Does Endive Have Fiber?

A whole head of curly endive weighs about half a kilogram and holds roughly 16 grams of fiber, more than half the Daily Value, for under 90 calories. Few people eat a whole head at once, but the number shows how dense this bitter green really is.

Endive fiber comes in at 3.1 grams per 100 grams for both curly endive and Belgian endive, according to USDA. That puts it near the top of raw salad greens, well ahead of romaine, arugula and iceberg.

Endive fiber by type and serving

The word endive covers two different looking plants in the chicory family. Curly endive (and its broad leaved cousin escarole) has loose, frilly leaves, while Belgian endive, also called witloof chicory, grows as a small, tight, pale head.

USDA lists both at 3.1 grams of fiber and 17 calories per 100 grams. The difference is in how much a cup or a head weighs.

Belgian endive packs more leaf into a cup because its leaves are thick and tightly layered. Curly endive is airier, so a cup weighs less and carries less fiber.

Cooking concentrates things further. The Dietary Guidelines list a cup of cooked escarole at 4.2 grams of fiber for only 22 calories, which works out to about 19 grams of fiber per 100 calories.

Endive nutrition: vitamin K and folate

Curly endive is the more nutrient dense of the two. Per cup of chopped raw curly endive (50 g), USDA lists about:

• Vitamin K: 116 mcg, about 96% of the Daily Value
• Folate: 71 mcg DFE, about 18% DV
• Manganese: 0.21 mg, about 9% DV
• Vitamin A: 54 mcg RAE, about 6% DV
• Potassium: 157 mg, about 3% DV
• Calcium: 26 mg, about 2% DV

That cup also has only about 0.1 grams of sugar. The leaves carry almost no sugar at all.

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements explains that vitamin K helps your blood clot and supports healthy bones, and it names green leafy vegetables among the best food sources. A single cup of curly endive comes close to a full day’s worth.

Belgian endive is milder in nutrients as well as color. Per 100 grams it has about 37 mcg of folate, compared with 142 mcg in curly endive, along with 211 mg of potassium.

Leafy chicory in a nutrient density ranking

A 2014 study in the CDC journal Preventing Chronic Disease scored 47 fruits and vegetables on 17 nutrients, including fiber, per 100 calories. Leafy chicory and endive both ranked high.

Both chicory and endive outscored kale and arugula in that analysis. Because the score is calculated per 100 calories, very low calorie greens like these tend to do well.

The author noted that the ranking is preliminary and wasn’t tested against health outcomes, so treat it as a guide to nutrients per calorie rather than a verdict on which green is healthiest.

Endive vs other fiber vegetables for salads

Among raw salad greens, endive is one of the better fiber choices by weight. Here are USDA’s raw figures per 100 grams.

Endive has nearly 50% more fiber than romaine per 100 grams at the same calorie count, and more than twice what iceberg offers. Per 100 calories it delivers about 18 grams of fiber, compared with about 12 for romaine.

Mayo Clinic suggests about 21 to 25 grams of fiber a day for women and 30 to 38 grams for men. A cup of sliced Belgian endive covers about 11 to 13% of a woman’s target from a salad base alone.

Want a number made for you? Our fiber calculator gives you a personal daily target in seconds.

An endive salad, counted

Picture a salad built on 2 cups of sliced Belgian endive, half a sliced pear and half an ounce of almonds. The endive alone supplies about 5.6 grams of fiber.

The Dietary Guidelines list half a medium pear at 2.8 grams and half an ounce of almonds at 1.8 grams. Together the plate reaches about 10 grams of fiber for a light lunch or a generous side.

Make it with 2 cups of chopped curly endive instead and the greens contribute about 3.2 grams, with nearly two days’ worth of vitamin K.

Want more salads and sides that build fiber like this? Our recipe eBooks are full of easy, high fiber ideas.

Endive and its leafy chicory relatives

Endive’s close relative, chicory greens, goes even higher. USDA lists raw chicory greens at 4.0 grams of fiber per 100 grams for 23 calories, with about 298 mcg of vitamin K.

A chopped cup of chicory greens is light, about 29 grams, so it gives roughly 1.2 grams of fiber. Like curly endive, the leaves are airy, which keeps the per cup number modest even though the per gram number is strong.

Chicory root is a different food altogether. USDA lists raw chicory root at 72 calories and 1.5 grams of fiber per 100 grams, with far more sugar than the leaves.

Curly or Belgian endive: which to pick

If you want the most vitamin K and folate, choose curly endive or escarole. If you want the most fiber per cup for a crisp salad, choose sliced Belgian endive, since its tight leaves weigh more per cup.

If you want the highest fiber per serving overall, cook escarole. A cup of cooked escarole at 4.2 grams beats a cup of either raw endive.

What endive fiber does for digestion

Endive’s fiber works the same way as fiber from other vegetables. Mayo Clinic explains that fiber increases the weight and size of stool and softens it, which makes it easier to pass and helps prevent constipation.

Mayo also notes that fiber rich foods tend to be more filling, and that a high fiber diet is linked with healthier cholesterol and blood sugar. At 17 calories per 100 grams, endive adds that bulk with almost no calorie cost.

If you’re adding a lot of fiber at once, take it slowly. Mayo Clinic recommends increasing fiber gradually over a few weeks and drinking plenty of water to limit gas and bloating.

If your gut would like a gentler on-ramp, our guides walk you through adding fiber one step at a time.

Endive on a low carb plate

A cup of chopped curly endive has about 1.7 grams of carbohydrate, and 1.6 grams of that is fiber. That leaves almost no net carbs, about 0.1 gram per cup.

Belgian endive is similar. Per 100 grams it has about 4.0 grams of carbohydrate and 3.1 grams of fiber, so a cup of sliced leaves has under 1 gram of net carbs.

For comparison, a cup of chopped raw romaine has about 1.0 gram of fiber and a cup of arugula about 0.3 grams, per USDA. Endive gives you more fiber for the same low carb load, which makes it one of the more useful bases for a lower carb salad.

Belgian endive leaves also make sturdy scoops for dips and spreads, so they can replace crackers or chips with a fiber rich, very low carb alternative.

The edge case: a head of Belgian endive

All the big numbers in this article come from curly endive or from cups of sliced leaves. A single head of Belgian endive is small, about 53 grams, and gives only about 1.6 grams of fiber.

So if a recipe calls for one Belgian endive, don’t expect it to carry the meal’s fiber. Use two or three heads, or switch to curly endive or cooked escarole, when you want endive to do real work. Three heads sliced together come to about 4.8 grams, a solid amount for one salad.

Sources

• USDA Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: SR Legacy Endive, raw (168412); Chicory, witloof, raw (170404); Chicory greens, raw (169992); Chicory roots, raw (169993); Beet greens, raw (170375); Spinach, raw (168462); Lettuce, cos or romaine, raw (169247); Arugula, raw (169387); Lettuce, iceberg, raw (169248); Watercress, raw (170068). 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov
• U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Food Sources of Dietary Fiber.” Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020 to 2025. dietaryguidelines.gov
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels.” 2024. fda.gov
• Di Noia J. “Defining Powerhouse Fruits and Vegetables: A Nutrient Density Approach.” Preventing Chronic Disease. 2014. cdc.gov
• National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. “Vitamin K: Fact Sheet for Consumers.” 2021. ods.od.nih.gov
• Mayo Clinic Staff. “Dietary fiber: Essential for a healthy diet.” Mayo Clinic. 2025. mayoclinic.org