Lighter Takeaway Choices for Nights You Cannot Face Cooking
The healthiest takeaway options share three traits: a clear portion of lean protein, something green or crunchy on the side, and a cooking method that does not soak everything in oil. In practice that means grilled meat or fish from a Turkish or Lebanese grill, sashimi and edamame from a Japanese place, a tandoori dish with a dal rather than a creamy curry, or a broth-based pho. You do not need to give up takeaway to lose fat or train well. You need a short list of default orders you trust, so that the decision is already made when you are tired at nine o’clock.
This is the approach I give clients who work late and live on Deliveroo more than they would like to admit.
Where takeaway calories actually come from
People tend to blame the carbohydrate: the rice, the naan, the noodles. Those matter, but the bigger and less visible source is usually fat added during cooking. Restaurant kitchens use oil, butter, ghee and cream generously because they make food taste good and hold well in a delivery box. A spoonful of oil is easy to miss and carries a lot of energy.
So when you scan a menu, look at the verbs before the nouns. “Grilled”, “steamed”, “tandoori”, “chargrilled”, “poached” and “in broth” are usually lighter. “Crispy”, “battered”, “tempura”, “korma”, “makhani”, “creamy” and “loaded” usually are not. The protein underneath can be identical; the cooking decides most of the difference.
Large chains in England must now print calories on their menus, including online menus, under rules introduced in 2022 for businesses with 250 or more employees (the government guidance explains who is covered). Independent restaurants are exempt, so for your local favourite you will be relying on the principles below rather than a number.
Better orders, cuisine by cuisine
A quick reference for the places most of us actually order from. “Usually lighter” is not a rule; portion sizes vary a great deal between kitchens.
| Cuisine | Usually lighter | Usually heavier |
|---|---|---|
| Indian | Tandoori chicken, chicken or fish tikka (dry), dal, chana masala, raita, plain rice | Korma, butter chicken, pasanda, pilau rice, peshwari naan, bhajis |
| Turkish / Lebanese | Shish kebab, chicken or lamb skewers, salad, hummus in moderation, tabbouleh | Doner, fried halloumi, extra garlic sauce, large flatbreads |
| Japanese | Sashimi, nigiri, edamame, miso soup, chicken yakitori, poke with extra fish | Tempura, katsu, mayo-heavy rolls, large ramen with fatty pork |
| Chinese | Steamed fish, chicken with broccoli or mixed vegetables, steamed rice, clear soups | Sweet and sour, salt and pepper anything, crispy chilli beef, egg fried rice |
| Thai / Vietnamese | Pho, tom yum, larb, summer rolls, stir-fried chicken with basil | Green curry with coconut milk, pad thai, spring rolls |
| Pizza | Thin base, chicken or ham with vegetables, a side salad, two or three slices | Stuffed crust, double cheese, garlic bread, dips |
| Burgers | Single patty, grilled chicken, side salad or a small fries shared | Double or triple stacks, loaded fries, milkshakes |
Five ordering habits that matter more than the menu
- Order before you are starving. Hunger makes everything on the app look reasonable. If you know it will be a takeaway night, choose at lunchtime or on the train home.
- Build around the protein. Pick the main protein first, then add sides. A meal with a solid portion of chicken, fish, lamb, tofu or lentils keeps you fuller for longer than one built on bread and rice. My post on quick high-protein dinners covers the same logic for nights you do cook.
- Swap one side for vegetables. Most menus have a vegetable side, a salad or a soup. Ordering one instead of a second carbohydrate is the simplest change most people can make.
- Get sauces and dressings separately. You decide how much goes on. Often half is plenty.
- Plan for leftovers. Delivery portions are often sized for one and a half people. Put half in the fridge before you start eating, not after you have finished.
The default-order list
The most useful thing you can do this week takes ten minutes. Open the two or three apps you actually use, go to the places you order from most, and write down one good order for each. Save them as favourites if the app allows it. When you are tired, you are not deciding anything; you are tapping a button you set up when you were thinking clearly.
A typical client list looks like this:
- Turkish grill: chicken shish, salad, small portion of bulgur or rice, chilli sauce on the side.
- Indian: tandoori chicken, tarka dal, one plain rice shared across two meals, cucumber raita.
- Japanese: salmon sashimi, edamame, miso soup, one small roll.
- Vietnamese: chicken or beef pho with extra herbs.
None of these feel like diet food. That is the point. If a choice feels like punishment, you will not keep making it.
What about the drink and the extras
A takeaway night often comes with a couple of beers or a bottle of wine shared, plus something sweet afterwards. Those extras can add as much as the main meal. You do not have to cut them out, but decide in advance which one you are having. If you want to understand where drinking fits around training, my piece on alcohol and fat loss is a sensible starting point.
How often is too often
There is no magic number. A single takeaway does not change much on its own; what changes your body is the pattern across weeks. If you are ordering four or five nights a week, the first step is not to find a healthier takeaway; it is to make two of those nights something simple at home. Eggs on toast with a bag of salad, a supermarket rotisserie chicken with microwave rice and frozen vegetables, or a tin of beans with a jacket potato are all ten-minute meals that beat most delivery orders on protein, fibre and cost.
If you eat out often as well, the same principles carry over to restaurants. I go through how to handle menus, sharing plates and work dinners in eating out while losing weight.
How this fits with training
When I coach someone through private 1-1 training in Highgate, food is part of the conversation from the first session, because what happens in the kitchen decides a large share of the result. We do not hand out rigid meal plans. We look at your actual week, including the late nights and the takeaways, and find the few changes that will make the biggest difference. If you want that kind of structure around your eating as well as your training, the personal training page explains how sessions work and lists current prices.
If you have a medical condition that affects your diet, such as diabetes, coeliac disease or a kidney condition, check with your GP or a registered dietitian first before making changes to what and how much you eat.
Questions we get asked
What is the healthiest takeaway?
There is no single winner, but a grilled meat or fish dish with salad from a Turkish, Lebanese or Japanese kitchen is usually a strong choice. The common thread is lean protein, little added fat and a vegetable side.
Is sushi a healthy takeaway?
Sashimi and nigiri generally are. Rolls with tempura, cream cheese or spicy mayo are much richer, and it is easy to eat a lot of rice without noticing.
Can I lose weight and still order takeaway every week?
Yes. Fat loss depends on your overall intake across the week. One or two well-chosen takeaways fit comfortably into a sensible plan.
Are “healthy” delivery brands better?
Sometimes, but not automatically. Read the menu as you would anywhere else: check the cooking method, the sauce and the portion of protein.
Book with The Highgate House
Ready to start training properly? Email us at [email protected] with the service and the day that suits you, and we will come back to you with times.
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