Moe's Southwest Grill is a fast-food restaurant chain that offers an extensive menu of burritos, tacos, quesadillas and other options. Like most fast-food restaurants, many of Moe's menu items are high in calories, fat and sodium. However, there are ways you can customize your order at Moe's to lessen the nutritional burden of your meal.
Burritos
The Homewrecker burrito with chicken provides 925 calories, 39 g total fat, 16.8 g saturated fat and 2,508 mg sodium. That's more than a day's worth of sodium, about half a day's worth of fat and roughly a full day's worth of saturated fat. Diets high in sodium may contribute to high blood pressure, while diets high in saturated fat may lead to high cholesterol. Choosing steak instead of chicken reduces the total fat by 5 g and saturated fat by 1.5 g. Without cheese or sour cream, the burrito provides a more reasonable 18 g total fat and 5 g saturated fat. You can also cut 830 mg sodium from the total by asking for a Streaker, which omits the tortilla.
Tacos
An Overachiever taco with chicken provides 363 calories, 17 g total fat, 7.9 g saturated fat and 949 mg sodium. You can reduce the sodium by about 25 percent by choosing a corn taco shell instead of a flour tortilla. Once again, a large amount of the fat and saturated fat are provided by cheese and sour cream. You can cut out 8 g total fat and 5 g saturated fat by omitting these two high-fat toppings. You can also choose the vegetarian Unanimous Decision, which is lower in calories, fat and sodium than the tacos that include meat.
Quesadillas
Cheese is a key ingredient in any quesadilla, and the fat content of Moe's quesadillas reflects that fact. An order of John Coctosan quesadillas with chicken provides 770 calories, 41 g total fat, 20.3 g saturated fat and 1,758 mg sodium. The vegetarian Super Kingpin quesadillas have slightly less fat, providing 515 calories, 32 g total fat, 17.3 g saturated fat and 1,113 mg sodium. Of the 515 calories, 278 calories --- more than half --- come from fat. One benefit of all the cheese in Moe's quesadillas is calcium. Each quesadilla on the menu provides at least 50 percent of the daily value of calcium, which is important for bone health.
Salads
The nutrition of salads at Moe's also varies considerably depending upon how you order them. Simply opting for a Streaker, which omits the crispy salad bowl, will cut out 350 calories, 21 g fat, 4.5 g saturated fat and 520 mg sodium. The Personal Trainer, which is a vegetarian salad, contains less fat, sodium and calories than the Close Talker salad, which includes your choice of grilled meat. Lastly, choosing the Southwest Vinaigrette instead of the Chipotle Ranch dressing cuts out 60 calories, 7 g total fat and 2.3 g saturated fat. To contrast, a Close Talker with chicken and Chipotle Ranch dressing provides 1,035 calories, 71 g fat, 16.3 g saturated fat and 2,045 mg sodium, while a Personal Trainer Streaker with Southwest Vinaigrette provides only 475 calories, 32 g fat, 6.5 g saturated fat and 1,135 mg sodium.
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