Can I Eat Low Sodium At El Pollo Loco

 Can I Eat Low Sodium At El Pollo Loco

Usually chicken restaurants get immediately relegated to the list of restaurants with high sodium menus to avoid. I’m happy to report that there are dishes we can eat and stay low sodium at El Pollo Loco. Weirder still is that the dishes mostly don’t contain their signature item – Chicken. You can see what I am talking about when we take a look at what we can eat and stay low sodium at El Pollo Loco.

Chicken And Fast Food Restaurants

Once chicken was touted as a “healthy” option on many menus. The truth is that it is actually one of the most over-processed proteins we consume today. They inject chicken with saline to add weight and “plump” up chicken breasts for sale. Then chicken is typically dipped in saltwater prior to being flash frozen for shipping to restaurants and stores. Due to those facts, chicken is not normally considered a low sodium option.

It is nice when a restaurant offers a lesser processed chicken. We found options we could have at Chik-fil-A and now we are looking for low sodium at El Pollo Loco.

What Makes A Low Sodium Meal

We are looking for items that fit within our daily allotments of milligrams of sodium. The USDA recommends that a person with a healthy heart consume 2300 mg of sodium per day. The American Heart Association and the Mayo Clinic recommend that anyone with high blood pressure, is over the age of 50, is a woman, is a person of color, or has a heart issue consume no more than 1500 mg of sodium per day.

So we are looking for a meal that runs between 500-700 mg for a main course, side order, and a beverage. We also do not want to have to resort  to ordering off of the kids menu. So let’s take a look.

Here Is What We Can Eat And Stay Low Sodium

Flame Grilled Chicken

Chicken Leg 1 pc. is 170 mg.

Chicken Wing 1 pc. is 290 mg.

A Chicken Thigh is 320 mg.

Sides

Pinto Beans are 370 mg.

Loco Side Salad is 260 mg.

Black Beans are 250 mg.

Coleslaw is 220 mg.

Broccoli is 30 mg.

Starters

Tortilla Chips (small) is 150 mg.

Under 500 Calories

Double Avocado Salad – Shrimp is 280 mg.

Bowls

Original Pollo Bowl® – Shrimp is 580 mg. (this would cover main and side)

Mexican Caesar Bowl – Chicken is 540 mg.

Mexican Caesar Bowl – Shrimp is 200 mg.

Tacos

Taco al Carbón – Chicken is 260 mg.

Taco al Carbón – Shrimp is 5 mg.

Crunchy Chicken Taco is 380 mg.

Salsas & More

House Salsa (Mild) is 160 mg.

House Salsa (Mild) is 170 mg.

Avocado Salsa (Hot) is 240 mg.

Salsa Roja (Fiery) is 260 mg.

Sour Cream is 20 mg.

Jalapeño Hot Sauce (packet) is 110 mg.

Tortillas

6″ Flour Tortillas (2) are 540 mg.

6″ Corn Tortillas (2) are 5 mg.

Desserts

Cinnamon Churros (2) are 400 mg.