Fat has been made out to seem evil over the last few decades, but more and more people are realizing that it’s not evil.
You need at least some fat to be healthy. It’s an important nutrient in a vegan diet.
When you first switch to a vegan diet, a lot of your food sources of fat disappear. This can lead to cravings and actual health side effects.
I’ve created a large nutritional database for vegan foods using data from the USDA. Then, I sorted by amount of fat per serving.
Vegan High Fat Foods Table
The table below is the result of my data collection, which contains 25 high fat vegan foods from highest to lowest:
| Food | Serving | Energy (kcal) | Fats (g) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Macadamia nut | 0.5 cup | 481 | 50.77 |
| Pine nuts | 0.5 cup | 454 | 46.15 |
| Brazil nut | 0.5 cup | 438 | 44.62 |
| Hazelnut | 0.5 cup | 424 | 41.01 |
| Walnut | 0.5 cup | 383 | 38.15 |
| Sunflower seeds | 0.5 cup | 409 | 36.02 |
| Peanuts | 0.5 cup | 414 | 35.95 |
| Sesame seeds | 0.5 cup | 413 | 35.76 |
| Pecans | 0.5 cup | 342 | 35.63 |
| Coconut meat | 0.25 coconut | 351 | 33.24 |
| Cashew | 0.5 cup | 393 | 31.75 |
| Pistachio nuts | 0.5 cup | 344 | 27.87 |
| Almonds | 1/2 cup | 313 | 26.96 |
| Avocado | 1 avocado | 227 | 20.96 |
| Durian | 0.5 durian | 442 | 16.04 |
| Hemp seeds | 3 tbsp | 166 | 14.62 |
| Pumpkin seeds | 1 cup | 285 | 12.42 |
| Soybeans | 1 cup | 254 | 11.52 |
| Oats | 1 cup | 607 | 10.76 |
| Chia seeds | 3 tbsp | 146 | 9.22 |
| Flaxseed | 2 tbsp | 110 | 8.68 |
| Buckwheat groats | 1 cup | 567 | 4.44 |
| Chickpeas | 1 cup | 269 | 4.25 |
| Amaranth | 1 cup | 251 | 3.89 |
| Quinoa | 1 cup | 222 | 3.55 |
| Rye grain | 1 cup | 571 | 2.75 |
Types of Vegan Foods High in Fat
The biggest trends from the table above are easy to spot:
- Nuts – Nuts are extremely caloric dense, but they’re also fairly nutritious. They are among the best sources of nutrients like iron and magnesium. Every nut is high in fat, so you don’t need to stick to one specific kind.
- Seeds – All kinds of seeds are also high in fat. Sunflower, sesame, hemp, chia, and other types of seeds rank high on this list. Seeds are preferable to nuts in my eyes because they are some of the best vegan sources of omega 3 fats, plus they contain a ton of nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, and zinc.
- Coconut and avocados are good vegetable sources of fats.
- Legumes are okay sources of fats – Certain legumes like soybeans and chickpeas have a good amount of fat.
- Some grains (oats, rye, quinoa) have reasonable levels of fats.
Finally, while not on the table, cooking oils (olive, coconut, grapeseed, etc.) are all essentially 100% fat, since they are created by extracting the oils from their source food.
The only thing to really watch out for is your ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids, which can be an issue if your nut intake is high.
I’d suggest reviewing my post about vegan sources of omega 3 & 6 fats to find a good balance.
