While Mexican cuisine is not always keto-friendly, you’ll be happy to know that eating keto at Chipotle Mexican Grill is pretty easy to do. In fact, low carb Chipotle options are a lot healthier than other fast food chains.
Since you can build your own meal, you stay in charge of what’s on your plate. One of our favorite bowls to order are half chicken, half steak, red-chili salsa, fresh tomato salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, and a small scoop of guacamole.
If you want to keep your order simple, you can also just order a Keto Salad Bowl.
Although there are some obvious no-no’s on the Chipotle menu if you eat keto, there are probably a few items you’re a little unsure about too.
In this guide, we break down all the best items to include in your order and what to avoid to keep your low carb diet working for you.
Tips For Ordering Low Carb Chipotle Dishes
Chipotle has made it easy for you to eat low-carb at their restaurant. They offer all the right ingredients, such as meat, cheese, guacamole, and low-carb vegetables.
All you have to do is order them correctly. They even offer keto-friendly bowls that you can order without any customizations needed.
Here are some tips for ordering low-carb at Chipotle:
#1. Go big on the meat
One of the nice things about Chipotle is that they offer steak and pork, which are fattier meats than chicken to support your high-fat diet.
Additionally, their chicken is raised without antibiotics, which makes it a cleaner source of meat than most fast food restaurants offer.
We recommend piling your plate up with meat and topping it with cheese, sour cream or their homemade guacamole or salsa for the perfect low-carb meal.
#2. Pick your toppings carefully
Chipotle has some fajita vegetables that consist of grilled onions and bell peppers that would make a great addition to your low-carb meal. However, you’ll want to stay away from starchy fillings that usually come with Mexican food, such as beans, rice, and flour or corn tortillas.
Chipotle used to serve cilantro lime cauliflower rice, however, they no longer have this on the menu.
Be sure to avoid all sauces. Even their queso is made with milk and has a higher carb content than what you’re allowed on the ketogenic diet.
Stick with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, tomatoes, and Monterey jack cheese as your low-carb toppings.
#3. Use the nutrition calculator
If you’re not sure about something on the menu, you can check out a complete list of the ingredients on their website. You can also determine your macros by using the nutrition calculator.
To use, you’ll need to pick from the following meals:
- Burritos
- Burrito bowl
- Tacos
- Salad
- Quesadilla
- Kids meal
- Sides and drinks
- Lifestyle bowls
You can also use the website to find out the ingredients in each item. For example, the steak contains beef, black pepper, Chipotle chili, cumin, garlic, oregano, rice bran oil, salt and water.
#4. Go with a keto salad bowl
If you want a fool-proof way to order keto at Chipotle, then go with a Keto Salad Bowl. You won’t need to do much (if any) customizing, and you can check to make sure the macros fit into your daily allowance.
The Keto Salad Bowl has 535 calories, 36 grams of fat, 7 grams of net carbs, and 30 grams of protein.
While there are a range of other healthy salads and bowls to choose from, keep in mind that some of the ingredients (like rice bran oil) might not be strictly keto-friendly. Additionally, these bowls contain ingredients that aren’t low-carb, such as vinaigrette dressing and corn salsa.
Nevertheless, we will show you how to customize these dishes to make them more low carb-friendly.
#5. Pick your salsa
Although the salsa options at Chipotle are not extremely high in carbs, they are still going to add 3g to 4g of carbs to your meal.
If you already have some carbs in your meal, skipping the salsa can help keep your carb count down. If your meal hardly contains any carbs, a fresh tomato salsa topping won’t throw your ratios off.
The fresh tomato salsa and tomatillo red chili salsa both have 3g net carbs per portion. The tomatillo green chili salsa has 4g net carbs.
What To Order at Chipotle
We’ve gone over the entire menu at Chipotle. There are some dishes that you can order as-is, such as the keto bowl, but you will need to use the “build your own” feature for others.
Here’s what to order:
- Burrito bowl: choose chicken, steak or pork as your meat, no rice, no beans, top with guacamole, sour cream, fajita vegetables (optional), cheese, salsa (optional) and romaine lettuce
- Whole30 salad bowl: use the “make it your own” option and ask for no chipotle-honey vinaigrette
- Keto salad bowl: choose “make it your own” and hold the Chipotle-honey vinaigrette
- Grain Freedom Bowl: you can order this as-is or ditch the salsa to halve the carb count
- Paleo salad bowl: choose “make it your own” and no green chili sauce or vinaigrette
- Salad: choose chicken, steak or pork as your meat, no rice, no beans, top with guacamole, sour cream, fajita veggies (optional), cheese, salsa (optional) and romaine lettuce
- Sides: guacamole, fresh tomato salsa, fajita vegetables, sour cream, cheese, and romaine lettuce
Are Chipotle Keto Bowls Really Keto-Friendly?
The Chipotle keto salad bowl is an excellent sign that many restaurants are starting to take note of the health benefits of the keto diet.
However, you’ll want to keep in mind that eating ketogenic means planning your macros accordingly so that you’re eating a proper ratio of fats and carbs.
The Keto Salad Bowl contains the following ingredients:
- Supergreens lettuce
- Chicken
- Tomato salsa
- Cheese
- Guacamole
The Grain Freedom Bowl is slightly higher in carbs but still great for a low carb diet. It contains:
- Supergreens
- Chicken
- Tomatillo Red-Chili Salsa
- Fresh Tomato Salsa
- Sour Cream
- Cheese
So, even though the ingredients in many of the bowls are keto-friendly, they might not meet your strict keto requirements for the day.
Foods To Avoid at Chipotle
Although you can custom order any dish you want at Chipotle, there are a few items you’ll want to stay away from because they aren’t keto-friendly.
We’ve listed them out here for you:
- All burritos
- Vegan bowl
- High protein bowl
- Vegetarian salad bowl
- All quesadillas (why not try this Keto Chicken Quesadillas recipe?)
- Black beans
- White and brown rice
- Chipotle honey vinaigrette
- Crispy corn tortillas
- Flour tortillas
- Genuine queso
- Pinto beans
- Roasted chilli-corn salsa
- Sofritas (tofu)
- Tortilla chips
- All sweetened beverages
Conclusion
If you follow strict keto, it’s always recommended to stick to keto-approved foods by cooking your own meals from home or follow a ketogenic meal plan to achieve results.
You can keep it low-carb at Chipotle by ordering a keto salad bowl with the meat of your choice and topping it with cheese, sour cream, low-carb vegetables, and guacamole.
If you’re really hungry, you can get double or triple the meat or cheese. Just be sure to stay away from the rice, beans, tortilla, corn salsa, and sauce that may come with these meals – even the low-carb ones.
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