A question we hear more and more these days is “Are fast food salads good for you?”. The answer is, more often than not, “not really”. If, for some reason or another, you end up eating at a fast food restaurant, don’t delude yourself thinking a salad is the safest bet. Here are the 6 worst fast food salads which are so bad for you that a Big Mac would probably be a healthier choice.
1. Wendy’s Chicken BLT Salad
A strong contender for the worst fast food salad title, this salad commits two major dietary sins – croutons and honey Dijon dressing. The dressing is the essential ingredient in assessing whether a salad is good for you or not. Honey mustard is as unhealthy as it gets. If you want a healthy alternative, choose fat-free French dressing. Packed with carbs and oil-soaked, croutons are another major dietary no-no, so always go for no-crouton salads. Rather than have this calorie-packed salad, you’d probably be better off getting a burger and a side salad.
2. Quizno’s Chicken Caesar Salad
Another strong candidate on our worst fast food salads list, this salad is packed with sodium and saturated fat. Not only does it contain croutons, but it’s also huge. The only healthier alternative on Quizno’s menu is the Pan Asian Regular Chopped Salad, which contains only 430 calories and 17.5 g fat, so you can go with that one instead.
3. Applebee’s Grilled Shrimp‘n’Spinach Salad
This is a less obvious candidate for worst fast food salads, as spinach and shrimp are generally very healthy foods. However, this salad flies in the face of balanced food combining principles and breaks the 1,000-calorie barrier. The only low-cal alternative on Applebee’s menu is Weight Watchers Grilled Chili-Lime Chicken Salad.
4. T.G.I. Friday’s Pecan-Crusted Chicken Salad
If you see “crusted” on a fast food menu, read “fried.” Factor in sugar-coated pecans and cranberries and blue cheese, and you’ll get one of the unhealthiest fast food salads out there. Dragonfire Chicken is the only healthier food alternative at Friday’s.
5. CPK’s Waldorf Chicken Salad
CPK’s Waldorf Chicken Salad is another “worthy” contender for worst fast food salads,. While the ingredients in themselves are perfectly good for you, this jumbo-sized mix contains nearly a day’s worth of calories. The Half Moroccan Chicken Salad is a safer choice, provided you consider it your main meal, not a starter dish.
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