Lower calorie restaurant meals: healthy fast food items

Ed Ou, Associated Press

In 2018, the U.S. implemented a law which changed restaurant menus — instead of just displaying meals, many restaurants (if they had 20 or more locations) were then required to put calorie counts on their menus.

On Tuesday, Tufts University published a study that projected this move will prevent at least 28,000 people from dying from obesity-related cancer cases, per Euronews. The lead author of the study, Mengxi Du, said, “It’s important for us to continue to show consumers, policymakers, and industry how small changes can lead to big benefits.”

Calorie counts on menus can lead consumers to make healthier choices. More people are eating out or getting takeout than they were previously. There are still healthy choices that can be made at restaurants. Here are some healthy options to try at restaurants.

Healthy meals from fast-food restaurants

While home-cooked meals tend to be healthier and have less calories than fast-food meals, here’s a list of some meals you can try. These meals are lower in calories and, when possible, they avoid fried foods and incorporate more vegetables.

Wendy’s

What to order:

• Grilled chicken sandwich.
• Avocado chicken salad.
• Baked potato with sour cream and chives.
• A kids meal.

Chick-fil-A

What to order:

• Grilled chicken sandwich with fruit cup or side salad.
• Grilled chicken nuggets with fruit cup or side salad.
• Spicy southwest salad (use half the dressing).
• Market salad.
• Chicken tortilla soup with a side salad.
• Egg white chicken grill.

McDonald’s

What to order:

• A cheeseburger with apple slices.
• Four chicken McNuggets with apple slices.
• Egg McMuffin.

Taco Bell

What to order:

• Soft taco (fresco style).
• Fiesta veggie burrito.
• Black bean crunch wrap supreme (fresco style).
• Power menu bowl.

Chipotle

What to order:

• Salad with lettuce, any of the salsas, fajita veggies, beans and/or meat and guacamole.
• Bowl with lettuce, half the rice or no rice, fajita veggies, any of the salsas, beans and/or meat and guacamole.
• Tacos with flour tortilla, beans, fajita veggies and any of the salsas.

In-N-Out

What to order:

• Cheeseburger or hamburger.
• Lettuce-wrapped cheeseburger or hamburger.

Cafe Zupas

What to order:

• Nuts about berries salad.
• Mangoberry salad.
• Strawberry harvest salad.
• Thai chicken salad.
• Tomato basil soup.
• Chicken enchilada chili.
• Chickpea and vegetable soup.
• Chicken noodle soup.
• Turkey bacon avocado on ancient grain (you can ask to hold the bacon).

Kneaders

What to order:

• Half a cafe sandwich.
• Turkey bacon avocado salad.
• Turkey cranberry sunflower salad.
• Large green avocado salad.
• Chicken raspberry nut salad.
• Chicken noodle soup.
• White bean chicken chili.
• Beef stew.

Subway

What to order:

• 6-inch ham sub with any vegetable toppings on wheat.
• 6-inch turkey sub with any vegetable toppings on wheat.
• 6-inch cold cut combo with any vegetable toppings on wheat.
• 6-inch vegetable sub on wheat.
• 6-inch rotisserie-chicken sub with any vegetable toppings on wheat.

Healthy meals from chain restaurants

Applebee’s

What to order:

• 6-ounce sirloin with vegetable sides.
• Bourbon street chicken and shrimp (sub potatoes for a vegetable).

LongHorn Steakhouse

What to order:

• Flo’s filet or renegade sirloin with broccoli or green salad or asparagus or strawberry salad or crispy Brussels sprouts.
• LongHorn salmon with broccoli or green salad or asparagus or strawberry salad or crispy Brussels sprouts.
• Parmesan crusted chicken with broccoli or green salad or asparagus or strawberry salad or crispy Brussels sprouts.
• Redrock grilled shrimp with broccoli or green salad or asparagus or strawberry salad or crispy Brussels sprouts.
• Farm fresh field greens with grilled salmon.
• 7-pepper sirloin salad.

Chili’s

What to order:

• Ancho salmon.
• Margarita grilled chicken.
• Classic 6-ounce sirloin with vegetable sides.
• Shrimp house salad.
• Ancho salmon house salad.
• Cup of chili with salad.

Olive Garden

What to order:

• Shrimp scampi.
• Grilled chicken margherita.
• Grilled chicken parmigiana with a side of broccoli.
• Herb-grilled salmon.
• 6-ounce sirloin with a side of broccoli.
• Minestrone soup with house salad.
• Pasta e fagioli soup with house salad.

Cracker Barrel

What to order:

• Smoky southern grilled chicken with vegetable sides.
• Grilled chicken tenders with vegetable sides.
• Grilled sirloin steak with vegetable sides.
• Lemon pepper grilled rainbow trout with vegetable sides.

Texas Roadhouse

What to order:

• Grilled chicken salad.
• Steakhouse filet salad.
• Sirloin with vegetable sides.
• Dallas filet with vegetable sides.
• Steak kabobs.
• Grilled BBQ chicken with vegetable sides.
• Herb crusted chicken with vegetable sides.
• Grilled salmon with vegetable sides.
• Grilled shrimp with vegetable sides.

P.F. Chang’s

What to order:

• Spicy tuna roll.
• California roll.
• Mandarin crunch salad.
• Wonton soup.
• Egg drop soup.
• Hot and sour soup.
• Wagyu steak.
• Chang’s spicy chicken, steamed.
• Pepper steak.
• Beef with broccoli.
• Miso glazed salmon.
• Shrimp with lobster sauce, steamed.
• Kung pao shrimp, steamed.
• Ginger chicken with broccoli.
• Lo mein shrimp.
• Lo mein vegetables.

Cheesecake Factory

What to order:

• Lemon-herb parmesan chicken.
• Spicy shrimp pasta.
• Grilled turkey burger.
• SkinnyLicious chicken soft tacos.
• Tuscan chicken.
• Lemon-garlic shrimp.
• Grilled salmon.
• Tossed green salad.

Red Lobster

What to order:

• Surf and turf with shrimp.
• Live lobster steamed with vegetable sides.
• Sesame-soy salmon bowl.
• Grilled rainbow trout with vegetable sides.