When it comes to eating healthy meals, our first choice is to plan and cook at home as it is easier to ensure you are cooking with healthy ingredients. However, we realize that families today are constantly on the go and so we want to offer our recommendations for some healthy options at popular restaurants. There tends to be limited selections for children, so we are focusing on the best food choices that they are most likely to eat and enjoy.
Today we start with the best food choices for kids at Chick-fil-A:
Fruit Cup – The fruit cup is a fantastic option for breakfast or as a simple swap for fries in a kids meal. The fruits that are included – mandarin oranges, blueberries, strawberries, and apples – tend to be popular choices for kids.
Nutrition info:
Serving Size: Medium cup
- Calories: 50
- Fat: 0 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 13 g
- Protein: 0 g
- Sodium: 0 mg
Multi-Grain Oatmeal – Chick-fil-A’s oatmeal is a great breakfast option as it contains flax, whole wheat and buckwheat so it is full of fiber to keep kids feeling full longer. The added dried fruit adds some sweetness and the nuts add some protein. Opt to leave off the brown sugar to make it an even healthier option.
Nutrition info:
Serving Size: Oatmeal cup with toppings
- Calories: 290
- Fat: 10 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Sodium: 60 mg
Grilled Nuggets Kid’s Meal – You have the choice of 4- or 6-count grilled or classic chicken nuggets. Choosing the 6-count grilled nuggets over the 6-count standard nuggets will save you 100 calories, 7.5 g of fat and 390 mg of sodium. To complete the healthier kid’s meal, choose the fruit cup shown above over the fries and select the 2% white milk over soda, juice or lemonade. Always remember that you can choose water as the beverage even though the kid’s meal comes with a drink other than water.
Nutrition info:
Serving Size: 6 grilled nuggets
- Calories: 100
- Fat: 2.5 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 3 g
- Protein: 17 g
- Sodium: 400 mg
Chick-fil-A Grilled Chicken Sandwich – For the older kids (in addition to the grilled nuggets), the grilled chicken sandwich is a good choice. It comes on a multi-grain bun and is served with lettuce and tomato. Pair this with the fruit cup or you can even get some additional protein and calcium with the Greek yogurt parfait topped with fresh blueberries and strawberries and the harvest nut granola.
Nutrition info:
Serving Size: Sandwich with lettuce and tomato
- Calories: 320
- Fat: 5 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Protein: 30 g
- Sodium: 800 mg
Chick-fil-A offers a very useful interactive menu featuring the nutrition information for all of the menu items. There is also a nice meal calculator feature that allows you to total up everything in your entire meal. This is a great visual tool to help you realize what you are actually eating and can even help you to maybe cut back on some of the not-so-healthy items once you see it all added up.
Make sure and check out the complete Chick-fil-A nutrition guide to see the numbers on all of your favorite foods. Try out the interactive menu and remember that eating out doesn’t necessarily mean you have to neglect your healthy eating patterns!
Looking for simple, healthy recipes to make at home? Check out our weekly recipes that we share every Wednesday. Make sure to check back each week for more healthy ideas!
