The Philly Cheese Steak is an American treasure, perhaps one of the greatest sandwich accomplishments of all time.
Thinly sliced beef, topped with onions, peppers and maybe some mushrooms. Held between a lightly toasted Italian bun with cheese, okay, extra cheese! Dripping with flavor. Who can resist? It’s a staple in its hometown of Philadelphia, where it originated in 1930, but you can now find Philly style cheese steaks on menus across the country, and even internationally.
Now, I’m not here to try to take the fun out of your meal, but have you ever wondered how many calories in a philly cheese steak? I did and so I broke it down and came up with a calorie count.
Sorry folks! I promise it isn’t too bad!
Additional Reading: How to Make Cheese Sauce Without Flour and Should I Put Cardboard Pizza Box in the Oven?
Calorie Count – Philly Cheese Steak
Since there is no exact recipe one can follow, there are a few variables that come into play here.
Some like their cheese steaks with mozzarella and others, like me are steadfast provolone only. The cut of beef can vary quite a bit, depending on who you ask and where you go “What makes a perfect Philly Cheesesteak?”
Basically you wont find a right way or a wrong. But lets give this a try. I’ll break this down for us into 3 variations on the sandwich, and that should give us a pretty good idea!
The Traditional Philly Cheese Steak
| 4 oz sliced deli roast beef | 210 cal |
| 2 oz provolone cheese sliced | 210 cal |
| 1 oz sliced bell peppers | 10 cal |
| 1 oz sliced sweet onion | 10 cal |
| 8 inch hero-style roll | 290 cal |
| total calories | 730 cal |
So 730 calories isn’t that bad really, it is comparable to most burgers for sure. This table makes it easy to see where the calories come from. Of course our bread roll is the biggest calorie hitter, as well as the meat and cheese.
Switching it up, lets take a look at a slightly different version of Philly cheese steak.
The Classy Tenderloin Philly Cheese Steak
| 4 oz beef tenderloin | 320 cal |
| 2 oz mozzarella cheese | 170 cal |
| 1 oz sliced bell peppers | 10 cal |
| 1 oz sliced sweet onions | 10 cal |
| 1 Italian roll | 290 cal |
| total calories | 800 cal |
Okay, so the beef tenderloin is awesome in the flavor department, but has significantly more calories than the traditional sliced roast beef. Worth it, or no? I’ll leave it up to you to decide!
On to our next cheesesteak!
The NY Strip Steak Philly Cheese Steak
| 4 oz NY strip steak sliced | 135 cal |
| 2 oz mozza cheese sliced | 170 cal |
| 1 oz sliced bell peppers | 10 cal |
| 1 oz sliced sweet onions | 10 cal |
| 1 oz sliced mushrooms | 10 cal |
| 8 inch Italian roll | 290 cal |
| total calories | 625 cal |
It looks like the NY strip cheese steak is our lowest calorie count out of the 3, thanks to the leaner cut of beef and the lighter mozza cheese.