Mexican restaurants are a popular choice for dining out, offering a vibrant array of flavors and ingredients. However, navigating the menu with health and weight loss goals in mind can be challenging. Many Mexican dishes are known for their high calorie counts, excessive sodium content, and generous amounts of fat. While enjoying these meals occasionally is perfectly acceptable, frequent dining at Mexican restaurants requires a mindful approach to make healthier choices.
Smart Strategies for Healthier Dining
Navigating restaurant menus can be tricky. Not only can the sheer number of options be overwhelming, but narrowing down selections that support your health and weight loss goals can feel downright impossible. While the options on a menu may not meet your needs exactly, there are many modifications you can make to allow your meal to better suit your goals. Asking for specific preparations, making swaps, and ordering off-menu meals are just some ways to tailor your meal. To help you navigate the menu at your favorite Mexican restaurant, consider these tips and tricks. Although every restaurant has its own unique items and various preparations for traditional meals, these suggestions can work for a wide variety of menu offerings.
Skip the Chips
I’m a dietitian, and here’s what I order at a Mexican restaurant. I know, I’m no fun, but skipping the chips could save you hundreds of empty calories. Tortilla chips pack carbs, fat, and salt, and provide little nutritional value in return. If you are able to enjoy just a few chips while you wait for your meal, this won’t make a huge dent in your calories. Next time, ask your server not to bring the chips. This keeps you from having to rely on willpower to only have a couple. If you can’t wait until your meal arrives to eat, order a small salad and use salsa as your dressing.
Opt for Chicken Tortilla Soup
While a bowl of soup may not sound appetizing year-round, chicken tortilla soup is often one of the healthiest menu items at a Mexican restaurant. Traditionally made with a broth base, tomato, onion, garlic, and chiles, tortilla soup is generally much lower in fat and calories than most other menu offerings. Not to mention, the shredded chicken adds a protein boost to keep you full. To round out this option even more, choose a variety that includes beans, or ask for a side of beans to add to the soup to create a heartier meal. The only shortcoming of the soup is the high sodium content. To balance this, skip the salty chips and watch your salt intake for the rest of the day.
Choose Red or Green Enchilada Sauce
We can all admit that a creamy, cheesy sauce adds loads of flavor to a meal, but this flavor comes along with plenty of calories, fat, saturated fat, and sodium. If you enjoy chicken enchiladas for your meal, which can be a reasonable selection, skip the cheese and sour cream sauces in favor of a red or green enchilada sauce. This can drastically lower calories while packing plenty of flavor.
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Avoid Fried Foods
Not only does this include chips, but other popular Mexican menu items like fried tacos, chimichangas, taco shells, and flautas. Instead of fried options, look for those that are grilled, pan-cooked, or allow you to build your own meal.
Embrace Fresh Ingredients
That diet you vowed to follow in January may be long forgotten by now. If not, good for you! For others, keeping things like sugar in moderation is a must if eating out with diabetes or similar conditions. Most people don’t ordinarily think of Mexican as healthy because, sure, those foods fried or covered in cheese or creamy sauces taste sinfully good. But think about all of the fresh vegetables and fruit. When a group of friends tries to figure out where they can meet up for dinner that will work for the vegetarian in the bunch, Mexican restaurants offer some of the more appealing options for everyone. You can eat healthy without feeling like you’re eating cardboard because Mexican food is packed with flavor! Your nutritionist would be proud of you for ordering the Veggie Fajitas with sautéed zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, and mushroom.
Grilled Chicken Dishes
The experts say the healthiest Mexican menu options include grilled chicken dishes, which we offer in our tacos, burritos, enchiladas, grilled chimi, la tapatia, Pollo Jalisco, and more. The shredded chicken in our Flautas comes sautéed with bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions. The Carne Asada is another excellent entrée choice including grilled meats.
Opt for Black Beans
Black beans work great for dieters, low in fat, high in protein, and provide plenty of fiber. Pinto beans and grilled vegetables also work great as a substitute for refried beans or white rice.
Choose Corn Tortillas
Corn tortillas contain fewer carbs and calories than wheat tortillas.
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Moderation is Key
You’ll want to enjoy other foods in moderation, including cheese, chips, sour cream, and nachos. Guacamole adds a similar creaminess to cheese and sour cream but is better for you. Pico de gallo may be available as a substitute for sour cream or melted cheese. You can also control portion sizes and take any part of your meal that you don’t finish to save for leftovers. Remember that beer carbs vary from brand to brand, so choose wisely. Ask your bartender to substitute a piece of fruit in place of sugar and choose tequila on the rocks if you want to avoid the sweets. The key to how to eat healthy at a Mexican restaurant involves following smart guidelines and indulging in moderation.
Exploring Healthier Menu Options
Who doesn't enjoy Mexican food? Tacos, chiles, avocados, flautas, enchiladas, etc. Every bite is different because to the flavors and ingredients. There are a few dishes that are typically seen as healthier than others when dining at a Mexican restaurant. These tacos are made with marinated pork and pineapple, which is a healthy and flavorful combination. Beans are a great source of fiber and protein, and they can be a healthy alternative to meat. It's also important to keep in mind that traditional Mexican food frequently contains a lot of sodium, so it's a good idea to watch how much salt you eat. Please be aware that restaurant portions are very enormous, particularly during dinner.
Beyond the Obvious: Unmasking Hidden Calories
Whether you're dining out at your favorite locally owned Mexican spot or you're headed to a large chain where you can reliably order the same enchilada-beans-and-rice combo every single time, you probably expect Mexican food to be at least moderately healthy, right? Beans are generally considered good for you, as is rice. However, while there are a handful of healthy items on many Mexican restaurant menus, you might just be surprised at what's lurking within some of the menu items that seem, on first consideration, nutritiously sound. In reality, they're doing less for your health than you might like.
Fajitas: A Sizzlingly Smart Choice
They're a Mexican restaurant classic. Everyone in the building turns their head when they hear the sizzling pan making its way through the room - and, thankfully, this is one of the menu items that are typically a safe bet. This is particularly true if you're trying to limit the amount of carbs and fat you're eating while also prioritizing lean meats and vegetables. Curious about what difference it makes ordering the fajitas instead of another classic, like a burrito? Consider On the Border's classic fajitas selections; you can get an order of fajitas that contains as little 240 calories, or as few as 11 grams of carbs, and more than 40 grams of protein in a serving.
Chimichangas: Proceed with Caution
Want to make an already potentially unhealthy burrito even less healthy? Deep fry it. This, of course, will leave you with the chimichanga. Unfortunately, anytime you deep fry something, you're going to be adding excess calories and fat, and fried foods in general can cause bodily inflammation, damaging your gut and heart health.
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Tortilla Tactics: Corn vs. Flour vs. Wheat
Whether you're ordering enchiladas, tacos, or anything else, if you have a choice between flour and corn tortillas, opt for the latter. Regional chain Café Rio offers not just flour and corn tortillas, but also wheat tortillas - so how do they stack up against one another? A six-inch flour tortilla at the chain contains 170 calories and 5 grams of fat. A six-inch wheat tortilla contains 190 calories and 7 grams of fat. That said, if you have specific health goals in mind - like watching your caloric intake versus your sodium intake, or vice-versa - you'll want to examine your particular restaurant's nutritional details.
Empanadas: Another Fried Foe
Like chimichangas, empanadas are one of those fried foods that you really are going to want to avoid when dining out at Mexican restaurants, if you're trying to reduce how much fat, calories, and sodium you consume. An order of empanadas at the chain comes with at least 1,110 calories, plus 70 grams of fat, including 24 grams of saturated fat and 2 grams of trans fat. Meanwhile, they pack in at least 2,120 milligrams of sodium. The trans fat is of particular note. You'll find that not a lot of foods anymore come with trans fat, given the widespread adoption of the belief that these are the overall worst fats for your health; however, they still pop up in some foods, where they can actively raise your bad cholesterol while lowering your good cholesterol.
Tacos: A Customizable Canvas
Tacos in general are a good idea when dining out at a Mexican restaurant, and for several reasons. They're very versatile, for one, so you can mix and match toppings to create the healthiest option (by, for instance, asking for corn shells instead of flour shells, and lean meats instead of ground beef or steak). Tacos al pastor in particular manage to squeeze in a lot of flavor without sacrificing your health.
Burritos: Size Matters (and So Does the Sauce)
We've already given burritos a bit of flack for their less-than-ideal spot among the least-healthy Mexican chain menu items, and for good reason. Burritos often come swathed in a giant flour tortilla. Restaurants seem to take a bigger-is-better approach, with some doling out burritos as big as a baby. Sometimes, burritos are also covered in a creamy, fatty, salty sauce. This is the case whether you're looking at a sit-down chain or a fast-casual chain like Chipotle. For Chipotle, a chicken burrito with brown rice, fajita veggies, and cheese clocks in at 840 calories, 92 grams of carbohydrates, and 30 grams of fat. Add on another 320 calories if you want to double-wrap that burrito.
Beans: Black vs. Refried
A high-protein and high-fiber food, black or pinto beans are one of your best side dish options at a Mexican restaurant. At Taco Bueno, the black beans are 170 calories per serving, and the lowest side dish option on the menu in terms of fat, with a nice 0 grams. The one thing you might want to watch out for when ordering beans at a Mexican restaurant is sodium content, if that's a concern for you. The refried beans are an unfortunate pitfall. If you compare the black beans and refried beans at Abuelo's, you'll see that the black beans have 140 calories compared to the refried beans' 260 calories; the black beans have 3 grams of fat compared to the refried beans' 8 grams. The refried beans also contain the dreaded trans fat while the regular black beans do not. Further, the black beans contain 380 milligrams of sodium compared to the refried beans' 640 milligrams, and the black beans contain 21 grams of carbohydrates compared to the refried beans' 35 grams. The only area in which the black beans fall short of the refried beans is when it comes to sugar.
Rice: Spanish, Mexican, or Brown?
Another smart side dish choice that you'll find on many menus is Mexican or Spanish rice. What's the difference? Spanish rice traditionally contains saffron, while Mexican rice relies on cumin, but they both might include added vegetables like tomato and peppers, which introduce further health benefits to this already low-calorie, generally healthful side. That said, if the restaurant offers brown rice, you might opt for it instead, as it'll have more fiber and protein than the white rice used in Spanish and Mexican rice dishes. At Abuelo's, the Mexican rice is one of the lower-calorie, lower-fat side options, with 110 calories compared to the 260 calories you'll find in the refried beans, and 3.5 grams of fat as compared to the 8 grams of fat also in the refried beans.
Taco Salads: Deceptive Dishes
Taco salads - and really restaurant salads in general - are one of those foods that can seem healthy at first glance, but when you dig deep into the nutrition facts, you may just find some information that you really don't like. For example, if your taco salad comes with a creamy ranch or similar dressing, that's going to add calories and fat. Taco salads also often come served in a deep-fried tortilla bowl, which further complicates things. They might likewise be topped with a variety of sneaky, fatty, salty toppings like extra cheese, tortilla strips, or sour cream - all the while being massive. Taco Bueno offers a variety of salads and bowls, but the taco salads stand apart as some of the higher-calorie, higher-fat, and definitely higher-sodium options.
Soups: A Surprisingly Savvy Selection
You might not think of soup when you're going out to get Mexican food, but don't sleep on the menu's soup offerings - they may just surprise you. Broth-based soups like tortilla soup can provide protein, fiber, and healthy fats, while keeping things a little lower in overall fat and calories. Taco Palenque serves a variety of soups, the large majority of which are under 500 calories per serving. For example, the chain's sopa de fideo, which is basically like a tomato and noodle soup, contains just 270 calories for a large bowl, and only 5 grams of fat. That said, that particular soup is high in sodium, so if you were watching your sodium in particular, you might choose the chain's menudo, which has 1,140 milligrams of sodium per small serving.
Queso: A Cautionary Tale
No one wants to hear it, but it must be said. The queso, which you eagerly await, mouth watering as soon as you sit down and the server slides a bowl of tortilla chips in front of you. The queso, which you can easily scarf down before you even get your margarita … well, it isn't exactly chockfull of health benefits. At Chipotle, just a small side of queso contains 240 calories and 18 grams of fat, before you even begin eating any chips (which come with 540 calories and 25 grams of fat, for a standard serving). At Taco Bueno, the small chips with queso contains 435 calories, 23.4 grams of fat, and 642 milligrams of sodium.
Guacamole: A Healthier Dip
While guacamole can contain 180 calories in just a half-cup, it's still filled with healthful fats and nutrients from the avocados that can make this appetizer and dip a rewarding part of your meal. It's the chips that often ruin everything. Restaurant tortilla chips - which are extremely easy to eat in excess - can add hundreds of calories and lots of extra fat to your meal. If you're not sure just how much your chips are impacting your guac-and-chips habit, consider that a standard serving of chips at Chipotle is 540 calories.
Nachos: A Nutritional Minefield
If you must eat tortilla chips (which - hey - we all deserve a treat every now and then, and these chips could very well be a part of your overall balanced diet), maybe just don't go for tortilla chips weighed down by a plethora of cheese, creamy sauces, and salty accompaniments, aka nachos. The On the Border stacked nachos, for instance, come with 2,000 calories (so potentially enough to hold you over for the entire day), plus 127 grams of fat, 1 gram of trans fat, and a truly frightening 3,810 milligrams of sodium. Similarly, at Abuelo's, the nachos can have up to 2,190 calories, depending on the protein you pick, and up to 2,820 milligrams of sodium. Abuelo's nachos likewise contain trans fat. At Taco Bueno, the situation is slightly better, but not by much.
Flautas: The Least of the Fried Evils
Yep, it's another deep-fried Mexican food. However, flautas get a technical "healthiest" ranking because, out of all the various deep-fried Mexican foods you could order, flautas are your best option, at least compared to empanadas and certainly chimichangas. Flautas are basically a rolled taco, filled with chicken or other meat, then deep-fried. At On the Border, you can grab an order of chicken flautas for 610 calories and 1,360 milligrams of sodium. While, again, not perfect, that's far better than the 2,150 milligrams of sodium that you'll find in the chain's chimichangas. Meanwhile, at Taco Palenque, you can get a full flautas meal, with rice and refried beans included, for just 850 calories and 1,800 milligrams of sodium.
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