Subway’s Highest Protein Per Dollar Item

Subway is the largest restaurant chain in America. Many of my friends who are anti-McDonald’s happen to be very pro-Subway, citing its healthy menu. What I’ve personally noticed is that those who eat Subway really, really love it. They would get one every few days.

Anyways, I am going to do another Protein Per Dollar analysis on Subway. Can their signature menu such as the Roasted Chicken or Tuna Club rival against McDonald’s? Let’s find out.

Prelude:
A. Because your sub is highly customizable, we are going to assume a couple of defaults: You only order footlong subs as they are the best value. You will add a cheese option for any sub you order (either Swiss/Chedder as they give the most protein). You will add all condiments. Who doesn’t like everything anyways?

B. I did some tests and found out that Subway’s nutritional information may be inaccurate. For example, the Steak and Cheese gives the footlong as over 100 grams of protein which is blatantly false.

C. All prices are based on local Ontario restaurant and nutritional information is from Subway Canada website.

5. Select 12″ Oven Roasted Chicken (7.29 g/$)

Price: $7.00
Total Protein: 51 grams

This $7.00 sub takes claims 5th place with 51 grams of protein, 750 calories, 1900 mg of sodium, and 19 grams of fat. With just 19 grams of fat, this sub is definitely one of lowest fat/calorie options.

4. Signature 12″ Steak and Cheese Sub (7.43 g/$)

Price: $8.75
Total Protein: 65 grams

According to Subway’s Canada website, this footlong sub has a colossal 65 grams of protein, 1800 calories, 4800 mg of sodium, 54 grams of fat. That is so unbelievable that I am inclined to believe Subway Canada made a mistake of doubling it’s nutritional information. Thus, I am assuming it’s 6″ statistic is the actual footlong statistic, giving it fourth place. However, with 7.14% protein, it takes first place for being the highest protein to calorie ratio.

3. Classic 12″ Cold Cut Combo (7.64 g/$)

Price: $5.50
Total Protein: 42 grams

This $5.50 sub takes claims bronze with 42 grams of protein, 1000 calories, 2550 mg of sodium, and 51 grams of fat.

2. Classic 12″ Egg Salad (7.82 g/$)

Price: $5.50
Total Protein: 43 grams

This $5.50 sub takes claims silver with 43 grams of protein, 960 calories, 1790 mg of sodium, and 45 grams of fat

1. Classic 12″ Meatball Marinara (9.27 g/$)

Price: $5.50
Total Protein: 51 grams

The meatball Marinara takes Gold with 51 grams of protein, 1080 calories, 2390 mg of sodium, and 46 grams of fat. This sub is also the heaviest per dollar (127 grams/$) and most calorie dense per dollar (200 cal/$) so you are also getting the maximum worth for the price. In fact, if you add 2 dressings, which most people do, such as Chipotle Southwest and Honey Mustard, it balloons to 139 g/$ and 243 cal/$!

Honorable Mention: Healthiest Item- Oven Roasted Chicken Salad (12.5% protein; 120 cal)

If you ordered this without any salad dressing, it would be amazingly healthy. At 12.5% protein, it rivals many home cooked meals!

The following is the complete list for those who want to know the protein per dollar for the rest of the menu:

Sandwiches:

Name	Price	Protein	Protein / $	Weight (g)	Weight / $	Calories (cal)	Calories / $	Protein / Cal
Classic 12" Meatball Marinara	$5.50	51	9.27	700	127.27	1100	200.00	4.64%
Classic 12" Egg Salad	$5.50	43	7.82	606	110.18	960	174.55	4.48%
Classic 12" Cold Cut Combo	$5.50	42	7.64	564	102.55	1000	181.82	4.20%
Signature 12" Steak & Cheese	$8.75	65	7.43	583	66.63	910	104.00	7.14%
Select 12" Oven Roasted Chicken (6 g fat)	$7.00	51	7.29	550	78.57	750	107.14	6.80%
Classic 12" Ham (6 g fat)	$5.50	39	7.09	535	97.27	700	127.27	5.57%
Select 12" Tuna	$7.00	49	7.00	570	81.43	1090	155.71	4.50%
Classic 12" B.L.T	$5.50	38	6.91	458	83.27	750	136.36	5.07%
Select 12" Spicy Italian	$7.00	48	6.86	540	77.14	1090	155.71	4.40%
Classic 12" Pizza Sub with Cheese	$5.50	37	6.73	523	95.09	920	167.27	4.02%
Select 12" Italian BMT	$7.00	46	6.57	550	78.57	950	135.71	4.84%
Signature 12" Chicken Bacon Ranch Melt	$8.75	57	6.51	590	67.43	1020	116.57	5.59%
Signature 12" Chicken Pizziola Melt with Cheese	$8.75	56	6.40	616	70.40	900	102.86	6.22%
Select 12" Turkey Breast (6 g fat)	$7.00	42	6.00	535	76.43	700	100.00	6.00%
Select 12" Roast Beef (6 g fat)	$7.00	42	6.00	535	76.43	710	101.43	5.92%
Signature 12" Sweet Onion & Chicken Teriyaki (6 g fat)	$8.75	52	5.94	604	69.03	830	94.86	6.27%
Select 12" Turkey Breast & Ham (6 g fat)	$7.00	41	5.86	535	76.43	700	100.00	5.86%
Signature 12" Subway Melt	$8.75	47	5.37	566	64.69	780	89.14	6.03%
12" Turkey Breast & Ham with Avocado & Spinach	$8.50	45	5.29	624	73.41	840	98.82	5.36%
Signature 12" Subway Club (6 g fat)	$8.75	46	5.26	564	64.46	730	83.43	6.30%
12" Subway Club with Avocado*	$10.25	48	4.68	546	53.27	740	72.20	6.49%

Salads:

Name	Price	Protein	Protein / $	Weight (g)	Weight / $	Calories (cal)	Calories / $	Protein / Cal
Signature Chicken & Bacon Ranch Melt Salad	$7.45	22	2.95	399	53.56	430	57.72	5.12%
Classic Meatball Marinara Salad	$5.25	15	2.86	409	77.90	310	59.05	4.84%
Signature Steak & Cheese Salad	$7.45	20	2.68	352	47.25	200	26.85	10.00%
Select Oven Roasted Chicken Salad	$6.00	15	2.50	334	55.67	120	20.00	12.50%
Select Tuna Salad	$6.00	15	2.50	344	57.33	310	51.67	4.84%
Signature Subway Melt Salad	$7.45	18	2.42	370	49.66	200	26.85	9.00%
Select Spicy Italian Salad	$6.00	14	2.33	329	54.83	300	50.00	4.67%
Select Italian B.M.T. Salad	$6.00	13	2.17	334	55.67	230	38.33	5.65%
Signature Sweet Onion & Chicken Teriyaki Salad	$7.45	16	2.15	392	52.62	220	29.53	7.27%
Classic Cold Cut Combo Salad	$5.25	11	2.10	341	64.95	260	49.52	4.23%
Select Turkey Breast & Ham Salad	$6.00	12	2.00	336	56.00	120	20.00	10.00%
Classic Ham Salad	$5.25	10	1.90	327	62.29	110	20.95	9.09%
Select Roast Beef Salad	$6.00	11	1.83	327	54.50	110	18.33	10.00%
Select Turkey Breast Salad	$6.00	11	1.83	327	54.50	110	18.33	10.00%
Signature Subway Club Salad	$7.45	13	1.74	341	45.77	120	16.11	10.83%
Classic B.L.T Salad	$5.25	9	1.71	288	54.86	130	24.76	6.92%

Menu Prices: