The 6 Most Unhealthy Potbelly Sandwiches You Can Order, And 6 Alternatives

Potbelly is a sandwich chain in the U.S. that has over 425 locations. It originated in Chicago and has been growing quickly since 1996. Many people love its sandwiches, especially because there are so many delicious and unique options on the menu. There is also an app that gives customers incentives to keep coming back — and when you can save a dime or two on lunch, why not?

The only downside to constantly eating sandwiches is that sometimes, they can be deceivingly unhealthy. You may think you're making a healthy decision by ordering a simple deli meat option, but little do you know you're eating your days' worth of saturated fat and sodium. It's one thing to be aware of when you're eating a not-so-healthy meal, but it's another to be blissfully unaware.

We want our readers to make smart health decisions, so we've come up with a list of Potbelly sandwiches that aren't the best for your health, and offer you alternatives to order instead. We kept in mind calorie count, saturated fat, and sodium while making this list. Consuming too many calories can lead to weight gain and abdominal discomfort, while having a diet high in saturated fat and sodium are detrimental to your heart health. Choosing options that have low numbers in those three categories can help you live a healthier and longer life, one sandwich at a time.

The Lucky 7 seems like a fairly simple sandwich, and we can see that many people may not think twice about the nutritional value before eating it. The sandwich is made with multigrain bread, turkey breast, hickory smoked ham, Angus roast beef, salami, capicola, pepperoni, mortadella, and provolone. With seven different meat sources, this sandwich is packed with protein, but also packed with a lot of other not-so-great things as well.

Just the base of the Lucky 7 sandwich (not including toppings or condiments) is filled with 1,000 calories. For a person who follows a 2,000 calorie diet, that's half of your day's calories in one meal. That doesn't include your drink or potential side, either. Now, within those calories, it contains 59 grams of fat, 20 of which are saturated. That is actually 20% of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) daily recommended allowance. This number is clearly coming from the meat, specifically the fattier ones like pepperoni and salami. The provolone cheese doesn't help, either.

As for sodium, the Lucky 7 is dripping in salt. There are 3,430 milligrams of sodium in this singular sandwich. That is 143% of the FDA's daily value. Eating that much salt in one sitting can cause immediate issues like bloating, excess thirst, and raised blood pressure.

The Smoked Ham & Swiss sandwich from Potbelly is a great option. If you normally get the Lucky 7, this sandwich is a similar deli meat style option that can still satisfy you with the cheese and the ham. It's a simple sandwich, with hickory smoked ham and Swiss cheese (just as the name says). You can add healthy sandwich toppings as well, like lettuce, tomato, and mustard — which are all low calorie and low fat options. Potbelly also shows the calorie information for each menu addition, that way you can make smart decisions while building your sandwich.

For the Ham & Swiss sandwich with those toppings mentioned, the calorie count comes in at about 590 calories. With about a 59% calorie difference from the Lucky 7, we'd say that just for the savings on calories, the switch would be worth it. When looking at fat count, it gets even better. There are 9 grams of saturated fat in this sandwich, which is less than half the amount that the Lucky 7 had. Lastly, there are 1920 milligrams of sodium, which is significantly lower than the Lucky 7. Although that is still a high amount of sodium, unfortunately with deli sandwiches, we're in high-sodium territory. Compared to other sandwiches, however, this number is on the lower end. The Ham & Swiss is a great option to choose. With 41 grams of protein and 67 carbohydrates, the sandwich will keep you full and fueled for the rest of your day.

The Fireball from Potbelly is one of the warm sandwich options, and it truly does look mouthwatering. It has meatballs that are made with a mixture of beef and pork, as well as chili, hot peppers, and cheddar cheese. It's served on a white sandwich roll, and isn't normally served with other toppings.

You probably know where this one is headed. Both pork and beef naturally contain higher amounts of fat than other meats (especially if you compare it to lean chicken or turkey). Cheddar is also known to have high levels of saturated fat. Altogether, the sandwich contains 53 grams of fat, 24 of which are saturated. That is 120% of the FDA's daily recommended amount for saturated fat. Along with that, there are 990 total calories as well.

It's important to remember that the percentages we see on nutrition panels are based off of a 2,000 calorie diet. This diet is roughly for the average 6 foot tall, 175 pound man. Now, that doesn't represent most people, does it? You have to take into account your own height, weight, age, and activity level. For many people, 2,000 calories is above the amount that they'd need. That makes the percentages listed above skew even higher. For a sandwich like this, most people would benefit from eating half for lunch and the other half for dinner.

To still satisfy your hankering for beef, we'd recommend that you order the Steakhouse Beef sandwich over the Fireball. It's made with Angus roast beef, crumbled blue cheese, provolone, and horseradish aioli. This is another mouth-watering, delicious sandwich that won't put as much of a dent in your calorie intake for the day.

When it comes to beef, you're always going to get some saturated fat in there. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is. With this sandwich, there is still a higher amount of saturated fat, but not nearly as much as the Fireball. In total, there are 38 grams of fat, 16 of which are saturated. Believe it or not, the 8 grams of saturated fat that you lose when ordering this sandwich instead can truly make a difference. Many people don't realize that making small changes like this can be impactful to your overall health.

There are 790 calories in the Steakhouse Beef, which is 200 calories less than the Fireball. It also contains two more grams of protein (47 grams versus 49 grams) in the Steakhouse Beef. So, even with 200 calories less, the Steakhouse Beef packs in more protein while trimming down some of the fat. This is a great alternative to choose, as you will still be satisfied by having some red meat — but you won't be overstuffed with calories and fat.

Don't be fooled by the clever name of this sandwich and the immediate tune of the Miley Cyrus song that is bound to play in your head when reading the menu. The Wrecking Ball is one of the more unique menu items at Potbelly — it's made with multigrain bread, crumbled meatballs, marinara, turkey breast, hickory smoked ham, Angus roast beef, salami, and provolone. It's a bit similar to the Lucky 7 in terms of varieties of meat, but it has a completely different flavor profile.

This sandwich has 840 calories, 41 total grams of fat, and 16 grams of saturated fat. That is 80% of the FDA's daily recommended amount of saturated fat. Now, that amount of saturated fat matched with the sodium count is a large concern. There are 2,460 milligrams of sodium in this sandwich — showing off with 102% of the FDA's recommended daily limit.

When high levels of saturated fat and sodium are eaten together, you're really playing with the devil. Individually, they both have an effect on heart health in different ways. Then, by eating high amounts of both, you are only risking the chance of developing these health issues. From stroke, heart disease, and even cancer — this isn't something you want to play with.

Many people underestimate how delicious a sandwich made with turkey meat really can be. The Turkey Breast & Swiss from Potbelly is one of the healthiest sandwiches on the menu — made with sliced turkey breast meat, Swiss cheese, and multigrain brain. You can also add classic toppings like mustard, lettuce, and tomato to add more flavor and variety to the sandwich.

Overall, including the toppings, this sandwich is only 550 calories. Many other sandwiches on the Potbelly menu have between 900-1,100 calories, so this sandwich is definitely an outlier. Within those 530 calories, there's 14 grams of fat, and only 6 of those grams are saturated. There are 44 grams of protein — which is up to par with the other higher calorie sandwiches. In total, the sandwich has 1,580 milligrams of sodium, which is 66% of the FDA's recommended amount. Although this number is still high, it's way less than what the Wrecking Ball has.

This sandwich has such great numbers because turkey breast is a lean meat, meaning it has very little amounts of fat and high amounts of protein. The saturated fat in the sandwich is most likely coming from the Swiss cheese, and it's such a small amount — only 30% of the FDA's daily intake. This is a pretty solid number for an entire meal.

There is something so comforting and delicious about a meatball sandwich. Potbelly's iteration of that is called Mama's Meatballs – and it's made with pork and beef meatballs, provolone cheese, marinara sauce, and white bread. Even though there aren't that many ingredients in the sandwich, this one still makes its way to our unhealthy list.

With 910 calories total, we're facing another high-in-fat sandwich, mostly thanks to the pork and beef meatballs. The cheese doesn't help the case, either. There are 48 grams of fat, 21 of which are saturated. That's 105% of the FDA's daily recommended amount. With such a high amount of fat and total calories, eating a sandwich like this may not be in your best interest. If you are following a 2,000 calorie diet, this one sandwich is half of your food for the entire day. Beyond that, you have no room left for saturated fat in your other meals.

Sandwiches like this are the perfect example of putting all of your eggs into one basket. If you are really watching your health, you'll have to perfectly curate the other meals in your day to make this sandwich fit into a healthy diet. However, that takes a lot of meticulous planning, and most people will likely end up eating way over an appropriate amount of calories and fat by the end of the day. Is it worth it for one sandwich?

If you are absolutely set on having the delicious taste of marinara sauce and meatball, we think you should go for the Pizza Melt instead. It's a slightly healthier version of the Mama's Meatballs, but it has such a similar flavor profile that it's a no-brainer to go with this choice instead.

The Pizza Melt has many more ingredients than Mama's Meatballs. It's made with white bread, capicola, crumbled meatball, pepperoni, provolone cheese, marinara sauce, and sliced mushrooms. Overall, the sandwich has 750 calories, which is 160 less than Mama's Meatballs. There are 36 grams of fat and 14 of those grams are saturated. Instead of reaching over 100% of the FDA's daily allowance for saturated fat, this sandwich has 70%. With reduced calories and saturated fat, the Pizza Melt is definitely the healthier choice.

We do have to point out that there's 2,210 milligrams of sodium in this sandwich. Although it's not as high as other sandwiches, it's still not a great number. We recommend that you only opt for this sandwich when you are craving the meatball and marinara flavors, but don't make a habit out of it.

Everyone loves an on-the-go, delicious breakfast sandwich. Unfortunately, many of them can be fairly unhealthy. We recently discovered that many of the highest calorie and saltiest items on fast food menus tend to be breakfast sandwiches, so take this as your word of caution!

The Sausage, Egg, & Cheddar is made on a white bread roll with simply just sausage, egg, and cheddar. Overall, the sandwich has one of the highest amounts of calories we've seen on the Potbelly menu, with 1,110 calories. Close to half of those calories come from the sausage alone. There is an extremely large amount of fat in this sandwich as well, with 71 grams. That is 109% of the FDA's daily recommended amount for fat alone. For saturated fat, there are 28 grams, which is 140%. The mixture of the sausage, eggs, and cheese all make for an incredibly high-fat, high calorie meal.

If you are eating this sandwich for breakfast, you are really starting your day off on the wrong foot. You will have eaten more fat that you need in an entire day, all before lunch hits. With over half of the calories you need for a 2,000 calorie diet, you're also likely to go over that number by the end of the day.

If you're on the hunt for a healthy breakfast option, we do have one great sandwich from Potbelly that might cover that criteria. The Ham, Mushroom, Egg, & Swiss is the healthiest breakfast sandwich on the menu. It's made with an egg patty, ham, Swiss cheese, sliced mushrooms, and is served on white bread. You can adjust the sandwich to be a bit healthier, however, by opting for the thin-cut multigrain bread instead. This will leave you with a breakfast sandwich that is 720 calories – almost half the amount that the Sausage, Egg, & Cheese sandwich has.

This breakfast option is also much lower in fat. There are only 28 grams total, and 12 grams are saturated. That's significantly less than the previous sandwich. Even though eggs, ham, and cheese all are sources of saturated fat — the total amount in this sandwich isn't too concerning. You will also be getting 51 grams of protein from this sandwich, which is a great way to start your day off with a bang. Protein helps keep you satiated longer, and is a necessary nutrient to get adequate amounts daily.

Potbelly has yet another meatball and marinara type sub on the menu — this one is called the Sicilian. Unfortunately, this sandwich is going to join Mama's Meatballs on the list of unhealthy options. It's made with crumbled meatballs, salami, capicola, pepperoni, mortadella, mushrooms, and provolone. We admit that it sounds absolutely delicious, however we can't ignore the health facts.

This sandwich has 930 total calories, 54 grams of fat, 19 grams of saturated fat, and 2,700 milligrams of sodium. In all categories, these are fairly high numbers. The saturated fat brings us to 95% of the FDA's daily recommended amount — leaving you with a measly 5% for the remainder of your meals. The sodium amount surpasses the daily recommended amount at 113%. As we've explained previously, having high amounts of sodium and saturated fats is only asking for trouble. If you are at all concerned about your heart health or weight, we'd recommend that you skip this sandwich.

The Grilled Chicken sandwich is one of the best sandwiches that you can get at Potbelly. This is an amazing option to choose if you want a tasty, satisfying meal that won't give you insanely high amounts of calories, saturated fat, or sodium. It's made with white bread, grilled chicken, and cheddar cheese. You can also add other toppings to add some extra flavor — just be mindful when doing so, and utilize the Potbelly's website or app's features that show the calorie information for each topping.

This sandwich has 570 calories, which is the perfect amount for a lunch. Not too little, not too much — it's a true Goldilocks. With only 14 total grams of fat, 8 of which are saturated. That is about 40% of the FDA's recommended intake for saturated fat. As for sodium, this sandwich has one of the lowest amounts we've seen on the Potbelly site, with 1,140 milligrams. That is less than 50% of the FDA's daily value. With 62 grams of carbohydrates and 51 grams of protein, there are some great nutrients packed in as well.

When there are so many options on the menu, know that every sandwich at Potbelly is going to taste delicious. Do your health a favor and opt for one of the healthier options, like this Grilled Chicken sandwich, and your body will thank you.

We went through every item on the Potbelly sandwich menu. In doing so, we kept our eye out for calorie, sodium, and saturated fat counts. We curated a list of the items with the highest numbers in those categories, and then looked to find sandwiches of similar taste profile that were a bit healthier. From there, we compared the numbers and created a list of unhealthy items versus items you should get instead. Using the Food and Drug Administration's guidelines, we used the daily value percentages as a comparison baseline.