Avoid These Unhealthy Salads When Eating Out

Fast foods and restaurants market their salads as healthy options, but some can be surprisingly unhealthy due to high-calorie dressings, fried toppings, or large amounts of cheese and processed meats.

While salads are typically associated with healthy eating, some common ingredient choices can overload them with calories, fat, sugar, and sodium.

Here are some of the unhealthiest salads out there:

Cheesecake Barbeque Ranch Chicken Salad

Cheesecake Factory is famous for serving large portions, and its salads are no exception.

The large portion size makes this salad worse than many burgers. It is high in calories, fat, sodium, and sugar.

It is made with Avocado, Tomato, Grilled Corn, Black Beans, Cucumber, and Romaine tossed with Barbecue Ranch Dressing and Crispy Fried Onion Strings for Crunch.

  • Calories: 1950
  • Fat: 124g (159% DV)
  • Sodium: 2920mg (127% DV)
  • Sugar: 64g (128% DV)
  • Total Carbs: 151g

Chili’s Quesadilla Explosion Salad w/Crispers

This is just a quesadilla disguised as a salad. It is high in calories, fat, and sodium.

It consists of crispy fried chicken, cheese, tomatoes, corn salsa, tortilla strips, cilantro, and citrus-balsamic, topped with cheese quesadillas.

  • Calories: 1,420
  • Fat: 99g (including 28g Saturated Fat) (127% DV)
  • Sodium: 2,840mg (123% DV)
  • Carbs: 86g

Zaxby’s Fried Cobb Salad

This salad is a cholesterol and sodium bomb.

It has mixed greens with carrots and red cabbage, Cheddar Jack cheese, natural hardwood-smoked bacon, a hard-boiled egg, cucumbers, tomatoes, fried onions, fried or Grilled Chicken, and a choice of dressing. It is served with Texas Toast.

  • Calories: 780 + 30-140 (depending on the dressing)
  • Fat: 45g (58% DV)
  • Sodium: 2,130mg (93% DV) + 170-270 (depending on the dressing)
  • Cholesterol: 315mg (105% DV)

Panera Bread’s Southwest Chicken Ranch Salad

While Panera markets itself as healthy, this salad packs 670 calories—not counting if you add some sides to it.

It consists of a romaine and lettuce blend tossed in ranch dressing topped with grilled chicken, fresh avocado, grape tomatoes, roasted corn, fresh cilantro, and blue corn tortilla strips and drizzled with chipotle aioli.

  • Calories: 670 Cal + Side (180 Cal)
  • Total Fat: 44g (56% DV)
  • Sodium: 1050mg (46% DV)
  • Total Sugars: 11g (22% DV)
  • Cholesterol: 120mg (40% DV)

Wendy’s Cobb Salad

Wendy’s calls this a ‘hearty’ salad, but it is very high in cholesterol.

It is made with a lettuce blend, grilled chicken, diced tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped eggs, applewood smoked bacon, crispy fried onions, and ranch dressing.

  • Calories: 420 + 250 (dressing)
  • Fat: 23g (29% DV) + 26g(dressing)
  • Sodium: 960mg (42% DV) + 310mg(dressing)
  • Cholesterol: 250mg (83% DV) + 20mg(dressing)

Why Are These Salads Unhealthy?

  • High-Calorie Dressings: Creamy dressings like ranch, Caesar, or Thousand Island can add 200–400 calories.
  • Fried Toppings: Fried proteins like chicken and beef, tortilla chips, and croutons significantly increase fat and calorie counts.
  • Large Portions: Some salads are oversized, providing 2–3 servings in a single meal.
  • Hidden Sugars: Sweet dressings or candied nuts add unnecessary sugar.

When choosing a salad to eat out, even healthy ingredients like avocado, nuts, or quinoa can turn a salad into a calorie bomb if the portion sizes are huge.

Remember to constantly balance carbs, fats, and proteins to suit your dietary needs. When made right, salads can be a nutritious and satisfying meal option.

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