Starbucks Pockets Lunch Menu USA

A pocket is a lavash flatbread, thin and wheat-based, wrapped around a filling and toasted so the outside crisps and the inside heats through. It is smaller than a sandwich, closer in size to a large breakfast wrap, and it eats with one hand. Two of the three use a whole-wheat or chile lavash; all three are sold warm.

Pockets sit below the lunch sandwiches on both price and calories. The most expensive pocket is $5.15 at the reference store; the cheapest lunch sandwich is $8.05.

The three pockets are far apart on the numbers, so it is worth seeing them in one table before picking.

The Jalapeño Chicken Pocket is the lightest, the Chicken Bacon Protein Pocket is the heaviest and carries the most protein, and the Spicy Falafel Pocket sits in the middle with the least protein of the three.

The Chicken Bacon Protein Pocket is a toasted whole-wheat lavash packed with chicken, crisp bacon and a garlic-herb cheese spread. It carries 20 g of protein for 310 calories, with 13 g of fat and 3 g of sugar, at $5.15. Why choose the Chicken Bacon Protein Pocket?

• Best protein per dollar on the lunch menu: 20 g for $5.15.
• No heat: the one pocket with nothing spicy in it.
• Whole-wheat lavash: a nuttier wrap than the plain one.
• Bacon: it is in there in real pieces, not as a flavor.

Allergens: Milk, Sesame, Soy, Wheat. It is the only pocket that declares soy.

The Spicy Falafel Pocket fills the lavash with smashed falafel, hummus, roasted red peppers, pickled onions and a spicy herb sauce. It has no meat, no egg and no dairy on its allergen line, which reads Sesame, Wheat, so it is the vegan choice in this section. It lands at 230 calories with 8 g of protein for $4.75. Why choose the Spicy Falafel Pocket?

• Vegan: the only hot vegan lunch item at Starbucks.
• Pickled onion: the acid keeps the hummus and falafel from tasting flat.
• Fat: 7 g, the same as the jalapeño pocket and half the bacon one.
• Heat: medium, from the herb sauce rather than fresh chiles.

Nutrition tip: protein is 8 g, so pair it with a soy latte if the goal is a filling lunch.

The Jalapeño Chicken Pocket is a chile lavash wrapped around diced chicken, charred poblanos, green jalapeños and cheese. It is the lightest pocket at 200 calories and matches the falafel on price at $4.75, with 11 g of protein. Why choose the Jalapeño Chicken Pocket?

• Fewest calories: 200, the lowest hot lunch item on the menu.
• Real heat: fresh jalapeños and poblanos, not just a spicy sauce.
• Chile lavash: the flatbread itself carries some of the flavor.
• Allergens: Milk, Wheat, no sesame and no soy.

Best pairing: a Grande iced coffee with milk. The dairy cools the pepper.

Two of the three carry heat, and it comes from different places.

The jalapeño pocket is hotter than anything else on the Starbucks food menu. If you find the falafel sauce warm, stay there.

Pockets are the format to look at when lunch needs to stay under 350 calories. The trade is protein: only the bacon pocket hits 20 g.

A pocket plus the Organic Valley Stringles Mozzarella String Cheese adds 7 g of protein for 80 calories, which brings the falafel pocket to a real lunch.

Pockets were built for the app. A few things that make them work as a grab-and-go lunch:

• They hold heat. A pocket in its sleeve is still warm fifteen minutes after pickup, longer than a sandwich.
• One hand. The fold keeps the filling in, so it works at a desk or behind the wheel.
• Stock runs out. Pockets are stocked from opening and not restocked, so mid-afternoon orders may show sold out.
• Add the spread. The Avocado Spread can be added as a side item in the app where the store carries it.
• Stars apply. A pocket is a common 200-Star redemption because it is a full hot item at a low price.

Against the sandwiches, a pocket is smaller, cheaper and lower in calories. The Chicken Bacon Protein Pocket gives 20 g of protein for 310 calories; the Ham & Swiss on Baguette gives 25 g for 510. You pay $8.45 for the baguette and $5.15 for the pocket.

Against the protein boxes, a pocket is hot and the box is cold. The Apples & Cheese Trio Protein Box has 22 g of protein but 470 calories and costs $7.65. The pocket is the better lunch to eat now; the box is the better one to carry.

Wheat is in every pocket because lavash is a wheat bread. Sesame appears in two of the three, from the hummus in the falafel and the flatbread in the bacon pocket. Milk is in the two chicken pockets. The Avocado Spread declares nothing and adds 90 calories.

There is no gluten-free pocket. For a wheat-free hot lunch, the protein boxes are the only route, and they also declare wheat from the crackers.

Take the Chicken Bacon Protein Pocket when the goal is protein. Take the Jalapeño Chicken Pocket when the goal is the lowest calorie hot lunch and you like heat. Take the Spicy Falafel Pocket when you need it vegan, and add string cheese or a latte to make up the protein.

At $4.75 to $5.15, all three are cheaper than any sandwich, and the app will tell you which ones the store still has.