Restaurant Salads That are Unhealthy for You

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If you count calories at a restaurant, you normally look to the salad selections.  Many salads are a healthy alternative to the calorie-loaded main courses. There are a few however, that can be loaded with fat and sodium. Here a few salads that are among the most unhealthiest food items on the market.

Chipotle Steak Fully Loaded Tack Salad- Taco Bell

Calories – 950

Total fat – 59g

Saturated fat – 11g

Sodium – 1760mg

Most items at Taco Bell do not fit in the healthy category, but the Chipotle Steak Fully Loaded Tack Salad really throws a red flag. The total fat content is only 6g away from the daily recommended allowance.

Quesadilla Explosion Salad – Chilis

 Calories – 1390

Total fat – 89g  

Saturated fat – 26g

 Sodium – 2710mg

I have actually eaten the Quesadilla Explosion Salad in the past. It is really quite tasty and contains just about everything but the kitchen sink.  This item exceeds the daily recommended allowance of fat, saturated fat, and sodium. After eating this, you might want to fast for about 2 days.

Chicken Florentine Salad – Macaroni Grill

 Calories – 1020

 Saturated fat – 17g

 Sodium – 2830mg

Most Italian restaurants are notorious for menu items that are rich in sodium.  The Macaroni Grill is no exception. This is definitely one salad to avoid.

Grande Taco Salad w/ground beef – On The Border

 Calories – 1390

 Total fat – 95g

Saturated fat – 33g

 Sodium – 2250mg

If you are watching your diet, then chances are you are not eating regularly at a Mexican restaurant.  One look at the total fat content of the Grande Taco Salad would scare almost anyone. It has 1 ½ times the daily recommended amount of fat. We won’t even look at the dessert menu.

Queensland Salad – Outback Steakhouse

 Calories – 1125.3

Total fat – 82.4g  

Saturated fat – 28.4g  

Sodium – 3094.6mg

There are unhealthy foods even in the outback. Just looking at the staggering amount of sodium in this salad makes my blood pressure rise.

Carolina Chicken Salad – Ruby Tuesdays

 Calories – 1266

 Total fat – 79g  

It was difficult to get a lot of nutritional information from Ruby Tuesday’s.  If this salad is any indication of the nutrition statistics of their menu, then I would try to keep it a secret too.