Five Restaurant Salads With More Calories Than Cheeseburgers

Several popular restaurant salads can top 1,000 calories—according to calorie counts cited by Eat This—while one listed option reaches 2,540.

Salads are often marketed as lower-calorie meals, but the calorie total can rise quickly when dressings, sauces, cheese and fried or breaded toppings are included, Eat This said in a roundup of restaurant salads with high calorie counts.

Cheesecake Factory Santa Fe Salad

Eat This reported that The Cheesecake Factory’s Santa Fe Salad has 1,670 calories—slightly fewer than three McDonald’s Big Macs, per the comparison made in the article. The dish includes marinated chicken, fresh corn, black beans, cheese, tortilla strips, tomato and romaine, along with a spicy peanut cilantro vinaigrette.

Eat This also said it is not the highest-calorie salad on The Cheesecake Factory’s menu, adding that Sheila’s Chicken and Avocado Salad is listed as 1,820 calories.

Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad

Eat This said Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad is 1,550 calories. The article described the salad as featuring crispy breaded chicken tenders served on a bed of fresh Asian vegetables, plus crunchy noodles and almonds in an oriental vinaigrette.

According to Eat This, the salad is served with a golden brown signature bread stick brushed with buttery garlic and parsley.

Chili’s Quesadilla Explosion Crispers® Salad

Eat This reported that Chili’s Quesadilla Explosion Crispers® Salad is 1,420 calories. The article said the salad includes handmade chicken crispers, cheese, tomatoes, corn salsa and tortilla strips, with cilantro and citrus balsamic.

Eat This said the salad is topped with cheese quesadillas and that the citrus balsamic dressing is a highlighted menu item in the roundup.

Buffalo Wild Wings Honey BBQ Chicken Salad

Eat This said the Honey BBQ Chicken Salad at Buffalo Wild Wings has 1,060 calories. The roundup described it as made with grilled chicken, honey BBQ sauce, romaine, cabbage, shredded carrots and lime.

Eat This also listed additional ingredients including ranch dressing, cheddar jack cheese, tomatoes, bacon crumbles, croutons and scallions.

California Pizza Kitchen charcuterie salad

Eat This reported that California Pizza Kitchen’s new Charcuterie Salad is 2,540 calories for the entire salad. The article said the salad is a mixed green and fresh basil dish tossed in mustard vinaigrette, topped with applewood smoked ham, salami, sliced creamy brie, diced parmesan, sliced green apples and candied walnuts.

Eat This said it also comes with homemade toasted sesame crackers on the side.

The article containing these figures, “5 restaurant salads that are worse than a cheeseburger,” was published by Eat This, according to the source provided in the RSS feed.