Healthy Fast Food: What are the Healthiest Salads at McDonalds, Taco Bell and Wendy's?
McDonalds’ Healthiest Salads
Here are some nutritional facts for salads at McDonalds, the fast food chain you can find almost anywhere! The salads listed here are healthier choices (for example, salads with grilled chicken rather than crispy chicken, which can add on at least 100 extra calories and plenty of extra fat), but they are also salads that have substance to them. You could eat a McDonalds’ side salad with no dressing for a mere 20 calories, but the following salads can actually sustain you when you are hungry:
Premium Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken - 320 calories, 9 grams of fat
Premium Bacon Ranch Salad with Grilled Chicken - 260 calories, 9 grams of fat
Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken - 220 calories, 6 grams of fat
Snack Size Fruit and Walnut Salad - 210 calories, 8 grams of fat
Don’t forget that any salad dressing or other toppings you add to your salad make a huge difference in the nutritional content of what you are eating. Check out the nutritional facts of McDonalds’ salad dressings and croutons:
Butter Garlic Croutons - 60 calories, 1.5 grams of fat
Newman’s Own Creamy Southwest Dressing - 100 calories, 6 grams of fat
Newman’s Own Ranch Dressing - 170 calories, 15 grams of fat
Newman’s Own Creamy Caesar Dressing - 190 calories, 18 grams of fat
Newman’s Own Low Fat Family Recipe Italian Dressing - 60 calories, 2.5 grams of fat
Newman’s Own Low Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette - 40 calories, 3 grams of fat
If you are trying to cut calories, McDonalds’ low fat dressings are definitely the way to go; but if you love the creamier dressings and really want to use one of those, try to use a smaller portion rather than the whole dressing packet.
Wendy’s Healthiest Salads
790 calories and 53 grams of fat?! That’s probably not what you have in mind when you order a salad. But if you order Wendy’s Chicken BLT Salad with Homestyle Chicken Fillet, with the normal ingredients and salad dressing, that’s exactly what you’ll be getting. To make a much lower-calorie, lower-fat and overall healthier choice when ordering a salad at Wendy’s, consider the following salad possibilities:
Mandarin Chicken Salad with Grilled Chicken Fillet - If you order this salad, ask them to hold the roasted almonds and crispy noodles, usually included with the salad–these noodles pack on 200 calories and a whopping 13.5 grams of fat!
With the above alterations, the Mandarin Chicken Salad has only 180 calories and 2 grams of fat--an excellent choice for your health. However, if you pour a packet of Oriental Sesame Dressing on top of your salad, you add 170 calories and 10 grams of fat, bringing the total of the salad to 350 calories and 12 grams of fat.
Chicken Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken Fillet - This salad has 240 calories and 7 grams of fat, but again, keep in mind that plenty of fat and calories come along with each packet of salad dressing. One packet of Wendy’s Supreme Caesar Dressing adds 125 calories and 13 grams of fat to your salad.
Taco Bell’s Healthiest Salads
Taco Bell’s Fresco Menu offers a number of lower-calorie, lower-fat varieties of Taco Bell favorites. Here are a few of Taco Bell’s healthy salad choices:
Chicken Ranch Taco Salad (Fresco Style) - 240 calories, 5 grams of fat
Chipotle Steak Taco Salad (Fresco Style) - 220 calories, 6 grams of fat
Fiesta Taco Salad (Fresco Style) - 270 calories, 11 grams of fat
Keep these fast food salad ideas tucked away in your mind for the next time you stop for fast food. Remember that you can still make healthy choices when eating fast food.