It’s great to eat healthily and have nourishing home-cooked meals. But every now and then it’s ok to enjoy takeaway meals. Once upon a time in Australia, there were limited choices with fast food – Chinese, Pizza Hut and fish & chips were basically the extent of it. Nowhere seemed to offer healthy options. But nowadays, there’s so much choice, from vegan & vegetarian options to fresh salads. We have been searching hard and found some great takeaway meal choices for you! It’s low-calorie takeaway for under 500 calories. How good is that?

Grill’d Healthy Burgers

Grill’d is one of the great burger introductions to Australia because they aim to be healthy and provide nutritional information on its website. We also like Grill’d because they use free-range eggs and RSPCA-approved chicken in their ingredients. And they also try to source locally produced ingredients.

Grill’d have several meal options that are around the 500 to 600-calorie mark. But sitting right at 502 calories is the Hot Bird. Another chicken burger, the Zen Hen (Yum!) also sits right around the limit at 504 calories. You can also enjoy zucchini chips, chicken bites or sweet potato chips for under 500 calories.

Sushi Train

Fresh, tasty Japanese food is a great takeaway option if you are wanting low calories. While some Japanese food is energy dense, such as karaage chicken curry, most choices are lighter. For example, one serve of a vegetarian sushi roll at the Sushi Train has 121 calories. Actually, all servings of sushi rolls at the sushi train are under 500 calories. Take the heaviest roll – salmon tempura roll – it still only has 315 calories. Even the fried gyoza isn’t too heavy. 4 pieces of pork gyoza are as little as 138 calories.

With all that being said, if you’re wanting to eat less than 500 calories at the sushi train, avoid all of the rice bowls. If you’re looking for a more filling dish, choose a noodle dish that doesn’t contain deep-fried, crumbed or battered meat. Ramen at the Sushi Train only has 262 cal, while curry udon with wagyu beef has 431 cal. From sashimi to large noodle bowls, the sushi train’s got you covered if you’re trying to eat out without eating a heavy meal. Check out their nutritional information online.

Guzman y Gomez Mexican Kitchen

Mexican is a favourite in Australia, but when you think of light food, Mexican probably doesn’t come to mind. But with some great, healthier options, you can find the nutritional info for Guzman y Gomez online. And guess what? There are several options to choose from for less than 500 calories. When you scroll down, you’ll find a range of tacos, salads, quesadillas, and mini options within the range. For example, all of the quesadillas are no more than 270 cal, and all tacos are less than 270 cal each. The salads are wholesome and filling and have an average energy of 316 calories. But if you’re going to enjoy low-calorie takeaway at Guzman y Gomez, don’t order nachos, burritos, burrito bowls or nacho fries unless you’re opting for the mini-range.

Domino’s Pizza

While pizza isn’t usually associated with low-calorie takeaway food, there are some lighter options that you can choose from your favourite pizza takeaway store. At Domino’s, you can get all of the nutrition information on the menu. While an entire pizza won’t be less than 500 calories, there are some better options to choose from so that you can eat more than one slice of pizza at dinner time. Even though this sounds obvious, a deep pan crust is going to have more energy than a thin and crispy crust.

Choosing from the value range at Domino’s, a slice of thin n crispy pizza is less than 100 calories. That applies to the vege option, pepperoni, cheese, and even beef and onion. If you choose the classic crust, the energy goes up by about 30 calories per slice. So it’s up to you. I like the idea of being able to eat 4 to 5 pieces of pizza, so I’m opting for the thin n crispy.

Roll’d Vietnamese

The Roll’d Vietnamese menu offers so much choice if you’re watching what you eat. Shredded chicken pho sits at about 481 calories. All of the Viet salads are light and within the energy range too. And for those who are after some light finger food, the rice paper rolls come in at around 700kj or 165 calories. Vietnamese food is all-round a great and low-calorie takeaway option.

Red Rooster

Chicken takeaway has always been a favourite in Australia. Whether it’s Brodies, Big Rooster, Red Rooster, or KFC, we all love fast-food chicken outlets. But sometimes that deep-fried goodness is really high in calories. With a little investigation, we found that Red Rooster had great low-calorie takeaway options to enjoy. A roast chicken and gravy roll, as well as a chicken aioli wrap with roast chicken, come in well under 500 calories. Roast chicken is definitely the best option instead of crumbed, battered or fried chicken. That being said, avoid the hot chips if you can, unless you’re having them on their own of course.

Subway

Even though there are so many choices of cuisine with low-calorie takeaway nowadays, Subway is nutritious as well as light. It’s a win-win. Loading those subs with mounds of salads and your choice of protein will leave you feeling light and healthy, yet satisfied. And the really good option that Subway offers is the smaller servings in a 6-inch sub. Almost all of the 6-inch subs are less than 500 calories. But be careful with your add-ons. Once you start adding cheese, avocado or bacon, the calories start to jump up quickly. You can calculate the energy in your sub (including add-ons) through the Subway menu.

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