16 Aldi Finds You Need For A Fiber-Heavy Diet

Nutrition is not immune from trends. Once upon a time, antioxidants were all the rage, while protein is the current darling. (This explains why people are adding cottage cheese to brownies and using it as a chili topping in lieu of sour cream). Fiber, however, gets a little less love, since instead of doing something glamorous like building muscles, it has the far less enviable job of assisting with the digestive process. It doesn't just promote pooping, however; it can also help you feel fuller while lowering your risk of several medical conditions including colorectal cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Adding fiber-rich vegetables like artichokes to your diet can help boost your intake, true, but these products from Aldi will also let you sneak in quite a bit of fiber in a more convenient way.

All of the items on this list, whether or not they tout "high fiber" on the packaging, nevertheless deliver a significant chunk of your recommended daily intake with each serving. (This ranges from 21 grams a day for women over 50 to 38 grams a day for men under 50, but the nutrition data on Aldi's packaging seems to be based on an average of 28 grams.) Some are snack foods, while others are side dishes or entrees. Believe it or not, we even located a high-fiber soda! Since this is Aldi, none of these items will break the bank, but all of them should help, umm, keep your bodily functions moving along as they should.

As the name indicates, these Millville Fiber Now bars are specifically designed to allow you to eat more fiber in the form of an easy, low-calorie snack. They're available in cinnamon coffee cake, chocolate fudge, and lemon, with a box of six priced at $2.75. As for the fiber content, each bar contains six grams, which is 21% of the recommended daily value.

Park Street Deli's Fresh Bars, which are available in both peanut butter and dark chocolate chip, don't tout their fiber content on the packaging, but instead emphasize the protein content and the fact they're gluten-free. Despite this underselling, both bars actually deliver more fiber than the Fiber Now ones. While the calorie count is higher (350 for plain, 320 for chocolate chip), each $2.09 bar packs seven grams of fiber, which is approximately 25% of your daily requirement. 

Millville's Whole Grain Granola is jam-packed with fiber-rich ingredients such as almonds, oats, and raisins. (The honey's just along for the ride). If you eat a bowl of it for breakfast or sprinkle an entire serving's worth (⅔ cup) over your yogurt, you'll be rewarded with six grams of fiber, which, as you may remember, is 21% of the average daily value. Each 14-ounce bag is priced at $3.15.

One super-simple swap you can make in your diet that will boost both your protein and fiber intake is to replace plain pasta with noodles made from chickpea flour. Aldi's Simply Nature brand features two such pastas, chickpea rotini and chickpea penne. A 12-ounce box of either one is priced at $3.45 and each 1-cup serving contains 11 grams of fiber. (A whopping 39% of your daily value!)

If you prefer your fiber-rich noodles in a ready-made meal kit, Aldi also offers Cheese Club macaroni and cheese made with chickpea pasta. You can opt for either shells with white cheddar or elbows with classic cheddar, with each costing $2.99 for a 5.5-ounce box. You cook it the exact same way as you would any other boxed mac and cheese; by boiling the noodles and then adding milk to the cheese packet to make the sauce. One cup of the prepared product will provide seven grams of fiber, which is 25% of your recommended daily amount.

If you're looking for a fiber-rich, heat-and-eat meal, but you'd prefer it be plant-based, look no further than Aldi's Earth Grown Lentil & Veggie Tikka Masala made with pumpkin and sweet peppers. It's not only completely vegan (no dubious ingredients whatsoever), but each serving is enriched with nine grams of fiber (32% of the DV). The price is pretty reasonable for what amounts to a full meal in a bag — just $3.15 for 10-ounce pouch.

Another vegan option is Earth Grown Pad Thai, priced at $3.29 for a 10-ounce pouch. The noodles are made from konjac (aka elephant yam), which is a root vegetable known for being both low in carbohydrates and high in fiber. Other ingredients include soy protein, tomatoes, corn, carrots, tamarind paste, and peanuts. This heat-and-eat meal also contains nine grams of fiber, making it both filling and flavorful.

Quinoa is a grain known for its high fiber content, so it stands to reason that quinoa bowls would be a good source of this nutrient. Aldi offers two Whole & Simple quinoa bowls for $4.05 each, a Southwestern-style chicken one flavored with chipotle peppers and a Mediterranean-style chicken option with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. The latter has 7 grams of fiber (25% of the DV), while the former comes in at 10 grams (36%).

If you're looking to get some extra protein along with your fiber, Whole & Simple also offers two protein bowls that should fill the bill. The edamame energy protein bowl combines brown rice, quinoa, edamame, bell peppers, black beans, carrots, onions, and spinach in a peanut butter sauce, while the tahini and chickpea protein bowl features brown rice, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, lentils, and kale in a coconut milk sauce. Each is priced at $3.19, and the edamame bowl has seven grams of fiber (25% DV) while the tahini-chickpea one has eight (29%).

Even though Aldi offers a full line of standard American staples, it is a German-based company; and as such, it carries a few German foods, too. One brand that seems to be the standard-bearer is Deutsche Küche, which translates to "German kitchen." Among the products it offers is a hearty pea soup which also includes carrots, leeks, onions, and potatoes. It costs $2.75 per 28-ounce, three-serving can, and each serving provides nine grams of fiber. This comes in at 32%, or nearly one-third, of your recommended daily value.

Yet another Deutsche Küche offering is a German bean soup made with white beans, carrots, onions, and potatoes. It, too, is priced at $2.75 for a 28-ounce can, and it also contains nine grams of fiber. For some reason, the label lists this at just 30% of your daily value, but assuming the same 28 grams per day average used to calculate most other Aldi items (including the same brand of soup), it would in fact deliver a full 32% per serving.

For a slightly spicier bean soup, check out Aldi's Specially Selected brand. Among its lineup of jarred soups is a Southwestern-style tomato and black bean one which costs $4.09 for 24 ounces. Other ingredients include corn and bell peppers, while it's flavored with a mix of chili powder and chipotles. A cup of the soup supplies five grams of fiber, which is about 18% of what you'll need in a day. (Or 20%, if you go by the label. Either way, it's a pretty decent amount.)

If you're more of a DIY-er when it comes to soups, you might be interested in the 16-bean soup mix from Dakota's Pride. It costs $2.19 for a 20-ounce bag and consists of a whole bunch of different dried beans along with some peas and lentils. (It would be more accurate to call it 16-legume soup, but that doesn't rhyme.) Vegans beware: Bacon fat is used as a flavoring along with other spices and seasonings. If the soup is prepared according to package directions, it'll make 16 servings, each with 10 grams of fiber (35% of the DV).

A "wrap" can refer either to a type of sandwich or the thin, tortilla-like flatbread which is used to make them. These L'Oven Fresh protein wraps are the latter kind, and they come in two varieties: plain and red pepper hummus. Both varieties cost $3.29 for a 12-ounce package, and both provide a surprisingly high amount of fiber: 12 grams (43% of the DV) for plain and 14 grams (50%) for the hummus-flavored ones.

There aren't too many high fiber ready-made desserts unless you're the kind of person who thinks that fruit on its own qualifies. Aldi does, however, sell a sweet, high-fiber snack: Simply Nature Organic Coconut Clusters. These are made with hemp, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds as well as coconut, and are sweetened with tapioca syrup. Each 10-ounce bag is priced at $6.05, while each ½-cup serving contains six grams of fiber. (21% of what you need in a day.)

A soda with a high fiber content? How can such a thing be? We're not entirely sure but it seems Aldi has pulled it off somehow. The prebiotic soda, which come in a choice of root beer and strawberry vanilla, manages to pack in nine grams of plant fiber, so each 12-ounce serving provides almost one-third of what you need in a day (32%). They are sold by the single can, and each one costs $1.85.