Subway can be a healthy choice because of customization with fresh veggies, whole grains, and lean proteins, but it can also be unhealthy due to high sodium, sugars in sauces, and high-calorie meats/cheeses, making mindful ordering crucial for a balanced meal. You can build a nutritious meal by choosing smaller portions, loading up on vegetables, going light on sauces, and selecting lean meats, but it's easy to turn a seemingly healthy sub into a calorie/sodium bomb.
Subway offers a better variety of healthy meal options than many other fast food restaurants. In general, Subway's meals are low in sugar and a decent source of fiber and protein, however, many are also loaded with fat and sodium.
Subway can be healthier than McDonald's because it offers more vegetables and lean proteins, but it depends heavily on your specific order; a heavily loaded Subway sandwich with processed meats, cheese, and creamy sauces can easily rival or exceed the calories, fat, and sodium of a McDonald's meal, especially if you skip sugary drinks and fries at McDonald's. Both can be unhealthy, but Subway gives you more control to customize a nutritious meal.
The healthiest Subway bread options are typically the Hearty Multigrain or 9-Grain Wheat, offering more fiber, vitamins, and minerals for better digestion compared to white bread, though the Flatbread is lowest in calories and carbs if calorie counting is your main goal. For overall nutritional value, whole-grain options are superior, providing complex carbs and nutrients that keep you feeling fuller longer.
“Meatball marinara on white bread, while not the highest in calories, is the unhealthiest option,” says Ludlam-Raine.
Their focus on fresh veggies and lean deli meats, and other proteins such as oven-roasted turkey breast, grilled chicken and falafel is not only delicious, but can really help with your overall health goals. In particular, some of the healthiest options at Subway include: The Veggie Delite with Avocado wrap.
The 11 Healthiest Subway Menu Items To Try
What Is the Lowest-Calorie Subway Bread? If you don't count the new “mini” bread options, the Flatbread is a runaway winner in this category. With only 140 calories in a 6-inch serving and 280 in a Footlong, Flatbread is the healthiest bread at Subway if you're counting calories.
1- Italian Herb and Cheese
The Italian Herb and Cheese is definitely my top pick when it comes to Subway's best bread. It's a very flavorful and delicious bread that gets the job done anytime I go to Subway. It's a bit of a Subway hero bread as many people make the journey to seek out a sandwich in this bread.
The healthiest fast food in Australia often comes from places offering fresh ingredients like Roll'd (Vietnamese rice paper rolls, pho), Sumo Salad/Greenstreat (fresh salads, grain bowls), Nando's (grilled chicken, salads), Grill'd (veggie/lean meat burgers with salad), and Guzman y Gomez (veggie/chicken bowls/burritos), focusing on grilled options, plenty of vegetables, and avoiding fried items or heavy sauces for lighter choices like sushi, poke bowls, or kebabs with lean protein.
The healthiest fast food options focus on grilled protein, lots of vegetables, and whole grains, found in places like Chipotle (veggie/bean bowls), Subway (Turkey Breast & Ham), Chick-fil-A (grilled nuggets/sandwich), Wendy's (grilled chicken wrap/chili/baked potato), and Taco Bell (Fresco-style tacos/burritos), emphasizing customization to swap sauces, cheese, and fried items for healthier alternatives like salsa, avocado, and salads.
Footlongs double everything—calories, sodium, carbs, and fat. Even a "healthy" footlong Oven Roasted Turkey hits 520 calories and 1,580mg sodium. A footlong Italian BMT with cheese and mayo exceeds 1,100 calories and 3,000mg sodium. For most people, a 6-inch sub is the appropriate portion size.
Known for their fresh made-to-order sandwiches, Subway offers healthier options than traditional fast food restaurants. On the other hand, their popular footlong subs have a ton of calories, and their sides (referred to as sidekicks) are ultra-processed and very high in sugar.
Which bread is good for weight loss?
The healthiest Subway sandwich is typically a 6-inch Oven-Roasted Turkey or Rotisserie-Style Chicken on Hearty Multigrain bread, loaded with veggies (lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, peppers) and minimal sauce, using oil/vinegar or mustard, for a lean protein, high-fiber, lower-calorie meal with good fats if you add avocado. Customization is key, making the Veggie Delite another excellent low-calorie, plant-based choice, says Verywell Fit, while Cozymeal suggests the Turkey Cali Club for healthy fats, notes Cozymeal.
Subway's black forest ham, turkey breast, Subway club, rotisserie-style chicken, roast beef, oven-roasted chicken, and cold cut combo salads are all under 200 calories (with no dressing) and add a little protein compared to the Veggie Delite.
When it comes to eating out and needing something fast and healthy on the go, Subway is one of our top choices for those looking to keep things a little lighter and leaner than what most traditional fast food places have to offer.
The healthiest Subway bread in Australia generally leans towards their whole grain or wheat options, like Hearty Multigrain or standard Wheat, for higher fiber, vitamins, and minerals, supporting digestion better than white bread, but always check the current nutritional guide on the Subway Australia website for specifics on calories, sodium, and sugar in their available breads like Malted Rye or Italian Herbs & Cheese, as offerings and formulations change.
Less Healthy Items To Skip at Subway
Plenty of healthy menu options exist at Subway, but less-balanced choices do, too. Certain meats contain additives, excess sodium, and unhealthy fats. Other items that are less nutritious include added sugar.
That's why, in 2020, we phased out intentionally added per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, from our sandwich paper and cookie bags in North America. We recognize that, like most products made with recycled materials, use of recycled content in some packaging products may result in residual PFAS.
Azodicarbonamide is allowed in bread to the extent of 45 parts per million. That means a Subway sandwich has about 10 milligrams. There's more rodent poop remnants and insect fragments in there. Of course we can't dismiss risk just because the dose is so small.
In 2020, it ruled that the sugar content in Subway's savory sandwich bread was above the legal limit required to be labeled "bread," according to the country's Value-Added Tax Act of 1972, which states that for a baked good to qualify as bread, its sugar content cannot exceed 2% of the total weight of flour.