Chipotle is a fast-food style Mexican restaurant found in several states all over the country including New York, Florida and California. The first restaurant opened in 1993 at a former Dolly Madison ice cream shop in Denver, Colorado. Chipotle promises food with integrity, offering ingredients raised with respect to both animals and the environment.
Types
The menu at the Chipotle Mexican Grill includes burritos, burrito bowls, tacos and salads, and you get to create your own meal using a list of ingredients. For example, the Chipotle burrito includes your choice of a tortilla, rice, beans, meat, salsa, cheese and sour cream. The burrito bowl -- served in a bowl -- includes all of the same choices as the burrito except the tortilla. Taco choices include crispy or soft tortilla, meat, salsa, cheese and sour cream.
Burrito
Having the ability to create your own meal allows you to control its calorie content. A high-calorie, high-fat burrito may include filling a 13-inch burrito with rice, black beans, barbacoa, corn salsa, cheese and sour cream. That would contain 1,010 calories, 40 g of total fat, 18 g of saturated fat, 109 g of carbohydrate, 53 g of protein and 2,200 mg of sodium. A healthier option may be to fill your burrito with fajita vegetables, chicken, tomato salsa and cheese for 625 calories, 25 g of total fat, 10 g of saturated fat, 53 g of carbohydrate, 49 g of protein and 1,860 mg of sodium. Or, make it a vegetarian burrito; omit the chicken and add rice to create a 545 calorie burrito.
Burrito Bowl
The burrito bowl may be a better option for the calorie-conscious because it omits the 290 calorie burrito. A healthy burrito bowl may include rice, beans, chicken, tomato salsa, fajita vegetables and cheese with 560 calories, 19 g of fat, 8 g of saturated fat, 51 g of carbohydrate, 50 g of protein and 1,420 mg of sodium.
Tacos
Make a healthy taco using the hard taco shells filled with chicken or steak, tomato salsa, cheese and lettuce for 495 calories, 21 g of total fat, 9 g of saturated fat, 32 g of carbohydrate, 43 g of protein and 1,050 mg of sodium. Changing your shell choice to the flour tortilla increases your taco calories to 585 and sodium to 1,620 mg.
Salad
The salads at Chipotle include romaine lettuce, a choice of meat, salsa and cheese with Chipotle honey-vinaigrette. A salad that includes lettuce, steak, black beans, tomato salsa, cheese and the vinaigrette contains 695 calories, 41 g of total fat, 11 g of saturated fat, 41 g of carbohydrate, 46 g of protein and 1,920 mg of sodium. You can save a significant number of calories, fat and sodium if you omit the salad dressing which contains 260 calories, 25 g of fat, 4 g of saturated fat, 12 g of carbohydrate and 700 mg of sodium.
Considerations
While you can create your own meals using Chipotle ingredients, many of your choices contain high amounts of sodium and saturated fat. The American Heart Association recommends you limit your sodium intake to 2,400 mg per day and saturated fat intake to less than 15.5 g on a 2,000 calorie diet. Most of the entrees on the Chipotle menu meet more than half of both your sodium and saturated fat needs. For your health, you should limit your Chipotle dining to a few times a month.
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