Healthy doesn’t have to be boring.
Swinging by Starbucks for a caffeine fix? It might give you extra oomph to power through the day but beware—the menu is packed with sugary, high-calorie bombs that can derail a healthy diet. Many of the most popular drinks pack in as many calories as a full meal.
We stand by the “everything in moderation” philosophy: An occasional White Chocolate Mocha (480 cals for a venti) or Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappucino (590 calories) can be a delicious treat. But making them a part of your daily routine can usher in a host of health issues that can shorten your life in the long run, from diabetes to inflammation and heart disease.
Don’t worry: plenty of low-calorie Starbucks drinks exist (besides plain black coffee). We scoured the menu to find 11 sub-100 calorie options.
Matthew Kadey, M.S., R.D. is a registered dietitian and nutrition writer for Men’s Health, Muscle & Fitness, Runner’s World, Triathlete, and more who specializes in healthy eating.
From cold brews to classic espressos, these pro orders satisfy cravings with no more than 100 calories and 12 grams of sugar.
Most of Starbucks’ cold brew drinks have a surprising amount of sugar, which comes from a combo of added syrups, drizzles, and cold foams. A Cinnamon Caramel Cream Cold Brew for example, contains a staggering 32 grams of sugar. The frothy Nitro? Zero grams. The nitrogen lends this cold brew a sweeter taste, with no added sugar. Just watch out for the caffeine, a Grande packs over three times as much caffeine as a regular cup of coffee.
Per Order (Grande): 5 calories, 0 g sugar, 0 g saturated fat, 280 mg caffeine
The Starbucks’ misto uses less milk than a standard latte, and regular coffee instead of espresso for less bite. The result: a comparably creamy drink with fewer calories. Order it with almond milk to cut the calories to 40. If you prefer cow’s milk, low-fat milk will bring you down to 60. Plus, it delivers more protein than almond milk which can help keep you full.
Per Order (Tall): 80 calories, 8 g sugar, 2 g saturated fat 115 mg caffeine
This elevated espresso is cut with a dollop of whipped cream and only 30 calories. You still get the rich flavor and potency of a traditional espresso, with a little less intensity.
Per Order (Solo): 30 calories, 0 g sugar, 2.5 g carbs, 1 g protein, 2.5 g fat, 75 mg caffeine
For an energizing caffeine alternative, order a Mint Majesty herbal tea. This peppermint and lemon verbena blend contains no calories, no sugar, and no caffeine—so, order whatever size you want without guilt. Plus, aside from simply feeling refreshing, studies suggest peppermint may boost exercise performance and oxygen concentration in the brain (1).
Per Order (Grande): 0 calories, 0 g sugar, 0 g carbs, 0 g protein, 0 g fat, 0 mg caffeine
A spice-forward chai latte seems innocent enough, but the powdered base at Starbucks is loaded with added sugar (42 grams for a Grande). A regular chai tea gives you the same bold flavor but for zero calories. It’s delicious with or without a splash of milk, which does contain some sugar (just not added).
Per Order (Grande): 0 calories, 0 g sugar, 0 g carbs, 0 g protein, 0 g fat, 40 mg caffeine
Avoiding sugar in an iced Starbucks drink is harder than finding something to watch on Netflix. But with a few tweaks to the Iced Green Tea Lemonade, it’s possible. First, stick to the Grande—this saves 20 calories and 5 grams of sugar compared to the Venti. Then ask for “light lemonade”, for half the lemonade (and half the calories and sugar).
Ditto for the Iced Passion Tango Tea Lemonade and Black Tea Lemonade, which have identical nutrition stats.
Per Order (Grande): 50 calories, 11 g sugar, 12 g carbs, 0 g protein, 0 g fat, 25 mg caffeine
An Americano—which is made with just espresso and water—is about as low-calorie as it gets. A Grande contains three shots of espresso and only 15 calories. It’s the perfect base to add a splash of low-fat milk for just 10 calories, or a pump of sugar-free syrup for zero calories.
Per Order (Grande): 15 calories, 0 g sugar, 2 g carbs, 1 g protein, 0 g fat, 225 mg caffeine
This twist on classic green tea is “gently smoky” and “softly sweet,” according to the ‘bucks. The antioxidant-rich brew contains no calories or sugar. Making this green tea a habit may help you maintain a healthy body weight. One study found that the antioxidants in green tea have a positive effect on weight loss and weight maintenance (2).
Per Order (Grande): 0 calories, 0 g sugar, 0 g carbs, 1 g protein, 0 g fat, 16 mg caffeine
So long as you stick with the plain version—which contains nothing more than milk and espresso— the only sugar in a smooth and creamy latte come from the naturally occurring sugar in milk. To keep calories at 100, stick with the Short. For a bigger size, a grande with almond milk has 90 calories and 8 grams of sugar.
Per Order (Short): 100 calories, 9 g sugar, 10 g carbs, 6 g protein, 3.5 g fat, 85 mg caffeine
We know: finally a flavored drink that’s R.D.-approved. This velvety coffee is just cold brew with a conservative ½-inch splash of vanilla sweet cream. The cream float only adds 4 grams of sugar to the mix, and a nice touch of sweetness.
Per Order (Grande): 70 calories, 4 g sugar, 4 g carbs, 1 g protein, 5 g fat, 265 mg caffeine
Obsessed with the “Pink Drink?” Consider this healthier twist. It’s unsweetened and gets its pretty color and tangy flavor from hibiscus. Pro tip: A splash of coconut milk gives it that same iconic Pink Drink rosey color and creamy flavor but minus 120 calories and 25 grams of sugar.
Per Order (Grande): 0 calories, 0 g sugar, 0 g carbs, 0 g protein, 0 g fat, 0 mg caffeine
Let’s be clear: Most Starbucks drinks are high in calories. While some of these drinks have more protein, it doesn’t make up for the sugar (and often, saturated fat) overload. Here are a few of the highest-calorie drinks on the menu.
Several drinks aren’t *too* bad, landing somewhere between 100 and 200 calories. Since they have more calories and sugar, we wouldn’t recommend these as a go-to everyday sip. But, they might be worth it for a once-in-a-while treat:
Don’t see your favorite drink on the list? DIY your own with this cheat sheet for healthier, and lower-calorie drinks.
For most Starbucks drinks you’ll need to downsize to trim calories to 100. If you want the same caffeine hit, add a shot of espresso.
The Starbuck’s website and app are super transparent about ingredients and nutrition info, even for customized orders. Use these tools to trim calories, saturated fat, and added sugar.
Skip drinks that come from ready-made powders, like the matcha or mocha. These powders come pre-blended with sugar, so you can’t customize your drink to remove the sweetener.
It has 40 fewer calories per cup than 2% milk.
Soy, almond, coconut, and oat milk are good options if you’re steering clear of dairy. But as far as we can tell, all of the plant-based milks Starbucks uses are sweetened. Almond milk is the lowest-calorie non-dairy option with 60 calories and five grams of sugar per cup.
Here’s how the non-dairy milks compare by the cup:
A Grande Vanilla Latte has four pumps of vanilla syrup. A Venti has six. Each pump contains about five grams of sugar and 20 calories. Some sauces—like the caramel brulée, toasted white chocolate mocha, and white mocha—clock in at 40 or more calories per pump. Ask for only one pump, or at least “half sweet” to signal your barista to cut the syrup in half.
Honey has fewer metabolic health risks than the heavily processed sugar used in Starbucks syrups (3). Sugar-free sweeteners are another option. They’re calorie-free and much sweeter than the regular syrups, so a little goes a long way.
Hot drinks tend to use bigger pumps of sweetener than iced drinks, which drives up the calories. For example, both the hot and iced Cinnamon Dolce Latte have four pumps of Cinnamon Dolce Syrup. However, the hot version has 340 calories and 40 grams of sugar, and the iced version only has 300 calories and 35 grams of sugar.
Whipped cream can add 110 calories or more. Consider a layer of unflavored cold foam instead. It adds just 40 to 50 calories to your drink, making it the perfect topper for a plain low-calorie base like a Nitro Cold Brew or Americano.
When in doubt, order any drink ‘skinny’ to replace any syrups with sugar-free syrup and 2% milk with nonfat milk, and cut the whipped cream. This can shave around 230 calories for a Grande drink, or more depending on the sweetener and amount of milk used.
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