Are Eggo Waffles Healthy? 8 Things You Should Know - I Am Going Vegan (2024)

Are Eggo Waffles a healthy breakfast choice?

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Did you know: Eggo was originally a mayonnaise brand. Really! Only later did the company expand into their now-famous waffles. They’re super convenient—much faster than homemade waffles. But how do they stack up nutritionally? Are Eggo waffles healthy?

Eggo waffles are not very healthy. The main ingredients are processed white flour, vegetable oil, and in many flavors, sugar. They contain a considerable amount of sodium (about 350mg in two waffles) and almost no fiber.

Below, I’ll look closely at four popular flavors of Eggo waffles. I’ll analyze the carbs, cholesterol, fiber, sodium, and more. I’ll answer whether they’re good for weight loss, whether they’re vegan—and I’ll suggest another frozen waffle that’s quite a bit healthier.

Are Eggo Waffles Good for You?

Here are the eight specific questions I’ll be answering about Eggo waffles nutrition. Click any of them to skip ahead to that section—or just keep scrolling to read them all:

1. What Are Eggo Waffles Made Of?
2. Are Eggo Waffles Processed Food?
3. Are Eggo Waffles Good For Weight Loss?
4. Are Eggo Waffles High in Carbs and Sugar?
5. Are Eggo Waffles High in Cholesterol?
6. Are Eggo Waffles High in Fiber?
7. Are Eggo Waffles High in Sodium?
8. Are Eggo Waffles Vegan?

1. What Are Eggo Waffles Made Of?

Let’s start by looking at the actual ingredients found in Eggo waffles. Then we can assess if they are “processed food” or not.

Here are the ingredients for four popular Eggo waffle flavors:

Here’s what I notice about these ingredients:

• Eggo waffles are made with refined white flour. The first ingredient for all these waffles is “enriched flour”—not whole grain, whole wheat, multigrain, or anything like that. White flour is high on the glycemic index and low in nutrients. So, not a great start.

• Eggo waffles are made with processed vegetable oils. Eggo waffles contain “soybean and palm, canola and/or cottonseed” oil. Vegetable oils are high-calorie and highly processed—and none of these specific choices are particularly healthy ones.

• Eggo waffles have added sugar. A little sweetener is standard in any waffle recipe. So this one isn’t unique to Eggo. But every two-waffle serving has about 4 grams of sugar. That’s on top of the high-glycemic carbs you’re already getting from the refined flour.

• Blueberry Eggo waffles have real blueberries. Actually, they have real blueberries plus blueberry juice and black carrot juice concentrates (for color). With these colorful fruits and veggies, the purple color comes from healthy anthocyanin antioxidants. So, this is good!

Overall, we’re mostly looking at negatives here… But hey, at least the Blueberry flavor has real blueberries! (And the Strawberry flavor has real strawberries, too.)

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2. Are Eggo Waffles Processed Food?

Eggo waffles are processed food. Other than water, the main ingredients in most Eggo waffles flavors are white flour, vegetable oil, and sugar. These ingredients are highly processed, high in calories, and low in fiber.

Keep in mind: The exact balance of these processed ingredients varies by each Eggo flavor. In the Buttermilk flavor, there are actually more buttermilk, eggs, and leavening than sugar. (We’ll compare exact sugar amounts below.)

But in general, Eggo waffles do not contain many whole food ingredients. They contain some animal-derived ingredients like eggs and dairy… but even those are calorie-rich and arguably not the healthiest.

3. Are Eggo Waffles Good For Weight Loss?

Eggo waffles are probably not the best choice for weight loss. Eggo waffles are mainly processed carbs, without much fiber, so they’re not likely to keep you feeling full and satisfied in a calorie deficit. But like any food, they can be eaten in moderation while dieting.

To check whether a food is “fattening,” the best single thing we can consider is probably calorie density. That is, how many calories does a given weight or volume of the food have? It can be expressed in figures like “calories per 100g.”

But you can also just use some common sense. Processed ingredients like flour, oil, and sugar raise the calorie density for a food. That’s because the fiber is typically removed, and you’re left with only the part containing calories.

Since flour, oil, and sugar are three of the main ingredients in Eggo waffles, we would expect them to have high caloric density. Meaning, you would get a lot of calories before necessarily feeling that full.

And indeed, if we compare Eggo waffles to a whole-grain frozen waffle, that’s what we see. Homestyle Eggos have 180 calories in two waffles (70g). Meanwhile, Van’s Multigrain Waffles only have 140 calories in two waffles (76g).

So, the Eggos have about 29% more calories. In fact, the Chocolatey Chip flavor has more like 43% more calories:

Another factor to look at is fiber. Fiber helps with weight loss by filling you up, reducing appetite, and improving your healthy gut bacteria. (source)

We’ll cover fiber in more detail below, but spoiler alert: Eggo waffles don’t have much fiber. And that is typical of processed foods containing white flour—a lot of the natural fiber has been removed in processing.

Of course, if you eat your Eggo waffles in moderation, they can still be part of a weight loss diet. Your total calorie balance is what matters most. But eating processed foods like Eggo waffles could make it harder to feel satisfied while staying in a calorie deficit.

For more weight loss tips, check out these 18 tips for weight loss without counting calories.

4. Are Eggo Waffles High in Carbs and Sugar?

Eggo waffles have around 30 grams of carbs in each two-waffle serving. The amount of sugar varies by flavor, from 2g to 9g in the flavors we checked. The Buttermilk flavor had the lowest sugar, with about 1g of sugar per waffle. Eggo waffles are not low-carb.

Eggo waffles are not made for keto or other low-carb diets. They’re not “protein waffles” or anything like that. They’re basically normal waffles—just made to be frozen and convenient. So they’re pretty high in carbs.

The numbers below are for each two-waffle serving:

5. Are Eggo Waffles High in Cholesterol?

Eggo waffles have 5mg of dietary cholesterol in each two-waffle serving. This is only 2% of the Daily Value for dietary cholesterol, or about 3% of the cholesterol in one large egg. However, Eggo waffles also contain some saturated fat, which may raise LDL cholesterol.

With cholesterol, it’s important to recognize: Dietary cholesterol in food is not necessarily strongly tied to your blood cholesterol. It’s not eating cholesterol that makes your blood cholesterol go up.

That said, there are still dietary aspects that affect your blood cholesterol. Specifically, it seems that trans fat and saturated fat intake tend to raise LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. (source)

So, it may be more important to consider the saturated fat content of Eggo waffles (and all your meals)—not the dietary cholesterol.

That said, Eggo waffles are not crazy high in saturated fat, either. The flavors I checked had between 1.5g and 2.5g of saturated fat in two waffles. That’s only 8% to 13% of the daily value for saturated fat. So, it’s not a ton.

In summary, Eggo waffles don’t seem to be that bad for cholesterol—but they contain a little dietary cholesterol and a little saturated fat.

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6. Are Eggo Waffles High in Fiber?

Eggo waffles are low in fiber, with less than 1 gram of fiber in a typical two-waffle serving. Whole grain waffles often have over four times as much fiber.

It’s no surprise that Eggo waffles are low in fiber. When you look at the ingredients list, it’s mostly processed ingredients (like white flour) that have the fiber removed.

If you choose a whole grain waffle, you could be getting over four times the fiber. Here is a comparison with just one brand I checked:

You can also make homemade whole grain waffles with a recipe like this one.

7. Are Eggo Waffles High in Sodium?

Eggo waffles have around 350 to 370mg in each two-waffle serving. This is about 15% of the Daily Value for sodium (2,300 mg).

If you get too much sodium in your diet, it can lead to high blood pressure and increased risk of heart disease and other problems. Eggo waffles are not extremely high in sodium—canned soup and TV dinners have more.

But they do have a significant bit of sodium to your diet. So if you’re having multiple servings in a day, it could add up pretty fast:

8. Are Eggo Waffles Vegan?

Eggo waffles are not vegan. They contain both eggs and dairy ingredients.

If you want vegan frozen waffles, I recommend checking out Van’s. Not all of their flavors are vegan, but some are, including their Original flavor. Many of their flavors are also gluten free.

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