What to order at Nando's for steady blood sugar

Good news: Nando's is one of the best places to eat out when you care about your blood sugar. The chicken is almost pure protein, and protein is exactly what your carbs need alongside them [2]. So no, you don't have to give up the chips. You just have to order smart.

Every number here comes straight from Nando's own nutrition figures [1], checked on 4 October 2026, with an estimated real-life GL for each order.

My order (yes, it has chips)

Four boneless chicken thighs, chips and corn on the cob. It's my favourite thing on the menu, and it packs a massive 94g of protein. I'll be honest with you though: a full portion of chips is a lot of carbs, so on its own this plate comes out at a real-life GL of around 32. That's high.

The fix is easy, and you still get your chips: share them. Half the chips takes the whole plate down to around 18, into the medium band. Same chicken, same corn, same happy face.

How to build a steadier Nando's order

• Start with the chicken. A 1/4 chicken gives you 39g of protein, a Chicken Butterfly 59g, four boneless thighs a whopping 85g. That's your blood sugar buffer.
• One carb side, not two. Chips, Spicy Rice or Hearty Grains: pick your favourite and enjoy it. Chips and garlic bread is where it really stacks up.
• Make your second side a fibre hero. Macho Peas are the star: 10g of fibre and 7g of protein in one little side. Tenderstem broccoli and corn on the cob are great too.
• Keep an eye on the sweet extras. More on those below!

My go-to orders

Figures are before your choice of baste. Lemon & Herb and Medium add almost nothing; PERi-Tamer adds 8g of sugar.

How I estimated the GL. Same method as every recipe on the site: GI × carbs for each carb food, then the protein and fat adjustment, capped at 40% (how it works). Every order here hits that cap. Carbs are the restaurant's own figures. GI values: chips 63, white rice 73 (Spicy Rice), sweetcorn 52, white bread 75 (garlic bread), wheat roti 62 (closest match for the wrap) from the international GI tables [5]; Macho Peas and Hearty Grains ~50 and Tenderstem ~15 are my assumptions, as they aren't listed. Treat these as estimates, not measurements.

The steadiest plate on the menu: Butterfly chicken, Hearty Grains and Tenderstem. A real-life GL of around 8, with 67g of protein. Perfect when you want something lighter.

The lunch winner: the Hearty Bowl with pulled chicken (weekdays, 10am to 3pm). Around 15, with 12g of fibre, and it's balanced exactly as it comes.

Love the Spicy Rice? Have it! Pair it with a 1/4 chicken and Macho Peas for 50g of protein and nearly 15g of fibre alongside your rice.

And look what happens with chips plus garlic bread: a real-life GL of around 50. Swap the garlic bread for Macho Peas and you lose 34g of carbs and gain 8g of fibre. Easy win.

The sneaky ones

• PERi-Honey: 33g of sugar in one dip pot. That's more than a standard bar of milk chocolate!
• Chilli Jam: 13g of sugar per pot.
• Bottomless Coca-Cola: 32g of sugar per glass, and the refills keep coming. Go for a Zero: they have none.
• Fully Loaded Chips: 119g of carbs. It's a sharing side, so grab some friends.

Two tiny habits that help anywhere

• Chicken and veg first, chips last. In one study, eating protein and vegetables before the carbs led to a noticeably smaller blood sugar rise than eating the same meal the other way round [3].
• Walk it off. Even a short walk after a meal helps your muscles soak up some of that glucose [4]. Take the long way home!

Nutrition figures are from Nando's and can change with the menu, so check their website if it matters to you. If you count carbs to dose insulin, use the restaurant's own figures. General information only, not medical advice.