Who doesn't love El Pollo Loco? Something about flame-grilled Mexican chicken is just super yummy. The good news is that you can still do El Pollo Loco on a diet, you just have to make some healthy choices while you're there.
In this breakdown I've taken the guess work out of the menu to show you items you should probably eat/avoid.
Source
| Item | Calories | Fat (g) | Sat Fat (g) | Sodium (mg) | Carbs (g) | Sugar (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Pollo Bowl | 540 | 4 | 1 | 1590 | 85 | 1 |
| Chicken Wing (1) | 90 | 5 | 2 | 2090 | 0 | 0 |
| Chicken Thigh (1) | 220 | 15 | 5 | 310 | 0 | 0 |
| Chicken Tostada Salad | 840 | 40 | 11 | 1390 | 76 | 4 |
| Caesar Pollo Salad | 520 | 38 | 7 | 980 | 17 | 6 |
| Classic Chicken Burrito | 500 | 14 | 6 | 1230 | 63 | 1 |
| Grilled Chicken Nachos | 1090 | 55 | 21 | 3040 | 99 | 7 |
| French Fries | 440 | 21 | 4 | 910 | 57 | 0 |
| Ranch Dressing (1pkt) | 230 | 24 | 4 | 390 | 2 | 2 |
Too see what you should eat (and see my ideal meal) just read more
| Item | Calories | Fat (g) | Sat Fat (g) | Sodium (mg) | Carbs (g) | Sugar (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken Breast, Skinless | 180 | 4 | 1 | 560 | 0 | 0 |
| Caesar Pollo Salad w/o Dressing | 220 | 7 | 2 | 580 | 15 | 4 |
| Fresh Veggies w/o Margarine) | 35 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 8 | 3 |
| Chicken Tortilla Soup w/o Tortilla Strips | 140 | 6 | 2 | 1040 | 8 | 2 |
| Taco al Carbon | 150 | 5 | 2 | 290 | 17 | <1 |
| BRC Burrito | 390 | 10 | 5 | 880 | 61 | 0 |
| Garden Salad w/o Tortilla Strips | 80 | 5 | 3 | 290 | 5 | 3 |
| Light Italian Dressing (1pkt) | 20 | 1 | 0 | 770 | 2 | 2 |
My ideal meal would be: Skinless chicken breast on top of the garden salad (no tortilla strips), with a side of fresh vegetables (no margarine) for only 295 calories. This leaves me room for a Churro (150 calories for one) to top it off with something sweet.
H.I.S
Barbara Bui
Untold
Yikes-the sodium content in this stuff is staggering!!
1I've never eaten at this place even though it's down the street and I see commercials all the time. For some reason I can't think of spending my own money on some place I've never been--I'll have to rope someone else's money! lol
2Ohmigod... I love this place! You can get some really healthy meals here, the only hard part is that the skin is so yummy! I usually get a breast or a thigh (and eat the skin) and just a side of corn tortillas with a bunch of salsa. The chicken is so good straight-up that I never understood why you'd have a burrito or nachos or something else that ratchets up the junk-food-factor.
3I miss that place. They had them for a couple years in Florida when I lived there but for some stupid reason they all closed.
Now I live in NC and there aren't any here, either.
*sniff*
4I love El Pollo Loco. I usually get the chicken tostada salad without the shell. I don't know how many calories it shaves off, but I don't feel so guilty if I end up finishing it.
5I just moved from CA to LA and there is not EPL here. I would do just aboutanything for a pollo bowl right now. mmmm.....
6Wow to the sodium content. Who would have known..
7We don't have any Pollo Locos around us, but I'll keep this info in mind if I ever travel somewhere where they do have one. I don't think I'll be eating those nachos!
8Never heard of this place before, but apparently there's several around San Antonio. We have a local chain in Austin that makes the most amazing roasted chicken. I'm sure it's incredibly fattening.
9i am completely shocked by how many calories are in the nachos!!!
10The Chicken Tortilla Soup is awesome, I usually get that with two Taquitos and avocado salsa and that fills me up, without being too fattening.
11I have never heard of this before. America definitely has more selection of fast food places than Canada. It looks like they have some really good options.
12verily - are you talking about el regio? or is there another place...let me know!
I love the al carbon tacos at Pollo Loco and their salsas!
13Ahhh...the pollo bowl shouldnt be on the donts! Its only 4gms of fat...and its a really huge meal. Easily the bowl could be split into two servings.
I never ate there until my mom bought me a pollo bowl...which i LOVE! Its such a simple meal...i just lay off the tortilla chips.
14I never heard of this place until I lived out in S. Cali.....not Taco Bell but it was good.
15WOW! i saw the sodium content of one chicken wing! that is just so much salt!
but the chicken is very tasty from this place!
and i normally don't think of chicken as tasty, because it is not a very flavorful meat alone. marinades are a must!
but when i was there, i like veggies, so i got steamed veggies, and i had me a few fresh serrano hot peppers.. loaded with vitamin C and antioxidants!
16El Pollo Loco is way better than Taco Bell. I have eaten at EPL my entire life. I even remember when the Classic Chicken Burrito use to be called the Calfornia burrito.
I love their taquitos, Classic Chicken burrito, BRC and Pollo Bowls (which are really like two meals) Plus if you want to be healthy its totally easy there. You can get a small salad from the dollar menu, a side of steamed veggies and there are plenty of fresh salsas
17About the sodium of the chicken wing... I just compared it to the ELP menu and it's at 290mg. Not 2090mg. Might just be a typo.
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