Salads You Should Not Eat

After doing some research I found out some interesting salads that we should try to avoid.

Friendly’s Kickin’ Buffalo Chicken Salad

1,180 calories
95 g fat (19 g saturated)
2,090 mg sodium

Don’t be fooled by the lettuce—it’s simply a foil for the hunks of deep-fried meat, oily wing sauce, cheese, and cream-based blue cheese dressing. This salad is, in fact, more damaging than the hot wings that inspired it. (It has 66 percent more calories than a full order of Applebee's wings!) Instead, opt for the tuna melt and salad combo, the sole menu option to keep both calories and sodium in check.

Baja Fresh Steak Tostada Salad

1,230 calories
63 g fat (17 g saturated, 2 g trans)
2,380 mg sodium

Props to Baja Fresh for introducing lower-calorie entrées like Bare Burritos and Baja Ensaladas, but that doesn’t excuse the more nefarious offerings like the 2,000-calorie nachos and this fat-drenched salad that comes served in a deep-fried tortilla receptacle. Don’t let the novelty suck you in. There’s still nothing better than the Original Baja Tacos paired with a side of fiber-rich beans.


Outback Steakhouse Aussie Crispy Chicken Cobb Salad with Honey Mustard

1,288 calories
98 g fat (32 g saturated, 2.2 g trans)
2,096 mg sodium

Cobb might as well stand for “Corrupted by Oil, Bread & Bacon.” These iconic salads’ toppings include croutons, cheese, bacon, and an oft-fried protein, and they tend to be topped with heavier dressings. In the case of Outback, this salad contains more fat than 64 ounces—that’s four pounds—of the chain’s Victoria Filet. The Shrimp Caesar is the lightest salad on the menu, and it comes with 25 grams of lean protein.


California Pizza Kitchen Moroccan Chicken Salad (full)

1,370 calories
12 g saturated fat
1,040 mg sodium

At 116 grams, this salad has more carbohydrates than most of the pasta dishes on the menu. Then there’s the saturated fat. With the exception of the Sicilian or the Meat Cravers, you could eat half of any thin crust pizza on the menu and take in the same amount or less. Try the new Quinoa and Arugula Salad instead. Despite being a seed, quinoa supplies the same amino acids as meat, making it an excellent vegetarian source of protein.


Cheesecake Factory Santa Fe Chicken Salad

1,720 calories
17 g saturated fat
2,636 mg sodium

Tex-Mex salad iterations are rarely light, what with all the sour cream, guacamole, and creamy dressings. But wait—this salad can’t claim any of those usual culprits! The only two potentially troublesome toppings are cheese and tortilla strips, but how much damage could they possibly do? Well, based on these numbers—and the fact that their inclusion appears to be the main difference between the Santa Fe and the Skinnylicious salad below—a lot. Order accordingly.

~Wendy