Jack in the Box Nutrition Facts: An Overview

Jack in the Box Nutrition Facts: An Overview
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If you ever go to Jack in the Box, you better have some idea of Jack in the Box nutrition facts. Whether or not you are on a diet, some of the foods found in this store can wreak havoc on your health. It’s hard to stay on the safe side when you go to a store where many of the items have over 1,000 milligrams of sodium and onwards of 40 grams of fat per serving. What’s even more cause for concern is the fact that most people buy more than one item from Jack in the Box. But there is a way you can eat there and feel less guilty.

Healthy Choices, Salads, Burgers & More, Chicken & Fish and Something Different

The Healthy Choices menu contains foods that all have less than 20 grams of fat. However, this section also contains foods that are more or less preferable over others. The 16-ounce Mango Smoothie, 16-ounce Strawberry Banana Smoothie and Fruit Cup are your best bet out of the Healthy Choices menu. This is because they contain the lowest amounts of calories and sodium. They also have no fat. Watch out for the Chicken Teriyaki Bowl, Steak Teriyaki Bowl and Grilled Chicken Strips with Teriyaki Dipping Sauce. They all have over 1,000 milligrams of sodium per serving.

All of the Salads have about 510 calories or more per serving. However, these salads pack more than modest amounts of sodium. The Chicken Club Salad with Grilled Chicken Strip, Southwest Chicken Salad with Crispy Chicken Strip and Southwest Chicken Salad with Grilled Chicken Strip all contain over 1,000 milligrams of sodium. Spicy Corn Sticks are a great choice if you want to stay healthy, but if you want a balance between staying healthy and not being hungry, the Grilled Chicken Salad may be your choice. There are other choices in this portion of the menu that have less calories but they are either not filling enough or meant to be used as condiments.

In the Burgers & More section, more than half the food choices have over 1,000 milligrams of sodium. Caloric content range from a little less than 300 to over 900 calories. All the items have a lot of fat, with some having up to 60 grams per serving. I don’t recommend any food from this group. If you do plan to eat from this group, a plain hamburger is probably your best option. It has the least amount of fat, sodium and calories.

The Chicken & Fish is a slightly better option than the Burgers & More section in terms of fat content, but it’s no better in terms of sodium content. Nearly all of the items had close to 1,000 milligrams of sodium or more. The caloric range is similar to that of the Burgers & More section. The Chicken Fajita Pita made with Whole Grain (with no Salsa) appears to be the best option for people watching their diet.

The Something Different menu is truly something different. The Jack in the Box nutrition facts for this group indicate that it has the food item with the highest sodium count - The Turkey, Bacon and Cheddar Grilled Sandwich. This sandwich has over 2,000 milligrams of sodium. The Chicken Fajita Pita made with Whole Grain (with no Salsa), which is repeated from the last section, is your best option.

Snacks & Sides, Shakes & Deserts, Breakfast and Value Menu

The Snacks & Sides section contains foods that range from 50 to 790 calories per serving. The fat gram ranges from 0 - 45 grams per serving and the sodium ranges from 10 - 1950 grams per serving as well. The best options are the Fruit cup, Egg Roll (1 piece) and Beef Taco.

Shakes & Desserts naturally have less sodium than other items at Jack in the Box, but far more carbohydrates and sugars. About four items (24 ounce Chocolate Shake with Whipped Topping, 24 ounce Oreo Cookie Shake with Whipped Topping, 24 ounce Strawberry Shake with Whipped Topping and 24 ounce Vanilla Shake with Whipped Topping) have 1,000 calories or more. Carb content ranges from 32 - 146 grams per serving. This is a menu section where you must exercise caution. The Chocolate Overload Cake seems to be the best option. The Cheesecake was similar in nutritional content, with the exception that it had significantly more fat.

The Breakfast menu contains 14 out of 22 items that have above 1,000 milligrams of sodium. Calories range from 280 to 850. Your best options are the Hash Brown Sticks (5 pieces). The Breakfast Jack and Bacon Breakfast Jack come in at a distant second and third place because they have nearly double the amount of sodium.

As far as Value Menu options are concerned, watch out for the Big Cheeseburger and Jumbo Jack with Cheese. They both have close to 40 grams of total fat (15 of which are saturated fat) and more than 1,000 milligrams of sodium. Side salad is great, but at only 50 calories it might not fill you up. The Grilled Cheese and Chicken sandwich are OK if you want to go for items with less fat, calories and no trans fat. However, the fact that the sodium content is respectively 800 and 910 milligrams doesn’t help a lot of people either.

Final Words

Get the Kids Meal; if you’re concerned about your health there’s no better way to effortlessly administer portion control. Portion control is one of the best ways to lose weight. Furthermore, most of the kids meal items have a better nutritional profile than half of all the items for which we’ve listed Jack in the Box nutrition facts. It may be healthier to avoid the Hamburger Kids Meal as well as the Hamburger with Cheese Kids Meal because it’s the only items in this section with trans fat. Avoid sodas, even diet soda. Aspartame and high-fructose corn syrup do not need to be in anyone’s diet (not to mention tablespoons of added sugar). Instead go for water and call it a day.

So, if you find yourself eating at Jack in the Box or any other fast food restaurants, make sure to study the menu and choose healthy options. Your body and health depends on it.

References

[1] https://www.jackinthebox.com/pdf/NutritionalGuide_2010.pdf

[2] https://www.fastfood.com/nutrition/index.php?rest=Jack+in+the+Box