How to Make High-Calorie Shakes for Weight Gain

There are many reasons a person might need to gain weight — and doing so with solid food alone can be challenging.

Most people know that losing weight can require commitment and patience. But gaining weight in a healthy way is not necessarily easier and faster.

Shakes can be a helpful way to consume a large amount of calories at once, especially if your appetite is low.

But while it can be tempting to throw the whole fridge into your drink, it’s important to focus on quality over quantity for better long-term health outcomes.

Here’s what you need to know about gaining weight safely with shakes.

How to Gain Weight Safely in General

Putting on weight is not as simple or straightforward as it may seem.

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) warns that while filling up on non-nutritious food can help you gain weight, it doesn’t satisfy your body’s nutritional needs and can do considerable harm to your health.

According to the AAFP, weight gain is similar to weight loss in that it requires a carefully considered approach — one that ensures you’re meeting both caloric and nutritional needs.

When it comes to high-calorie shakes, that means choosing ingredients that provide both calories and adequate nutrition.

How Many Calories Do You Need to Gain Weight?

The number of calories you need to gain weight will depend on factors like age and activity level.

Resources like MyPlate Plan, developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), can provide a loose estimate of how much you should be eating to maintain your current weight. The tool will ask you about your age, sex, current weight, and activity level.

This calorie amount will likely fall within 1,600 and 2,400 calories per day for adult women and 2,000 and 3,000 calories per day for adult men, the range provided by the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Once you’ve determined how many calories you need for weight maintenance, you should aim to consume about 300 to 500 calories above your daily requirements to gain weight at a healthy rate.

It's recommended that you work with a doctor or nutritionist to determine how many calories you need, especially if you’re gaining weight for medical reasons.

High-Calorie Ingredients

Provided you have the go-ahead from your healthcare provider, here are some ideas for making healthy high-calorie shakes. If you get the combinations right, they have the potential to be pretty tasty as well!

All calorie and nutrition information below is based on the USDA’s food database, FoodData Central.

Thicken Up the Base

People often make shakes and smoothies with water or milk.

To amp up the calorie content of your shakes, try using whole-milk yogurts instead. Plain Greek yogurt contains around 235 calories per cup, and is high in protein, calcium, and vitamin A.

Some sources recommend using heavy cream as a base, which contains about 855 calories per cup. But heavy cream has over nine times as much saturated fat as Greek yogurt, and therefore should not be consumed regularly in large doses.

You can also use foods like nut or seed butters made from peanuts, almonds, cashews, or sunflower seeds to thicken your shakes and add flavor. Half a cup of creamy peanut butter contains around 790 calories, for example, and all nut butters are similarly high in calories. (Keep in mind that some nut butters are higher in salt than others.)

Rolled oats can also act as a thickening agent and provide calories and nutrition. A cup of whole-grain oats contains around 380 calories, and is moderately high in protein, fiber, and calcium.

Add Nuts and Seeds

You can also add seeds like flaxseeds and chia seeds to boost your shakes. Two tablespoons of whole flaxseeds have 75 calories, while 2 tablespoons of chia seeds have between 90 and 115 calories. Both are good sources of fiber, calcium, protein, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Chopped nuts can add both calories and crunch to your shakes. For example, half a cup of (whole) almonds gives you about 400 calories, depending on the nut’s weight and variety.

Focus on Fruit

Fruits like bananas, avocados, and dates can help you add calories and texture to your shakes.

Medium avocados have around 240 calories and nutrients like protein, fiber, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, folate, and vitamins A, C, and K, as well as unsaturated fats.

One cup of banana has around 200 calories, along with fiber, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamins A and C.

At 66 calories, a single date has nutrients like fiber, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and vitamin A.

A Note for Your Stomach

If you don’t normally drink high-calorie shakes, be sure to start gradually. These nutrient-dense beverages can contain a lot of natural sugar and fiber, which may trigger diarrhea and other gastrointestinal issues, according to Harvard Health Publishing.