Is Nandos Chicken Healthy To Eat?

Nandos, the antithesis of KFC, serves out grilled chicken with “peri-peri”, an Afro-Portuguese sauce for the world. With locations in countries like the South Africa, the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Dubai, and more, Nandos is a huge company with an even bigger cult following. It’s even publicly traded on the South African stock stock exchange (it is a South African company for all those wondering). I can’t get enough of this stuff and I’m happy to know that all the locals also share my same sentiment. There’s no denying this is some high quality, deliciously cooked chicken but is it healthy???

My love for Nandos

My first introduction to Nandos came when I was living in South Africa. South Africa is a big meat eating country so it’s only fitting that the Portuguese/Mozambican fusion peri peri sauce and chicken originated in this country. I ate at Nandos 2-3x a week while living in South Africa and it quickly became one of my staple meals. Since then, I’ve eaten Nandos in the UK, the US, Singapore, Australia and more.

Every country has slight differences in their chicken quality, price, sauce, and taste but generally the quality across the world of Nandos has been quite consistent. I still have a soft spot for the Nandos in South Africa as that’s where all the magic started but I will happily eat Nandos all over the world.

I am very much into my fitness and have worked out regularly my whole life. Living in Bali for example saw me make best friends with the beautiful gyms in Canggu. Sadly, there was no Nandos there. I love a good high protein meal at a good price point, with good flavors. I found Nandos to check off all those boxes.

The chicken is first oven baked to bring it up to temperature before being finished over a charcoal grill. The charcoal grill is what makes Nandos stand out for me as it imbues upon it that delicious smoky flavor and delicious grill marks. Because it was cooked in an oven, the meat inside is tender and juicy.

Finally, the peri peri sauce is absolutely a staple. I always go for extra hot and it adds that heat that I’m craving but also brings about a taste that leaves you wanting more.

By no means should any of this post be taken seriously for dieting. I just happen to eat out every meal and Nandos happens to be one of my go to places in this country.

The facts of Nandos nutrition

Nandos nutritional values are hard to find and only a few countries offer a detailed look at the nutritional macros of a Nandos meal. I found the Nandos Australia website to have the best nutritional value. Note that every country has slight variations on their macros just based upon how the chicken is sourced.

Which Nandos meal am I looking at?

Nandos’ menu in each country is different. Based on the local tastes, there will be different menu items that are on offer. For example, some countries have various wraps while others love to focus on rice bowls. In recent years, Nandos has really been adding to their menus of various gimmicky items. Thankfully, what is consistent across every Nandos in the is the peri peri chicken.

This is what we’re going to analyze today because I need my protein. Forget the wraps and bowls, I need the real stuff which is their claim to fame. For the purpose of this analysis, we will use the half chicken with extra hot peri peri.

Looking at the half chicken from Australia, you can see that it contains

• 715 calories
• 31g of fat, 8g of saturated fat
• 108g of protein

These are amazing macros and a great value for money. On a protein per dollar basis, this meal gives you 6 grams of protein per $1 AUD, or roughly 9 grams of protein per $1 USD. This is insane value, especially given how delicious the chicken is. Because the chicken is grilled and not fried, these nutritional values are very much possible.

Sides at Nandos

Unless you’re a true carnivore, you’ll probably want some sides to go along with the chicken. Not only are the sides tasty, but you need some vegetables and vitamins to balance out the meal.

• Regular size Chips (french fries):  400 calories, 40 grams carbs, 25g fat, 7g sat fat
• Peri peri wedges: Not available anywhere but SA it appears, likely similar to chips in nutritional value
• Spicy Rice: 300 calories, 50g carbs, 5g fat, 0g sat fat
• Chicken Wrap/Pita: 500 calories, 40g carbs, 10g fat, 5g sat fat

You can see from the grain salad side in Australia that it comes with 220 calories, an additional 7.5g of protein, and only 2.6g of saturated fat.

Therefore, a half chicken with a side of grain salad will give you around 1,000 calories and well over 100g of protein. For someone who likes to work out and stay healthy, this is an amazing meal for me. With my BMR (basal metabolic rate) and the amount of exercise I do, I generally shoot for about 3,000 calories a day and 180g of protein so this meal is perfect for me.

Nandos Peri-Peri Sauce

The magical sauce that makes Nandos what it is. You can get grilled chicken anywhere in this country but grilling it with that peri peri sauce is divine. The sauce itself has no fat and minimal calories making it a healthy-friendly sauce for the chicken. Nandos offers its sauces in numerous flavors from mild to extra extra hot, garlic, and lemon & herb. All of these options are healthy. In fact, because so many chilis are used in making this sauce, it’s likely to boost your metabolism.

So what to order at Nandos for a healthy meal?

Eat whatever you want, this place is awesome. However, if you’re like me, someone who eats out every day for every meal, then perhaps a bit of a healthier selection wouldn’t hurt.

• Chicken is a very healthy protein, especially the breasts.
• Peri-peri sauce is low in calories and while not high in nutrition, is not a detriment
• Chips are high in fat and calories (but who didn’t know this?)
• Any cream based sauce they have is not healthy, period.
• Chicken wings are oh so delicious, but never healthy. Ever.

Healthiest options

• Order chicken breasts and ask them to remove the skin (although this is so delicious)
• Substitute chips/wedges for spicy rice or spinach
• Chicken espetada (all white meat)
• Chicken Pita (no mayonnaise)
• Chicken strips and rice

Every country has a different menu so some of these items might not exist in your country.

I’m not dieting

Just a disclaimer for anyone reading this post is that I’m not on a diet and have no plans on dieting. I am a man at 183cm, 82kg, and about 10% of body fat. I have a BMR of 2,100 calories which means I sit on my bum the entire day writing blog posts and burn 2,100 calories. On an average day, I will lift weights at the gym, walk/bike around, and do various other activities. In general, I could easily burn 1,000 calories in addition to my BMR.

I do not count my calories because I need more than the average person. I generally target somewhere around 3,000 calories a day. Because I work out and lift weights a lot, I need a lot of protein. The official recommended protein intake from Government websites is far too low in my opinion. I target somewhere between 2 and 2.5g of protein per kg per day. This means at my weight, I like to get somewhere between 170g and 200g of protein a day. Of course, this doesn’t always happen but I can safely say that Nandos is a great way to get there!

If you’re trying to lose weight or have other fitness goals in mind, make sure to count your calories accordingly and eat Nandos with all those things in mind. Just because I eat a 1,000 calories meal does not make it unhealthy. If you’re trying to lose weight and are on a strict 1,500 a day diet, it is not a good choice for you obviously but for someone like me it is very much a good choice.

So is Nandos a healthy meal?

Unlike most fast food chains, Nandos has plenty of healthy options. Of course there are the delicious peri wedges to tempt you but they offer healthy alternatives that most fast food places do not have. So to keep this short, YES, Nandos is healthy. I will happily continue eating at this fine establishment until I leave this country where I will likely experience immediate withdrawal symptoms. Long live Nandos!

Two 1/2 chickens a week average for about 80 weeks, which amounts to almost 80 whole chickens while in SA. That’s about 10,000R of business I gave to Nandos!