The Best Soft Food Diet Ideas

This article has been medically reviewed by Dr Deborah Brunt: BHB, MBCNB, MHSC, FRNZCGP, ASLM, IBLM.

Whether you have just had Gastric Bypass Surgery or another type of bariatric surgery that requires a soft food menu, these soft food diet ideas and tips will be super helpful to ensure you get the best nutrition you can during your bariatric journey.

A Gastric bypass is a major operation and it is going to take time for your pouch to heal following bariatric surgery, hence the need to eat soft foods for some time! I hope you find this guide super helpful and useful in your gastric bypass journey.

The soft food diet is not the same as the liver shrinking diet. One is a diet before gastric bypass surgery whereas the soft food diet is for after weight loss surgery.

What Is a Soft Food Diet?

A soft food diet is basically a diet that consists of foods that are easy to chew and swallow. These types of foods will help you to avoid putting any pressure on your newly stitched-up stomach pouch after stomach surgery. The last thing you want to do is aggravate an injury!

When it comes to determining which foods are classed as “soft,” there are a few tried-and-true guidelines. You should be able to easily mush the food with a fork. it should not need much chewing. You should avoid items with seeds and skins, as well as raw veggies, firm fruits, and tough meats. 

You may be worried that a soft food diet means a bland diet , but that is not the case at all! There are so many different and delicious soft food recipes you can enjoy.

Foods to Eat on a Soft Food Diet

Below is a list of some soft foods that you can eat on your new diet:

• Mashed potato or sweet potato
• Yoghurt
• Pudding
• Apple sauce
• Canned fruit
• Soft cheese
• Soft cooked vegetables
• Semi-solid soup 
• Soft fruits you can mash such as bananas
• Poached egg or egg whites
• Pasta, Noodles, White Rice 

Foods to Avoid on a Soft Food Diet

There are also a few foods that you will want to avoid whilst on your soft food diet:

• Chips, popcorn
• Nuts
• Bacon
• Fruits with fruit skins
• Popcorn
• Chunky peanut butter
• Seeds
• Raw vegetables
• Sausage
• Chocolate
• Bread
• Fried Foods

It’s difficult to chew and swallow, so avoid these foods for the time being.

When to Move Onto a Soft Food Diet Menu?

Following Gastric Bypass surgery a patient can move onto a Soft Food diet Menu at around 5-6 weeks post op.

Finding soft food diet ideas and recipes can be tricky but have no fear. We have a soft food diet list below to help you create your soft food diet menu during this stage of eating. The last thing you want is to eat slider foods that cause you to regain weight!

So if you’re wanting a list of foods that allowed on a soft food diet then please take a look at the list I’ve created below.

Soft Food Diet Ideas

Here are some soft foods to eat on the soft food stage following gastric bypass:

• Broiled, roasted, baked, or stewed tender lean beef – mashed soft.
• Mutton, lamb, veal, chicken, turkey, liver, ham, white fish, tuna, salmon – mashed soft.
• Smooth peanut butter
• Eggs
• Mashed beans if tolerated
• Cottage Cheese
• Yoghurt
• Sugar Free Jelly or Jello
• Soups
• Custard
• Tinned Fruit such as peaches/ mashed (not in syrup)
• Mashed sweet potato

Tips for Following a Soft Food Diet After Surgery

Here are my tips for the following the soft food diet after surgery. All types of bariatric surgery including gastric bypass,

Keep the texture of your soft food mashed and soft. Your food just look like fork mashed baby food.

Use food you can eat with just a fork or spoon. If you need to cut your food with a knife, then it is not soft enough to eat. You should be eating foods that can slip into your pouch comfortably.

Lumps are now allowed! Lumps can cause pain, so make sure your soft foods are mashed well.

Soft Foods Still Need to Be Chewed

Don’t be mistaken in thinking you can swallow your soft food quickly because it is soft. It is important to chew all your food well and to take your time.

Make sure you chew repeatedly over and over and that you take breaks between mouthfuls. Eating too much too soon can cause pain in your stomach and that does not feel great!

You might want to put your fork or spoon down as you chew and eat mindfully so you don’t digest your soft foods too quickly.

How Often to Eat Soft Foods on the Soft Food Diet Stage?

You will find following bariatric surgery that you need to eat small meals more regular. You can reduce the frequency of your soft food meals down to 3 or 5 times a day plus one or two snack meals.

Remember, the portion sizes will be tiny and you will need to avoid eating in between meals. Creating a soft food diet menu or plan can really help you to get through this stage of your gastric bypass recovery successfully.

Cold Soft Foods and Eating Regular

Try to establish a routine for having three meals a day, even if you are not hungry initially at these times. This will help you to lose weight in the long term.

You may want to store cold soft foods in the fridge to make food prep easy. You don’t want to be making meals 6 times a day so preparing your soft food menu in advance can help. You might want some cold fruit which you can mash or some boiled eggs which are stored int he fridge and ready to go!

Drinking After Gastric Bypass Surgery

Continue to separate your drinks from your meals while following your soft food diet menu.

Drinking at the same time as eating food can fill the pouch and cause pain. It may also wash food down and make space for more food, defeating the purpose of a pouch.

Soft Foods You Can Cook for Dinner

Cook soft meals such as such as scrambled eggs, baked beans, minced meat, cottage pie, shepherds pie, bolognese sauce, fish in sauce/fish pie or Soft ready meals.

Fresh home cooked meals are best as you can control the amounts of sugar and fat in your foods and they will be less processed, however some people are unwell during this stage of the diet or may have chronic health conditions so make sure you check the labels if you’r going for packaged soft foods.

Soft Food Diet Snacks

f you fancy a mid – morning snack or a mid-afternoon snack, then remember to keep these foods soft too, harder foods are a no.

Good snack ideas following gastric bypass include  Low fat diet yoghurts, fromage frais, stewed or soft tinned fruit, cottage cheese, sugar-free mousse or custard and low fat rice pudding.

If you’re unable to tolerate a food and are sick, take a day off and go back to puree to give your stomach a chance to recover. This is super important, especially if your pouch becomes inflamed. It will need to rest and then you can start again.

Good luck with the soft foods diet stage of your gastric bypass. Before you know it you will be onto the solid foods stage and able to experiment even more as your weight loss journey continues.