16 SALADS WORSE THAN A WHOPPER! We kinda love Whoppers. We bet you do, too. Meat, ketchup, mayo, pickles . . . whats not to like? How could we endorse the Whopper? Well, no one orders it thinking its a sensible menu choice. Its an indulgence, and everyone knows it. Credit Burger King for being transparent with nutritional information. Just as you wouldnt order a Whopper because youre trying to watch your waistline, youd never order a salad because it sounds like the most delicious item on the menu. No, its a concerted effort put one of the healthiest foods on the menu into your body, flavor be damned. Except, more often than you realize, that salad is the worst choice on the menu. Restaurants across the country have learned that nutrition sells, so they put these caloric calamities on the light choice side of the menu with cute little heart icons that make you think youre making a healthy selection. Weve rounded up 20 examples of salads so bad, youd be better off ordering that Whopper after all. THE COMPETITION Burger King Whopper, 670 calories, 40 g fat (11 g saturated, 1.5 g trans), 1,020 mg sodium. 16. At Chipotle Mexican Grill Chicken Salad with black beans, red salsa, cheese, and chipotle honey vinaigrette 720 calories 41.0 g fat (11 g saturated) 2,015 mg sodium If youre seeking solace in salads at Chipotle, be sure to pass on the one and only vinaigrette on the menu. With 260 calories and 25 grams of fat, it has three times more calories than the most caloric salsa at Chipotle. Your best bet is to turn the tangy green salsa (just 15 calories per serving) into your dressing and spend the 245 calories you save elsewhere. Eat This Instead! Barbacoa Burrito Bowl with black beans, cheese, lettuce, and tomato salsa 415 calories 17 g fat (8 g saturated) 1,410 mg sodium 15. At P.F. Changs Chicken Chopped Salad with Ginger Dressing 730 calories 48 g fat (8 g saturated) 1,280 mg sodium The ginger dressing gives this salad a tangy Asian-style kick; it also packs in a whole day’s worth of sodium. Order this salad as a starter and you’ll be consuming the caloric equivalent of nearly three Snickers bars before your main meal even hits the table. Eat This Instead! Spinach Stir-Fried with Garlic (large) 159 calories 9 g fat (3 g saturated) 900 mg sodium 14. At Taco Bell Fiesta Taco Salad 770 calories 42 g fat (10 g saturated, 1 g trans) 1,420 mg sodium Deep-frying an oversize tortilla and using it as a salad bowl completely defeats the purpose of ordering a salad in the first place. No matter what you stick in it, it’s still going to be burdened with a dangerous load of greasy fat. Opt for the hard-shell taco instead. It’s still the best option on the menu after all these years, especially now that it’s available Fresco-style. Eat This Instead! Fresco Crunchy Beef Tacos 450 calories 21 g fat (7.5 g saturated) 750 mg sodium 13. At Panera Full Chicken Cobb with Avocado 650 calories 48 g fat 970 mg sodium Panera has made their salads healthier over the past year, removing items slopped with shreeded beef and gorgonzola, for example. This Chicken Cobb with Avocado is the worst of the new bunch, but at least packs 41g of protein. Even better is the antioxidant-packed Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken Salad. Eat This Instead! Full Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken Salad 340 calories 13 g fat (1.5 g saturated) 360 mg sodium 12. At Jack in the Box Crispy Chicken Club Salad with Croutons and Ranch Dressing 870 calories 59 g fat (13 g saturated, 1 g trans) 1,710 mg sodium The 2 ounces of ranch that top this salad contribute a third of the calories and half the fat. Switching to light ranch saves you 150 calories, but even if you eat your salad completely dressing-free, youre far better off sticking with the Chicken Fajita Pita. Eat This Instead! Chicken Fajita Pita with Fire Roasted Salsa 326 calories 10 g fat (6 g saturated) 987 mg sodium 11. At Applebees Grilled Shrimp and Spinach Salad 1,000 calories 66 g fat (10 g saturated) 3,080 mg sodium Half of the salads on Applebee’s menu break the 1,000-calorie barrier, making them just as dubious as any other menu item. Slash calories by switching over to the Strawberry and Avocado Salad on the Under 550 Calorie menu. Eat This Instead! Strawberry and Avocado Salad 480 calories 27 g fat (4 g saturated) 1,020 mg sodium 10. At California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad 1,133 calories 16 g saturated fat 1,460 mg sodium You know something’s amiss when the salad packs more than twice as many calories as the pizza. California Pizza Kitchen’s menu is a minefield of viscous calorie bombs, and if you try to venture far from the beaten path, you’ll likely find yourself with a barrage of clandestine calories clambering for real estate in—and on—your belly. Eat This Instead! Classic Caesar Salad with Shrimp 649 calories 15 g Saturated fat 1,338 mg sodium 9. At Applebees Oriental Chicken Salad 1,340 calories 98 g fat (15 g saturated; 1.5 g trans) 1,200 mg sodium Why is this salad so hefty? Part of the blame goes to the “tasty Oriental vinaigrette,” for sure (the secret is always, at least partially, in the sauce). Another reason: It’s topped with “crispy noodles” (carbohydrate overload). And to complete the triumvirate of dietary doom: Fried chicken to boot. What exactly makes this a “salad” again? Eat This Instead! Strawberry Avocado Salad 480 calories 27 g fat (4 g saturated) 1,020 mg sodium 8. At Ruby Tuesday Carolina Chicken Salad 1101 calories 46 g fat 1,057 mg sodium We’re as perplexed as you are. How a salad that contains chicken manages to have twice as many calories as a chicken sandwich is a nutritional puzzle that only Einstein himself could solve. Your better option is to choose something from the Fit and Trim menu. For tons of weight loss tips, tricks, and strategies, sign up for the FREE Eat This, Not That! newsletter! Eat This Instead! Roasted Spaghetti Squash 54 calories 3 g fat 69 mg sodium 7. At T.G.I. Fridays Pecan-Crusted Chicken Salad 1,080 calories 71 g fat (16 g saturated) 1650 sodium In chain-restaurant parlance, “crusted” is a euphemism for “fried.” Add sugar-coated pecans, sugar-coated cranberries, and a heap of blue cheese, and you have all the makings of one of America’s worst salads. Go for the Dragonfire Chicken, instead. Along with Shrimp Key and the Cobb Salad, this is the only legitimately the health entrée available at Friday’s. The next best chicken-based entrée, the Chicken Parmesan Sliders, packs 790 calories before sides. Eat This Instead! Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad 590 calories 39 g fat 1,230 sodium Hold the dressing! 6. At Chilis Quesadilla Explosion Salad 1,400 calories 89 g fat (28 g saturated) 2,360 mg sodium Chilis highest-calorie salad will supply you with 1.5 days worth of fat, thanks in no small part to its garnish—an order of cheese quesadillas! While the Caribbean Salad with Grilled Chicken does have a concerning 25 grams of fat, its the least scathing salad on the menu. Eat This Instead! Caribbean Salad with Grilled Chicken 610 calories 25 g fat (4 g saturated) 800 mg sodium 5. At California Pizza Kitchen Thai Crunch Salad with Fresh Avocado & Additional Thai Peanut Dressing 1,408 calories 10 g saturated fat 1,064 mg sodium Shredded carrots, edamame, cabbage, fresh avocado: The menu reads like an Intro to Nutrition class at the local junior college. If that’s the case, CPK is flunking out of school, since this seemingly harmless salad will saddle you with more calories than a pound and a half of sirloin from Applebee’s. Blame the two different dressings, the shower of fried wonton strips, and the sewer-cap size plate. Eat This Instead! Half Chinese Chicken Salad 376 calories 0 g saturated fat 1,254 mg sodium 4. At Chevys Fresh Mex Tostada Salad with Chicken 1,547 calories 94 g fat (37 g saturated) 2,213 mg sodium Containing nearly a day’s worth of calories and as much fat as 19 Twinkies, this bowl of leaves qualifies as one of the worst salads in America. Opt for the Grilled Chicken Tacos instead. Though it is not a healthy food, they are the lesser evil. Drop the cheese and the chipotle aioli and you’ll skim off another 130 calories and 13 grams of fat. Eat This Instead! Grilled Chicken Tacos 590 calories 24 g fat (6 g saturated) 1,140 mg sodium 3. At California Pizza Kitchen Waldorf Chicken Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing 1,561 calories 31 g saturated fat 1,821 mg sodium CPK’s salad menu is littered with gigantic gut-bombs like this one. There’s no reason that this salad should saddle you with three-quarters of your daily allotment of calories. According to the CPK website, it contains: “Field greens, chilled-grilled chicken breast, seedless grapes, Granny Smith apples, candied walnuts, celery and Gorgonzola cheese.” When mixed together in reasonable proportions, there’s nothing inherently wrong with these ingredients—in fact, most of them are good for you. It’s just that CPK jumbo sizes their menu items. Choose the half-size of the Roasted Vegetable Salad instead and consider it your main meal, not a starter dish. Eat This Instead! Half Roasted Vegetable Salad 297 calories 3 g saturated fat 396 mg sodium 2. At Cheesecake Factory Santa Fe Salad 1,720 calories 17 g saturated fat 2,636 mg sodium Truth be told, nearly every Cheesecake Factory salad dwarfs a Whopper (or two, or even three). The exception is the Weight Management salad menu, which provides rare decent options. Eat This Instead! Weight Management Spicy Chicken Salad 440 calories 1 g saturated fat 771 mg sodium 1. At T.G.I. Fridays Santa Fe Chopped Salad 1,830 calories This is the absolute worst salad in America. Point is, if you’re going to eat a bowl of leaves at Friday’s, better stick to the Cobb or Mediterranean; anything else will push you near or beyond 1,000 calories. But a word of warning: Even the Cobb Salad, our Eat This choice, is still worse than a Big Mac. Eat This Instead! Cobb Salad 590 calories
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 15:23:42 +0000