Chia seeds carry 34.4 grams of fiber per 100 grams, which is more than the FDA’s entire 28 gram Daily Value in a portion that fits in a coffee mug. That’s the top of the list across the 53 grocery foods we measured. Whole flaxseed follows at 27.3 grams, dry green split peas at 22.2, and bran flakes cereal at 18.3.
This is the ranking by fiber content, not by price. We have a separate ranking by cost, and the two lists disagree in useful ways. Here’s the content version.
| Food | Fiber per 100 g | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Chia seeds | 34.4 g | Nuts & seeds |
| Whole flaxseed | 27.3 g | Nuts & seeds |
| Green split peas (dry) | 22.2 g | Dried beans & peas |
| Bran flakes cereal | 18.3 g | Whole grains |
| Pearled barley (dry) | 15.6 g | Whole grains |
| Pinto beans (dry) | 15.5 g | Dried beans & peas |
| Black beans (dry) | 15.5 g | Dried beans & peas |
| Oat bran (dry) | 15.4 g | Whole grains |
| Navy beans (dry) | 15.3 g | Dried beans & peas |
| Popcorn kernels | 14.5 g | Whole grains |
| Almonds | 12.5 g | Nuts & seeds |
| Bulgur wheat (dry) | 12.5 g | Whole grains |
| Chickpeas (dry) | 12.2 g | Dried beans & peas |
| Rolled oats | 10.1 g | Whole grains |
Source: USDA FoodData Central + US store prices, July 2026. Full methodology at /methodology/.
Why do seeds and dry beans dominate this list?
Because they’re dry. That’s most of it, and any list that doesn’t say so is selling you something.
Fiber per 100 grams rewards food that has already had the water taken out. Dry split peas measure 22.2 grams per 100. Green cabbage measures 2.5. That looks like a nine-to-one blowout, and on the plate it isn’t, because those peas will drink up a serious amount of water before anybody eats them and the cabbage arrives ready to go.
The ranking still points in the right direction. Beans, peas, seeds, and whole grains genuinely are the fiber heavyweights, and no amount of salad closes that gap. Just don’t read “100 grams” as “one serving.” A 60 gram scoop of dry rolled oats delivers 6.1 grams of fiber, which is a real breakfast number and about 22 percent of the Daily Value.
What are the best high fiber fruits and vegetables?
Produce plays a different game, and the honest winners are smaller than the headline foods.
Avocado led our fresh list at 6.7 grams per 100 grams. Raspberries came in at 6.5, blackberries at 5.3, chopped kale at 4.1, brussels sprouts at 3.8. At the bottom, russet potatoes managed 1.3 and yellow onions 1.7. Blueberries, which get talked about like a superfood, finished the whole 53-food list near the floor at 2.4 grams per 100 grams.
None of this makes produce pointless. It makes it a different tool. Berries and vegetables come with water and volume, which is exactly what beans don’t, and eating a lot of them is easy in a way that eating a lot of dry bran is not. The full fresh breakdown is in the cheapest high-fiber vegetables and fruits, and if you want the fruit-only version, the best high fiber fruits covers it.
What are cheap high fiber foods?
Here’s where the content ranking and the cost ranking part ways, and it matters.
Chia seeds win on fiber content and then land 12th on fiber per dollar, because a 32 ounce bag ran $9.44. Almonds have 12.5 grams per 100 grams and finish 36th of 53 on cost, at 8.8 grams of fiber per dollar. Meanwhile whole wheat flour, which is only mid-pack on content at 10.7 grams per 100 grams, tops the cost ranking outright at 77.8 grams of fiber per dollar from a $3.12 five pound bag.
Dry green split peas are the food that wins both arguments: 22.2 grams per 100 grams and 71.0 grams per dollar, from a $1.42 bag. That’s the closest thing to a free lunch on the shelf, and it becomes split pea soup with almost no technique required. Popcorn kernels are the other bargain, at 14.5 grams per 100 grams and 57.7 per dollar, which we put up against almonds in popcorn versus almonds.
How do you actually eat these?
Nobody eats bran by the spoonful twice, so the trick is hiding the heavyweights inside food you already like.
Bran flakes at 18.3 grams per 100 grams need no cooking whatsoever, and they also bake into bran muffins that taste good rather than like penance. Chia seeds work best as a texture ingredient: stirred into savory breakfast bowls or thickened into a chia raspberry jam that quietly stacks two of the top foods on this list into one spoonful. Dry beans go where dry beans always go, which is a pot on Sunday and then everywhere else all week.
One thing worth saying before you go rearrange your pantry. If you’re currently eating very little fiber, hitting 28 grams tomorrow tends to go badly. Build up over a couple of weeks and drink more water while you do it. We covered both in how to increase fiber intake without gas and the water and fiber rule.
The list above is a shopping guide, not a scoring system. Pick two or three things from the top half that you’d genuinely put in your mouth, and the daily number sorts itself out. Where all of this fits into a week of real meals is laid out in how to eat more fiber on a budget.
