Healthiest Foods At Chick-fil-A And The Worst
Chick-fil-A nutrition: healthiest vs unhealthiest meals
On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, I’m sharing the healthiest foods at Chick-fil-A and the worst.
Note: the video from this post was filmed back in 2012, however I’ve attempted to update the information based on updates Chick-fil-A has made to their menu. For the most up to date foods, look for meals marked 2019.Â
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For the last three fast food editions of Food Wars, I’ve been analyzing the most famous and frequented fast food restaurants.
This fast food journey has been surprising
Many of the so called “healthier” fast food restaurants have been offering some very unhealthy options, while the fast food restaurants typically branded as “evil”, had some healthier options.
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So lets continue our journey to find you the healthiest fast food restaurants, when you are on the go, and have no other alternatives.
To date, we’ve talked about the healthiest foods at:
Today, we’re analyzing the healthiest foods at Chick-fil-A
Is Chick-fil-A as healthy as everyone says it is?
Lets find out.
I analyzed the ingredients and nutrition information on the Chick-fil-A website.
So I have to admit, when I looked at the ingredients, I was a little bit surprised at some of the ingredients being used at Chick-fil-A.
The main ingredient that surprised me was soybean oil.
Chick-fil-a seems to be using soybean oil to cook a lot of their food.
They’re also using MSG in some of the food.
Also, if you look at the seasonings they’re using to coat the chicken, there are some pretty questionable ingredients as well.
But, we have to find healthier options, so lets check out the best of the best.
Healthiest foods at Chick-fil-A
If you’re eating at Chick-fil-A, and you’re looking for the healthiest options, go with the following.
2019 nutrition facts: grilled market salad with grilled chicken filet, light Italian dressing, and bottle of water
- Calories: 330
- Protein: 29g (35% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 26g (29% of calories)
- Fat: 13g (37% of calories)
- Sodium: 590mg
But if you want a little bit more carbohydrates in your diet, or you feel like salads just don’t fill you up, go with this healthier sandwich alternative.
2019: Grilled chicken sandwich with side salad, light Italian dressing, and bottled water
Here are the nutrition facts for this Chick-fil-A meal.
- Calories: 515
- Protein: 35g (27% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 57g (44% of calories)
- Fat: 17g (30% of calories)
- Sodium: 1350mg
Note: the sodium is high for this meal, however based on the macronutrient percentages, this is another fairly balanced Chick-fil-A meal to have.
2019: 12 grilled chicken nuggets with side salad, light Italian dressing and bottled water (no dipping sauce)
Here are the nutrition facts for this Chick-fil-A meal.
- Calories: 355
- Protein: 37g (42% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 18g (20% of calories)
- Fat: 15g (38% of calories)
- Sodium: 2100mg
Note: the sodium is very high for this meal, however based on the macronutrient percentages, this is a very balanced Chick-fil-A meal.
What about the Chick-fil-A breaded chicken sandwiches?
Well the breaded chicken sandwich adds approximately an extra:
- 150 calories to the sandwich
- 12 grams of fat to the sandwich
So it’s healthier to go with the grilled chicken sandwiches.
What about the Chick-fil-A salad dressings?
Just because the salad dressing says fat free, it does not mean it’s healthy.
For example:
- fat free honey mustard salad dressing: 19 grams of sugar
- reduced fat berry balsamic vinegar: 16 grams of sugar
Don’t just read the label on the front of the salad dressing.
You must look at the ingredients and the nutrition facts label on the back of the salad dressing.
Go with the light Italian dressing.
Worst foods at Chick-fil-A
So what about the worst of the worst foods at Chick-fil-A?
Well if you’ve read our other Fast Food Food Wars posts, I told you Wendy’s had the best of the best so far, but they also offered the worst of the worst.
So let’s see what Chick-fil-A offers.
The worst food you can order at Chick-fil-A would be the:
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- spicy chicken sandwich deluxe
- large waffle potato fries
- large peach milkshake
Spicy chicken sandwich deluxe with large waffle potato fries, large peach milkshake
Here are the nutrition facts for this Chick-fil-A meal.
- Calories: 1850
- Protein: 56g (12% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 241g (52% of calories)
- 129g of sugar
- Fat: 76g (37% of calories)
- Sodium: 2710mg
Note: a lot of the calories and carbohydrates are coming from the peach milkshake.
Let me ask you this.
If you had to guess what was healthier, a peach milkshake or a cookies and cream milkshake, what would you say?
Most people would probably think the peach milkshake.
Wrong.
Check out the difference.
Nutrition facts: large peach milkshake vs large cookies and cream milkshake:
- Peach milkshake calories: 850
- Peach milkshake carbohydrates: 141g
- Cookies and cream milkshake calories: 780
- Cookies and cream milkshake carbohydrates: 111g
Once again, you can’t just let the name of the food sway you into thinking it’s healthier for you.
Always look at the ingredients list and the nutrition information.
Here’s another one for you.
What do you think is worse for you: Chick-fil-A lemonade or Coca Cola?
Most people would say coca cola.
Check this out.
- Large Chick-fil-A lemonade: 300 calories and 78 grams of sugar.
- Large Coca-Cola: 310 calories and 86 grams of carbohydrates.
Sure the calories and sugar in Coca-Cola are higher, but 300 calories and 78 grams of carbohydrates in lemonade, seriously?
So there you have it
This was another example of a fast food restaurant that is branded as being a healthier alternative.
Although there were healthier alternatives available, when you have to eat out, there were also some foods that you need to stay away from.
If you enjoyed this post on the healthiest foods at Chick-fil-A and the worst, click the social media buttons to share it with your friends.
People need to be more aware of the nutrition information when they go to these fast food restaurants.
For example, they may order the lemonade for their kids, because they think it is a healthier alternative.
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Also, subscribe to our Live Lean TV YouTube channel and leave a comment below to let me know if there’s anything else you want to see on an upcoming episode of Food Wars.
I have a long list of topics to cover, but I always love your feedback and comments.
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I’ll be back tomorrow with another #LLTV Q&A episode.
See you then.
Questions For You:
- What are your go-to fast food restaurants when you’re traveling?
- Do you have a favorite healthier fast food option?
Be sure to share your answers in the comment section below.
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Brad Gouthro is the founder of Live Lean TV, a media company focused on helping men and women “Live Lean” 365 days a year. Brad’s programs and content have helped millions of people all over the world learn how to get in shape, and more importantly, sustain it for life.
I love that you do these! We could tell me to eat fruit and veggies all day long but at the end of the day you are going to eat out! So at least having a plan for it is great!
ahhh i love Chick Fil A it is seriously my favorite fast food restaurant!
And yes, I’m 100% Canadian! 🙂
Brad, totally! Smoothie shops are crazy high in sugar – I try to pick healthier options and add protein to help balance the fruit sugars.
Exactly!! Great call with adding protein for the hormonal balance benefits.
I like to stick to places like smoothie shops, but sometimes I have chicken wraps at Tim Hortons, Wendys, or even McDonalds (hmmm, probably not the best place!). Love your movies!
Thanks Charissa…with the mention of Tim Hortons, I take it you’re a Canadian!! Smoothie shops can actually be sugar in disguise as well! Be careful. Surprisin