Every Ingredient Ranked by Sodium
| Ingredient | Sodium | % of 2,300mg daily limit |
|---|---|---|
| Flour tortilla | 600mg | 26% |
| Sofritas | 560mg | 24% |
| Fresh tomato salsa | 550mg | 24% |
| Barbacoa | 530mg | 23% |
| Tomatillo-red chili salsa | 500mg | 22% |
| Carnitas | 450mg | 20% |
| Chips (regular) | 390mg | 17% |
| Guacamole | 375mg | 16% |
| White rice | 350mg | 15% |
| Steak | 330mg | 14% |
| Corn salsa | 330mg | 14% |
| Chicken | 310mg | 13% |
| Tomatillo-green chili salsa | 260mg | 11% |
| Queso blanco | 220mg | 10% |
| Black / pinto beans | 210mg | 9% |
| Cheese | 190mg | 8% |
| Brown rice | 190mg | 8% |
| Fajita veggies | 150mg | 7% |
| Sour cream | 30mg | 1% |
| Lettuce | 0mg | 0% |
Why Chipotle Orders Hit 2,000mg+ So Easily
No single ingredient is outrageous — the problem is stacking. A standard chicken burrito (tortilla 600 + chicken 310 + white rice 350 + black beans 210 + pico 550 + cheese 190) lands at 2,210mg of sodium, essentially the full American Heart Association ideal daily limit in one sitting, before chips. The surprising culprits are the "fresh" items: pico de gallo out-salts the cheese by nearly 3×, and the tortilla out-salts every meat on the line.
Building a Lower-Sodium Order
- Under 1,000mg — the realistic target: bowl with chicken, brown rice, fajita veggies, cheese, sour cream and lettuce = ~870mg. Still tastes like Chipotle.
- Swap pico → green salsa (saves 290mg) and white rice → brown rice (saves 160mg). Two swaps, 450mg gone, flavor intact.
- Bowl over burrito saves 600mg before anything else — the tortilla is the single saltiest item you can order.
- Counterintuitive ally: sour cream. At 30mg it's the lowest-sodium creamy topping by a factor of six; if you're cutting salt rather than calories, it's your friend.
Health note: if you're managing blood pressure or a condition that requires sodium restriction, use these figures as estimates and follow the targets your doctor or dietitian has set for you — restaurant sodium varies batch to batch.
Sodium appears live on the label in our Chipotle nutrition calculator, so you can watch it accumulate as you build. For the rest of the micronutrient picture, see the full nutrition facts chart.