🍕 Weight Loss📖 Guide

Papa Murphy's Weight-Loss Guide: Best Light Orders

By Smoothie Nutrition Calculator · Updated 2026 · 8 min read

Papa Murphy's Weight-Loss Guide: Best Light Orders — Papa Murphy's Nutrition nutrition illustration with the key numbers from this guide

Papa Murphy's Nutrition Calculator: The Short Answer

The best Papa Murphy's order for weight loss is built on the Garden Salad (family serving portion) (140 calories) or the Chicken Caesar Salad (portion) (22g protein for 330 calories), kept under about 550 calories in total, with protein at 25g or more so the meal actually holds you.

7 of the 14 items here are under 300 calories and 14 are under 500, so the raw materials exist. Weight loss at a restaurant is rarely about finding one magic item — it is about combinations, and about not letting drinks and extras quietly return the calories you saved on the main.

The 8 Best Papa Murphy's Items for Weight Loss

Ranked by calories, but read the protein and fibre columns before choosing: the best weight-loss item is the lightest one that still fills you up, and that is usually a top-three item here rather than the very lightest.

ItemCaloriesProteinCarbsFatSodium
Garden Salad (family serving portion)1405g13g8g260mg
Cheesy Bread (1 pc)1505g17g7g300mg
2-Liter Soft Drink (12 oz pour)1500g41g0g35mg
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (1 cookie, baked)1702g24g8g140mg
Cinnamon Wheel Slice1903g30g7g220mg
Gourmet Vegetarian Slice (Large)28011g36g10g620mg
Cheese Pizza Slice (Large, original crust)29012g34g12g590mg
Hawaiian Slice (Large)30013g38g11g720mg

The Combination Rules

Rule one: anchor on protein. A meal built on the Chicken Caesar Salad (portion) (6.7g protein per 100 calories) keeps hunger down for hours; a meal built on the menu's lightest side alone does not. Rule two: add volume, not calories — vegetables, salads and salsas. Rule three: the drink is part of the meal; a sweetened drink can cost more than the difference between the Garden Salad (family serving portion) and the Stuffed Pizza Slice (Large) is worth saving.

  • Target: 400–550 calories and 25g+ protein per meal
  • Anchor: Chicken Caesar Salad (portion) (330 cal, 22g protein)
  • Fibre insurance: Gourmet Vegetarian Slice (Large) (3g fibre)
  • Skip by default: the 2-Liter Soft Drink (12 oz pour) (41g sugar) and other dessert-calorie drinks

A Realistic Day Pattern

If Papa Murphy's is lunch, the pattern that works is a 450–550 calorie order from the table above, a normal protein-led breakfast, and a lighter home dinner — rather than trying to make the restaurant meal carry the whole day's deficit. Run your exact build through the calculator before you go; deciding at the counter, hungry, is how the Stuffed Pizza Slice (Large) (430 calories) ends up on the tray.

Papa Murphy's Nutrition Calculator: Full Nutrition Table

For reference, here is the wider Papa Murphy's picture in one table — the highest-protein items and the lightest items from the Papa Murphy's Nutrition Calculator, side by side. Every figure matches the calculator exactly, so you can cross-check any row by building it above.

ItemCaloriesProteinCarbsFatSodium
Chicken Caesar Salad (portion)33022g12g21g760mg
Stuffed Pizza Slice (Large)43018g44g20g1020mg
Papa's All Meat Slice (Large)39017g35g20g960mg
Cowboy Pizza Slice (Large)37016g36g18g880mg
Chicken Garlic Slice (Large)34015g35g15g780mg
Pepperoni Pizza Slice (Large)33013g34g16g740mg
Garden Salad (family serving portion)1405g13g8g260mg
Cheesy Bread (1 pc)1505g17g7g300mg
2-Liter Soft Drink (12 oz pour)1500g41g0g35mg
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (1 cookie, baked)1702g24g8g140mg
Cinnamon Wheel Slice1903g30g7g220mg
Gourmet Vegetarian Slice (Large)28011g36g10g620mg

Inside the Papa Murphy's Nutrition Calculator: Category by Category

Menus make more sense category by category than item by item, because each section of the Papa Murphy's menu plays a different role in the meal. Here is what each part contributes, with the numbers that define it.

Pizzas: the Papa Murphy's Nutrition Calculator tracks 8 items in this category, averaging about 341 calories each. The lightest is the Gourmet Vegetarian Slice (Large) at 280 calories, and the protein pick is the Stuffed Pizza Slice (Large) with 18g of protein for 430 calories. If you only remember one number from this category, remember the average — it is what an unplanned pick will cost you.

Sides: the Papa Murphy's Nutrition Calculator tracks 1 item in this category, averaging about 150 calories each. The lightest is the Cheesy Bread (1 pc) at 150 calories, and the protein pick is the Cheesy Bread (1 pc) with 5g of protein for 150 calories. The gap between the lightest and the typical pick here is where most of the day's quiet calories hide.

Desserts: the Papa Murphy's Nutrition Calculator tracks 2 items in this category, averaging about 180 calories each. The lightest is the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (1 cookie, baked) at 170 calories, and the protein pick is the Cinnamon Wheel Slice with 3g of protein for 190 calories. Treat the lightest item as the default and the richer items as deliberate upgrades, not accidents.

Salads: the Papa Murphy's Nutrition Calculator tracks 2 items in this category, averaging about 235 calories each. The lightest is the Garden Salad (family serving portion) at 140 calories, and the protein pick is the Chicken Caesar Salad (portion) with 22g of protein for 330 calories. This is also the category where portion choices matter most, because the calculator's portion buttons scale these figures directly.

Drinks: the Papa Murphy's Nutrition Calculator tracks 1 item in this category, averaging about 150 calories each. The lightest is the 2-Liter Soft Drink (12 oz pour) at 150 calories, and the protein pick is the 2-Liter Soft Drink (12 oz pour) with 0g of protein for 150 calories. If you only remember one number from this category, remember the average — it is what an unplanned pick will cost you.

Lightest vs Heaviest: The Real Gap

Put the two ends of the Papa Murphy's menu next to each other and the stakes become obvious. The Garden Salad (family serving portion) is 140 calories; the Stuffed Pizza Slice (Large) is 430 — a gap of 290 calories, wider than many entire meals. Neither number makes the other wrong: the lightest item is a tool for light days, the heaviest is a tool for hungry ones, and most people get into trouble only when they pick the second while planning for the first.

Sodium shows the same spread. The 2-Liter Soft Drink (12 oz pour) carries 35mg while the Stuffed Pizza Slice (Large) carries 1020mg, and sugar runs from almost nothing in the savoury core of the menu to 41g in the 2-Liter Soft Drink (12 oz pour). A balanced Papa Murphy's order is mostly an exercise in mixing the ends deliberately instead of stacking one end by default.

The Ordering Playbook

Everything in this guide condenses into a four-step routine that works at the counter, in the drive-thru and in a delivery app. It takes about twenty seconds once it is a habit, and it uses the same numbers the calculator uses, so what you plan is what you get.

  • Step 1 — Anchor on protein: start with the Chicken Caesar Salad (portion) (22g protein, 330 calories) or another top protein-per-calorie pick.
  • Step 2 — Add volume before calories: the Gourmet Vegetarian Slice (Large) (3g fibre) and the menu's vegetables and salads fill the tray cheapest.
  • Step 3 — Spend extras deliberately: one sauce, cheese or dessert — chosen, not accumulated. Remember the 2-Liter Soft Drink (12 oz pour) alone is 41g of sugar.
  • Step 4 — Check sodium before you commit: if the build passes roughly 1,500mg, swap one component for a lighter one — the 2-Liter Soft Drink (12 oz pour) shows how low the floor is at 35mg.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Most disappointing Papa Murphy's orders fail in predictable ways, and none of them is the main item. The first is judging by the headline item alone: an average main is about 276 calories, but the tray is the sum, and sides, sauces and drinks regularly add half as much again. The second is assuming "grilled", "fresh" or "house" wording means light — the table above, not the adjective, is the evidence.

  • Mistake: ordering the Stuffed Pizza Slice (Large) (430 cal) on a day planned around 500-calorie meals.
  • Mistake: pairing two mid-sodium items and discovering the total passes 1,800mg — the Stuffed Pizza Slice (Large) effect, doubled.
  • Mistake: skipping the protein anchor and wondering why a light order left you hungry within the hour.
  • Mistake: never rechecking — menus and portion habits drift, and a 60-second calculator check catches it.

Planning a Full Day Around a Papa Murphy's Order

A restaurant meal does not happen in isolation, and the healthiest way to use these numbers is at the level of the day. If Papa Murphy's is the big meal — say a build in the 700–900 calorie range — the rest of the day simply runs lighter and more protein-led: eggs or yogurt at breakfast, a salad or soup at the other meal, water as the default drink. Nothing needs banning, and the Papa Murphy's order itself does not need shrinking; the day absorbs it by design.

The reverse also holds. On a day when the other meals are the occasion, Papa Murphy's can be the light one: the Garden Salad (family serving portion) at 140 calories plus a high-fibre side is a genuinely satisfying small meal, and knowing it exists — with its exact numbers — is what makes the plan stick instead of collapsing into guesswork.

Build This Meal in the Papa Murphy's Nutrition Calculator

Every number in this guide comes from the same data as our free Papa Murphy's Nutrition Calculator — open it, build your exact order, and check your totals live.

Open the Papa Murphy's Nutrition Calculator →

Frequently Asked Questions

A meal anchored on the Chicken Caesar Salad (portion) (330 calories, 22g protein), plus low-calorie volume and water, landing between 400 and 550 calories in total. The lightest single item is the Garden Salad (family serving portion) at 140 calories.

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