High-Calorie Foods: The Ultimate Calorie Chart for Gaining Weight

If you want to gain weight, you'll usually get the same advice: "Just eat more." But that's exactly the problem for many — their stomach can't handle it, their appetite is limited, and another full plate causes more frustration than calories. The solution lies not in larger portions, but in energy density: foods that deliver particularly many calories in a small volume. Here you'll find the comprehensive table with over 50 high-calorie foods — sorted by category, with calorie counts per 100 g and practical tips. Plus ten tricks to enrich every meal without making it any larger.

What makes a food high-calorie?

The deciding factor is energy density — the calorie content per 100 g. As a rough guideline: foods under 150 kcal per 100 g are considered low, from about 250 kcal per 100 g we speak of high energy density. Those who want to lose weight look for the lower end of the scale. Those who want to gain weight turn the tables.

Two factors explain why the differences are so large: water and fat. Water provides zero calories, but fills the stomach and the plate — that's why vegetables, fruit, and broths are so low in calories. Fat is the opposite: with 9 kcal per gram, it provides more than twice as much energy as carbohydrates or protein (4 kcal per gram each). A high-calorie food is therefore almost always one that contains little water and a lot of fat — nuts, oils, dried fruit, cheese.

The practical effect is enormous: 100 g of cucumber provides about 12 kcal, 100 g of walnuts about 655 kcal. More than a factor of 50 — with the exact same weight. Two handfuls of nuts a day can energetically replace what would otherwise require a whole additional meal. That's exactly why the following table is the most important tool of all for anyone who wants to gain weight with a limited appetite.

The comprehensive calorie table: over 50 foods

All figures are rounded approximate values per 100 g (per 100 ml for drinks) — depending on the product and brand, the values may vary. The practical column shows how the food can most easily be incorporated into everyday life.

Nuts, seeds & nut butter — the top class

Oils, fats & dairy products

Dried Fruit & Sweets

Savory & Staple Foods

Calories to Drink (per 100 ml)

10 tricks: discreetly enrich meals

The biggest mistake when gaining weight is trying to simply eat more. It works better the other way around: eat the same meals — but energetically enrich every single one. In nutritional counseling, this is called "enriching," and it is the standard approach when appetite is limited. Here's how to do it:

1. Oil under vegetables: 1 tbsp of olive or rapeseed oil over steamed vegetables, in the pan, or in the dressing — around 90 kcal that you can neither see nor taste.
2. Cream in soup and sauce: A splash of whipping cream or a spoonful of crème fraîche makes every soup 100–150 kcal richer.
3. Nut butter in porridge, quark, and shakes: 1 tbsp of peanut or almond butter = ~95 kcal, plus protein and healthy fats.
4. Cheese on top: Grated Parmesan or mountain cheese over pasta, casseroles, scrambled eggs — 30 g provides a good 100 kcal.
5. Butter or egg in the puree: Potato puree, rice, and polenta simply take on the flavor of a pat of butter or a beaten egg.
6. Full-fat instead of light: Cream yogurt instead of low-fat yogurt, double cream instead of semi-skimmed, whole milk instead of low-fat milk — the same amount, up to double the energy.
7. Nuts and dried fruit as a topping: Over muesli, salad, yogurt, or simply within easy reach on the desk.
8. Drink calories with your meal: A glass of whole milk, juice, or cocoa with the meal provides 100–150 kcal — water provides zero.
9. Plan a late-night snack: Quark with honey, a banana with nut butter, or a shake before bedtime can shorten the long overnight fast without calories. How this works is explained in the post Gaining Weight While You Sleep.
10. For family members providing care: When enriching meals for older people with a small appetite, every meal counts — practical tips on this are provided in the post about Nutritional drinks for seniors.

Five typical mistakes when trying to gain weight

• Volume instead of energy density: Huge portions of salad and vegetables fill the stomach but provide hardly any calories. Vegetables belong on the plate — but enriched with oil, cheese, or sauce.
• Water before eating: A large glass right before a meal dampens the appetite. Better: drink calorie-rich beverages with or after the meal.
• Relying only on sugar: Sweets provide quick calories, but no nutrients — and the subsequent blood sugar crash often suppresses the appetite for the next real meal. Balance is key: fat, protein, and complex carbohydrates.
• Eating irregularly: If you only eat when you feel hungry, you eat too rarely when you have a small appetite. Fixed mealtimes plus two planned snacks work better than any resolution.
• Wanting too much too quickly: Healthy weight gain is a project spanning weeks and months. What the complete process looks like is explained in our comprehensive guide to gaining weight.

When food alone is not enough: drink your calories

For many people with a small appetite, a gap remains despite all enrichment tricks — simply because chewing and large plates are the real hurdles. Then it helps to look at the last table above: A glass is easier to drink than a plate is to eat. High-calorie nutritional drinks were developed for exactly this purpose: they pack a lot of energy into a small volume and also include vitamins and minerals.

To put the numbers in this table into perspective: Our CaloVital powder provides 388 kcal per 100 g — a 50-g portion mixed into 250 ml of whole milk comes to around 354 kcal, as much as a small meal. It is available in 20 flavors, as a vegan variant and as a sample pack to test the flavors. And importantly to know: In cases of disease-related malnutrition, ready-to-drink, nutritionally complete nutritional drinks can be prescribed by a doctor — when health insurance pays is explained in the post Nutritional drinks by prescription.

Frequently asked questions about high-calorie foods

The table is just the beginning — routine makes the difference. Choose two or three favorites from every category that you really enjoy eating, and make them a regular part of your day. How to create a complete plan from this, from calorie requirements to weekly structure, is shown in the comprehensive guide to gaining weight and our calorie requirement calculator.