- 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
Whole-grain, high-fiber tortilla
Plain Greek yogurt for sour cream
Fresh veggies (red pepper, onion) for rice.
Ground turkey for Carnitas meat
Slightly smaller portion overall (but our homemade was still “big”)
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!
