Healthy Dining Out
by Traci Kaufman, R.D.
Today we're eating more meals than ever away from home. Restaurant dining today plays an important role in our physical and emotional well being. The following information is for anyone who eats away from home whether or not you're on a diet. You can dine out healthy if you know how. Dining Out presents a challenge to many of us but it doesn't have to be an overwhelming one. The key to restaurant dining is knowing how to make appropriate choices.
The following tips can help you turn a potentially high-fat meal into a lower fat meal.
Tips for Dining Out
- The major rule for ordering from a menu is to keep it simple! Always ask that items be prepared the way you want them.
- Find out how meals are prepared and what ingredients are used.
- Find out if the food is served with a sauce
- Ask to have your entree prepared without added fat. Entrees are often basted with large amounts of fat.
- Ask to have chicken prepared without the skin
- Request that lemon juice, wine or only a small amount of fat be used and that no salt be added (if on a low salt diet).
- If you wish to cut down on portion sizes, choose appetizers as the main course, order a la carte, share food with a companion or cut large portions in half and take the remainder home for another meal.
- Request that stir-fried entrees be prepared with very little oil.
- Choose whole grain breads and go easy on or avoid oil, butter and mayonnaise.
- Beware of the traditional restaurant "dieters platter" (ground beef patty, cottage cheese, and a peach half). A diet like this will increase your saturated fat intake.
- Watch out for menu selections termed "Light fare" or "light." "Light" may or may not mean lower in fat and calories.
- Ask yourself, "Do I really need dessert?"
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Lighter Choices |
Higher Fat Choices |
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Appetizers Fruit or vegetable juices Clear broth, consommé Raw vegetables dipped in salsa or low-fat dressing Fresh fruit Vegetable or garden salads with reduced fat dressings, lemon juice, or wine vinegar Steamed seafood |
Appetizers Seafood cocktail Salads with high fat or mayonnaise-based salad dressings Foods with rich sauces Dips and batter-fried foods Tortilla chips Buffalo Wings Stuffed Potato skins |
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Soups Broth or tomato-based soups Lentil, bean and split pea soups |
Soups Cream soups |
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Entrees Items which are broiled, grilled, roasted, baked, poached, steamed or boiled without added butter or sauces Trimming away as much fat and skin as possible Order pizza with half the cheese and only vegetable toppings. Eggs soft or hard cooked, or poached Dishes flavored with herbs and spices Substitute non-fat or low-fat yogurt for sour cream Choose vegetable toppings for sandwiches Add picante sauce, salsa, or Tabasco sauce to your foods Eat fish with a low-fat tartar sauce or cocktail sauce. Keep deli sandwiches lean by piling on fat-free fillers such as lettuce, tomato, sprouts (alfalfa or broccoli), cucumbers, pickles, and shredded carrots Choose lean deli meats such as turkey or ham Choose low fat condiments like mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire or chili sauces |
Entrees Items which are fried, breaded, creamed, scalloped, or au gratin Foods prepared with rich sauces, gravies, or dressings {If that's not an option, ask for gravies, sour cream, sauces, and other toppings to be served on the side and use sparingly} Mayonnaise, oil, and cheese on sandwiches Tuna and egg salad sandwiches. Higher fat cold cuts, such as bologna or salami Fried or scrambled eggs Fried, mashed, creamed, marinated, au gratin, or buttered vegetables Prepared salads that contain mayonnaise, salad dressing or oil, such as macaroni salad, potato salad, creamy coleslaw, tuna and chicken salad Caesar Salads |
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Vegetables Items which are fresh, boiled, baked, or steamed plain Vegetables seasoned with lemon, herbs or spices Asking for topping or sauce to be served on the side Beans salads House salads |
Vegetables All others |
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Breads Breads sliced in average thickness, hard or soft rolls, plain muffins, biscuits, or crackers Asking that the bread basket be removed from the table Choose corn tortillas |
Breads Flour tortillas Croissants, biscuits, cornbread, muffins (i.e., bran, corn, blueberry) Sweetened or frosted breads, sweet rolls, coffee cake, pastries |
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Desserts Fresh fruit Plain ice cream or frozen yogurts Sponge or angel food cake Gelatin Sherbet or sorbet Italian ice Share the dessert with a friend |
Desserts Pies, pastries, frosted cakes Custards |
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Fast Foods Plain smaller sandwiches and hold the chips or fries Garden salads with reduced-fat or calorie dressings. Charbroiled or roasted sandwiches |
Fast Foods Burgers with "the works"; chicken and fish sandwiches which are breaded and fried Flavored milk, cocoa, milk shakes Salads with non-vegetable ingredients and high-fat dressings Breakfast sandwiches, breakfast meats, French toast, fried potatoes and eggs |
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Beverages Water, coffee, tea, milk (ask for nonfat), buttermilk, unsweetened fruit juices, non-calorie soft drinks Dry wine, white wine spritzer, light beer, carbonated or mineral water with lemon or lime, sugar-free mixers Espresso drinks |
Beverages Flavored milk, cocoa, milkshakes Hard liquor |
Low Fat Salad Toppers
Alfalfa sprouts; avocado; green, black, garbanzo, and kidney beans, broccoli, shredded cabbage; carrots; cauliflower; chives; cucumbers; dried fruit; mushrooms; almonds; pecans; pignoli, walnuts; onion; oranges; mandarin sections; sweet or hot peppers; sunflower, poppy, and sesame seeds; tomatoes; celery
Words that signal high fat include:
"Buttered", "in butter sauce" or "buttery"
"Sautéed", "fried", "pan-fried", "crispy", "braised"
"Creamed", "in cream sauce", or "creamy",
"Rich", "escalloped", "breaded"
"With gravy", "in it's own gravy"
"Hollandaise"
"Au gratin", "parmesan", "in cheese sauce"
"Marinated", "stewed", "basted"
"Casserole", "prime", "hash", "pot pie"
Phrases that signal low fat preparation include:
"in its own juice", "garden fresh", "tomato juice",
"dry broiled", "smoked", "pickled", "in cocktail sauce", "in broth
Words that signal high sodium include:
"Smoked", "barbecued"
"Pickled", "broth",
"Soy sauce", "teriyaki"
"Creole sauce", "marinated"
"Cocktail sauce", "tomato base"
"Parmesan", "mustard sauce"
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Traci Kaufman, Registered Dietitian, received her bachelor's degree in dietetics and nutrition from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has worked as a clinical nutritionist at UCI Medical Center-Irvine in Orange California, and served as team nutritionist for the Los Angeles Rams. Traci is an active member of the American Dietetic Association and two Dietetic Practice Groups: Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutritionist (SCAN), and Dietitians in General Clinical Practice. Traci resides in Southern California.
This page created 1999
This page modified October 2006
