The best and worst restaurant salads
That bowl of greens may not be as good for you as you think. We navigate the best and worst restaurant salads and share our top picks. By Holley Grainger, MS, RD
Restaurant Salads
When the temperature starts to soar, a cool crisp salad seems like the ideal meal. But if you think you're getting a light, healthy bowl of greens when you're eating out at favorite restaurants like Romano's Macaroni Grill, California Pizza Kitchen, or Applebee's, you may want to take a closer look. While many restaurant salads are low in calories and loaded with healthy ingredients, others are diet disasters packed with calorific ingredients like fried chicken, full-fat cheese, and creamy dressings that are overflowing with hidden fat, calories, and sodium.
PANERA BREAD
Thumbs Up: Panera Bread Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad (pictured)
This bright and colorful salad is filled with phytochemicals thanks to a healthy dose of strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, and pineapple. One bowlful delivers a helping of antioxidants to keep your heart healthy. A serving of chicken makes it super satisfying too-for only 280 calories and 8 grams of fat. Ask for a reduced-fat vinaigrette or dressing on the side. We like their reduced-fat balsamic vinaigrette for just another 60 calories and 5 grams of fat.
Thumb's Down: Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil Salad
While this salad sounds healthy and fresh, the Asiago Croutons jack up the stats to 770 calories, 47 grams of fat, and 1200 milligrams of sodium. Leave off the croutons and you'll shave 340 calories, 14 grams of fat, and 650 milligrams of sodium.
BAJA FRESH
Thumbs Up: Baja Fresh Charbroiled Chicken Baja Ensalada® with Fat Free Salsa Verde (pictured)
Unlike many Mexican salads that are drowned in fatty ground meat and cheese, the Chicken Baja Ensalada® is, surprisingly, well, fresh. It's big on greens, tomatoes, and charbroiled chicken with just a tad of Cotija cheese and a few tortilla strips for flavor. Skip the full-fat dressing and opt for the fat-free salsa verde and you'll walk away with only 325 calories and 2 grams of saturated fat.
Thumb's Down: Tostada Salad with Charbroiled Steak
Filling a crispy tortilla shell with steak, cheese, guacamole, and sour cream sends the nutritionals for this salad sky high. Reduce the 1230 calories, 63 grams of fat, and over 2300 milligrams of sodium by ditching the shell, skipping the meat, and choosing just one creamy topping.
P.F. CHANG'S
Thumbs Up: P.F. Chang's Asian Shrimp Salad (pictured)
P.F. Chang's takes watermelon center stage, pairing it with grilled shrimp and a tangy citrus vinaigrette. The juicy melon keeps you cool on a summer day and is one of nature's top sources of lycopene, a plant chemical believed to protect against prostate cancer and improve heart health. So go ahead and start munching. While this salad is definitely delicious and light, roughly half of its 425 calories and 33 fat grams come from the citrus dressing. Ask for yours on the side and drizzle on half to slim it down even more.
Thumb's Down: Nothing!
PF Chang's offers only one other salad, Chicken Chopped Salad with Ginger Dressing, that rings in at 365 calories. Make the salad more nutritious by using only a small amount of dressing.
APPLEBEE'S
Thumbs Up: Applebee's Paradise Chicken Salad (pictured)
As part of their partnership with Weight Watchers®, Applebee's offers many healthy meals like the Paradise Chicken Salad which weighs in at 340 calories, 6 grams of fiber, and 45 grams of lean protein. Pineapple, mandarin oranges, and fresh apple top the salad along with a blackened grilled chicken breast for a fiber- and nutrient-rich meal.
Thumbs Down: Oriental Chicken Salad
Like many restaurant salads this one's simply too big. And it doesn't help that it's topped with fried chicken tenders and crispy noodles. The result: a jaw-dropping 93 grams of fat and 1310 calories. And don't think the Oriental Grilled Chicken Salad is much better. Also oversized, it clocks in close behind with a gargantuan 1,240 calories
CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN
Thumbs Up: California Pizza Kitchen Half Moroccan Chicken Salad (pictured)
The Moroccan Chicken Salad features spiced chicken breast and tons of fruits and veggies like butternut squash, beets, dates, and avocado. Order the half-size instead of the whole; it's still generous enough to keep you satisfied at a reasonable 412 calories and 309 milligrams of sodium.
Thumbs Down: Full Waldorf Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing
Loaded with greens, grapes, and apples, this Waldorf looks like a healthy pick. In reality, it could be one of the most fattening salads out there. The reason: sheer size. When your salad is as gigantic as this one, it has more of everything - like candied walnuts, Gorgonzola cheese, and fat-laden blue cheese dressing. That translates to an over-the-top 1,570 calories, 25 grams of saturated fat, and 2,082 milligrams of sodium.
OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE
Thumbs Up: Outback Steakhouse Shrimp Caesar Salad
While it's not exactly diet food, the Shrimp Caesar Salad provides 712 calories and 53 fat grams, slightly better than our Thumbs Down choice. Ask for a side of tomatoes to bulk up the veggies. By requesting your dressing on the side and using only a small amount, you'll lighten it up even more.
Thumbs Down: Queensland Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
Think salad is a healthy alternative to steak? Not when it's weighed down with bacon, eggs, croutons, chicken salad, and two different kinds of cheese. The Queensland Salad sports a staggering 1,116 calories and more total and saturated fat than most of us need in an entire day.
Continue Reading: More Best and Worst Restaurant Salads
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