Eat this, Not that: Popeye’s chicken

Updated Jun 27, 2014

The Louisiana Kitchen is renowned for its spicy chicken batter and crispy, deep-fried entrees. It also throws in a biscuit and sides – usually mashed potatoes or red beans and rice – with a lunch or dinner plate. But to build a healthier meal, you have to start with the main course, and avoiding the spicy fried chicken is a good place to start.

Eat this: Naked Chicken Strips

Not that: Spicy Chicken Breast

Calories and Fat: The Naked Strips are just that – fried pieces of chicken without the batter. Per three strips, they have 220 calories and 10g of total fat. The spicy chicken breast has 360 calories and 20g of total fat

Difference: Of the 20g of fat in the Spicy Chicken Breast, eight come from saturated fat and 0.5 are from trans fat. The Naked Strips were introduced during the peak of low-carbohydrate dieting fads, so the strips have only 2g of carbs, compared to the breast’s 8g. The breast also has more than twice as much cholesterol as the strips, 170mg to 80mg.

So, save a few calories, some carbs and some fat by switching to the Naked Strips from the traditional spicy fried chicken.