Jersey Mike’s Chicken Salad Vs Potbelly’s: Which Serves The Healthier Sub
By Matthew SpinaAug. 15, 2026 12:00 pm EST
The era of thinking big sub sandwiches are straight-up healthy may be over, but options like chicken salad from Jersey Mike’s and Potbelly can still offer an alternative to heavy fast food. The truth is, not everything needs to be a salad. People have come to recognize that deli meat, mayo, and big slabs of white bread can have nutritional drawbacks just like burgers can, but eaten in moderation, something like chicken salad can be part of a balanced diet. Fat and sodium aren’t inherently bad for you, and both serve important functions to the body, although keeping your intake in check matters. Chicken also provides a solid source of protein. And if you are craving a chicken salad sandwich, Potbelly has the nutritional edge over Jersey Mike’s in several categories.
Potbelly’s chicken salad sandwich can be ordered on multigrain or white bread, while Jersey Mike’s offers white and wheat, among other options. For the sake of the easiest comparison, we checked both on white bread without cheese to keep the focus on the chicken salad. The regular option at Jersey Mike’s and Potbelly are comparable in size, each around 7.5 inches. From a fat and sodium perspective, Jersey Mike’s far outpaced Potbelly: The Jersey Mike’s sandwich has 61 grams of fat and 1,480 milligrams of sodium, compared with 30 grams of fat and 700 milligrams of sodium for Potbelly’s chicken salad sandwich.
Potbelly’s chicken salad offers more protein with less fat and sodium than Jersey Mike’s
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Those are pretty striking numbers for Jersey Mike’s considering the similarity of the ingredients. That difference also shows up in calories. While “calories in, calories out” has been shown to be an oversimplification of weight management, calorie intake still matters for people trying to reach certain health or weight goals. Jersey Mike’s chicken salad has 950 calories, compared with Potbelly’s 660, meaning Jersey Mike’s has about 44% more calories. Both chains’ sandwiches also contain some sugar. While neither is a major source, Potbelly once again edges out Jersey Mike’s, with 3 grams of sugar compared with about 6 grams at Jersey Mike’s.
When it comes to protein, Potbelly has a narrow edge. Its chicken salad has 37 grams of protein versus about 33 grams at Jersey Mike’s . Both could provide anywhere from 30% to 50% of your daily protein needs depending on your age and lifestyle. And while white bread isn’t particularly high in fiber, you can get a good more from both chains by switching to wheat or multigrain bread. Jersey Mike’s wheat bread has roughly 7.3 grams of fiber, while Potbelly’s multigrain version has 6 grams. Those could be both around 25% of your daily recommended amount.
While Potbelly comes out ahead of the nutritional numbers we’re comparing, there is one important thing to note. Our taste testers ranked the chicken salad as the worst sandwich at Potbelly. On the other hand, they named Jersey Mike’s chicken salad as one of the best new fast food sandwiches of 2026. Fat and salt can contribute plenty of flavor, after all. Whether the trade-off is worth it is up to you
