17 Best & Worst Jimmy John's Subs, According to Dietitians
Originally founded in 1983 in Charleston, Illinois as a gourmet sandwich shop, Jimmy John's now has more than 2,700 locations across the country. The chain's subs and combo meals are popular in many college towns, where students look for affordable meal options. The Jimmy John's menu is relatively easy to navigate if you want more healthful fare. Stick to the "Unwich" (lettuce wrapped), "Little John" or "Slim" options that are clearly identified on the menu. The worst choices are generally those made with the 16" French bread and the chain's signature subs, as they tend to have the highest calorie, sat fat, and sodium.
Below are 9 of the best and 8 of the unhealthiest options when ordering a sandwich off of Jimmy John's menu.
Tips to choose a dietitian-approved Jimmy John's menu option:
- Order an Unwich, a bread-free option wrapped in lettuce and contributes zero calories to your sandwich. Compare that to the 470 calories from a 16" French bread that has been hallowed out, which is the standard at Jimmy John's. A regular 16" French bread that hasn't been hallowed out packs in 710 calories.
- Order a "Little John": Any of the Little John (about 6.5" sub) offerings on the menu, as they have anywhere from 240 to 340 calories, often less than half of the original (8") sandwich options.
- Try a "Slim": Jimmy John's offers six, no-frill menu options that are identified as slims. These sandwiches have no condiments and are simply meat and bread.
- Stick with Lean Proteins: The leanest proteins include turkey, tuna, and roast beef. Avoid sandwiches made with more processed, higher-fat options like salami, bacon, or ham.
- Go light on cheese or skip it altogether and you can shave 60 calories and 2.5 grams of saturated fat from your order.
- Hold the mayo and you'll shave 11 grams fat and about 110 calories from your sandwich
The 9 Best Sandwiches on Jimmy John's Menu
Best: Little John #3: Tuna Salad, Cucumber, Lettuce & Tomato
This is another healthful choice, thanks to the low saturated fat counts and you'll get healthy omega-3 fatty acids from the tuna. "With the majority of Americans under consuming seafood, having a convenient sandwich option to help fill that gap is certainly a positive," says registered dietitian Lauren Manaker, MS, RD. The DHA omega-3 fatty acids can help support heart, eye, and brain health, and the micronutrients found in fish, like vitamin B12 and iodine, can help support our overall health too. With 3 grams of fiber coupled with 10 grams of high-quality protein, this sandwich will keep you satisfied longer.
Best: Totally Tuna Unwich: Tuna Salad, Cucumber, Lettuce & Tomato
Looking for a low-calorie, low-carb option? This bread-free choice provides the health and nutritional benefits of tuna with 3 grams fiber and a lower sodium count of 700 milligrams, which is significantly lower than sandwiches made with bread.
Best: Slim #2: Roast Beef on French bread
"Iron deficiency is a concern in some populations, including pre-menopausal females," explains Manaker. "Lean beef, like roast beef, can help individuals get more heme iron into their diet to help prevent iron deficiency. Just note that this sandwich is quite high in sodium, so best to skip the chips, pickles, and other salty additions to this meal when enjoying this sandwich." With 30 grams high-quality protein from lean roast beef, this sandwich packs a lot of protein for its calories. Customize with added veggies to up the fiber content.
Best: Little John #4: Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato & Mayo
This lighter sandwich is one of the best choices on the entire menu. It's a 6.5" sandwich made with lean turkey, lettuce, and tomatoes. It has just 1.5 grams of cholesterol-raising saturated fat while it packs in 12 grams of lean protein. Make this even better by asking for double veggies to up the filling fiber. "Try pairing this sandwich with a side salad for a balanced meal," recommends Manaker. "Swapping the mayo with mustard can also save some calories and fat."
Best: Turkey Tom: Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato & Mayo
Of the full-size, 8" sandwiches, this is one of the leanest options. It packs in 23 grams of protein in a respectable 480 calories. One downside is the 1,160 milligrams of sodium, which is more than 50% of the sodium you should have in a day.
Best: Slim #4: Turkey Breast on French Bread
This slimmed-down sandwich is made with extra-lean hand-sliced turkey and French bread. It offers one of the best protein to calorie ratios of any of the menu options. As a bonus, it has zero saturated fat per serving and provides four grams of fiber.
Best: Club Lulu Unwich: Turkey, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato & Mayo
This no-bread option—made with sliced turkey breast, bacon, mayo, lettuce, and tomato—is relatively low in saturated fat compared to many other sandwich options on the menu. With 22 grams of protein in 340 calories, this is an excellent choice to maximize high-quality protein with fewer calories.
Best: Little John #1: Ham, Provolone, Lettuce, Tomato & Mayo
This smaller sandwich is lower in calories, saturated fat, and sodium, compared to the 8" or 16" sandwiches and wraps offered by the chain. With 25 grams carbs per sandwich, that's about half the carbs of larger sandwich options on the menu.
Best: Big John #2: Roast Beef, Lettuce, Tomato & Mayo
This sandwich is made with lean roast beef on French bread. Ask for additional lettuce and tomato to add even more filling fiber. It is relatively low in saturated fat and packs in 4 grams of filling fiber.
The 8 Worst Sandwiches on Jimmy John's Menu
Worst: The JJ Gargantuan: Salami, Capocollo, Turkey, Roast Beef, Ham, Provolone…
The five-meat plus cheese sandwich is one of the unhealthiest choices of all national sandwich chains. This is the worst choice for your health at this chain by far. It's ginormous and is stuffed with overly processed meats and has sky-high calories, total fat, saturated fat, sodium, carbs, and protein. It would need to be shared with four to five adults to provide a more appropriate serving for lunch or dinner. You'd need to run or walk around 21 miles to burn the calories off in this sandwich.
Worst: Billy Club #8, 16" French Bread: Roast Beef, Ham, Provolone, Dijon, Lettuce, Tomato & Mayo
This sandwich packs in more saturated fat than you should get in a day and about twice as much sodium as most of us need in a day. At 1,610 calories, this sandwich could serve two of three individuals. Plus, with 101 grams protein in a sandwich, this could be taxing for the kidneys to process that much protein.
Worst: Spicy East Coast Italian #7: Double Salami, Double Capocollo & Provolone
This Italian-style sandwich has just too much processed meat and cheese. It packs in more fat, sodium, and protein than most adults need in an entire day! With 34 grams of artery-clogging saturated fat, this sandwich has more saturated fat than three servings of Haagen-Dazs Butter Pecan Ice Cream.
Worst: Italian Night Club #9: Salami, Capocollo, Ham, Provolone, Onion, Lettuce, Tomato, Mayo, Oil & Vinegar
This Italian-style sandwich packs in too much processed, animal-based protein, which makes unhealthy saturated fat and sodium counts soar. It provides three times the protein as what's recommended that you have in one meal. Excessive amounts of animal-based protein can be harmful to the kidneys and increase the risk of gout, heart disease, and more.
Worst: Hunter's Club #10: Double Roast Beef & Provolone, Lettuce, Tomato & Mayo
There's no need for anyone to have a double servingrams of roast beef on a 16" sandwich. The roast beef and cheese in this sandwich provide all of the saturated fat, protein, and sodium you should eat in a day and about the same amount of saturated fat as you'd get in 3 tablespoons of butter.
Worst: Jimmy Cubano #13: Bacon, Ham, Provolone, Pickle, Mayo & Dijon
The bacon and ham in this Cuban-style sandwich will exceed the artery-clogging saturated fat that you can have in an entire day. The sodium count is also soaring with twice as much sodium as you should have in a day.
Worst: Chicken Caesar (on 16" French bread): Chicken, Parmesan, Caesar Dressing
You'd think this sandwich might be a healthier option based on its name, but it makes our worst list. The Chicken Caesar sandwich on 16" French bread has excessive calories, sat fat, sodium, and stratospheric protein count. If you order in a wrap instead of on a 16" French bread, you'll save about 700 calories.
Worst: Jalapeno Ranch Chicken on 16" French Bread: Chicken, Provolone, Jalapeno Ranch
When served on a 16" French roll, this sandwich has all the saturated fat, sodium, and protein most adults need in an entire day.
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