Lentil (canned)
Serving sizes
Lentil (canned) changes rating with portion size. These are the amounts tested in the literature behind our ratings.
- ½ cup (92.5g)
- ¾ cup (137g)
- 1¼ cups (228g)
Canned lentils are Low FODMAP at a small serving, staying gentle when you keep to around ½ cup (92.5g).
- Canned lentils are wonderfully gut-friendly at a modest portion because much of their FODMAP content leaches into the canning liquid, leaving them low at a small serving with no single subgroup elevated to drive things up.
- As the serving grows, the overall FODMAP load rises, climbing to moderate and then high with larger bowls, so portion size is really the key thing to keep an eye on here.
Drain and rinse your canned lentils well, then enjoy them at around ½ cup (92.5g) tossed into soups, salads, or curries for a comforting plant protein.
Why lentil (canned) is rated low
Canned lentils are low FODMAP at ½ cup (92.5g), and the record for them does not show any single FODMAP subgroup raised at that serving. What the published serving data does show clearly is a climb with the size of the scoop: ½ cup (92.5g) is low, ¾ cup (137g) is already moderate, and by 1¼ cups (228g) the level is high. The verdict here is really about the ladle rather than the lentil. A tin drained and rinsed is one of the few legume forms with a tested low serving, but that low sits at one rung, and the two rungs above it are not far up the bowl.
What changes your risk
- Serving size This is the whole story. ½ cup (92.5g) is low, ¾ cup (137g) is moderate, and 1¼ cups (228g) is high, so the difference between a comfortable portion and a heavy one is a couple of spoonfuls rather than a second helping.
- Draining and rinsing Water-soluble FODMAPs leach out of legumes into the canning liquid while the tin sits on the shelf. Tip the whole tin into a sieve, let the cloudy liquid run off, then rinse under cold running water until the water stops foaming and the lentils no longer feel slippery.
- Boiled from dried is a different food Lentils simmered from dried and served in their own cooking liquid have their own, higher record. Do not carry the canned serving across to a pot of lentils cooked from scratch.
- Stacking across the meal A low rating is per serving, not per plate. Keep the lentils at ½ cup (92.5g) and the rest of the meal still counts, so a bowl built from several low servings at once can add up to more total FODMAP load than any one of them suggests.
- What is in the tin and the pot with them Seasoned tins, stock cubes, curry pastes and soup bases often carry onion and garlic, and those come along regardless of how carefully the lentils are measured. Build flavour with garlic-infused oil, chives, the green tops of spring onions and ground spices instead.
What else works
Canned lentils, drained and rinsed and kept to ½ cup (92.5g), are the low form here, and that matters because the lookalikes are not equivalent. Green and red lentils boiled from dried carry a moderate rating at the serving tested for them, and canned borlotti beans are high at theirs, so a mixed bean tin or a scratch pot of lentils is not covered by this page. If a bowl needs more bulk once the lentils are measured out, rice, quinoa, polenta and potato fill the plate, carrots, zucchini and green beans stretch a stew, and firm tofu or eggs add protein without adding another legume serving.
How to keep it low
Read the tin before it goes in the basket: plain lentils in water with salt behave predictably, while a tin flavoured with onion, garlic or a stock base does not. Rinse thoroughly in a sieve, shake dry, and portion at the stove rather than at the table. Measuring ½ cup (92.5g) onto each plate before the dish is served is far easier than judging a helping once it is swimming in sauce. Leftovers freeze well in measured tubs, which turns the portioning into a one time job. Eating out, a lentil soup or dahl arrives in an unknown quantity and usually on an onion and garlic base, so that is a different situation from a tin handled at home.
Common questions
how much canned lentils can i eat on low fodmap
½ cup (92.5g) is the low serving. ¾ cup (137g) is moderate and 1¼ cups (228g) is high, so the portion is what decides it.
are canned lentils lower in fodmaps than lentils boiled from dried
Yes. FODMAPs in legumes are water-soluble and leach into the canning liquid, so a drained and rinsed tin runs lower than the same legume boiled from dried and served in its cooking liquid. Boiled green and red lentils have their own, higher record.
do i have to rinse canned lentils
Rinsing is worth doing, because the liquid in the tin holds FODMAPs that have leached out of the lentils. Drain in a sieve and rinse under cold water until the foam stops.
can i eat canned lentils on the elimination phase
Canned lentils have a tested low serving of ½ cup (92.5g), so they can sit in an elimination phase meal at that amount. Tolerance is individual, and any wider reintroduction of legumes is worked through with a dietitian.
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Informational only, not medical advice. Individual tolerance varies. Talk to a healthcare professional or a dietitian for personal guidance.
References
- Fructan and free fructose content of common Australian vegetables and fruit. Muir et al. (2007), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 55(16):6619-6627.
- Measurement of short-chain carbohydrates in common Australian vegetables and fruits by HPLC. Muir et al. (2009), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57(2):554-565.
- Quantification of fructans, galacto-oligosaccharides and other short-chain carbohydrates in processed grains and cereals. Biesiekierski et al. (2011), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 24(2):154-176.
- Dietary sorbitol and mannitol: food content and distinct absorption patterns. Yao et al. (2014), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 27(Suppl 2):263-275.
- FODMAPs: food composition, defining cutoff values and international application. Varney et al. (2017), J. Gastroenterology and Hepatology 32(Suppl 1):53-61. Supplies the low, moderate and high cutoffs used on this page.
Last reviewed September 22, 2026.