So, you’re curious about olives as a source of fiber? No worries, we’ve got you covered. Black or green? It doesn’t matter, we’ll be talking about both.
- In the first part of the article, expect to learn everything about olives as a source of fiber. This includes the amount of fiber and calories found in green and black olives.
- The second part will show a comparison between olives as a fiber source and other similar foods. This will help you find some good alternatives, or know which foods to avoid.
- Finally, we will give you the amount of fiber found in olives in multiple measurements.
That’s about it, let’s get started!
Quick Answer: Are olives a good source of fiber? First, we must make a difference between black and green olives. One cup of black olives has 2.6 grams of fiber and 186.1 calories. On the other hand, one cup of green olives has 5.3 grams of fiber and 232.6 calories.
You can immediately see that green olives are a better source of fiber. However, neither are exactly amazing in that role.
Black olives provide you with 1.4 grams of fiber per 100 calories, and green olives with 2.3 grams of fiber for the same number of calories. Both are a somewhat decent, but ultimately subpar source of fiber.
You can get much more fiber from other foods, making the goal of reaching your desired amount of fiber that much easier. Olives can play a role in that, but it would be more of a supporting role.
You would simply need to eat too many olives for them to make an impact on your daily fiber intake.
Experts say that we should eat around 30 grams of fiber every day. With black olives, you would need to eat 11.5 cups, which would amount to around 2,150 calories! With green olives, you would need to eat a bit over 5.5 cups, equating to 1,316 calories.
While green olives have much fewer calories, neither are suited to be your primary source of fiber.
This is why you should aim to get the majority of your daily fiber from other foods, and then get a smaller amount from olives, if necessary.
Now, let’s compare olives to other similar foods based on their fiber content.
Comparing Fiber In Olives To Similar Foods
So, we now know that one cup of black olives has 2.6 grams of fiber and 186.1 calories (1.4 grams of fiber per 100 calories), and a cup of green olives has 5.3 grams of fiber and 232.6 calories (2.3 grams of fiber per 100 calories).
Let’s compare them to other similar foods based on their fiber content:
- One cup of navy beans has 19.1 grams of fiber and 254.8 calories. (7.5 grams of fiber per 100 calories) navy beans are an excellent source of fiber, much better than both types of olives.
- One cup of northern beans has 11.2 grams of fiber and 246 calories. (4.6 grams of fiber per 100 calories) While northern beans aren’t as good as navy beans, they are still a better fiber source than olives.
- A cup of lima beans has 13.2 grams of fiber and 216.2 calories (6.1 grams of fiber per 100 calories) lima beans are yet another great fiber source, easily beating out both green and black olives.
- Green beans have 2.7 grams of fiber and 31 calories per cup. (8.7 grams of fiber per 100 calories) Green beans actually have the most fiber out of all the foods on our list, so we don’t even need to mention that they are better than olives.
- Purple hull peas have 11.8 grams of fiber and 308 calories per cup (3.8 grams of fiber per 100 calories) They are not the most ideal source of fiber, but still manage to be better than olives.
- Black-eyed peas have 11.1 grams of fiber and 198.4 calories per cup. (5.6 grams of fiber per 100 calories) Black-eyed peas close out our list with another loss for olives, unfortunately.
How Much Fiber Olives Contain By Quantity
- 1 cup of black olives has grams of fiber and calories.
- Black olives have 1.6 grams of fiber and 116 calories per 100 grams.
- Black olives have 0.5 grams of fiber and 32.9 calories per oz.
- 1 cup of green olives has 5.3 grams of fiber and 232.6 calories.
- Green olives have 3.3 grams of fiber and 145 calories per 100 grams.
- Green olives have 0.9 grams of fiber and 41.1 calories per oz.
Wrap Up
Whether black or green, olives are simply not a great source of fiber. While they do contain a somewhat decent amount of fiber, especially green ones, it is far from enough to make them your main fiber source. They can be a part of your diet and play a supporting role for other foods that are richer in fiber.

Hey, I’m Joey. I’ve been cooking since I was a little kid and love everything about it. You can find my writing about food, kitchen appliances (such as blenders) and much more. Thanks for stopping by!