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It’s surprising to discover that some popular chain salads, often perceived as a healthier dining option, can actually contain an entire day’s worth of calories. As restaurants strive to create meals that are both satisfying and worth the visit, they often opt for generous portions and rich ingredients. While undeniably delicious, these meals can also be alarmingly calorie-dense. Depending on factors like age, health, and activity levels, adults generally need between 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day for women and 2,200 to 3,000 for men. Alarmingly, certain salads can nearly meet or exceed this daily intake in just one sitting. Let’s take a closer look at five such deceptive salads that could easily tip you over your calorie limit.
Take Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad, for instance. Although it combines greens with chicken, it clocks in at 1,550 calories. The salad features crispy, breaded chicken tenders atop a mix of fresh Asian greens, crunchy noodles, and almonds, all drizzled with an Oriental vinaigrette. To top it off, it’s accompanied by a signature breadstick, brushed with buttery garlic and parsley, which adds to the caloric load. While the dish is undoubtedly a fan favorite, it is certainly not light on the waistline.
Then there’s The Cheesecake Factory’s BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad, which pushes the scales to a staggering 1,950 calories. This salad is a hearty mix of avocado, tomato, grilled corn, black beans, cucumber, and romaine lettuce, all liberally coated in a barbeque ranch dressing and crowned with crispy fried onions. Although the ingredients sound wholesome, the calorie count is largely driven by the dressing and the fried toppings. Adjusting the dressing amount could significantly reduce the calorie content.
Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad
These examples illustrate that even meals marketed as “healthy” can conceal high calorie counts. When dining out, being aware of the ingredients and their caloric contributions can help make more informed choices, ensuring that a healthy meal doesn’t inadvertently turn into a caloric overload.
Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad is a fan-favorite menu item that has been described as fried chicken on greens. This salad is 1550 calories, and contains a variety of tasty but very calorific ingredients: Crispy breaded chopped chicken tenders on a bed of fresh Asian greens, crunchy noodles and almonds tossed in Oriental vinaigrette. This salad is served with a golden brown signature breadstick brushed with buttery garlic and parsley.
The Cheesecake Factory BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad
The Cheesecake Factory’s BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad is a whopping 1950 calories. This salad contains avocado, tomato, grilled corn, black beans, cucumber and romaine all tossed with our barbeque ranch dressing, topped with crispy fried onion. Being mindful of the dressing would definitely bring the calorie count down.
The Cheesecake Factory Cobb Salad
The Cheesecake Factory’s Cobb Salad is a big one: Chicken breast, avocado, blue cheese, bacon, tomato, egg and mixed greens tossed in vinaigrette, for 1480 calories. Any modifications will take the calorie count up (for example more avocado or dressing).
The Cheesecake Factory Santa Fe Salad
The Santa Fe Salad at The Cheesecake Factory is a big, flavorful salad packed with delicious ingredients that also come with a high calorie tag. This salad is 1670 Calories, which is easily a whole day’s calories for some people. Each salad contains marinated chicken, corn, black beans, cheese, tortilla Strips, tomato and romaine with a spicy peanut-cilantro vinaigrette.
Chili’s Quesadilla Explosion Crispers Salad
Chili’s Quesadilla Explosion Crispers® Salad is 1420 calories, and that doesn’t include sides like fries or sodas. With fried chicken and cheese quesadillas on the salad, it’s no wonder the calories are so high. In fact, it seems more like an appetizer than a salad.