The recipes in this section are general-interest cooking content, not medical advice. Bariatric eating stages and portions are set by your surgical team: follow their guidance first. See asmbs.org and our medical disclaimer.
After bariatric surgery, what you eat changes in stages, and the timing and specifics of those stages come from your surgical team, not from a website. Programs differ, and they differ for good reasons. This section is a cooking resource, not a plan to follow.
What we can help with is the practical part: how to make food that is high in protein, soft or smooth when it needs to be, actually flavorful at small volumes, and worth cooking when you are cooking for one.
What is in this section
Recipes are grouped by texture and by protein, because those are the two things most people are working with.
By texture: smooth and pureed, soft, and regular texture. We label the texture of every recipe and leave the decision about what is appropriate for you to you and your team.
By protein: eggs and dairy, chicken and turkey, fish and seafood, beans and legumes, and protein forward desserts. There are also meal prep and cook for one groups, since small portions and leftovers are a genuine daily problem after surgery.
Why flavor gets its own attention here
Small portions mean every bite has to carry more. Bland food is the most common complaint in the early months and it is a solvable one. Acid, herbs, spice, texture contrast and cooking method do more at small volumes than seasoning quantity does. Almost every recipe here has a note about that.
How we write these
We describe food, texture and technique. We do not say a recipe is safe for a particular stage, we do not set portion sizes, and we do not give timelines. Those are clinical decisions and they belong to your program. Nutrition values come from the USDA FoodData Central database, calculated from the ingredients.
The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery is the professional body in this field and publishes patient resources at asmbs.org.
Where to start
Egg based recipes and blended soups are the most forgiving things on this page, and both scale down to a single serving without falling apart.
Full collection: Bariatric Recipes: Cooking by Texture, Protein First, the pillar page every new recipe group gets linked into as it goes live.
All bariatric-friendly recipes
- Bariatric Cottage Cheese
- Bariatric Turkey Meatballs
- Bariatric Ricotta Custard
- Bariatric Protein Shake
- Bariatric Protein Pudding
- Bariatric Protein Oats
- Bariatric Poached Cod
- Bariatric Egg Bites
- Bariatric Braised Tofu
- Bariatric Chicken Soup
- Gastric Bypass Recipes
- Printable Recipe Collection
Browse the full archive: Bariatric recipes category.