the spoon, because it removes the air between the nuts: whole almonds give 52 calories a tablespoon, almond butter 98. And avocado, which turns up on most lists like this one, is three-quarters water. At 160 calories per 100g it is a good food, but it is not a low-volume one.

The same order holds for everyday portions.

Oils and fats are the most concentrated of all. A drizzle of olive or rapeseed oil, or a 10g knob of butter (72 calories) stirred into mash, adds a lot in almost no space.

Nuts, seeds and their butters come next. A 30g handful of macadamias is about 215 calories, and two tablespoons of peanut butter 188.

Dried fruit shrinks fruit down by taking the water out. Three medjool dates are about 200 calories, far more than the same space of fresh fruit.

Cheese and full-fat dairy are dense and easy to add. 30g of grated Cheddar is 125 calories, and a 150g pot of full-fat Greek-style yoghurt about 200.

Chocolate and compact bars round it out: 25g of dark chocolate is about 150 calories, and one of our weight gain bars carries up to 557 calories in only 120g. Our comparison of the highest calorie bars in the UK shows which bars fit the most into the least space.

Which high calorie foods are least filling?

Croissants, cake, doughnuts and chocolate bars were the least filling foods per calorie in the Satiety Index study, all scoring under 75% of white bread. For the same 240 calories, the least filling foods tested scored:

• Croissant: 47%
• Cake: 65%
• Doughnuts: 68%
• Mars bar: 70%
• Peanuts: 84%
• Yoghurt: 88%
• Crisps: 91%
• Ice cream: 96%

At the other end, apples scored 197%, porridge 209% and boiled potatoes 323%. If a full plate defeats you, that is the useful lesson: porridge and boiled potatoes, often held up as the sensible choice, are exactly the foods that stop you eating more. The study tested only 38 foods, in groups of 11 to 13 people over two hours, so it is best read as a broad guide to types of food.

How do you eat more when you get full quickly?

Make each mouthful count for more rather than trying to eat more mouthfuls. For a small appetite, NHS dietitians at the Royal Devon suggest three small meals and three snacks a day instead of three large meals, with nourishing drinks between meals.

A few gentle things help:

• Choose small portions of the dense foods above rather than a big plate of lighter food.
• Start with the richest part of the meal, while you have the most appetite.
• Drink some of it. A milky drink or smoothie between meals often goes down more easily than the same calories on a plate. The Royal Devon leaflet suggests stirring 2 to 4 tablespoons of skimmed milk powder into 600ml of full-cream milk and using it through the day; by my working, 4 tablespoons adds about 65 calories and 6g of protein to the pint without adding to its volume.
• Add rather than enlarge: a tablespoon of oil, a spoon of nut butter or a little grated cheese on what you were already going to eat.

For an older relative with a small appetite, our guide to high calorie foods for older people takes the same approach, and why do I get full so fast? looks at the reasons behind early fullness. If you are losing weight without trying, or your appetite has changed suddenly, please speak to your GP. There is more in what to eat when your appetite is low and high calorie drinks and smoothies.

If putting food together is the hard part, a ready-made bar does the same job. High calorie bars such as Phoenix Bars carry up to 557 calories in only 120g: more than most snacks in one go, and soft enough to eat a few pieces at a time. If gaining weight is the goal, our guide to the best energy bars for weight gain compares the realistic options. If you want a bar to replace a full meal, see my guide to the best meal replacement bars UK.

How to add 500 calories without a bigger plate

Adding fat to meals you were already going to eat puts about 490 calories into a normal day with less than 90g of extra food:

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil stirred through lunchtime pasta or soup: 119 calories (13.5g)
• 1 tablespoon of peanut butter in morning porridge: 94 calories (16g)
• 2 tablespoons of double cream in a hot drink or soup: 149 calories (30g)
• 30g of grated Cheddar over an evening meal: 125 calories

That is 487 calories in 89.5g of food. Getting the same 487 calories from cooked white rice would take about 375g, more than four times the weight. If even this is too much assembly, a Phoenix Bar carries up to 557 calories on its own and can be stirred into milk as a soft porridge.

Frequently asked questions

What foods are high in calories but low in fat?

Dry, sugary or starchy foods. Meringue (385 calories per 100g), skimmed milk powder (348), dried pasta (343), honey (288) and sultanas (275) all have under 2g of fat per 100g in the UK's McCance and Widdowson tables. None gets near the fat-based foods, because carbohydrate and protein carry 4 calories per gram against fat's 9.

What are some high calorie low volume meals?

Meals built on a small, dense base with fat added at the end. 75g of dried pasta (257 calories), tossed with a tablespoon of olive oil (119) and 20g of grated Parmesan (83), comes to about 460 calories in a small bowl. Porridge made with whole milk and topped with a spoon each of peanut butter and honey passes 500 in one bowl.

Is avocado a low volume high calorie food?

Not really. Avocado is about three-quarters water and 160 calories per 100g, so a tablespoon of mashed avocado is about 23 calories, against 94 for a tablespoon of peanut butter. It is a good food and easy to eat, but if fullness is your limit, nut butters, oils and cheese do far more in the same space.

What is the smallest food with the most calories?

By volume, pure fat: one tablespoon of olive oil is 119 calories, more than any other food in the same space. Among foods you can pick up and eat, macadamia nuts lead at 718 calories per 100g. USDA counts 10 to 12 kernels in an ounce (28g), so each nut is roughly 18 calories. As a single ready-to-eat portion, a Phoenix Bar, which I make, carries up to 557 calories in a compact, 120g bar.

Related guides

For the full ranking by calories per 100g, see calorie-dense foods. For ready-to-eat options ranked per bite, see high calorie snacks, and if cost is the limit, cheap high calorie foods. For the porridge method, see how to use Phoenix Bars.

Written by James Frost, founder of Flaming Phoenix. James started Flaming Phoenix in 2024 and has spent the years since on one problem: getting the most calories into the least food. He answers every email himself, at jfrost@flaming-phoenix.co.uk or through the contact page. Updated October 2026.