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Healthy Latin Food: 12 Lighter Dishes, Checked Against USDA

A cup of ceviche has about 158 calories and 26 g of protein, and a cup of black beans and rice about 272 with 8.5 g of fiber. Here are 12 lighter Latin dishes, plus the fried favorites to save for later.

By Phu Le

Some Latin American dishes are heavy: a beef chimichanga has about 616 calories, according to USDA. Many others, from Mexican pozole to Peruvian ceviche, are built on broth, beans, fish and vegetables and come in far lower. Let's go through 12 of them with Dietfit, using USDA's numbers, and see which favorites are worth saving for now and then.

Four swaps that show the gap, per serving:

Instead of

Calories

Try

Calories

Beef chimichanga, 1 (6.7 oz)

616

Chicken in tomato sauce, 1 leg with sauce

173

Mofongo-style plantain with cracklings, 1 cup

716

Boiled plantain, 1 cup

244

Beef empanada, 1 large

433

Ceviche, 1 cup

158

Yuca fries, 1/2 cup

188

Boiled yuca, 1/2 cup

153

Source: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS).

What makes a Latin dish lighter

The lighter dishes on this list share a few traits, and they line up with the advice a registered dietitian gave the American Heart Association for Latin cooking: bake or grill instead of frying, keep meats lean, go easy on cheese and sour cream, and season with sofrito and herbs rather than salt.

  • Beans, broth or fish at the center. A cup of black beans has about 241 calories, 16 g of protein and 18 g of fiber, according to USDA.

  • Boiled, baked or grilled, not fried. Per 3.5 oz, plantain cooked with oil has about 144 calories against 122 boiled; yuca fries have 269 against 191 for boiled yuca.

  • Cheese as a garnish. A cheese pupusa carries about 6.5 g of saturated fat; a bean pupusa about 2.8 g.

  • Salt kept in check. The soups below run about 600 to 720 mg of sodium a cup, so the salt shaker matters as much as the recipe.

Sources: American Heart Association News, "Latin dishes can be heart-healthy and still keep authentic flavors"; USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS).

Soups and stews (picks 1 to 4)

Broth-based dishes are among the lightest on this list, and they bring real protein with them:

Dish

Serving

Calories

Protein

Fat

Sodium

1. Pozole

1 cup

105

8.3 g

3.0 g

608 mg

2. Caldo de pollo (chicken soup)

1 cup

135

15.3 g

3.9 g

723 mg

3. Caldo de res (beef soup)

1 cup

174

14.5 g

8.3 g

720 mg

4. Chicken stewed in tomato sauce, Mexican style

1 leg with sauce

173

17.3 g

10.2 g

572 mg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS).

Caldo de pollo gives the most protein for its calories here, about 15 g in a 135-calorie cup. Pozole is the lightest at 105 calories a cup, with about 2 g of fiber. The trade-off across all four is sodium: two cups of any of the soups land at roughly 1,200 to 1,450 mg, more than half the 2,300 mg Daily Value. Fresh toppings such as cabbage, radish and lime add volume without adding salt.

Beans and rice (picks 5 to 7)

Beans and rice turn up across Latin America, from Cuban moros to Costa Rican gallo pinto. Per cup, USDA's versions look like this:

  • 5. Black beans and white rice: 272 calories, 10.2 g protein, 8.5 g fiber, 388 mg sodium

  • 6. Black beans and brown rice: 269 calories, 10.0 g protein, 9.0 g fiber, 359 mg sodium

  • 7. Pinto beans and white rice: 284 calories, 10.4 g protein, 8.8 g fiber, 388 mg sodium

Source: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS).

A cup covers about a third of the 28 g Daily Value for fiber, and swapping white rice for brown changes little beyond a bit more fiber. Two versions run heavier: restaurant black beans and rice has about 309 calories and 503 mg of sodium a cup, and Puerto Rican-style rice with stewed beans reaches about 872 mg of sodium a cup, so cooking the beans yourself is where the savings sit.

Seafood, pupusas and starchy sides (picks 8 to 12)

8. Ceviche

1 cup: 158 calories, 26.3 g protein, 1.9 g fat, 373 mg sodium. Fish or shrimp cured in lime juice gives the most protein per calorie of anything on this list. Eaten with baked tostadas instead of fried chips, it stays a light meal.

Octopus is just as lean before the dressing goes on: 3 oz of cooked octopus has about 139 calories and 25 g of protein. Dressed with oil, as in USDA's Puerto Rican-style octopus salad, a cup comes to about 306 calories and 21.5 g of fat, so ask for the dressing light or on the side.

9. Bean pupusa

1 pupusa (4.6 oz): 298 calories, 7.3 g protein, 7.5 g fiber. The Salvadoran corn cake is not low in calories, but the bean filling brings fiber and keeps saturated fat to about 2.8 g, against about 6.5 g in a cheese-only pupusa.

10. Quinoa

1 cup cooked: 204 calories, 7.4 g protein, 4.8 g fiber. The Andean grain swaps in for white rice under a stew or in a salad.

11. Boiled plantain

1 cup: 244 calories, 3.4 g fiber, under 1 g fat. Boiled or baked plantain keeps the sweetness without the frying oil.

Fried plantains are a different side. A cup of fried ripe plantains (maduros), restaurant style, has about 399 calories and 12.7 g of fat, and a cup of fried green plantains (tostones) about 365 calories and 13.9 g of fat. Mashed green plantain with pork cracklings reaches about 716 calories and 45.6 g of fat per cup.

Plantain Calories Fried Vs Boiled

12. Boiled yuca

1/2 cup: 153 calories, 1.5 g fiber. Boiled cassava carries about 35 fewer calories per half cup than yuca fries, with far less fat.

Source: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS and SR Legacy): ceviche, octopus cooked with moist heat, octopus salad Puerto Rican style, pupusas, quinoa without added fat, plantain cooked without added fat, fried yellow and green plantains, green plantain with cracklings, cassava cooked, yuca fries.

Dishes to save for now and then

These favorites are not off limits, but fried dough, cheese and pork crackling push them well past the picks above. Per serving:

  • Mofongo-style plantain with cracklings, 1 cup: 716 calories, 11.1 g saturated fat

  • Beef chimichanga, 1 (6.7 oz): 616 calories, 9.8 g saturated fat

  • Tres leches cake, 1 slice (7.1 oz): 540 calories, 9.4 g saturated fat

  • Beef empanada, 1 large (4.6 oz): 433 calories, 9.0 g saturated fat

  • Cuban sandwich (6.7 oz): 433 calories, 1,051 mg sodium

  • Cheese chile relleno, 1 (5 oz): 326 calories, 8.7 g saturated fat

  • Flan, 1/2 cup: 231 calories

  • Churro, 1 regular (1.6 oz): 189 calories

Source: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS).

Against the 20 g Daily Value for saturated fat, the first four take up about half of a day's worth each. Sharing one, or ordering the smaller size, keeps them in the rotation: a small empanada (1.2 oz) has about 117 calories against 433 for a large one.

Building a lighter Latin plate

Put three of the picks together and you get a full plate for well under the cost of one fried favorite:

Lighter plate: 1 cup of black beans and brown rice, 1 chicken leg stewed in tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of boiled plantain. About 564 calories, 29 g of protein and 11 g of fiber.

Heavier plate: a beef chimichanga with 1/2 cup each of Spanish rice and restaurant refried beans. About 986 calories.

Source: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS); totals worked out from the values for each item.

Latin Plate Calories Compared

When eating out, a few habits help:

  • Start with soup or ceviche. A cup of caldo de pollo or ceviche comes in under 160 calories with 15 g of protein or more.

  • Keep to one starch. Restaurant meals often come with several starches, as a dietitian told the American Heart Association; picking one of rice, tortillas, plantains or yuca keeps the plate in range.

  • Choose stewed, grilled or baked over fried. That one choice separates the picks above from the dishes to save.

  • Top with salsa, not cheese. Two tablespoons of red salsa add about 11 calories, against about 116 for a quarter cup of shredded cheddar.

Sources: USDA FoodData Central (FNDDS); American Heart Association News.

To see how a 564-calorie plate fits your own day, our calorie calculator estimates a daily target from your height, weight and activity. For Mexican dishes in more detail, see whether Mexican food is healthy, or start with fajitas calories for one of the easiest plates to build light.

FAQ

Is Latin food healthy?

Much of it can be. Broth soups, beans and rice, ceviche and stewed chicken all come in around 105 to 285 calories a serving with solid protein or fiber, according to USDA. Fried and cheese-heavy dishes such as chimichangas, empanadas and mofongo run far higher.

What is the healthiest Latin American food?

By calories and protein, ceviche stands out: a cup has about 158 calories and 26 g of protein. For fiber, beans and rice lead, with about 8.5 to 9 g per cup.

Is rice and beans healthy?

Rice and beans can be a balanced side or meal. A cup of black beans and white rice has about 272 calories, 10 g of protein and 8.5 g of fiber, according to USDA. Restaurant versions and Puerto Rican-style stewed rice carry more sodium.

Are plantains healthy?

Plantains are a starchy food, so the cooking method decides most of the count. A cup of boiled plantain has about 244 calories and 3.4 g of fiber, while a cup of mashed green plantain with cracklings comes to about 716, according to USDA.

What Latin food is good for weight loss?

Lighter picks include pozole (105 calories a cup), caldo de pollo (135), ceviche (158) and chicken stewed in tomato sauce (173 for a leg with sauce). Pairing one with beans and rice or boiled plantain makes a plate of about 550 to 600 calories.

How much starch is too much on a Latin plate?

A dietitian quoted by the American Heart Association pointed to restaurant meals that bring chips first, then a platter with rice, beans and tortillas, and advised being careful with that many starches. Picking one of them per plate is a simple way to follow that advice.

References

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