How to Eat Healthy at Chick-fil-A
Is Chick-fil-A healthy?
You'll hear mixed thoughts on this for sure. Some claim “Nothing good EVER came out of a drive-thru window!”
And as great as that sounds in theory, we WILL find ourselves in a tight spot.
We'll wake up 20 minutes late for work and miss breakfast. Or we'll have a total of 15 minutes to get our kids from school to baseball practice - and we simply won't have time for our regular meals.
For those situations, it is absolutely critical to plan ahead. I can tell you that as a Tutor with a 12-year old (that plays three sports) and a busy wife that works night shift in the emergency room, I do a lot of business with them!
So today, we're going to talk about making spot-on, healthy meal choices at Chick-fil-A.
And I'm going to share 6 pro-level healthy meal options that will help us stick to our eating plan. (Be sure to read the Bonus Tips section too.)
Let's jump right in!
6 Healthy meal options to eat at Chick-fil-A:
1. Egg White Grill
Hit the alarm clock one too many times? When you're on the run, it's hard to go wrong with the Egg White Grill at 300 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 25 grams of protein.
But with a few slight tweaks, we can make this meal a breakfast go-to!
Pro Tips:
Let's hold the cheese to save 50 calories.
Order extra egg whites on the side to get a shot of filling protein that'll hold you over nicely.
The Egg White Grill pairs nicely with a small Thrive Farmers coffee. Go black or add a couple Chick-fil-A coffee creamers at 15 calories each.
2. 8-Count Grilled Nuggets (or 12!)
At 140 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, and 25 sweet grams of protein, an 8-count grilled nuggets entree is the perfect bite-sized snack on the run!
Feeling extra hungry? Grab 12 for just 210 calories and 38 grams of protein.
Pro Tips:
Holding the sauce will really pay off. The Chick-fil-A Sauce will add 140 extra calories. Instead, let's opt for the 0 calorie Hot Sauce or stick with Ketchup at 25 calories each.
We can also add a Superfood Side Salad and a Medium Unsweetened Iced Tea.
There's also a 4-count Grilled Nuggets on the menu with only 70 calories and 13 grams of protein. What a great, quick boost between meals!
3. Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Rule number 1: When we have the option, always go grilled! Let's look at how Chick-fil-A's Original Chicken Sandwich stacks up to their Grilled Chicken Sandwich.
Original Chicken Sandwich:
440 calories
19 grams of fat
28 grams of protein
Grilled Chicken Sandwich:
310 calories
6 grams of fat
29 grams of protein
Compared to the Original, going grilled will save us 120 calories and 13 grams of fat.
Pro Tips:
Ordering the sandwich without the butter is a quick way to drop 30 calories.
Or just drop the bun altogether to save about 180 calories and 35 total carbs. That puts Chick-fil-A's Grilled Chicken Sandwich without the bun at about 130 calories! Pretty sweet, right?
4. Superfood Side
The Superfood Side is a delicious broccolini and kale blend, tossed in maple vinaigrette dressing, and topped with dried sour cherries with roasted nut blend - making it the perfect companion for any entree or on its own.
With the Superfood Side, we're looking at 150 calories and 3 grams of protein.
Pro Tips:
Feel free to pair this side with nearly any entree!
5. Grilled Market Salad
Salads don't always = healthy. But Chick-fil-A's Grilled Market Salad really hits the spot! We're talking Romain lettuce and baby greens, with blueberries thrown in the mix. All of that topped with sliced grilled chicken breast!
Here are the details:
330 calories
14 grams of fat
27 grams of protein
Pro Tips:
This is a great time to talk about dressing. The Market Salad comes with a Zesty Apple Cider Vinaigrette that comes in at 230 calories. So if we go with the Chili Lime Vinaigrette instead, we save a whopping 170 calories! Plus, we are not sacrificing on taste!
The dressings we'll want to avoid are the Avocado Lime Ranch that will add 310 calories and the creamy salsa at 290 calories.
6. Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap
Typically, I would pass on the Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap's 360 calories, 30 grams of carbs, especially when it is served with the 310 extra calories in the Avocado Lime Ranch dressing.
So let's jump straight to the Pro-Tips on this meal…
Pro Tips:
Swap out the Avocado Lime Ranch dressing for either the Chili Lime Vinaigrette or Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette.
Let's make a mess! At the window, ask for a bowl and a fork! Why? Because we're about to unroll one of the two wraps and eat that one from the bowl like a mini grilled chicken salad!
BONUS TIPS:
We don't want to reach a point of hunger where we're not in the best mindset to make good decisions, but sometimes we can't avoid it! And this is why we need to make rational decisions when we're thinking rationally. And that time is right now!
Download the Chick-fil-A mobile app to your phone. We'll want that handy before we get ravenous! The goal is to plan ahead and avoid making hasty game-time decisions!
Plus, you will be able to easily customize your meals exactly the way you want them, review the total number of calories while you are ordering, and save your favorite meals for later.
Do you want more practical, real-life tips from expert weight-loss coaches that will help you make great decisions when life gets in the way?
Just read our success stories from people just like you that we've help get into the shape of their lives! We get the results we do by finding ways that work for you and your life.