Thinking about choosing a salad over a burger? New stats will make you think twice before taking a bite of your bowl of greens.
When loaded with fat-laden dressings and sugary toppings, they can do more harm to your waistline than a fast-food burger.
Using nutrition data from ESHA Research (named for its founders Elizabeth Stewart Hands and Associates), HealthGrove crunched the numbers to find 25 salads that have more calories than a 530-calorie McDonald’s Big Mac. These are just a few of the most calorific salads out there, so you’ll surprised how many blow the iconic fast-food staple out of the water.
#25. Denny’s Chicken Strip Deluxe Salad
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Calories: 590
Fat: 29g
Protein: 42g
Carbohydrate: 43g
Sodium: 1180mg
If you, for some reason, decide to opt for this salad instead of a stack of Denny’s famous pancakes, you won’t be cutting very many calories.
#24. Trader Joe’s Baby Spinach Salad
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Calories: 610
Fat: 49g
Protein: 11g
Carbohydrate: 37g
Sodium: 560mg
Just because the name of this salad is “spinach” doesn’t mean you’re eating air. The blue cheese, dried cranberries and candied walnuts make it more calorific than a Big Mac.
#23. Olive Garden Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
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Calories: 610
Fat: 40g
Protein: 43g
Carbohydrate: 19g
Sodium: 1230mg
Olive Garden has never been known as a nutritional option, but even its most basic grilled chicken caesar salad packs a whole bunch of fat.
#22. Panera Bread Chicken & Avocado Cobb Salad
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Calories: 640
Fat: 47g
Protein: 42g
Carbohydrate: 14g
Sodium: 1040mg
One chicken and avocado cobb salad from Panera accounts for almost half of your daily recommended sodium intake.
#21. Johnny Rockets Breaded Chicken Club Salad
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Calories: 660
Fat: 45g
Protein: 38g
Carbohydrate: 23g
Sodium: 1510mg
The line between salad and deconstructed-sandwich-with-lettuce-sprinkled-throughout is very thin. This dish is more sandwich than salad at 660 calories.
#20. Costco Food Court Chicken Caesar Salad
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Calories: 670
Fat: 40g
Protein: 48g
Carbohydrate: 35g
Sodium: 2680mg
After a long shopping trip, the food court at Costco seems like an oasis in the desert. But watch out — even a simple chicken caesar salad packs 40 grams of fat and 2680 milligrams of sodium.
#19. Panera Bread Steak & Blue Cheese Salad
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Calories: 680
Fat: 48g
Protein: 36g
Carbohydrate: 29g
Sodium: 940mg
This salad from Panera packs almost as much sodium as a Big Mac, which has 960 milligrams.
#18. Burger King Chicken Apple & Cranberry Garden Fresh Tendercrisp Salad
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Calories: 680
Fat: 42g
Protein: 24g
Carbohydrate: 53g
Sodium: 1010mg
Rule of thumb: Opting for a salad at a fast food joint isn’t necessarily a healthier choice than a burger. This salad from Burger King is 680 calories, much more than a McDonald’s Big Mac.
#17. Taco Bell Beef Fiesta Taco Salad
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Calories: 780
Fat: 42g
Protein: 26g
Carbohydrate: 74g
Sodium: 1590mg
In general, taco salads are usually more taco than they are salad. The taco shells that hold them also add an extra boost of fat and carbs.
#16. Original Green Burrito Chicken Taco Salad
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Calories: 810
Fat: 44g
Protein: 40g
Carbohydrate: 64g
Sodium: 1730mg
Like the taco salad from Taco Bell, this salad from the Original Green Burrito is just a deconstructed taco with a sprig of lettuce. No wonder it’s 810 calories.
#15. Bertucci’s Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
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Calories: 810
Fat: 55g
Protein: 43g
Carbohydrate: 34g
Sodium: 920mg
A grilled chicken caesar salad at Bertucci’s may seem like a light meal or even a side. But it is much more calorific than a Big Mac, and has a similar nutritional value to a chicken taco salad from the Original Green Burrito.
#14. Del Taco Deluxe Taco Salad (NO LONGER ON THE MENU)
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Calories: 820
Fat: 47g
Protein: 34g
Carbohydrate: 66g
Sodium: 1670mg
The sour cream, cheese and taco shell on this salad make it more calorific than a Big Mac.
#13. Taco Del Mar Fish Taco Salad
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Calories: 840
Fat: 51g
Protein: 27g
Carbohydrate: 74g
Sodium: 1320mg
Fish is usually a good, lean option at many restaurants. But in this case, this fish option won’t do your waistline any favors.
#12. El Pollo Loco Chicken Tostada Salad
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Calories: 860
Fat: 42g
Protein: 41g
Carbohydrate: 77g
Sodium: 1430mg
Between this salad’s 1430 milligrams of sodium and 42 grams of fat, if you want a light option you’re better off not ordering anything at all.
#11. Sbarro Primavera Pasta Salad
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Calories: 870
Fat: 13g
Protein: 29g
Carbohydrate: 163g
Sodium: 1450mg
The word “pasta” in any salad name should be a tip-off to its nutritional value.
#10. Red Robin Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad
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Calories: 873
Fat: 51g
Protein: 49g
Carbohydrate: 48g
Sodium: 1705mg
This salad has nearly two times as many grams of fat as a Big Mac (27g).
#9. Carl’s Junior Beef Taco Salad
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Calories: 880
Fat: 53g
Protein: 36g
Carbohydrate: 67g
Sodium: 1780mg
At 880 calories, the Carl’s Junior Beef Taco Salad is a poor excuse for a salad.
#8. Mimi’s Cafe Bacon & Bleu Cheese Salad
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Calories: 900
Fat: 60g
Protein: 48g
Carbohydrate: 47g
Sodium: 1770mg
This salad is deceptive. Though it seems relatively healthy, its toppings — bacon, strawberries, blue cheese — and dressing are what really raise the calorie count.
#7. Uno Chicago Grill Honey Crisp Chicken Salad
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Calories: 960
Fat: 62g
Protein: 51g
Carbohydrate: 58g
Sodium: 1770mg
This salad is loaded with extra less-than-healthy toppings and “crispy” (essentially just fried) chicken, adding up to a whopping 960 calories.
#6. The Old Spaghetti Factory Chicken Caesar Salad
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Calories: 1120
Fat: 90g
Protein: 54g
Carbohydrate: 30g
Sodium: 1820mg
Though caesar salads are widely considered a simple dish, they can be packed with calories — especially if you include their fat-filled dressing. This one passes the 1,000 calorie mark.
#5. Baja Fresh Steak Salad
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Calories: 1240
Fat: 45g
Protein: 65g
Carbohydrate: 149g
Sodium: 3440mg
If you’re on a common 1,200-calorie diet, this salad will take care of the entire day.
#4. On The Border Beef Grande Taco Salad
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Calories: 1280
Fat: 85g
Protein: 53g
Carbohydrate: 80g
Sodium: 2250mg
You already know that the word “taco” and “salad” are a risky combination. Adding “grande” to the mix is a recipe for disaster — a 1,280-calorie disaster, to be exact.
#3. The Old Spaghetti Factory Cobb Salad
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Calories: 1290
Fat: 105g
Protein: 64g
Carbohydrate: 25g
Sodium: 2560mg
If the caesar salad from The Old Spaghetti Factory is bad news, the cobb salad (think blue cheese, bacon, egg, etc.) is next level.
#2. Jason’s Deli Chili Taco Salad
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Calories: 1310
Fat: 78g
Protein: 45g
Carbohydrate: 110g
Sodium: 1510mg
And the award for the most calorific taco salad on the list is from Jason’s Deli. The added chili isn’t doing your diet any favors.
#1. Red Robin Crispy Chicken Tender Salad
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Calories: 1348
Fat: 92g
Protein: 58g
Carbohydrate: 73g
Sodium: 2325mg
At 1,348 calories, you can forget calling this a salad at all. It has 2,325 milligrams of sodium and 92 grams of fat, making a Big Mac look like a bag of spinach by comparison.
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