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  • Amy Sotis

Burrito Face-Off


Favorite Restaurant Burrito vs. Homemade Burrito

Super Bowl Sunday is coming up and I thought it would be fun to give you a real-life example of how to pack "nutrient-dense" rather than "nutrient-poor" food into your football game-plan. By the way, this is not make-believe. Its a true story from February 2, 2016!

photo courtesy Chipotle, Inc

photo courtesy Taste of Home

In one day, I ate at Chipotle (TM) for lunch, and made homemade ground-turkey burritos for my family for dinner. The information contained herein is NOT hypothetical - this is exactly what I ate in the same day with close-to-actual figures for calories, macronutrients, and cost. And, if its okay to say so, I think my homemade burrito tasted

similar to the one at the restaurant. The Chipotle burrito was in a large flour tortilla and used Carnitas (pork meat). Both burritos had a tortilla, meat, cheese, guac, fresh corn kernels, veggies, and salsa.

You tell me? Which is the better choice? PS. We still love an occasional Chipotle!

Swaps I made

  1. Whole-grain, high-fiber tortilla

  2. Plain Greek yogurt for sour cream

  3. Fresh veggies (red pepper, onion) for rice.

  4. Ground turkey for Carnitas meat

  5. Slightly smaller portion overall (but our homemade was still “big”)

  6. Non-msg, non-packaged seasonings used in the meat such as onion powder, garlic, cumin, hot sauce, pink sea salt, lime juice, cilantro

Restaurant Burrito

Nutrition Facts

Amount Per Serving

Calories 1380 Cal from Fat 636

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 69g 106 %

Saturated Fat 22g 110 %

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 135mg 45 %

Sodium 3165mg 132 %

Total Carbs 135g 45 %

Dietary Fiber 28g 112 %

Sugars 14g

Protein 59g

INGREDIENTS: Tomato Salsa, Corn Salsa, Cheese, Sour Cream, Guacamole (3.5oz),Lettuce, Brown Rice, Black Beans, Fajita Veggies, Carnitas Meat (4oz),Flour tortilla burrito size

nutritional data of Restaurant Burrito courtesy www.chipotlecaloriecalculator.com

Cost: $6.95 per burrito

Homemade Burrito

Nutrition Facts

Amount Per Serving

Calories 546 Cal from Fat 234

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 26g 34 %

Saturated Fat 9g 41 %

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 93mg 31 %

Sodium 944mg 41 %

Total Carbs 48g 22 %

Dietary Fiber 13g 51 %

Sugars 4g

Protein 34g

INGREDIENTS: Tomato Salsa,Fresh Corn,Greek Yogurt, Cheese, Guacamole, Black Beans, Red Pepper, Ground Turkey, Onion, Lettuce, Whole-wheat flour tortilla, fajita size

nutritional data of Homemade Burrito courtesy www.supertracker.usda.gov

Cost: $2.25 per burrito

Yes, you read that right, 1380 calories vs. 546. The main swaps were the tortilla, greek yogurt, and meat. Tons of good fiber and protein in that 546 calories from the homemade burrito and of course the sodium was through the roof of the restaurant burrito.

Proverbs 25:16 says, "If you find honey, eat just enough—too much of it, and you will vomit."

In other words, if you find something sweet to eat - enjoy it - but don't have too much or you'll get sick. I think this could be true of burritos as well as honey!

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