Rethinking Fast Food: Top 5 Healthiest Bargains

 

I think we can all now agree that junk food is not always fast and cheap….although it often is.

And that fast, cheap food is not always junk, although it often is.

Case in point, in my part of California you can get a taco made with shredded fresh chicken, fresh tortillas, fresh cilantro and chopped onions for a song. And it is made in less time than it took to read that sentence.  Add a few avocado slices to make it fancy. So it’s a fast food that isn’t high (bad) fat, high salt, high sugar, highly processed or any of that junky stuff.

The fun comes in finding those fast, cheap and healthy foods.

Maybe the data geeks will help us.

Priceonomics, a data research studio with a cool point of view, crunched the numbers to come up with the most nutritious meals per dollar. In other words, the healthiest fast food you can find. And on the flip side, what is the least nutritious meal for the dollar.

First, guess what they would be. 

Okay, now here are the answers.

Start with junkiest for the money. From really bad to pretty bad.

1.     Mac and cheese

2.     Cheeseburger

3.     Meatloaf

4.     Corndog

5.     Hot Wings

Since most of these are fun to eat, in my case, especially the corn dogs at the County Fair, this list is kind of a bummer. But it also suggests these fun foods are kind of a rip-off. They cost too much for the little nutrition that you get. Other cheap, unhealthy foods that are a slightly better deal, nutrition-wise, include fried chicken and Sloppy Joes.  So be advised.

Now let’s look at the smart side of the food list.

The biggest nutritional bargains are these. (and yes, I’m sorry about the kale)

1.     Kale salad

2.     Falafel

3.     Lettuce wraps

4.     Chinese chicken salad

5.     Cobb salad

The winner here, hands down in my view, is falafel, which is like a sandwich with fried “meatballs” made with ground garbanzo beans in pita bread—with greens and yogurt sauce. 

The on-the-go salads are also nice to know about, but we sort of expected that.

The surprise is that some fast, healthy meals are not really a great deal, such as veggie burgers and black bean burgers. Go figure.

By the way, my tacos made the list, but Priceonomics only counted fish (not chicken) tacos, and they came in at number 6. 

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The lesson:  Mac and cheese is basically a rip.  Falafels and Cobb salads (even with the egg, cheese and ham) and are tasty and a heck of a bargain, in every way. 

Falafel Balls

If you can buy falafels at a stand or food truck, buy them.

If not, you can often find the dry mix for falafel balls at your local health food store or favorite food market.

You can make your own from scratch, but it’s actually way too much work, at least for me.

You can order the mix online at 

Walmart  or Ebay

or write in the comments and I'll arrange to get some from my favorite market and sell it to you.

Happy munching!

Joan

(Photos via Unsplash: top by Amie Watson; center by Brooke Lark)