In this article
- Do beans have fiber? Every common type ranked
- Are beans high in fiber? What a full cup delivers
- Beans vs other high fiber foods
- The three kinds of fiber in a bean
- What beans do for your heart
- Beans, blood sugar and fullness
- Myth vs fact: beans and gas
- Canned or dried: does it matter for fiber?
- What else a cup of black beans brings
- One pot of chili, two very different fiber totals
- Your next step: half a cup tonight
- Bean fiber questions, answered
- Sources
Half a cup of cooked navy beans holds 9.6 grams of fiber. That’s over a third of the 28 gram Daily Value in a single side dish.
So do beans have fiber? Yes, and few foods can match them. On the Dietary Guidelines for Americans list of fiber sources, beans, lentils and split peas fill many of the top spots.
Here you’ll find how the common beans rank, what a full cup gives you, why beans help your heart and gut, what to do about gas, and whether canned beans hold up.
Do beans have fiber? Every common type ranked
These figures come from the Dietary Guidelines list of fiber sources, using a half cup of each cooked bean or pulse:
| Cooked, 1/2 cup | Fiber | Calories | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navy beans | 9.6 g | 128 | 34% |
| Split peas | 8.2 g | 116 | 29% |
| Lentils | 7.8 g | 115 | 28% |
| Pinto beans | 7.7 g | 123 | 28% |
| Black beans | 7.5 g | 114 | 27% |
| Chickpeas | 6.3 g | 135 | 23% |
| Kidney beans | 5.7 g | 113 | 20% |
| Soybeans | 5.2 g | 148 | 19% |
| Edamame | 4.1 g | 94 | 15% |
Even the bottom of this list holds its own against fruit. Edamame, the lowest here at 4.1 grams, still edges out a medium orange at 3.7 grams, and the rest pull far ahead.
Lentils and split peas aren’t technically beans, but they belong to the same family. Harvard’s Nutrition Source calls the edible seeds of legume plants pulses, a group that includes beans, lentils and peas.
The broader word, legume, covers the whole plant from the Fabaceae family, including its leaves, stems and pods. When this article says beans, it means the cooked dried seeds you’d buy in a bag or a can.
Are beans high in fiber? What a full cup delivers
Yes, and a full cup makes it obvious. USDA lists boiled black beans at 8.7 grams of fiber per 100 grams, so a 172 gram cup carries about 15 grams.
That single cup covers about 54% of the Daily Value for roughly 227 calories. Double the navy bean half cup and you’re at 19.2 grams, close to 70%.
Few foods let you get halfway to your daily target in one serving. That’s what makes beans such an efficient fiber food: one ladle does the work of several smaller servings.
Beans vs other high fiber foods
If you’re wondering what foods are high in fiber besides beans, here’s how a half cup of beans compares with popular picks from the same Dietary Guidelines list:
| Food and serving | Fiber | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Navy beans, 1/2 cup cooked | 9.6 g | 128 |
| Black beans, 1/2 cup cooked | 7.5 g | 114 |
| Popcorn, 3 cups air popped | 5.8 g | 169 |
| Broccoli, 1 cup cooked | 5.2 g | 54 |
| Bulgur, 1/2 cup cooked | 4.1 g | 76 |
| Potato, 1 medium baked with skin | 3.9 g | 161 |
| Oat bran, 1/2 cup cooked | 2.9 g | 44 |
Half a cup of black beans has nearly twice the fiber of a baked potato with its skin. It also beats three cups of popcorn, a snack many people think of as a fiber powerhouse.
Curious how many grams you should be aiming for each day? Our fiber calculator works out a personal target in a few seconds.
The three kinds of fiber in a bean
Beans don’t give you just one kind of fiber. Harvard’s Nutrition Source notes that legumes supply both soluble fiber, which dissolves into a gel, and insoluble fiber, which adds bulk.
They also contain resistant starch, a starch that isn’t digested and travels to the colon, where Harvard says it acts much like fiber. There it works as a prebiotic, food for helpful bacteria such as Bifidobacteria.
Cleveland Clinic dietitian Julia Zumpano explains the division of labor. Insoluble fiber helps prevent constipation, while soluble fiber and resistant starch feed your gut bacteria.
That mix gives your gut several kinds of fuel at once. Harvard notes that the World Cancer Research Fund recommends at least 30 grams of fiber a day, and beans are one of the fastest ways to close that gap.
If your gut is still getting used to that much fiber, our gut health guides walk you through a gentle build up.
What beans do for your heart
The heart research on beans is extensive. In a meta-analysis of 11 clinical trials cited by Harvard, eating pulses lowered total cholesterol by about 7% and LDL cholesterol by about 6%.
A U.S. study of 9,632 adults followed for 19 years found that people who ate legumes four or more times a week had a 22% lower risk of heart disease than those who ate them less than once a week.
Harvard also points to a meta-analysis of mostly observational studies in which eating legumes about four times a week was linked with a 14% lower risk of coronary artery disease. Another analysis of 36 randomized trials found that replacing red meat with plant proteins such as legumes improved cardiovascular risk factors.
Soluble fiber is a big part of the reason. Zumpano notes that it binds bile in your gut, which helps remove cholesterol, and says that for every gram of soluble fiber you can lower your cholesterol by about 1%.
Beans, blood sugar and fullness
Beans digest slowly. Zumpano points out that they take longer to break down than simple carbs, and their fiber and protein help you feel satisfied.
The weight research is encouraging. Cleveland Clinic cites a review of 21 clinical trials in which eating beans and legumes every day led to weight loss without deliberate calorie cutting.
Harvard reports that in an analysis of 8,229 U.S. adults, bean eaters had lower body weight and smaller waists.
The diabetes evidence is more mixed. One large study of Chinese women linked about a third of a cup of legumes a day with a 38% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, while a U.S. study of older women found no clear link.
Myth vs fact: beans and gas
Myth: If beans make you gassy, you should avoid them.
Fact: Gas is a side effect of the same fermentation that makes beans good for your gut. Harvard explains that gut bacteria ferment resistant starch and oligosaccharides, a type of carbohydrate, and that produces gas.
You can reduce it. Harvard says soaking dried beans for at least three hours and cooking them may help, and Cleveland Clinic suggests starting with small servings, building up gradually and trying pureed beans like hummus.
Canned or dried: does it matter for fiber?
Both count. Harvard notes that legumes in their whole, unprocessed form are naturally low in sodium, so the main thing to watch with canned or prepared beans is what’s been added.
Check labels for added sodium, sugar and fat, as Harvard advises for processed legume products. Cleveland Clinic recommends rinsing canned beans well before using them.
Cost is on your side either way. Harvard describes legumes as an inexpensive source of protein, vitamins, complex carbohydrates and fiber, and a few cans in the pantry make them about as convenient as food gets.
For dried beans, Cleveland Clinic’s routine is simple: soak overnight, cook thoroughly, discard the cooking water and rinse before eating.
What else a cup of black beans brings
Fiber is only part of the package. Here’s what a cup of boiled black beans provides according to USDA, with % Daily Value from the FDA:
- Protein: about 15 grams.
- Folate: about 256 micrograms, 64% of the Daily Value.
- Magnesium: about 120 milligrams, 29%.
- Iron: about 3.6 milligrams, 20%.
- Potassium: about 611 milligrams, 13%.
- Fat: under 1 gram, with almost no sodium when cooked without salt.
Cleveland Clinic adds that the phytonutrients in beans may help lower cancer risk, while noting that no single food prevents cancer. Harvard says the human evidence there is still less conclusive than for heart health.
Zumpano adds that beans are good sources of copper, manganese, thiamine and zinc. Black beans are also rich in anthocyanins, the pigments behind their dark color.
One pot of chili, two very different fiber totals
Picture a batch of chili made with ground beef and no beans. Apart from the tomatoes and onions, there isn’t much fiber in the pot.
Now swap half the meat for black beans. Every half cup of beans you stir in adds about 7.5 grams of fiber to the pot, and a bowl can easily hold a full cup, about 15 grams.
Looking for more easy meals built on beans and lentils? Our recipe eBooks are full of high-fiber dishes that come together fast.
Your next step: half a cup tonight
Pick one meal today and add half a cup of beans to it. Toss chickpeas into a salad, stir pinto beans into rice or fold black beans into scrambled eggs or a wrap.
Depending on the bean, that one addition gives you somewhere between 4 and 10 grams of fiber. Do it most days and the 28 gram target stops feeling like a stretch, especially once beans become a regular part of your shopping list.
Bean fiber questions, answered
Are beans high in fiber?
Yes. Most cooked beans have 5 to 10 grams of fiber per half cup, and a full cup of black beans has about 15 grams, more than half the Daily Value.
Which beans have the most fiber?
Navy beans lead the common types at 9.6 grams per cooked half cup. Split peas, lentils, pinto beans and black beans follow at 7.5 to 8.2 grams.
Do canned beans have as much fiber as dried?
Canned and cooked dried beans both count as good fiber sources. The bigger difference is added sodium, so check the label and rinse canned beans well before using them.
Is bean fiber soluble or insoluble?
Both. Beans contain soluble and insoluble fiber plus resistant starch, which feeds helpful gut bacteria in the colon much like fiber does.
Why do beans cause gas?
Gut bacteria ferment the resistant starch and oligosaccharides in beans, which produces gas. Soaking dried beans for at least three hours and starting with small servings can help.
How much fiber is in a cup of black beans?
About 15 grams in a 172 gram cup of boiled black beans, with roughly 227 calories and 15 grams of protein. That covers about 54% of the Daily Value.
What foods are high in fiber besides beans?
Lentils, split peas, raspberries, chia seeds, popcorn, broccoli and whole grains like bulgur are all strong sources. Beans still top most lists per serving.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. “Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt (173735).” FoodData Central, SR Legacy. 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.” 2026. www.fda.gov
- Cleveland Clinic. “6 Big Benefits of Beans.” 2025. health.clevelandclinic.org
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Legumes and Pulses.” The Nutrition Source. 2024. nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu
