Portillo's Vs Steak 'N Shake: Which Serves The Healthier Classic Chili?

Chili isn't always the easiest thing to find when you're on the go, but both Portillo's and Steak 'n Shake are great options. Wendy's chili may be the most well-known, but as many customers know, Wendy's is struggling in 2026. Instead, chili lovers should be looking at Portillo's or Steak 'n Shake while they're on the road, and if they want the healthier option, Portillo's is probably the narrowly better, depending on what factors you prioritize.

Portillo's and Steak 'n Shake's chili both differ quite a bit in size, and Portillo's also adds cheese while Steak 'n Shake's doesn't, which makes a one-to-one comparison imperfect. So to use a baseline order to judge against, we chose the two options with the most similar protein levels. That is probably the thing people are looking for the most from chili, and where both chains have offerings that were very similar. A side of Portillo's chili has 22 grams of protein, while Steak 'n Shake's chili bowl has 20 grams, so those were the two we compared.

So Portillo's chili has a little bit more protein than the closest Steak 'n Shake size, but the latter has the advantage in fiber. One bowl of Steak 'n Shake chili has an impressive 10 grams of fiber, which is more than 30% of the recommended daily fiber for a 2,000-calorie diet. Portillo's chili also has a solid 7 grams, but Steak 'n Shake gets the nod here.

Portillo's chili's biggest advantage over Steak 'n Shake comes from saturated fat and sodium. Neither chain's chili has any trans fat, but Portillo's option has only 9 grams of saturated fat, which the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) warns people to limit, while Steak 'n Shakes has 15 grams.

Both chilis are quite high in sodium. Portillo's is the lower of the two, at 1,764 milligrams in a cup, versus 2,220 milligrams at Steak 'n Shake. That's meaningfully lower at Portillo's, it still has 77% of your daily recommended maximum sodium intake, while Steak 'n Shake has almost all of the 2,300 milligram recommendation in just one bowl.

However Steak 'n Shake does have less sugar, in fact it has no sugar, while Portillo's chili has 6 grams. The chain's nutrition facts do not say whether they are added sugar or natural sugar however, but if it is added, that's only around 12% of the FDA maximum.

Calories alone are not a great measure of nutrition, but if you are looking to get in similar amounts of protein while watching your weight, they can matter, and Portillo's offers 22 grams of protein from 430 calories, while Steak 'n Shakes gets you 20 grams with 550 calories. Given that Portillo's chili gets you similar nutrition from a lighter meal, and has less saturated fat and sodium, it gets the nod from us, but the extra fiber or lower sugar at Steak 'n Shake may be more important to you. Either way, you can grab a cup of chili at both and get some decent nutritional value as part of a balanced diet.