Best Bulking Foods: 30 Calorie-Dense Picks for Skinny Guys
The best bulking foods pack a lot of calories into a serving you can actually finish, and most of them also bring a useful amount of protein. The short list is peanut butter, nuts, whole milk, oats, rice, eggs, ground beef, and olive oil. Below are 30 picks with real numbers per serving, so you can see exactly what each one adds to your day.
Every number comes from USDA FoodData Central, the government’s food composition database, using USDA’s own serving weights. Brands vary a little, so check your own labels when you want the exact figure for what is in your kitchen.
How to use this list of bulking foods
Bulking means eating more calories than you burn, on purpose, while you lift weights so the extra energy goes toward building muscle. That gap between what you eat and what you burn is called a calorie surplus, and the foods below make it easier because they deliver more calories before you feel full.
The tables are grouped by the job each food does. Fats and nuts add calories fast, protein foods feed muscle, carbs fuel training and fill out meals, and dairy does a bit of everything. A good bulking plate takes one item from at least two of these groups.
Calorie-dense fats and nuts
Fat has more than twice the calories of protein or carbs per gram, so this is where small servings add up fastest.
| Food | Serving | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avocado | 1 whole (201 g) | 322 | 4 g |
| Trail mix | 1.5 oz | 194 | 6 g |
| Peanut butter | 2 tablespoons | 191 | 7 g |
| Walnuts | 1 oz | 185 | 4 g |
| Dark chocolate, 70-85% | 1 oz | 170 | 2 g |
| Peanuts, dry-roasted | 1 oz | 166 | 7 g |
| Sunflower seeds, dry-roasted | 1 oz | 165 | 5 g |
| Almonds | 1 oz (about 23) | 164 | 6 g |
| Olive oil | 1 tablespoon | 119 | 0 g |
Olive oil is the quiet winner here, because one tablespoon drizzled over rice or pasta adds 119 calories you will barely notice on the plate. Peanut butter is the most useful pick for most people, since it adds protein along with the calories.
Protein foods for bulking
Protein is what lets your body turn the surplus into muscle instead of just weight. These picks bring both a large dose of protein and a solid calorie load in one serving.
| Food | Serving | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground beef, 80/20, cooked | 6 oz | 462 | 46 g |
| Salmon, Atlantic farmed, cooked | half fillet (178 g) | 367 | 39 g |
| Tuna canned in oil, drained | 1 can (171 g) | 339 | 50 g |
| Chicken thigh with skin, roasted | 1 thigh (137 g) | 318 | 32 g |
| Black beans, cooked | 1 cup | 227 | 15 g |
| Eggs | 2 large | 143 | 13 g |
For bulking, fattier cuts usually beat lean ones, since a chicken thigh with skin brings more calories than a plain breast. Tuna packed in oil is a better bulking buy than tuna packed in water for the same reason.
Carbs that fill out a bulking diet
Carbs are one of the cheapest ways to add volume to your meals, and they give you the fuel for hard training sessions.
| Food | Serving | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bagel, plain | 1 large | 360 | 14 g |
| Rolled oats, dry | 1 cup | 307 | 11 g |
| Granola, homemade | 1/2 cup | 298 | 8 g |
| Potato, baked with skin | 1 large | 275 | 6 g |
| Raisins | 1/2 cup | 217 | 2 g |
| White rice, cooked | 1 cup | 205 | 4 g |
| Medjool dates | 3 dates | 199 | 1 g |
| Pasta, cooked | 1 cup spaghetti | 196 | 7 g |
| Sweet potato, baked | 1 large | 162 | 4 g |
| Whole-wheat bread | 2 slices | 161 | 8 g |
| Banana | 1 large | 121 | 1 g |
Dried fruit is the trick most people miss, because half a cup of raisins is 217 calories and takes about a minute to eat. Rice and pasta are easy to scale up, since a second cup at dinner adds roughly another 200 calories.
Dairy: calories and protein together
| Food | Serving | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cottage cheese, full fat | 1 cup | 220 | 25 g |
| Greek yogurt, whole milk | 200 g | 194 | 18 g |
| Whole milk | 1 cup | 149 | 8 g |
| Cheddar cheese | 1 oz slice | 115 | 7 g |
Whole milk is one of the easiest bulking foods there is. A glass with each of three meals adds about 450 calories and 23 grams of protein a day, and many people find drinking calories easier than chewing them. If regular milk upsets your stomach, lactose-free milk is an option once you check its label for the calories, but because lactose-free milk is still milk, it is not safe for anyone with a milk allergy.
Healthy bulking foods vs a dirty bulk
A “dirty bulk” means eating anything with calories: fast food, soda, and sweets. It adds weight, but it makes it easy to gain more fat than you need, and it crowds out foods that bring protein and fiber. Nearly every food on this list is a whole food the CDC describes as part of a healthy eating plan: nuts, eggs, beans, dairy, whole grains, fruit, and healthy fats.
That does not mean treats are banned, and chocolate has a place when your appetite is the problem. Just build most of your surplus from the tables above, and aim for a modest surplus rather than a huge one, which research on lifters links to less fat gain.
How much to eat and how much protein
Start with the calorie surplus calculator, which estimates what you burn and adds a surplus on top. Then weigh yourself once a week on the same day at the same time, and if nothing moves for two or three weeks, add a few hundred calories.
For protein, studies on people who lift find muscle gains level off at about 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. For a 150-pound person, that works out to about 109 grams. The bulking macro calculator uses 0.7 to 1 gram per pound (about 1.5 to 2.2 grams per kilogram), depending on how long you have been lifting. For a 150-pound beginner, it gives 105 grams.
A five add-on day: over 1,000 extra calories
You do not need a whole new diet to bulk. Add these five things to the meals you already eat:
- Breakfast: cook 1 cup of oats in 1 cup of whole milk and stir in 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. That is 647 calories and 25 grams of protein.
- Lunch: add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to your rice or pasta. That adds 119 calories.
- Afternoon: eat 1 ounce of almonds. That adds 164 calories.
- Dinner: add a glass of whole milk. That adds 149 calories.
- Evening: have 200 grams of whole milk Greek yogurt. That adds 194 calories and 18 grams of protein.
Together, the five add-ons come to 1,273 calories and about 57 grams of protein. If the oat bowl replaces a breakfast you already eat, subtract that breakfast; the other four still add 626 calories. If big meals are hard, split the add-ons across more snacks; the small appetite guide has more tricks for that.
Cheap bulking foods
Some of the cheapest picks on this list are plain staples. In October 2026 government price data, white rice averaged $1.10 a pound, potatoes $0.99 a pound, pasta $1.38 a pound, and dried beans $1.68 a pound, while a dozen eggs averaged $2.32 and a gallon of whole milk $4.10. The cheap high-calorie foods list shows how to work out the cost per 1,000 calories, and the weight gain grocery list on a budget turns these foods into a full week’s cart. Both live in the nutrition hub.
If you would rather drink part of your surplus, the homemade mass gainer shake uses foods from these same tables.
Frequently asked questions
How much protein do I need to gain muscle?
Research on people who lift weights finds that gains level off at about 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. For a 150-pound (68 kg) person that is about 109 grams a day. Eating more than that is fine, but on average it did not build more muscle in the studies.
How many calories should I eat to bulk?
Start from your own maintenance number and add a modest surplus on top. The calorie surplus calculator on this site gives you a starting target. Then weigh yourself weekly: if the scale is not moving after two or three weeks, add a few hundred calories and check again.
Which foods are the richest in protein?
Per serving in the table on this page, a can of tuna in oil has about 50 grams, 6 ounces of 80/20 ground beef has about 46 grams, and half a salmon fillet has about 39 grams. Cottage cheese is the best dairy pick at about 25 grams per cup.
What are the best meals for bulking up?
Meals that combine one protein food, one carb base, and one added fat. Rice with chicken thighs and olive oil, pasta with ground beef, or oats cooked in milk with peanut butter all work. Each pairing gives you protein for muscle and dense calories in a normal-sized plate.
This is educational content, not medical advice. Talk with your doctor before changing your diet, exercise, or supplements, especially for teens, adults over 65, or anyone managing a health condition or taking medication. Full medical disclaimer.
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy entries (retrieved 2026-11-10). IDs: olive oil 171413, peanut butter 172470, almonds 170567, walnuts 170187, peanuts 173806, sunflower seeds 170563, trail mix 170654, dark chocolate 170273, avocado 171705, whole milk 171265, Greek yogurt 171304, cheddar 170899, cottage cheese 172179, eggs 171287, ground beef 171799, chicken thigh 173625, salmon 175168, tuna in oil 173708, black beans 173735, oats 173904, granola 171646, white rice 168878, pasta 169737, bagel 175049, whole-wheat bread 172688, potato 170434, sweet potato 168483, banana 173944, raisins 168165, medjool dates 168191: Calories and protein per 100 g for every food in the tables, and the USDA gram weight for each serving shown (for example 2 tbsp peanut butter = 32 g, 1 cup whole milk = 244 g, 1 large egg = 50 g, 1 large bagel = 131 g). Per-serving numbers are per-100 g values times the serving weight, rounded.
- Morton RW et al., A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults, Br J Sports Med (2018): In resistance-training studies, protein intake beyond a total of about 1.6 g per kg of body weight per day produced no further average gain in lean mass.
- Iraki J et al., Nutrition recommendations for bodybuilders in the off-season: a narrative review, Sports (2019), via PMC (retrieved 2026-11-11): The off-season goal is to increase muscle while minimizing increases in fat mass; the review recommends a surplus of about 10 to 20% with weight gain of about 0.25 to 0.5% of body weight a week for novice and intermediate lifters, and cites a study in highly trained athletes where a larger surplus produced significantly larger fat gains (1.1 kg vs 0.2 kg), leading researchers to suggest 200 to 300 kcal a day rather than 500.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Healthy eating (Healthy Weight and Growth): A healthy eating plan emphasizes vegetables, fruits, protein, dairy without added sugars, healthy fats, and whole grains, and includes foods such as eggs, beans, nuts, and frozen vegetables.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price Data, U.S. city average, October 2026 (retrieved 2026-11-11): Each price is one BLS series, read at https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/<series id>: long-grain white rice $1.101 per lb (APU0000701312), white potatoes $0.990 per lb (APU0000712112), spaghetti and macaroni $1.384 per lb (APU0000701322), dried beans $1.680 per lb (APU0000714233), grade A large eggs $2.320 per dozen (APU0000708111), whole milk $4.101 per gallon (APU0000709112).