All vegetables are good for you, but some have low calories and others have relatively higher calories. When you’re trying to maintain a calorie deficit to lose weight, it is good to know your peas from your broccoli. In classic calcount form, we took a walk through the veggie aisle at Woolies and ranked what we found, from lowest calories to highest!
(Click the pic to find it at Woolworths)
Low Calorie Vegetables
These vegetables are low in calories, any which way you slice them or dice them. They have a high water to volume ratio and lots of fibre:
Cabbage Chinese Wombok 11 Calories
Wombok Chinese Cabbage has 11 calories (44 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Lebanese Cucumbers 12 Calories
Lebanese Cucumbers has 12 calories (51 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Green Zucchini 15 Calories
Green Zucchini has 15 calories (61 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Celery 15 Calories
Celery has 15 calories (62 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Radish 15 Calories
Radish has 15 calories (62 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Silverbeet 16 Calories
Silverbeet has 16 calories (66 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Tomato Roma Red 18 Calories
Tomato Roma Red has 18 calories (74 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Truss Tomatoes 18 Calories
Truss Tomatoes has 18 calories (74 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Buk Choy Asian Greens 19 Calories
Buk Choy Asian Greens has 19 calories (81 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Chokoes 21 Calories
Chokoes has 21 calories (87 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Eggplant 21 Calories
Eggplant has 21 calories (89 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Cabbage Savoy 22 Calories
Cabbage Savoy has 22 calories (90 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Capsicum Yellow 22 Calories
Capsicum Yellow has 22 calories (92 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Fennel 22 Calories
Fennel has 22 calories (92 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Swedes 22 Calories
Swedes have 22 calories (93 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Rhubarb 22 Calories
Rhubarb has 22 calories (94 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Turnip 22 Calories
Turnip has 22 calories (94 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Cauliflower 25 Calories
Cauliflower has 25 calories (103 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Onion Shallot French 25 Calories
Onion Shallot French has 25 calories (104 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Kale 26 Calories
Kale has 26 calories (109 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Squash Button Gold 26 Calories
Squash Button Gold has 26 calories (110 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Beans Snake Bunch 27 Calories
Beans Snake Bunch has 27 calories (112 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Beans Round 29 Calories
Beans Round has 29 calories (122 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Cabbage Red 29 Calories
Cabbage Red has 29 calories (122 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Broccoli 30 Calories
Broccoli has 30 calories (124 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Leek 30 Calories
Leek has 30 calories (125 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Onion Brown 30 Calories
Brown Onion has 30 calories (127 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Spring Onion Eschallot 30 Calories
Spring Onion Eschallot has 30 calories (127 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Pumpkin Jarrahdale Whole 31 Calories
Jarrahdale Pumpkin has 31 calories (130 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Onion White 31 Calories
White Onion has 31 calories (131 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Carrot 32 Calories
Carrot has 32 calories (132 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Ginger 32 Calories
Ginger has 32 calories (132 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Average Calorie Vegetables
If the vegetables above with 35 calories or less per 100g are low calorie veggies, then the ones from 35 to 45 calories/100g might be considered to be “average” calorie vegetables. Here they are:
Artichoke Globe Large 35 Calories
Artichoke Globe Large has 35 calories (145 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Okra 38 Calories
Okra has 38 calories (157 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Celeriac 38 Calories
Celeriac has 38 calories (159 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Chilli Green 43 Calories
Green Chilli has 43 calories (181 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Pumpkin Kent 44 Calories
Kent Pumpkin has 44 calories (186 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Beetroot 45 Calories
Beetroot has 45 calories (187 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
High Calorie Vegetables
Okay, so it is a bit of a misnomer to describe any vegetable as being high in calories when we live in a world of coca cola and big macs. That said, the following vegetables have significantly higher calories than the ones higher up on this list. Therefore, we’re calling them high calorie veggies:
Pumpkin Butternut Whole 47 Calories
Butternut Pumpkin has 47 calories (197 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Chilli Red 48 Calories
Red Chilli has 48 calories (200 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Parsnip 58 Calories
Parsnip has 58 calories (241 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Parsnip Mini 58 Calories
Mini Parsnip has 58 calories (241 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Potato Red Washed 59 Calories
Red Potato has 59 calories (246 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Potato White Washed 67 Calories
White Potato has 67 calories (280 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Potato Sweet Gold Premium 71 Calories
Gold Sweet Potato has 71 calories (297 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Potato Sweet Purple 71 Calories
Purple Sweet Potato has 71 calories (297 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
Corn Sweet 94 Calories
Sweet Corn has 94 calories (395 kilojoules) per 100 grams.
They’re all Low Calorie Vegetables!
To many people, potatoes and sweetcorn are not really “vegetables”, so by that measure all of the veggies on this list are “low calorie”. Parsnips, with 58 calories per 100 grams, may be the highest calorie vegetable on this list, in the traditional sense. The strong takeaway from this list of vegetables ranked from lowest calories to highest calories is that, when you are counting your calories, veggies are your friend!
