Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsStarchy vs. Non-StarchyHealth BenefitsBuying ProduceRecommended ServingsPreparationAdding to Your Diet
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Starchy vs. Non-Starchy
Health Benefits
Buying Produce
Recommended Servings
Preparation
Adding to Your Diet
Vegetables, especially non-starchyvegetables, are a healthy and important part of your diet. They’re packed with vitamins, minerals, disease-fighting antioxidants, and fiber.
Studies show a vegetable-rich diet can helplower your blood pressureand reduce your risk of:
This article looks at which vegetables are starchy and non-starchy and how to add more non-starchy veggies to your daily diet.
Bhaskar Dutta / Moment Open / Getty Images
What Are Starchy and Non-Starchy Vegetables?
Non-starchy vegetables are low in calories andcarbohydrates. In addition to adding key nutrients to your diet, non-starchy vegetables add texture, flavor, bulk, and rich color to any meal.
Typically, non-starchy vegetables contain roughly the following per serving of 1/2 cup cooked or 1 cup raw (without any added fat):
List of Non-Starchy Vegetables
The non-starchy vegetable group is a large one. There are a lot of options to choose from, including some from each type of vegetable.
Non-starchygreen vegetablesinclude:
Lettuces and greens in the non-starchy category include:
Some non-starchy red and orange vegetables are:
Beans, peas, and legumes on the non-starchy list include:
Other non-starchy veggies are:
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List of Starchy Vegetables
Starchy vegetables are higher in carbohydrates and increase yourblood sugarmore than the non-starchy ones. That’s important to keep in mind if you have diabetes or are on alow-carb diet.
You don’t need to cut these veggies completely out of your diet, but you may want to limit them to a quarter of your meal or less.
Starchy vegetables include:
The starch content you get from these varies depending on how they’re cooked. They’re healthiest when they’re:
If you’re cooking vegetables in oil, choose a healthy oil such as extra virgin olive oil, and use as little as possible.
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What Are the Health Benefits of Non-Starchy Vegetables?
Non-starchy vegetables are low in calories and carbohydrates, while rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber.
Due to their nutrition profile, non-starchy vegetables offer many health benefits, such as:
Purchasing Produce
If your vegetables tend to spoil before you eat them, consider frozen versions. Nutritionally, frozen vegetables are equal to—or even better than—fresh vegetables. That’s because they’re flash-frozen at peak freshness, which retains vitamins and minerals.
Frozen vegetables are also easy to prepare because they’re already washed and cut up.
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How Many Non-Starchy Vegetables Should You Eat?
The amount of vegetables you need daily depends on your age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity. It can also depend on whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding. In general, the dietary guidelines recommend at least 2 to 3 cups of vegetables daily for adult women and 3 to 4 cups of vegetables for adult men.
These guidelines include both starchy and non-starchy vegetables, but the majority of your vegetable intake should be non-starchy.
How to Prepare Non-Starchy Vegetables
You can prepare non-starchy vegetables in numerous ways.
Getting Non-Starchy Vegetables Into Your Diet
Non-starchy vegetables are pretty versatile. You can include them in sandwiches, salads, side dishes, omelets, soups, and stews. You can also top protein, like lean meats, fish, tofu, or legumes, with vegetables.
Here are a few more tips for getting non-starchy vegetables into your diet:
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Summary
Non-starchy vegetables have many health benefits because they are low in calories and carbohydrates, while rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. Eating at least 2 to 3 cups of non-starchy vegetables per day is a great way to get more fiber and nutrients into your diet.
Non-starchy vegetables can be added to omelets, salads, sandwiches, soups, and more to help keep you full, balance your blood sugar, and lower your risk of heart disease, obesity, and cancer.
Choose frozen or fresh non-starchy vegetables and try incorporating them in new ways to increase the amount you eat each day.
11 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Juraschek SP, Kovell LC, Appel LJ, et al.Associations between dietary patterns and subclinical cardiac injury: an observational analysis from the DASH trial.Annals of Internal Medicine. 2020;172(12):786-794. doi:10.7326/M20-0336Aune D, Giovannucci E, Boffetta P, et al.Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality-a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.Int J Epidemiol. 2017;46(3):1029-1056. doi:10.1093/ije/dyw319Wang PY, Fang JC, Gao ZH, et al.Higher intake of fruits, vegetables or their fiber reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis. J Diabetes Investig. 2016 Jan;7(1):56-69. doi: 10.1111/jdi.12376Mozaffarian D.Dietary and policy priorities for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity: A comprehensive review.Circulation. 2016;133(2):187-225. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.018585University of Michigan Comprehensive Diabetes Center.Non-starchy vegetables.Singh A, Raigond P, Lal MK, Singh B.Effect of cooking methods on glycemic index and in vitro bioaccessibility of potato (Solanum tuberosumL.) carbohydrates.LWT.2020;121(7):109363. doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2020.109363Nour M, Lutze SA, Grech A, Allman-Farinelli M.The Relationship between Vegetable Intake and Weight Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Cohort Studies. Nutrients. 2018 Nov 2;10(11):1626. doi: 10.3390/nu10111626Jennings A, Berendsen AM, de Groot LCPGM, et al.Mediterranean-Style Diet Improves Systolic Blood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness in Older Adults. Hypertension. 2019 Mar;73(3):578-586. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.118.12259Environmental Protection Agency.Food and pesticides.U.S. Department of Agriculture. MyPlate.Vegetables.American Diabetes Association.Non-starchy vegetables for blood glucose control.
11 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Juraschek SP, Kovell LC, Appel LJ, et al.Associations between dietary patterns and subclinical cardiac injury: an observational analysis from the DASH trial.Annals of Internal Medicine. 2020;172(12):786-794. doi:10.7326/M20-0336Aune D, Giovannucci E, Boffetta P, et al.Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality-a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.Int J Epidemiol. 2017;46(3):1029-1056. doi:10.1093/ije/dyw319Wang PY, Fang JC, Gao ZH, et al.Higher intake of fruits, vegetables or their fiber reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis. J Diabetes Investig. 2016 Jan;7(1):56-69. doi: 10.1111/jdi.12376Mozaffarian D.Dietary and policy priorities for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity: A comprehensive review.Circulation. 2016;133(2):187-225. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.018585University of Michigan Comprehensive Diabetes Center.Non-starchy vegetables.Singh A, Raigond P, Lal MK, Singh B.Effect of cooking methods on glycemic index and in vitro bioaccessibility of potato (Solanum tuberosumL.) carbohydrates.LWT.2020;121(7):109363. doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2020.109363Nour M, Lutze SA, Grech A, Allman-Farinelli M.The Relationship between Vegetable Intake and Weight Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Cohort Studies. Nutrients. 2018 Nov 2;10(11):1626. doi: 10.3390/nu10111626Jennings A, Berendsen AM, de Groot LCPGM, et al.Mediterranean-Style Diet Improves Systolic Blood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness in Older Adults. Hypertension. 2019 Mar;73(3):578-586. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.118.12259Environmental Protection Agency.Food and pesticides.U.S. Department of Agriculture. MyPlate.Vegetables.American Diabetes Association.Non-starchy vegetables for blood glucose control.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Juraschek SP, Kovell LC, Appel LJ, et al.Associations between dietary patterns and subclinical cardiac injury: an observational analysis from the DASH trial.Annals of Internal Medicine. 2020;172(12):786-794. doi:10.7326/M20-0336Aune D, Giovannucci E, Boffetta P, et al.Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality-a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.Int J Epidemiol. 2017;46(3):1029-1056. doi:10.1093/ije/dyw319Wang PY, Fang JC, Gao ZH, et al.Higher intake of fruits, vegetables or their fiber reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis. J Diabetes Investig. 2016 Jan;7(1):56-69. doi: 10.1111/jdi.12376Mozaffarian D.Dietary and policy priorities for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity: A comprehensive review.Circulation. 2016;133(2):187-225. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.018585University of Michigan Comprehensive Diabetes Center.Non-starchy vegetables.Singh A, Raigond P, Lal MK, Singh B.Effect of cooking methods on glycemic index and in vitro bioaccessibility of potato (Solanum tuberosumL.) carbohydrates.LWT.2020;121(7):109363. doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2020.109363Nour M, Lutze SA, Grech A, Allman-Farinelli M.The Relationship between Vegetable Intake and Weight Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Cohort Studies. Nutrients. 2018 Nov 2;10(11):1626. doi: 10.3390/nu10111626Jennings A, Berendsen AM, de Groot LCPGM, et al.Mediterranean-Style Diet Improves Systolic Blood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness in Older Adults. Hypertension. 2019 Mar;73(3):578-586. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.118.12259Environmental Protection Agency.Food and pesticides.U.S. Department of Agriculture. MyPlate.Vegetables.American Diabetes Association.Non-starchy vegetables for blood glucose control.
Juraschek SP, Kovell LC, Appel LJ, et al.Associations between dietary patterns and subclinical cardiac injury: an observational analysis from the DASH trial.Annals of Internal Medicine. 2020;172(12):786-794. doi:10.7326/M20-0336
Aune D, Giovannucci E, Boffetta P, et al.Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality-a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.Int J Epidemiol. 2017;46(3):1029-1056. doi:10.1093/ije/dyw319
Wang PY, Fang JC, Gao ZH, et al.Higher intake of fruits, vegetables or their fiber reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis. J Diabetes Investig. 2016 Jan;7(1):56-69. doi: 10.1111/jdi.12376
Mozaffarian D.Dietary and policy priorities for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity: A comprehensive review.Circulation. 2016;133(2):187-225. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.018585
University of Michigan Comprehensive Diabetes Center.Non-starchy vegetables.
Singh A, Raigond P, Lal MK, Singh B.Effect of cooking methods on glycemic index and in vitro bioaccessibility of potato (Solanum tuberosumL.) carbohydrates.LWT.2020;121(7):109363. doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2020.109363
Nour M, Lutze SA, Grech A, Allman-Farinelli M.The Relationship between Vegetable Intake and Weight Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Cohort Studies. Nutrients. 2018 Nov 2;10(11):1626. doi: 10.3390/nu10111626
Jennings A, Berendsen AM, de Groot LCPGM, et al.Mediterranean-Style Diet Improves Systolic Blood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness in Older Adults. Hypertension. 2019 Mar;73(3):578-586. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.118.12259
Environmental Protection Agency.Food and pesticides.
U.S. Department of Agriculture. MyPlate.Vegetables.
American Diabetes Association.Non-starchy vegetables for blood glucose control.
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