In this article
- Do cashews have fiber? The numbers by form
- Cashews next to other nuts and seeds
- Two cashew fiber myths, checked against the data
- What cashews do well: copper, magnesium and more
- Cashews and a sensitive gut
- Building fiber around your cashews
- How cashews fit your daily fiber target
- Try a half and half handful
- Questions about cashews and fiber
- Sources
You’re packing a trail mix for a long hike, and you tip in a big scoop of cashews because nuts are supposed to be a fiber food. Do cashews have fiber? They do, but an ounce of raw cashews holds only about 0.9 grams, based on USDA FoodData Central.
That puts cashews near the bottom of the nut aisle for fiber. They still bring plenty to your plate, just in a different column of the nutrition label.
Below you’ll find the fiber in every common cashew form, how cashews compare with other nuts and seeds, and the easiest ways to build a high fiber snack or meal around them.
Do cashews have fiber? The numbers by form
USDA lists raw cashews at 3.3 grams of fiber per 100 grams, with 553 calories. A standard 1 ounce portion (28.35 grams) works out to 0.94 grams of fiber and 157 calories.
| Cashew form (USDA) | Portion | Fiber | % Daily Value | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw | 1 oz (28 g) | 0.94 g | 3% | 157 |
| Dry roasted, unsalted | 1 oz (28 g) | 0.85 g | 3% | 163 |
| Oil roasted, unsalted | 1 oz (28 g) | 0.94 g | 3% | 164 |
| Salted | 1 oz (28 g) | 0.82 g | 3% | 164 |
| Cashew butter | 1 Tbsp (16 g) | 0.48 g | 2% | 97 |
| Cashew butter | 2 Tbsp (32 g) | 0.96 g | 3% | 195 |
The FDA sets the fiber Daily Value at 28 grams. A food with 5% or less per serving counts as low, so every cashew form on this list falls in the low range.
Cashew butter doesn’t gain anything by grinding either. USDA lists it at about 3.0 grams of fiber per 100 grams, slightly below the 3.3 grams in raw whole cashews.
Salt is the bigger difference between these packages. USDA’s salted cashews carry about 113 milligrams of sodium per ounce, roughly 5% of the 2,300 milligram Daily Value, while unsalted versions have only a trace.
Where the rest of a cashew’s carbs go
An ounce of raw cashews has about 8.6 grams of carbohydrate, and less than one gram of that is fiber. USDA measures most of the rest as starch, the stored carbohydrate plants use for energy, at about 6.7 grams per ounce.
Another 1.7 grams or so is natural sugar. Together, starch and sugar explain why the carb line on a cashew label looks high for a nut while the fiber line stays small.
Cashews next to other nuts and seeds
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans publishes a list of foods by fiber per serving. Cashews don’t make that list, but their neighbors in the protein foods group do.
| Nut or seed (1 oz unless noted) | Fiber | Calories | Fiber per 100 calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pumpkin seeds | 5.2 g | 126 | 4.1 g |
| Dried coconut | 4.6 g | 187 | 2.5 g |
| Chia seeds (1 Tbsp) | 4.1 g | 58 | 7.1 g |
| Almonds | 3.5 g | 164 | 2.1 g |
| Sunflower seeds | 3.1 g | 165 | 1.9 g |
| Pine nuts | 3.0 g | 178 | 1.7 g |
| Pistachios | 2.9 g | 162 | 1.8 g |
| Hazelnuts | 2.8 g | 178 | 1.6 g |
| Cashews, raw (USDA) | 0.94 g | 157 | 0.6 g |
Ounce for ounce, almonds carry nearly four times the fiber of cashews for about the same calories. Pumpkin seeds give you more than five times as much for 31 fewer calories.
The last column matters if you’re snacking on a budget of calories. Cashews deliver well under a gram of fiber per 100 calories, while the seeds on this list deliver three to twelve times that.
None of this makes cashews a poor choice. It just means they’re a nut to enjoy for flavor and minerals, with the fiber coming from whatever you pair them with.
Two cashew fiber myths, checked against the data
Myth: Every nut is a high fiber food, so a handful of cashews covers your snack fiber.
Fact: Nuts range widely. Mayo Clinic lists nuts among sources of insoluble fiber, the type that adds bulk to stool, yet at 0.94 grams per ounce, cashews sit at about a quarter of the almond figure.
Myth: Roasting strips the fiber out of cashews, so raw is the only way to get any.
Fact: USDA’s numbers barely move. Raw and oil roasted cashews both list 0.94 grams per ounce, and dry roasted lists 0.85 grams, a gap of less than a tenth of a gram.
So pick roasted or raw by taste and sodium, not fiber. The choice that actually changes your snack is how many other fiber foods share the bowl.
What cashews do well: copper, magnesium and more
The National Institutes of Health lists 1 ounce of dry roasted cashews at 629 micrograms of copper, or 70% of the Daily Value. In its table of copper foods, only beef liver, oysters, unsweetened baking chocolate, potatoes with skin and shiitake mushrooms rank higher.
Copper is a mineral your body uses as a helper for several enzymes, including ones that defend cells against oxidative damage, according to the NIH. Adults need 900 micrograms a day, so one ounce of cashews covers most of that on its own.
Raw cashews also bring a solid spread of other minerals per ounce, based on USDA data:
- Magnesium: about 83 mg, 20% DV
- Manganese: about 0.47 mg, 20% DV
- Zinc: about 1.6 mg, 15% DV
- Phosphorus: about 168 mg, 13% DV
- Iron: about 1.9 mg, 11% DV
- Protein: about 5.2 grams
Most of a cashew’s calories come from its 12.4 grams of fat per ounce. USDA shows more than half of that fat as monounsaturated, about 6.7 grams per ounce, with saturated and polyunsaturated fat at roughly 2.2 grams each.
Cashews and a sensitive gut
Low fiber doesn’t automatically mean easy to digest. Monash University’s FODMAP research team names cashews and pistachios as high FODMAP nuts.
FODMAPs are short chain carbohydrates that some people absorb poorly, which can lead to gas and bloating. Monash lists macadamias, peanuts and walnuts as low FODMAP options, along with pumpkin seeds.
If cashews tend to leave you uncomfortable, a swap to pumpkin seeds solves two problems at once. You trade a high FODMAP nut for a low FODMAP seed, and you gain more than 4 grams of fiber per ounce in the process.
If nuts sometimes leave your stomach unsettled, our gut health guides explain how to adjust portions and build up fiber gently.
Building fiber around your cashews
Since cashews bring flavor and crunch more than fiber, the trick is to let a partner food do the heavy lifting. Each of these combinations uses figures from the Dietary Guidelines list plus USDA’s raw cashew data.
| Combination | Fiber | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz cashews alone | 0.9 g | 157 |
| 1 oz cashews + 1 medium pear | 6.4 g | 260 |
| Trail mix: 1/2 oz cashews + 1/2 oz pumpkin seeds + 1/4 cup dried figs | 6.8 g | 234 |
| Stir fry: 1 oz cashews + 1 cup cooked snow peas + 1 cup cooked broccoli + 1/2 cup cooked bulgur | 14.7 g | 354 |
The pear pairing is the simplest upgrade. A medium pear brings 5.5 grams on its own, so the cashews become the minor partner and the snack lands near a quarter of the Daily Value.
Back to that hiking bag: the trail mix version holds about seven times the fiber of plain cashews, for less than 80 extra calories. The figs and pumpkin seeds supply nearly all of it.
The stir fry shows the other route. Cashews add richness to a bowl of vegetables and bulgur, a cracked wheat grain, while the plants push the meal past half of the Daily Value.
Looking for stir fries, grain bowls and snack mixes that pair cashews with fiber heavy partners? Our recipe eBooks have plenty to cook from.
How cashews fit your daily fiber target
Mayo Clinic suggests about 25 grams of fiber a day for women 50 and younger and 38 grams for men in that age group. After 50, the targets drop to 21 and 30 grams.
Getting 25 grams from cashews alone would take about 27 ounces, close to 4,200 calories. That math shows why cashews work as a garnish or snack partner rather than a main fiber source.
Mayo also notes that whole foods beat fiber supplements, and that fiber is best added gradually over a few weeks with plenty of water. A mixed handful of nuts and seeds, a piece of fruit and a bean or grain at dinner gets you much further than any single nut.
Want a personal number to measure your snacks against? Our fiber calculator sets one for you quickly.
Try a half and half handful
The next time you reach for cashews, measure half an ounce and fill the other half with pumpkin seeds. That one change takes the snack from 0.9 grams of fiber to about 3.1 grams, while the calories fall from 157 to roughly 142.
You keep the buttery cashew taste you came for and add a low FODMAP seed that does the fiber work. Make it your default mix for a week, and you’ll have added around 15 grams of fiber without changing anything else you eat.
Questions about cashews and fiber
How much fiber is in 1 ounce of cashews?
About 0.9 grams. USDA lists 1 ounce of raw cashews at 0.94 grams of fiber and 157 calories, which is roughly 3% of the 28 gram Daily Value.
Are cashews a good source of fiber?
No, cashews are a low fiber food by FDA standards, since one ounce provides only about 3% of the Daily Value. Almonds have nearly four times as much fiber per ounce, and pumpkin seeds more than five times as much.
Does roasting cashews change the fiber?
Barely. USDA lists raw and oil roasted cashews at 0.94 grams of fiber per ounce and dry roasted at 0.85 grams, so roasting changes the flavor and sometimes the sodium far more than the fiber.
Does cashew butter have fiber?
Only a little. One tablespoon of cashew butter (16 grams) has about 0.5 grams of fiber and 97 calories in USDA data, so two tablespoons match the fiber in a 1 ounce handful of whole cashews.
Are cashews low FODMAP?
No. Monash University lists cashews, along with pistachios, as high FODMAP nuts, and suggests macadamias, peanuts, walnuts or pumpkin seeds as lower FODMAP choices.
Are cashews good for constipation?
Cashews alone won’t do much for regularity, since an ounce has under 1 gram of fiber. Pairing them with a pear, dried figs or vegetables raises the fiber of the snack or meal, and Mayo Clinic advises drinking plenty of water as you add fiber.
What nutrient are cashews highest in?
Copper. One ounce of dry roasted cashews provides 629 micrograms, or 70% of the Daily Value, according to the National Institutes of Health, along with about 20% of the Daily Value for magnesium.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. “Nuts, cashew nuts, raw (170162); dry roasted (170571); oil roasted (170572); cashews, salted (2707495); cashew butter (2707536).” FoodData Central. 2019 to 2024. 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
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. “Copper: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.” 2022. ods.od.nih.gov
- Monash University. “High and low FODMAP foods.” Monash FODMAP. 2019. www.monashfodmap.com
- Mayo Clinic Staff. “Dietary fiber: Essential for a healthy diet.” Mayo Clinic, 2025. www.mayoclinic.org
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels.” 2024. www.fda.gov
