The Lowest Calorie Menu Item You Can Order At KFC

Have you ever found yourself at a KFC, wondering what you can possibly eat that won't trash your diet? While the home of the infamous Double Down isn't anybody's go-to place for a nutritious, low-calorie meal, it might be the only place convenient for you to grab a quick lunch, or maybe you somehow acquired a gift card, or perhaps you work there and free food is one of your few employee perks. Whatever your reasons for eating at this establishment, it needn't mean you're stuck with a gut-busting grease bomb of a meal if you make the right choice.

Technically, the lowest-calorie item you could order off KFC's menu would be a diet soda or flavored water, but we're talking about food here. There are always side salads (15 calories for a house salad, 40 for a Caesar, plus an additional 15 calories for light Italian dressing), but few would consider one of these to be a complete meal. You can, however, have a sizable serving of healthy protein plus two veggies for a meal that's only about 300 calories. Pretty amazing, right?

Eat This, Not That! recommends KFC's Kentucky Grilled Chicken Breast with a side of green beans and one of sweet kernel corn as their top pick for the chain's healthiest offerings. While it's relatively light and definitely low in calories, fat, and carbs, this meal will fill you up and keep you satisfied for hours. While they estimate this meal at a total of 310 calories, KFC's own nutrition data shows that it would actually only total 305: 210 for the breast, 70 for the corn, and 25 for the beans. If the 16 grams of carbs in the corn doesn't work for you, you can always swap this side dish out for a salad instead (2 carb grams for Caesar, 3 for the house).

Prefer dark to light meat? Well, then you're really in luck, since the Kentucky Grilled Chicken Thigh only has 150 calories, while the drumstick has just 80. You could even order both together for only 20 calories more than the breast. Or how about a whole wing? Just 70 calories for these. No matter which piece of chicken you choose, though, you'll be saving a significant amount of calories over the chain's signature fried varieties. Plus, as YouTuber JKMCrave says, this stuff's as good as fried (well, maybe almost as good), so you can finally have your KFC guilt-free.