It’s a running joke among my family that I have the appetite of a Labrador. I can eat a perfectly substantial meal, and 15 minutes later, I’ll be sniffing around for more to eat. If you’re also someone whose stomach often fails to recognise that lunch has, in fact, happened, it’s worth remembering that you eat can make a really significant difference to how satisfied you feel afterwards.
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Enter: volume foods. Despite a name that sounds suspiciously like something from the darker recesses of diet culture, the principle is actually fairly sensible. Certain foods provide more physical bulk thanks to their water and fibre content, while others – particularly those that are rich in protein and fat – help activate the biological processes involved in actually feeling full. Combine the two, and you have a meal that doesn’t just fill your stomach, it actually keeps you satisfied for longer.
“Four things to think about are fibre, protein, bulk and water – and then how you eat,” explains Dr Federica Amati, head nutritionist at Zoe and author of . “Soft, easy-to-swallow foods that are gone in minutes don’t allow for appetite signalling to help you feel full. Texture, chewing and slowing down aren’t just details; they’re a core mechanism for appetite regulation.”
The important bit? This isn’t about engineering an enormous plate of food for as few calories as possible. “Volume alone isn’t satiety,” explains nutritionist Eleanor Hoath. She recommends thinking about what you can to your existing meals, rather than replacing or substituting.
With that philosophy in mind, here are eight of the best volume foods to reach for when you want a meal that actually fills you up.
Beans, lentils and chickpeas may be the ultimate example of a food that provides both volume and staying power. “These are the standout because they do both jobs at once: high in fibre and water for physical volume, but also a genuine protein source,” says Hoath.
Amati agrees, pointing to their combination of fibre, protein and resistant starch, which helps slow digestion. Rather than treating them as a replacement for another part of your meal, use them to bulk up whatever meals you’re already cooking: add lentils to a bolognese, chickpeas to a curry or butter beans to a tomato stew for an extra hit of nourishment. Yum.
Despite the damage done to the reputation of the humble potato by decades of diet culture, they can be an exceptionally filling (and delicious) addition to a meal. “Potatoes are surprisingly satiating,” says Amati, who particularly recommends cooked and cooled potatoes – the process increases their resistant starch content. Her suggestion? A potato salad with chickpeas and leafy greens, combining starch, fibre, protein and plenty of texture in one meal. Add a good olive oil-based dressing, too: fullness isn’t dependent on eliminating fat.
There’s a reason eating a bowl of porridge can feel considerably more substantial than its dry ingredients would suggest. Oats contain soluble fibre, including beta-glucan, which absorbs water and forms a gel-like substance in the digestive tract.
Hoath recommends oats alongside chia seeds for exactly this reason: both swell when combined with liquid. Rather than thinking about them as a way of making breakfast “bigger”, consider what you pair them with. Yoghurt, nuts, nut butter, seeds or fruit can bring additional protein, fat, fibre and texture to the bowl.
Whole fruit
Fruit juice and an apple may originate from the same place, but your body doesn’t experience them in the same way. Whole fruit retains its fibre structure and requires chewing, making apples, pears, berries and oranges particularly useful when you want something satisfying.
“An apple or pear has the fibre and the water together, plus it requires actual chewing, which matters more than people realise,” says Hoath. Eating more slowly also gives you greater opportunity to notice your body’s developing satiety signals, rather than reaching the end of a meal before you’ve registered them.
Mushrooms are particularly useful because they can add both bulk and texture to dishes. Hoath likes using them to “extend rather than replace”. Try adding finely chopped mushrooms alongside mince in a bolognese, chilli or cottage pie.
“The distinction I want to draw out is ‘extend’, not ‘replace the whole thing with vegetables’,” she says, “which is where a lot of volume-eating advice can tip into disordered territory.” Think of them as another ingredient rather than a substitute for the food you actually wanted to eat.
Soups and stews
Soup often appears in weight-loss advice because its high water content creates physical volume, but that doesn’t mean lunch needs to consist of a bowl of vegetable broth. “Soups and stews are high in water, which means more volume almost by default,” says Hoath. But the most satiating soups will also contain protein, fibre and fats. Think lentil and vegetable soup finished with a hearty glug of olive oil; chicken soup with beans and vegetables; or a stew containing meat or pulses, potatoes and plenty of vegetables.
Intact whole grains
Amati also recommends intact whole grains as a staple for satiety. Unlike highly processed grain products, grains such as barley, bulgur, farro and brown rice retain more of their original structure and tend to require considerably more chewing. They’re also an easy way to make salads and vegetable-heavy dishes feel like an actual hearty meal. Try adding barley to soup, bulgur wheat to your salad or building a grain bowl with brown rice, roasted vegetables, salmon or tofu and an olive oil dressing.
Root vegetables
Swede, celeriac and squash are another way to add substance, fibre and variety to a meal. But, again, the important word is . “They’re a useful swap-in alongside starchy staples rather than instead of them,” says Hoath. Roast squash alongside potatoes, mash celeriac into potato, or add chunks of swede to a stew. The point isn’t to find the lowest-calorie approximation of the food you actually wanted. It’s to introduce a greater variety of plants and textures while still building a meal containing the protein and fats that help make it satisfying.
