Tips for Eating Mexican Food provided by the American Heart Association
A lot of Mexican food is fried with lard and topped with cheese, so it's loaded with fat. But when you know what to choose, Mexican food can be made fresh, tasty and low in fat.
Tips: Tell your server not to bring fried tortilla chips to the table. And hold the sour cream and guacamole from entrees - use salsa to add flavor. Veracruz or other tomato-based sauces are better than creamy or cheesy sauces. If you order a taco salad, don't eat the fried shell.
| Instead of |
Try |
| Flour tortillas (contain lard) |
Corn tortillas (made with almost no fat) |
| Nachos |
Grilled shrimp |
| Carnitas (fried beef or pork) or chorizo (sausage) |
Grilled fish or chicken breast |
| Refried beans |
Frijoles a la charra or borracho beans and Spanish rice |
| Sour cream, cheese |
Salsa, pico de gallo, cilantro, jalapeno peppers |
| Guacamole |
Salsa |
| Quesadilla (flour or corn tortilla, filled with meat and cheese, then fried) |
Chicken fajitas (marinated chicken grilled with onions, green peppers, lettuce, diced tomatoes with a soft tortilla; skip the sour cream and guacamole) |
| Chalupas and tacos |
Taco salad or fajita salad (Don't eat the tortilla shell) |
| Flautas (crisp, rolled tortillas stuffed with shredded meat and topped with
a sauce); chimichangas (flour tortillas filled with spicy meat and Monterey Jack cheese, fried and topped with tomato sauce); burritos (large flour tortillas filled with beans or meat, served with tomato sauce and topped with shredded cheese) |
Chicken or beef enchiladas with red sauce or salsa |
|
