Chipotle: Healthy Options
by She FIt on February 22, 2012
Chip-O-Top-Lay, Chipoodle… oh right, Chipotle!
Chipotle Mexican Grill is a great fresh fast-food mexican chain that allows you to build your own taco, burrito, salad, or burrito bowl. From the looks of it, one would think it would be healthy, but hidden underneath that burrito lays over 1,200 calories! Yep, you heard me right. . . maybe it has to do with the fact that their burritos are bigger than my face. You definitely can’t say that you don’t get your money worth here! ! !
Calories add up fast and you don’t even realize it when you add a little guacamole here, a scoop of sour cream there, a hand full of cheese, and oh wait… don’t forget the lime chips… they are by far God’s gift to mankind! Oh man, I’m hungry! However, Chipotle can be healthy when you load up on all their veggies.
So how do you eat healthy at Chipotle?
For one, don’t eat the entire Chipotle meal. Portions these days have gotten ridiculous… especially at Chipotle! Check out this older post on Visualizing Portion Control and then go compare your burrito… you might understand me then.
For those of you who are like me and “accidently” end up eating the whole meal without realizing it, cut your meal in half and bag it up before you even begin to eat. This way you aren’t mindlessly eating till it’s gone… and having to roll yourself out of the store 
For a burrito or taco, skip out on the guacamole, sour cream, and cheese. . . this saves you nearly 400 calories. If you want to save an extra 300 calories, opt out on the burrito and go for the burrito bowl- without the tortilla
Just because you are skipping out on the tortilla, doesn’t mean you should add on extra rice and beans. Fill up your bowl with veggies and ask for lite rice and black beans.
And for those of you that want to be extremely good, go all the way for a salad. These are my favorite because the sauteed bell peppers and onions is a perfect addition to a tasty meal. Add in tomatoes and corn and you are set!
TOSS THE SALAD DRESSING- 260 calorie, 25g of fat!
My go to Chipotle meal includes a salad with extra Lettuce, lite Black Beans (for protein), extra Fajita Veggies, Fresh Tomato Salsa, Mild Salsa, and Corn Salsa and one Soft Corn Tortilla on the side = 305 Calories, 3.5g Fat, 12g Protein
7 Weight Watchers Points Plus Points
While Chipotle might have 1,200 burritos, there are ways around it. So make sure you have a plan before heading into the store.
This handy dandy Chipotle Calculator is great to building your own meal. Make sure to use this the next time you head out to Chipotle.
Question: What is your favorite combo meal at Chipotle?
Adios Amigos!
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Chipotle Mexican Grill,
Chipotle Nutrition,
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low fat,
Mexican Food,
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{ 19 comments }
Thanks a million for posting this calculator! I was happy to see my usual is only 500 calories. I always thought it was more.
Cool calculator
Thanks!
Here is my favorite combo: Rice, black beans, chicken, tomato, corn, hot sauce, guacamole!! NO burrito. I haven’t had it in a long time, now I want it!
unfortunately, i don’t have a chipotle around me ..which may be a good thing because i can do some major damage at mexican restaurants.. beans and cheese make me happy
Anything Tex-Mex (or Mexican) is great, so I am not sure I can pick my favorite. I am not fortunate enough to have a Chipotle around here though. Your advice is good no matter what restaurant you go to though. I wish I could remember to do that every time I go out to eat.
I will have to admit, you made me hungry when I read your title. I wasn’t thinking about the restaurant though, I was thinking about the smoked Jalapeño pepper. Mmm!
I love the Chipotle salad bowl. And I have been craving one in forever (and reading about it constantly…). I love the calculator. Thanks so much for the link!
Oh my gosh! I’ve been staying away from Chipotle because I didn’t know what to order. Thanks for this!
I just recently discovered Chipotle and loved it. I went with the Burrito Bowl. I saved calories by 1. eating lettuce in place of the tortilla shell, skipped sour cream and went light on the cheese. I find that if I fill up on veggies (and just a moderate serving of guac) I do pretty well. Too funny a “Chipotle Calculator” exists!
I love restaurants where you can build your own meal! I wish there was a Chipotle near me!
I swear there is crack in Chipotle it is soo good! However if I do eat it, its usually on a day I don’t eat anything else. I also get a veggie bowl- which makes me feel better about ALL the food I am eating. Another tip is to bring a friend and split a meal
Thanks for the great tips!! I’ve never eaten there before, but I think this definitely applies to other similar places and LOVE the calculator!
1200 for the burrito! WOW! Glad you shared that!
Thaks for coming to my site! I absolutely love your site. The place I was at was Brookings OR. Want to see more pics lol actually goofy pics taken there feel free to go to my other blog that I started recently that is not food related. http://www.whattalkingme.blogspot.com.
I used to do alot of Bikram Yoga now I know why I am always so hungry after that class!
Chipotle is so good. Like, so, so SO good…I love it a little too much. Unfortunately, my typical combo there is not exactly light. In fact, I posted about it not that long ago! Thanks for posting that calculator – it will help me in the future!
hey! i just found your blog and i absolutely love reading it. all of your info is extremely helpful, especially about chioptle. i am going to continue following your blog. i just made my own food blog but it is not nearly as good as your, lemme know what you think about mine!!
jenna
Just recently found your site via Pinterest and love it! I also am a HUGE Chipotle fan and have kept my distance from it since I joined WW nearly two months ago. I used to get the bowl w/ the normal amount of rice and beans, plus chicken, fajita veggies, tomatoes, corn, lettuce, sour cream and cheese (and sometimes guac when I felt like having a treat)! Not even going to put that meal in the calculator because I won’t be eating like that again! I can’t imagine how many points that would be (and I don’t want to!).
Quick question…the 7 points you calculated for your salad…is that for the whole thing? I know you mentioned dividing the portions in half in the beginning of the post, so I just wanted to clarify. Thanks!
Love Chipolte, thanks so much for the link, so helpful!! I always get the salad but had no idea the salad dressing was so bad……definitely will skip that from now on. Thanks!!
Say WHAT?! The salad dressing has 260 kcals! Insane.. definitely not ordering that again.
Jenny- The 7 weight watchers points plus is for the entire salad and tortilla! Eat the whole thing
Sarah, I was completely shocked when I first realized how much Chipotle’s salad dressing was costing me… that is nearly what the entire salad is! Not all Vinaigrette Dressings are created equal