The 10 Best Foods For Gaining Weight
What is calorie density?
When it comes to gaining weight, not all foods are created equal. In order to gain weight, you want to prioritize eating calorie dense foods, or foods that have a lot of calories in a small amount of space. This is because calorie dense foods don't take up a lot of space in your stomach compared to regular foods.
For example, one cup of lettuce contains just 5 calories. In order to get 100 calories from lettuce, you would need to eat 20 cups of it! Compare this to eating ice cream - in order to get 100 calories from ice cream, you would just need a couple small scoops. It is much easier to get calories from calorie dense foods than regular foods.
I'm not saying to always eat ice cream at every meal and never eat lettuce, but if you're skinny and trying to gain weight, you need to prioritize eating calorie dense foods with every meal.
Now that we know the importance of eating calorie dense foods, here are the 10 best foods for gaining weight. Each food in this list is calorie dense and perfect if you're skinny and trying to gain weight.
The 10 best foods for gaining weight
1. Eggs
A single large egg contains about 80 calories and is packed with vitamins, minerals, protein, and healthy fat. Most people think eggs are a breakfast food, but you can add them to salads, sandwiches, fried rice, burritos, and more.
2. Yogurt
Yogurt contains lots of protein and healthy fat, just like eggs. Yogurt can be had with breakfast or by itself as a mid-afternoon snack. If you don't like yogurt, try adding other ingredients like fruit or honey to sweeten it up.
3. Olive/Avocado Oil
Using olive or avocado oil is an easy way to increase your calorie intake. Add an extra tablespoon of olive or avocado oil when you're cooking something in the pan, or add it directly to your pasta or salad. A tablespoon of olive or avocado oil contains 120 calories, and also contains healthy monounsaturated fats, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds (plus they just taste good)!
4. Peanut Butter
Adding peanut butter to dishes is an easy way to increase your calorie intake. Try spreading it on english muffins, waffles, pancakes, toast, and fruit, or adding a spoonful to oatmeal or a smoothie. Peanut butter contains about 190 calories and 8g of protein per serving (2 tbsp). You can even have a spoonful by itself along with a cold glass of milk if you still need to get in more calories before bed. Speaking of milk...
5. Whole Milk
Whole milk is a staple in the weight gain community for its high calorie content, nutritional value, and versatility. A cup of whole milk contains 150 calories, 8 grams of protein, and many vitamins and minerals. Use whole milk in your cereal, oatmeal, smoothies, protein shakes, and more. You can also just drink it straight, or buy the chocolate variety if you don't like the taste and can afford to have a little more sugar in your diet.
6. Fattier Cuts of Meat
Some examples of fattier cuts of meats are chicken thighs, ground beef, and pork shoulder. These cuts have more fat content which will provide you with more calories, and are great for any type of cuisine. If you're not a fan of cooking, get yourself a slow cooker and prepare these meats in bulk at the beginning of the week so you'll have them on hand to add to dishes throughout the week.
7. Cheese
Cheese, like many of the items on this list, can be added to a dish or eaten alone. Cheese is high in fat and contains a small amount of protein. Add a couple pinches of shredded cheese to your breakfast omelet or a slice of cheese to your sandwich for some extra calories.
8. Nuts
Nuts contain a good amount of fat and some protein, making them a great choice for a high calorie snack. Nuts also contain some nutrients and fiber that are not present in their nut butter counterparts, making them a little healthier. You can eat them by themselves or add them to things like yogurt or trail mix for some variety.
9. Dried Fruit
You may be surprised to know that dried fruit contains just about the same level of nutrients and fiber as regular fruit. The advantage with dried fruit when it comes to gaining weight is that they are much less voluminous due to their lack of water content. This means that they take up less room in your stomach than regular fruit. This makes them easier to eat in larger quantities, thus increasing your calorie intake. Have them alone, add them to yogurt, or have them as a side with a PB&J sandwich!
10. Butter
A tablespoon of butter contains about 100 calories, and can be added to virtually anything. Add an extra tablespoon of butter to the pan when cooking, or add it directly to your dish. Butter sometimes gets a bad rap because of its high cholesterol and saturated fat content, but remember that your body needs cholesterol and saturated fat. In proper moderation, butter is completely fine to add to a healthy, balanced diet.
Bonus
What takes up even less space in your stomach than calorie dense foods? Calories dense shakes. The great thing about shakes is that they don't take up much room in your stomach because they are liquid, which means you can get hungry for your next meal faster.
My favorite weight-gain shake is super simple:
- 12 oz whole milk
- 1.5 scoops of chocolate whey protein powder
- 2 tbsp of peanut butter
- 1-2 tbsp of raw honey
It gives me an easy 800+ calories and has over 60g of protein, plus tastes delicious.
I'll close with this - all the foods in this list are calorie-dense and can help you pack in more calories into your diet which can make your weight gain journey a lot easier. However, make sure not to overdo it on any one food.
For example, don't make it your mission to eat 2 sticks of butter a day just because it gives you lots of calories. Everything in moderation.
Check out my article The Best Exercises For Skinny Guys if you're looking to build muscle size and strength.