Hop into an El Rincon Mexican restaurant and you can eat healthy guiltless Mexican food from the menu. Follow our expert Tips to Eat Healthy at a Mexican Restaurant and savor every bite.
You can always add flair to healthy Mexican food that you want to eat by spicing your choice of food with traditional and nutritious herbs and spices. Here are a few ways you can lighten up your Mexcian meal and eat healthy while still enjoying great flavor:
1. Choose grilled fish first because it contains the lowest fat of all the meat choices, followed by grilled chicken, and grilled steak (lean cut with no extra fat).
2. Go for soft tortillas which are lower in calories and fat compared to their deep-fried crispy counterpart. Stoneground tortillas will also save you calories, fat, and sodium while giving you an extra gram of fiber compared to a flour tortilla.
3. Stick with light dressings instead of sour cream or creamy dressings like ranch sauce. You can shave 120-240 calories, 10-27 grams of fat, 4-7 grams of saturated fat, and sodium when you do so.
4. Leave the cheese off your grilled meat, chick, or fish burrito to save a considerable amount of calories, fat, and saturated fat. For a moment, just hold the cheese.
5. Unlimited guacamole for a side is a healthy option because it is low in saturated fat and high in fiber. Its fat is also the healthy monounsaturated type that improves blood cholesterol levels.
6. Not fried, please. Go for grilled fish, meats, veggies, and seafood that contain a lot less fat than fried ones. They also add more flavor to any Mexican dish that has them.
7. Adding fajita vegetables to your burrito or burrito bowl is a flavorful and easy way to boost your vegetable intake. Think about additional fiber, Vitamin C, powerful phytochemicals, and tons of flavor for a perfect nutritious Mexican favorite.
8. No chips because they will add calories, fat, and sodium to your otherwise healthy diet. Crunchy dishes on the menu are most likely to be deep-fried and full of fat so ditch the chip option. Go for soft. Remember tip number two and save yourself a few hundred calories that might just make the difference in your diet.
9. Pick lean black beans that are low in fat, high in protein, and give you lots of fiber. They get the biggest thumbs up as a low-calorie Mexican food. If you prefer refried beans, pinto beans are the healthier option because they give you a similar flavor to lean black beans without the extra fat of other types of refried beans.
10. Healthy swaps on your Mexican food order like choosing bean burritos over beef or cheese burritos and corn tortillas over flour tortillas will save you a lot of calories while giving you plenty of fiber.
What Can I Eat at a Mexican Restaurant That is Low Calorie?
The most popular ingredients—beans, rice, avocado, and limes—speak for themselves of their nutritional value and are low calorie.
When you order at a Mexican restaurant, here are menu items, according to WebMD that have less than 500 calories and less than 6 grams of saturated fat.
Most also contain under 1,300 milligrams of sodium (total). Most of these also give you at least 6 grams of fiber and heart-healthy omega-3s:
- Fresh Ensalada with Chicken or Shrimp
- Mexican Grill and Cantina Citrus Chipotle Chicken Salad with Mango Citrus Vinaigrette
- Soft Tacos, Ranchero Chicken, or Grilled Steak
- Bean Burrito
- Taco with Chicken or Shrimp
- Grilled steak with black beans, rice, cheese, and pico de gallo in a whole-grain tortilla
- Salad with fish, beans, cheese, chopped romaine, pico de gallo, olives, cucumbers, and ranch sauce
- Salmon taco
What is the Healthiest Option at a Mexican Restaurant?
You will have noticed by now that if you are on a strict diet, there are many options for you on the Mexican menu. The healthiest option for you would depend on what your goals are in getting fit and how many calories are you willing to take or not take from the food you eat. But, of course, the healthiest option will be what will make you eat great Mexican food without ruining your diet.
