The best healthy lunches at fast-casual chains, ranked by nutritional data

The best healthy lunches at fast-casual chains, ranked by nutritional data

When you're caught up in a busy workday, a quick and healthy lunch from a nearby fast-casual salad or bowl chain can be a lifesaver.

Unlike traditional fast food chains, fast-casual restaurants offer consumers freshly prepared, higher-quality food. They operate in an informal setting, with counter service to keep things speedy for the nine-to-five crowd. While the salads and sandwiches offered at these restaurants often appear healthy on the surface, hidden ingredients and add-ons can make for surprising nutrition facts.

Hers chose popular menu items from the four largest fast-casual restaurants in the country, and, from there, focused on five nutritional data points to rank a list of 16 from healthiest to unhealthiest:

• Calories: Calories represent the energy our bodies derive from the food and drinks we consume. However, research shows that consuming excess calories—particularly calories from carbohydrates and fat—causes weight gain. While calorie counting isn’t the key to weight loss, being aware of your general consumption can be helpful.
• Saturated Fat: Your body relies on healthy, unsaturated fats from sources like avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil to thrive. High saturated fat consumption, however, is considered unhealthy and is linked to heart disease and obesity. While saturated fat from butter, cheese, red meat, and more is safe to consume in moderation, it shouldn’t be the central part of your diet.
• Sodium: Excess dietary sodium has been linked to elevated blood pressure and poor cardiovascular health. Restaurant meals typically have more salt than home-cooked meals, so it’s important to be aware of your intake when eating out.
• Sugar: Added sugar is a proven contributor to weight gain and obesity. While they often taste savory, salad dressings are known to contain sugar to enhance the flavor.
• Protein is essential for producing vitamins, hormones, and enzymes throughout the body. A protein-rich diet may also help with weight management. Making sure your lunchtime meal has enough protein will ensure you stay full and avoid snacking throughout the afternoon.

Key Findings

• Sweetgreen and Cava are the three healthiest options for fast-casual lunches when you’re on the go. They each have low sodium, sugar, and saturated fat levels while still containing over 20 grams of protein.
• The top five healthiest lunches were all salads or bowls. Other meals, like pita wraps and sandwiches, ranked lower on this list because they contain added calories and sodium from bread or tortillas.
• Chipotle’s meals were the highest in calories, primarily because they contained calorie-dense ingredients like cheese and tortillas. When making a custom bowl or burrito, consider prioritizing vegetables and protein.
• All of the restaurants on our list offer healthy and unhealthy options. That means you have plenty of choices, regardless of where you choose to grab lunch.

Ready to order your weekday lunch with confidence? This list is ranked based on the selected data points and methodology below.

Popular Fast-Casual Lunches Ranked From Most to Least Healthy

1. Sweetgreen Kale Caesar
2. Sweetgreen Shroomami
3. Cava Greek Salad
4. Chipotle Chicken Bowl
5. Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl
6. Sweetgreen Super Green Goddess
7. Cava Steak + Feta Pita
8. Habit Burger Harvest Chopped
9. Habit Burger Chicken Club
10. Habit Burger Santa Barbara Cobb
11. Chipotle Sofritas Bowl
12. Chipotle Chicken Burrito
13. Habit Burger Grilled Chicken Sandwich
14. Chipotle Steak Burrito
15. Cava Harissa Avocado
16. Cava Crispy Falafel Pita

Lunchtime Nutrition: Trends and Insights

Wondering which fast-casual meals are best and worst in specific nutrition categories? We looked closer at the data to help you make mindful choices based on your health goals.

Which Meals Have the Most Calories?

Meals With the Most Calories

1. Chipotle Chicken Burrito (1210 calories)
2. Chipotle Steak Burrito (1180 calories)
3. Cava Crispy Falafel Pita (955 calories)

Meals With the Fewest Calories

1. Sweetgreen Kale Caesar (405 calories)
2. Sweetgreen Super Green Goddess (490 calories)
3. Sweetgreen Shroomami (595 calories)

Which Meals Have The Most Sugar?

Meals With the Most Sugar

1. Habit Burger Harvest Chopped (28 grams)
2. Sweetgreen Super Green Goddess (16 grams)
3. Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl (15 grams)

Meals With the Least Sugar

1. Sweetgreen Kale Caesar (3 grams)
2. Habit Burger Chicken Club (3 grams)
3. Chipotle Chicken Bowl (4 grams)

Which Meals Have The Most Sodium?

Meals With the Most Sodium

1. Chipotle Steak Burrito (2600 mg)
2. Chipotle Chicken Burrito (2580 mg)
3. Cava Crispy Falafel Pita (2440 mg)

Meals With the Least Sodium

1. Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl (1090 mg)
2. Sweetgreen Super Green Goddess (1141 mg)
3. Sweetgreen Shroomami (1198 mg)

Which Meals Have The Most Saturated Fat Content?

Meals With the Most Saturated Fat

1. Habit Burger Santa Barbara Cobb (15 grams)
2. Habit Burger Grilled Chicken Sandwich (14 grams)
3. Habit Burger Chicken Club (13 grams)

Meals With the Least Saturated Fat

1. Sweetgreen Super Green Goddess (4 grams)
2. Sweetgreen Shroomami (4 grams)
3. Cava Crispy Falafel Pita (6 grams)

Which Meals Contain the Most Protein?

Meals With the Most Protein

1. Chipotle Chicken Burrito (60 grams)
2. Chipotle Chicken Bowl (52 grams)
3. Habit Burger Santa Barbara Cobb (50 grams)

Meals With the Least Protein

1. Sweetgreen Super Green Goddess (20 grams)
2. Sweetgreen Shroomami (21 grams)
3. Cava Crispy Falafel Pita (22 grams)

Methodology: How Scores Were Calculated

Hers started with a Yahoo Finance list of the 25 largest United States restaurants by market capitalization, then narrowed down the four biggest fast-casual chains: Chipotle, Cava, Sweetgreen, and Habit Burger (owned by Yum! Brands). From there, Hers chose four menu items from each chain and recorded the protein, saturated fat, calories, sugar, and sodium data, not accounting for substitutions. Hers added the nutrition data from the individual ingredients common in burrito and bowl orders for Chipotle, which has a build-your-own menu.

After giving each nutrition category a score from one to 16, Hers ranked menu items lower with more saturated fat, calories, sugar, and sodium, whereas meals with more protein were ranked higher. From there, Hers averaged the rankings in each nutrition category. In instances where menu items had the same overall score, meals with more protein broke the tie, given their effect on satiety. Get the data here.

Tips For Staying Healthy on a Busy Schedule

Long work days can make positive lifestyle habits challenging, especially if you have a lengthy commute to and from the office or are balancing work with caregiving responsibilities. But maintaining a healthy diet and staying active doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Here are three tips for fitting healthy routines into your busy weekday schedule:

1. Prioritize fiber. Whether you bring your lunch to work or order out, aim to add fruits, vegetables, beans, or plant-based carbs to your mid-day meal. That could mean choosing brown rice in your bowl or sprinkling chickpeas into your salad. Fiber is essential for maintaining a healthy weight. It can help stave off heart disease, high blood sugar levels, inflammation, and obesity-related conditions like high blood pressure.
2. Incorporate movement. Physical activity doesn’t have to include training for a marathon or joining an expensive Pilates studio. Any kind of movement can give you the benefits associated with exercise: preventing chronic illness, helping with weight management, heart health, and more. You might consider investing in a standing desk, walking while taking a work call, or going to the grocery store in person rather than ordering online.
3. Wind down properly. Work emails, social media scrolling, and TV news can all interrupt your ability to fall asleep. According to the National Institutes of Health, long-term sleep loss can interfere with work performance and social activities. For good sleep hygiene, aim to shut down your devices before bed and ensure your bedroom is a dark, quiet space where you can prioritize rest.

This story was produced by Hers and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.