A popular Indian snack served at many bakeries and restaurants is the spicy and flavourful chicken cutlet and what’s not to like? With a crispy interior and savory chicken mince blended with spices, coated with egg and breadcrumbs, and often served with bread or in a burger bun, this dish is an instant hit in every household. But have you ever wondered how many calories a single chicken cutlet contains? In today’s blog, we’ll analyze the ingredients and break down the macros for you.
Ingredients: As always, we analyze the ingredients first in order to help us get a better understanding of the nutritional profile. Chicken mince makes up for the majority of the primary ingredient, with a mixture of chicken breast and thighs mixed with various spices as well. Some restaurants are known to use eggs and even boiled and mashed potatoes for binding. Eggs and breadcrumbs are used to coat the cutlet and it’s then deep-fried until cooked, to give it that classic texture.
Carbohydrates: A single chicken cutlet contains 15 grams of carbohydrates or 60 KCAL, and while this number may seem relatively low, chicken in itself contains little to no carbohydrates. So whatever carbohydrates it contains comes from other ingredients such as potatoes used to bind the cutlet and breadcrumbs to coat it.
Fats: A single chicken cutlet contains 9 grams of fats or 81 KCAL, and while chicken breast contains negligible fats, and chicken fats contain a fair amount of it, most of the fats that it contains comes from deep-frying the cutlet. Most restaurants reuse the oil multiple times, which isn’t healthy, and since fats are the most calorically dense macronutrient, all it does is that it adds to the overall calories, which would otherwise have been a healthy dish.
Protein: As is the trend with most non-vegetarian dishes, the protein content is fairly high at 28 grams of protein per serving. Since all animal-derived proteins are complete sources of protein, your body can utilize them to build muscle and carry out its day-to-day functioning, such as repairing tissues and the production of new cells as well.
The substitute: As always, our quest doesn’t just end with giving you all the nutritional information you need, but to help you with a healthier alternative. We always advise you to prepare your food at home, as you have complete control over the ingredients. If you want to make this dish at home, then start by opting not too deep to fry the cutlet and to look for healthier options such as baking, or maybe shallow frying them at worst. You can use oats powder as a binding agent, or even sweet potatoes to give it that solid base texture, and also swap the white breadcrumbs with whole-wheat bread crumbs, to keep the calories low and the dish healthy.
At HYP, we are constantly looking out for ways and means to make our everyday dishes healthier, and through our blogs, we hope to educate the people. Do keep following us for future updates on your favourite dishes.
Questions?