Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Five Meals Under 500 Calories at Panera

 

I do enjoy the occasional trip to Panera Bread Company.  The big question is how to eat a low-calorie meal at this restaurant.  They make it difficult by offering more sides than really necessary.  Skip the chips or bread roll, and save the apple for later.  Notice I didn't say low-fat options.  Check out the fat grams on these items.  How scary is it that there is more fat grams in the Greek Salad than the Asiago Roast Beef sandwich?  It's all because of the dressing.  You can toy around with the meal creator on their website to check the nutrition facts on what you like to eat.

Luckily they are beginning to post calorie information on their menu boards.  Please feel free to post your favorite low-calorie options from Panera in the comments.  Just make sure you check your nutrition facts at http://www.paneranutrition.com/.

You Pick Two  
1/2 French Onion Soup (no Cheese/no Crouton), 80 calories
1/2 Asiago Roast Beef, 350 calories
Water or Iced Tea, 0 calories
Total  =  430 calories, 15.5 g. fat, 46 g. carb, 3 g. fiber, 27 g. protein
                   
                                      
You Pick Two
French Onion Soup w/ Cheese & Crouton, 210 calories
1/2 Greek Salad, 190 calories
Water or Iced Tea, 0 calories
Total  =  400 calories, 26 g. fat, 31 g. carb, 4 g. fiber, 13 g. protein
                   
                              
Greek Salad, 380 calories   
Water or Iced Tea, 0 calories
Total =  380 calories, 34 g. fat, 14 g. carb, 5 g. fiber, 8 g. protein
                   
                                     
You Pick Two
Baked Potato Soup, 250 calories 
1/2 Classic Cafe Salad, 80 calories  
Water or Iced Tea, 0 calories 
Total  = 330 calories, 20 g. fat, 33 g. carbs, 4 g. fiber, 8 g. protein
                   
                                      
You Pick Two
Brocolli Cheddar Soup, 190 calories 
1/2 Chicken Cobb Chopped Salad, 250 calories
Water or Iced Tea, 0 calories
Total =  440 calories, 28 g. fat, 22 g. carb, 6 g. fiber, 27 g. protein

3 comments:

  1. Their black bean soup is a good choice, and it's vegan! The Fandango salad is also good, get the dressing on the side or with just no dressing at all. It's good enough on its own. I get dressing on the side and just use a tiny drizzle.

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  2. Thanks for sharing, Molly! The black bean soup is an excellent choice. Great idea! I looked up the nutrition info. For the You Pick Two portion it is 170 calories with only 2g of fat and 6g of dietary fiber. I haven't tried the Fandango salad before. I tried to find the nutrition info online, but couldn't find it. Any idea how many calories it is?

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  3. Great low calorie options! I am featuring one new low calorie recipe every week at www.mynewdiet.org, my personal weight loss blog.

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