Lentil

High FODMAP

By Michael EisenwasserUpdated October 6, 2026

Serving sizes

Lentil changes rating with portion size. These are the amounts tested in the literature behind our ratings.

About 2 tablespoons (30g) Low
Larger portions Moderate
Much larger portions High

Fructans GOS

Lentils are High FODMAP at a usual serving, though about 2 tablespoons (30g) is low.

At 2 tablespoons (30g) lentils are low.
GOS and Fructans climb quickly, so larger portions reach moderate and much larger portions reach high.
Canned lentils that are drained and rinsed tend to be gentler than dried-and-boiled ones, since some of these carbs leach into the liquid.

Keep to a small rinsed serving, or choose canned lentils rinsed well under running water when you want more.

Why lentil is rated high

Lentils are high FODMAP overall, with GOS and fructans behind the rating. They are low only at about 2 tablespoons (30g), a scattering through a salad or a bowl, while larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high. The practical meaning is that lentils behave very differently as a scattering than as the base of a dish. A dal, a lentil soup or a lentil loaf puts them at the top of the scale by design, since the pulse is most of the plate.

What changes your risk

How big the helping is About 2 tablespoons (30g) is low, larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high, so the same lentils can land in three different places depending only on how many go in. Using them as a texture in a dish rather than the substance of it keeps them at the low amount.
Draining and rinsing canned lentils GOS dissolves in water, so it moves out of the lentil into the liquid it sits in. Canned lentils emptied into a sieve and rinsed under cold running water until the cloudiness clears run lower than the same lentils boiled from dried, where the GOS that leached out stays in the pot.
Cooking water, not heat Cooking does not destroy GOS. What helps is boiling in plenty of water and tipping that water away, which is exactly what most lentil recipes avoid doing because the liquid becomes the sauce. A thick dal keeps everything in the bowl.
Red, green, brown and puy all carry it The colour and shape change the texture and the cooking time, not the FODMAP groups. Treating one variety as the gentle one is not something this page can support.
Stacking GOS across a meal Lentils in a salad plus another pulse elsewhere on the plate, or alongside cashews or pistachios, add their GOS into one total. Each item can be low on its own while the meal is not.

Swaps

For the hearty, earthy body that lentils give a soup, stew or bolognese, plain minced meat is the direct swap, and firm tofu crumbled into the pan does the same job in a vegetarian version. Quinoa holds its shape in a salad much the way puy lentils do and brings plant protein with it, while rice, polenta and potato fill the bulk and comfort role in a stew. Walnuts and pumpkin seeds give a similar savoury bite scattered over a grain bowl, and eggs cover the protein slot at short notice. What cannot fill in are the other pulses: chickpeas, kidney beans, baked beans and soy beans all carry GOS for the same reason lentils do, so swapping one for another leaves the load where it was.

How to lower the load

Reach for canned lentils rather than dried when they are going into a salad or bowl, since the can is what makes the rinse possible. Tip them into a sieve, run cold water over them until it stops clouding, shake dry, then use, and keep the can liquid out of the dish. Portion them as one component among several: about 2 tablespoons (30g) scattered through a rice salad with carrot and cucumber sits in a very different place than a bowl of dal. Season them with garlic-infused oil rather than fresh garlic, since the flavour carries into the oil while the fructans in garlic do not, and check the label on ready made lentil soups, which usually start with an onion base.

Common questions

are lentils high fodmap

Lentils are high FODMAP overall, with GOS and fructans responsible. They are low at about 2 tablespoons (30g), moderate at larger portions and high at much larger portions.

how much lentils can i eat

About 2 tablespoons (30g) is low. Larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high, which points to lentils as one component of a dish rather than its base, and canned, drained and rinsed ones run lowest.

are lentils high in gos

Yes, GOS is one of the groups in lentils, alongside fructans, and it is what drives the rating up as the serving grows. It is water-soluble, which is why rinsed canned lentils run lower than lentils boiled from dried in liquid that stays in the dish.

is red lentil dal low fodmap

Dal is built on lentils as the main ingredient, which puts it at the larger end of the scale where the rating is high, and the cooking liquid stays in the bowl rather than being poured away. Most recipes also start with onion and garlic, which add to the load.

Learn more

Where this rating comes from

Lentil is rated from published lab measurements of its FODMAP content, using the low, moderate and high cutoffs of Varney et al. (2017).

Feedback sent through the FODMAP Foods app has led to changes in this list.

See our full rating method →

Sources

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 high-performance liquid chromatography (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 between healthy individuals and patients with irritable bowel syndrome. 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.