7 Salads You Should Never Eat

 

7. #7: WORST BUFFALO-STYLE SALAD: 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.

Eat This Instead!

Half Tuna Supermelt and side salad with Italian dressing

450 calories, 25 g fat (5 g saturated), 1,190 mg sodium

6. #6: WORST TEX-MEX SALAD: 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.

Eat This Instead!

Original Baja Steak Tacos (2) with Pinto Beans

632 calories, 17 g fat (4 g saturated), 972 mg sodium

5. #5: WORST CLASSIC SALAD: 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.

Eat This Instead!

Shrimp Caesar Salad

554 calories, 39 g fat (11 g saturated), 1,382 mg sodium

4. #4: WORST CRUSTED SALAD: Applebee’s Pecan-Crusted Chicken Salad

1,360 calories, 80 g fat (17 g saturated, 1 g trans), 2,640 mg sodium
Nuts can be a great salad topping, but because they’re calorie-dense, they should be applied judiciously. Applebee’s does not adhere to this advice. With this salad, the chain adds both crushed nuts and sugar-coated pecans. In addition, it adds deep-fried chicken and fat-heavy bleu cheese dressing. The total damage is more than a full day’s recommended fat intake and 117 grams of carbohydrates. You’d have to be nuts to eat that.

Eat This Instead!

Seasonal Berry & Spinach Salad (with chicken)

620 calories, 31 g fat (9 g saturated, 0.5 g trans), 1,610 mg sodium

3. #3: WORST “HEALTHY” SALAD: 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.

Eat This Instead!

Quinoa and Arugula Salad

607 calories, 5 g saturated fat, 872 mg sodium

2. #2: WORST SPINACH SALAD: IHOP Chicken & Spinach Salad

1,530 calories, 111 g fat (30 g saturated, 2 g trans), 2,400 mg sodium
This is the improved version. IHOP’s previous effort at this same salad had 1,600 calories. Call it progress? We don't either. Despite being 70 calories lighter, this plate still manages to fit in more calories than 5 McDonald’s Cheeseburgers, not to mention a day’s worth of sodium. And athough this salad is by far the worst of IHOP’s greens, the others are far from ideal: With the single exception of the Chicken Caesar Salad—ordered without chicken, that is—none of the chain’s dinner salads fall below 1,000 calories. You’d do better to play it safe and order off the Simple & Fit menu.

Eat This Instead!

Simple & Fit Grilled Balsamic-Glazed Chicken (served with a salad)

440 calories, 22 g fat (3.5 g saturated), 940 mg sodium

1. #1: WORST SALAD IN AMERICA: 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.

Eat This Instead!

Skinnylicious Spicy Chicken Salad

440 calories, 1 g saturated fat, 771 mg sodium

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