Moe’s Southwest Grill is a popular Tex-Mex fast food chain with over 700 locations across the United States. Their menu features burritos, bowls, tacos, quesadillas, nachos, and more. One of their most popular menu items is the burrito bowl.
What is a Moe’s burrito bowl?
A Moe’s burrito bowl starts with cilantro-lime rice, black beans, or pinto beans as the base. You can then choose your protein like chicken, steak, carnitas (pork), barbacoa (shredded beef), or veggies. Next, you can add toppings like cheese, mild salsa, corn salsa, roasted chile-corn, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, and jalapeños. The burrito bowl comes with chips on the side.
You can customize your burrito bowl by choosing different proteins, beans, salsas, and toppings to create your perfect combination. The wide variety of ingredients allows you to cater the bowl to your specific tastes and dietary needs.
Nutrition information for a Moe’s burrito bowl
The total calories and other nutrition information for a Moe’s burrito bowl can vary significantly depending on the specific ingredients you select. In general, a burrito bowl contains 500-1,000 calories.
Here are some estimates for common burrito bowl choices at Moe’s:
- Chicken burrito bowl with rice, black beans, cheese, mild salsa, lettuce, and sour cream: 650 calories
- Steak burrito bowl with rice, pinto beans, corn salsa, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, and sour cream: 850 calories
- Carnitas burrito bowl with rice, black beans, mild salsa, guacamole, cheese, and lettuce: 800 calories
- Veggie burrito bowl with rice, black beans, mild salsa, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, and sour cream: 600 calories
- Barbacoa burrito bowl with rice, pinto beans, roasted chile-corn, cheese, lettuce, and sour cream: 950 calories
As you can see, calorie counts can range significantly. Meat-based bowls with guacamole and sour cream will be higher in calories, while vegetarian and vegan bowls will be lower.
Factors that affect calories in a Moe’s burrito bowl
Here are some of the main factors that impact the calorie count of your Moe’s burrito bowl:
- Base: Cilantro-lime rice adds 210 calories per serving, while low-carb lettuce has just 5 calories.
- Protein: Chicken, steak, and pork pack more calories than vegetarian proteins like beans.
- Beans: Black beans have about 110 calories per 1/2 cup serving. Pinto beans have about 120 calories.
- Toppings: High-fat ingredients like cheese, guacamole, and sour cream significantly increase calories.
- Salsas: The corn, mild, and fresh tomato salsas are lower in calories than the higher-fat roasted chile-corn salsa.
You can reduce the calorie count of your burrito bowl by opting for lettuce instead of rice, choosing veggies or carnitas over steak or barbacoa, limiting high-fat toppings, and sticking with fresh salsas. However, you don’t have to skip the delicious flavors to cut calories – moderation of higher calorie add-ons can help lower the totals.
Highest and lowest calorie burrito bowl options
If you want to customize the most calorie-laden burrito bowl at Moe’s, consider these choices:
- Base: Cilantro-lime rice
- Protein: Barbacoa
- Beans: Black beans
- Toppings: Guacamole, sour cream, cheese, roasted chile-corn salsa
This bowl with all the highest calorie options would total around 1,300 calories. On the lighter side, create a veggie burrito bowl with these swaps:
- Base: Lettuce instead of rice
- Protein: Fajita veggies
- Beans: No beans
- Toppings: Mild salsa, lettuce, fresh tomato salsa
This veggie bowl would come in around 300 calories – less than one-quarter of the higher calorie option!
Calories in Moe’s burrito bowl ingredients
To get a better idea of how each ingredient contributes to the total calories in your burrito bowl, here is the nutrition data for common add-ons:
| Ingredient | Calories |
|---|---|
| Cilantro-lime rice | 210 per serving |
| Lettuce | 5 per serving |
| Chicken | 110 (3 oz portion) |
| Steak | 160 (3 oz portion) |
| Carnitas | 210 (3 oz portion) |
| Barbacoa | 180 (3 oz portion) |
| Fajita veggies | 45 (3 oz portion) |
| Black beans | 110 (1/2 cup) |
| Pinto beans | 120 (1/2 cup) |
| Cheese | 110 (1/4 cup) |
| Guacamole | 230 (4 oz) |
| Sour cream | 110 (2 oz) |
| Mild salsa | 20 (1/4 cup) |
| Corn salsa | 90 (1/4 cup) |
| Roasted chile-corn salsa | 140 (1/4 cup) |
| Lettuce | 5 (1 cup) |
| Fresh tomato salsa | 15 (1/4 cup) |
As shown in the table, ingredients like rice, beans, meats, cheese, guacamole, and sour cream add the most calories to your burrito bowl. Choosing lighter options like lettuce, salsa, and fajita veggies will keep your calories down. Portion control is also key – adding extra scoops of cheese or guacamole can pack on calories quickly.
Tips for lowering calories in a Moe’s burrito bowl
If you want to enjoy a tasty burrito bowl from Moe’s without going overboard on calories, keep these tips in mind:
Choose your base wisely
Opt for a lettuce base instead of the cilantro-lime rice. Lettuce has only 5 calories per serving compared to 210 calories for a serving of rice. Going bowl-less altogether and making your meal a salad is another option to eliminate the grains.
Pick lean protein
Chicken, carnitas, and barbacoa pack fewer calories ounce for ounce than steak. For the lowest calorie option, choose fajita veggies as your protein.
Load up on veggies
Onions, peppers, lettuce, fresh tomato salsa, corn salsa, cilantro, and other veggie toppings will add nutrition without spiking calories. Load your bowl up with produce.
Go easy on the fat
While tasty, heavy add-ons like guacamole, cheese, and sour cream significantly increase the calorie count. Use a light hand or skip altogether.
Limit caloric salsas
The mild tomato salsa and fresh tomato salsa have 20-15 calories per 1/4 cup serving. The roasted chile-corn salsa packs 140 calories per serving, so go lighter on that one.
Watch portion sizes
It’s easy to overdo it on portions when you’re loading up your own burrito bowl. Stick to reasonable serving sizes of each ingredient to keep calories in check.
Skip the chips and soda
The tortilla chips and soda that come with most burrito bowl orders add at least 500 extra calories. Opt for water instead of soda and skip the chips to save calories.
Low carb burrito bowl options
If you are following a low carb or keto diet, you can still enjoy a burrito bowl at Moe’s. Try this low carb build:
- Base: Lettuce instead of rice
- Protein: Chicken, steak, carnitas, or barbacoa
- Beans: No beans
- Toppings: Guacamole, cheese, mild salsa
This bowl skips the rice and beans, allowing you to stay low carb. Adding extra veggies like onions, peppers, and lettuce will provide more volume and nutrients. Just watch high carb toppings like corn salsa.
Vegetarian and vegan burrito bowl options
Vegans and vegetarians can enjoy plant-based burrito bowls at Moe’s by customizing the ingredients:
- Base: Cilantro-lime rice or lettuce
- Protein: Fajita veggies, black beans or pinto beans
- Toppings: Guacamole, mild salsa, lettuce, onions, peppers, tomato
For a vegan bowl, choose rice or lettuce as your base and beans or fajita veggies for protein. Pile on all the delicious veggie toppings. Just skip the cheese and sour cream.
Low calorie burrito bowl combo meals
If you want to enjoy a burrito bowl as part of a combo meal, look for these low calorie choices:
Burrito Bowl Combo with Chicken
- Burrito bowl with chicken, lettuce (instead of rice), black beans, mild salsa, lettuce, and tomatoes
- Side salad instead of chips and salsa
- Water instead of soda
Total Calories: Around 550
Vegetarian Burrito Bowl Combo
- Burrito bowl with fajita veggies, cilantro-lime rice, black beans, corn salsa, and guacamole
- Chips and fresh tomato salsa
- Water instead of soda
Total Calories: Around 750
Conclusion
In summary, the number of calories in a Moe’s burrito bowl can range anywhere from 300 to over 1,300 calories depending on your customizations. Sticking with veggie-based ingredients and avoiding calorie bombs like chips and soda can keep your bowl relatively light. While hitting 1,000+ calories is easy to do, you can also build a satisfying burrito bowl for under 500 calories by making smart swaps. Keep portion sizes reasonable and you can feel good about enjoying Moe’s convenient Tex-Mex flavors.
