7 Fast Food Restaurants Where You Can Find Healthy Meals

Fast food was coined as “unhealthy”, due to all the cheap, fat-filled ingredients used in the making of the main dishes. Burgers, chips, hot-dogs and lots of ketchup or ranch sauce are just some of America’s (and entire world) fast food favorites. They are also blamed for high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity.

But things changed a lot in the last years and now many fast food giants, like McDonald’s offer healthy alternatives that you can give to your child. Here are the restaurants where you can enjoy a healthy meal when you can’t cook it yourself.

Chipotle

Chipotle Mexican Grill’s mission is “food with integrity” and they mean it. They always try to get involved in helping the community, either by serving free meals to veterans or by organizing events for kids. Their meals are made from local, organic ingredients. Some of their healthy options are burrito, taco, salads and rice.

McDonald’s

The iconic fast food retailer, blamed for the high obesity rate in America, actually has healthy meal options. Known for its signature burgers and loved by veterans all over the world for the free meals it offers on Veteran’s Day, McDonald’s now offers healthy salads made with chicken, veggies and fruits. With a strong coverage all over the world and low prices, McDonald’s convenience is one of the reasons for its popularity among people looking for healthy, fast meals.

Chick-fil-A

Specialized in chicken sandwiches, it was the first fast food restaurant in America to offer a trans-fat-free menu. Since then, they’ve add more healthy items to their list. You can get grilled chicken nuggets, grilled market salad, chicken salads and multi-grain breakfast. They also have plenty of fruits and milk for kids.

Wendy’s

The third biggest fast food retailer in the world, Wendy’s menu consists mostly from burgers, French fries and lots of sandwiches. But they also have several healthy options, such as the grilled chicken wraps or chicken salads, the former being enriched with fruits.

Subway

Subway restaurants are specialized in customized sandwiches, which means you can get a healthy sandwich from them. You can choose whole grain bread and lots of vegetables in your sub or just skip opt for a salad. The ingredients they use are always fresh, so you can get a healthy meal from Subway.

Ruby Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday offers many healthy dishes, labeled “Fit and Trim” due to their low calorie count: less than 700 per serving. The restaurant caters for people with special diets, such as low gluten. Some of their healthy meals are meat, fish and salads, which can be enjoyed with baked potato side dish or fresh veggies.

The Cheesecake Factory

Another fast food restaurant that was blamed for its high calorie content dishes which promote obesity and type 2 diabetes, The Cheesecake Factory reacted to its customer’s requests by introducing a health menu. Called SkinnyLicious, it has small portions of food made from healthy ingredients. You can pick between fish, seafood, steaks and many appetizers.

If you want to eat healthy on the go, there are plenty of restaurants which offer healthy meals, made with fresh produce. You just have to resist the urge to get that fat-filled burger.