Weight Watchers Points for Vegetables

Ever wonder how many points are in vegetables? Once upon a time, Weight Watchers counted points for all foods, including vegetables. But now? Nearly all (but not all) vegetables count as "free" or "zero point" in the current Weight Watchers system called "myWW" where the diet plans are color-coded as "green" and "blue" and "purple". Here are all the details!

Find Inspiration (and Recipes) for Vegetables here ♥ AVeggieVenture.com, the Food Blog about Vegetables. Seasonal to Staples, Savory to Sweet, Salads to Sides, Soups to Supper, Simple to Special. All Recipes include Weight Watchers points. Many Are Vegan, Naturally Gluten Free, Low Carb, Paleo and Whole30 Friendly.

Skip Straight to the Points

My Best Weight Watchers Advice

When asked how to succeed with Weight Watchers, my first answer is, "Count points" followed quickly by, "And be sure to memorize points" for favorite foods. To help out with vegetables, here are the Weight Watchers points for common vegetables. I hope that readers find it a useful reference!

For readers who don't follow Weight Watchers but are curious about the point system, here's a quick introduction. The system changes every so often but since late 2015, Weight Watchers has used the "SmartPoints" algorithm which incorporates total calories, sugar, saturated fat and protein to calculate points.

The lower the calories, sugar and saturated fat (and the higher the protein), the lower the points. A "zero point" food isn't without calories, of course. But to help us make healthy food choices, Weight Watchers says that certain foods (vegetables, fruits plus certain dairy products, proteins and grains) are "free" and don't count when doing the math to calculate points. It's kind of a game but for many of us, the point system helps us focus on healthful food choices.

Free Fruit Too

There's a reference list for fruit, too. That's because current Weight Watchers diet programs assign zero points not only to most vegetables but also to all fruit, including bananas. Weight Watchers works. But in my opinion, free fruit might not work for everyone.

Rethinking Fruit for Weight Watchers.

Up to 300 Free Foods!

Since late 2019, Weight Watchers current plan is called myWW and it's not just one plan, it's three! This lets each person choose which plan best suits. I've laid this all out for each plan in a way that makes it easy to understand exactly what's free and what's not in each plan.

Weight Watchers Zero Point "Free" Food Lists, simplified food lists for all the free foods for the Green, Blue & Purple Plans

Weight Watchers Recipes, Sorted by Points

Points are one thing. But what about actual Weight Watchers-friendly recipes? Good news, I have those too!

Weight Watchers Vegetable Recipes, sorted by points
Weight Watchers Recipes, all courses, sorted by points

~ Alanna

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Quick List
Weight Watchers Points for Vegetables

(for all free foods, not just vegetables, see
Weight Watchers Zero Point "Free" Food Lists)

myWW Zero-Point "Free" Vegetables

Most vegetables are free in all three plans.
All three plans exclude avocados and olives.
The Green Plan excludes starchy vegetables, notably corn, parsnips, peas, plantains, potatoes and sweet potatoes.
The Blue Plan includes corn.
The Purple Plan further adds potatoes and sweet potatoes.

All Three Plans: Green, Blue & Purple
Acorn Squash Artichokes Arugula Asparagus Bamboo Shoots Beets & Beet Greens Bok Choy Broccoli Broccoli Rabe (Raab) Brussels Sprouts Butter or Bibb Lettuce Butternut Squash Cabbage Pimientos Carrots Cauliflower & Cauliflower Rice Celery Collard Greens Cucumber Eggplant Endive Escarole Fennel Frozen Stir-Fry Vegetables Garlic Ginger Green Beans Iceberg Lettuce Hearts of Palm Jicama Kale Leafy Greens Lettuce Kohlrabi Leeks Mixed Greens Mushrooms Mustard Greens Napa Cabbage Nori/Seaweed Oak Leaf Lettuce Okra Onions & Green Onions Pea Shoots Bell Peppers Pickles Pico de Gallo Pumpkin Radishes Red Leaf Lettuce Romaine Lettuce Rutabagas Salsa Either Green Salsa or Tomato Salsa Sauerkraut Scallions Shallots Spaghetti Squash Spinach String Beans Summer Squash Swiss chard Tomatillos Tomato Puree & Sauce Tomatoes Turnips Water Chestnuts Wax Beans Zucchini

Blue Plan & Purple Plan Only
Alfalfa Sprouts ¹ Corn Chickpeas Dried & Canned Beans ² Edamame Fava Beans Green Peas Hominy Lentils Lima Beans Peas Quinoa Split Peas Succotash Taro Tempeh Tofu

Purple Plan Only
Amaranth ¹ Ancient Grain Mix Without Seeds Barley Bean Sprouts ¹ Couscous ³ Farro Freekeh Kamut Kasha (Buckwheat) Millet Oatmeal ⁴ Pasta ³ Popcorn ⁵ Potatoes ⁶ Rice ⁷ Rye Berries Sorghum Grain Spelt & Spelt Berries Sweet Potatoes ⁸ Taro Teff Wheat Berries Wild Rice Yucca

NOTES aka
The Devil Is In the Details
⁰ Packaged foods (frozen, canned, etc.), are zero-point only if there's no sauce, no added fat or added sugar.
¹ Alfafa sprouts, amaranth and bean sprouts may belong in all three plans but this page reflects's WW's own lists.
² For dried beans, home-cooked dried beans are free, so are canned beans. Weight Watchers specifically includes adzuki, cannellini, chickpeas, Great Northern, kidney, lupini, navy, pinto and non-fat refried beans but any dried bean is likely also free so long as it's without oil or sugar.
³ For couscous, the couscous must be whole wheat. For pasta, traditional pasta is not "free" but several pastas are, including lentil pasta, pea pasta, quinoa pasta, soy shirataki noodles, soybean pasta, whole-grain and whole-wheat.
⁴ For oatmeal, all versions qualify, steel-cut, rolled, old-fashioned, quick and instant so long as unsweetened.
⁵ For popcorn, the kernels must be air-popped and without oil or sugar.
⁶ For potatoes, specific kinds and forms of potatoes are "free" so long as they're cooked without fat. Weight Watchers specifically mentions these forms: baby, baked, fingerling, frozen, Idaho, new, oven-roasted wedges, mashed, purple, red, white, yellow and Yukon gold.
⁷ For rice, only brown rice is included, not traditional white rice. Weight Watchers mentions these specifically: brown instant rice, quick-cooking brown rice, Thai brown, wild rice, wild rice and brown rice blend.
⁸ For sweet potatoes, the sweet potatoes must be cooked without fat and sugar to qualify. Weight Watchers specifically mentions: baked, canned, Japanese and oven-roasted fries.

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About A Veggie Venture

If you're a first-time visitor and a Weight Watchers dieter on the look-out for new recipes, welcome to A Veggie Venture, where each recipe includes Weight Watchers points and Weight Watchers vegetable recipes are sorted by points and easy to find. You'll also want to check out Kitchen Parade, my food column, where all recipes for all courses are sorted by Weight Watchers points!

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Looking for healthy new ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of super-organized quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables. Join "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg to explore the exciting world of common and not-so-common vegetables, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.

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