These are Canada's unhealthiest fast food salads
- 1/13
Canada’s unhealthiest salads
In the following Unhealthiest Food segment, we’ve rounded up some of the unhealthiest salads you can order at top Canadian fast food and casual dining chain restaurants, including McDonald’s, Subway, Pizza Pizza, Tim Hortons and Burger King. Based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet, the daily recommended intake for the average Canadian adult is about 65 grams of fat (no more than 20 grams saturated), and between 1,500 – 2,400 mg of sodium, so we’ve also rounded up some healthier alternatives.
Scroll through to the end to see what topped our list of unhealthy salads and make sure to check out our lists of unhealthiest fast food burgers and unhealthiest breakfast sandwiches in Canada! - 2/13
11. TIM HORTONS CAESAR SALAD WITH DRESSING
If you’re looking for something healthy to munch on during your next Timmies run, perhaps forgo the Caesar. This salad (with dressing) features crispy green leaf lettuce and is topped with bacon, seasoned croutons and a four cheese blend – but at 24 g of fat ( 7 g saturated) it’s the second most fattening item on the menu (in terms of total fat grams). With 830 mg of sodium, it’s even unhealthier than their BLT sandwich (15 g fat/770 mg sodium).
Serving size: 137 g
— Calories: 310
— Fat: 24 g (Saturated Fat 7 g)
— Carbohydrates: 14 g
— Sodium: 830 mg
— Sugar: 3 g
— Protein: 11 g
— Source/Photo: Tim Hortons Canada
TRY THIS INSTEAD: Tim Hortons garden salad with dressing (Fat: 11 g/Sat. Fat: 1 g/Sodium: 310 mg) - 3/13
10. PIZZA PIZZA BACON CAESAR SALAD
The bacon Caesar entree salad features fresh romaine lettuce, bacon strips, parmesan cheese, and Homestyle croutons — it packs in 27 grams of fat (9 grams saturated) and 910 mg of sodium —this is without dressing. Even getting this salad as a side dish to your pizza will pack on an extra 13 grams of fat and 460 mg of sodium.
Serving size: 244 g
— Calories: 350
— Fat: 27 g (Saturated Fat 9 g)
— Carbohydrates: 14 g
— Sodium: 910 mg
— Sugar: 3 g
— Protein: 13 g
— Source/Photo: Pizza Pizza Canada
TRY THIS INSTEAD: Pizza Pizza grilled chicken Caesar salad (Fat: 6 g/Sat. Fat 2.5 g/Sodium: 440 mg) Yahoo News is better in the app
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- 4/13
9. MCDONALD’S CAESAR SALAD WITH CRISPY CHICKEN
Lettuce and baby kale topped with crispy bacon, real parmesan and roasted focaccia croutons. Chicken options include seasoned crispy chicken or grilled chicken breast. But at 31 grams of fat (10 grams saturated) and 1,140 mg of sodium, it contains more fat and salt than a Big Mac (28 g fat/950 mg sodium), a Bacon McDouble sandwich (21 g fat/1,030 mg sodium); a double cheeseburger (20 g fat/1,050 mg sodium), or a Quarter Pounder with Cheese (26 g fat/1,080 mg of sodium). This salad packs more vitamin A and vitamin C than a Big Mac, but less iron. Serving size: 263 g
— Calories: 520
— Fat: 31 g (Saturated Fat 10 g)
— Carbohydrates: 28 g
— Sodium: 1,140 mg
— Sugar: 2 g
— Protein: 27 g
— Source/Photo: McDonald’s Canada
TRY THIS INSTEAD: McDonald’s side Caesar salad (Fat: 8 g/Sat. Fat 3 g/Sodium: 400 mg) - 5/13
8. SUBWAY CHICKEN & BACON RANCH MELT SALAD
You can pretty much turn any one of your fav sandwiches into a salad at Subway; although most options appear to be healthy, the chicken & bacon ranch melt salad contains 32 grams of fat and 900 mg of sodium — this reflects the meat/poultry, and standard vegetables, but not the salad-dressing or croutons. Honourable mention: The Spicy Italian salad has less fat (23 g) but packs the most sodium out of all their salads (1,270 mg).
Serving size: 403 g
— Calories: 440
— Fat: 32 g (Saturated Fat 8 g)
— Carbohydrates: 14 g
— Sodium: 900 mg
— Sugar: 9 g
— Protein: 22 g
— Source/Photo: Subway Canada
TRY THIS INSTEAD: Subway oven roasted chicken salad (Fat: 2.5 g/Sat. Fat 0.5 g/Sodium: 250 mg) - 6/13
7. PIZZA HUT CAESAR SALAD ENTRÉE
Consists of romaine lettuce, bacon, croutons and parmesan cheese, served with Caesar dressing. Without the optional grilled season chicken breast, this entrée has 40 grams of fat (10 g saturated) — more fat than a chicken Caesar wrap (33 g) and more sodium (1,490 mg) than a chicken pesto wrap (1,110).
Salad serving size: 295 g
— Calories: 540
— Fat: 40 g (Saturated Fat 10 g)
— Carbohydrates: 25 g
— Sodium: 1,490 mg
— Sugar: 2 g
— Protein: 18 g
— Source/photo: Pizza Hut
TRY THIS INSTEAD: Pizza Hut Italian house salad entrée (Fat: 4 g/Sat. Fat 1 g/Sodium: 390 mg) Yahoo News is better in the app
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- 7/13
6. ST-HUBERT CAESAR SALAD
Roasted chicken breast, romaine lettuce, parmesan, browned croutons, and crispy chicken shavings — this salad contains 54 grams of fat (9 grams saturated) — and this is without the dressing. Watch out for the sugar content found in their Bangkok salads; moderate to regular servings will pack in between 24 grams to 45 grams per serving of sugar.
Salad serving size: 485 g
— Calories: 830
— Fat: 54 g (Saturated Fat 9 g)
— Carbohydrates: 21 g
— Sodium: 1,040 mg
— Sugar: 3 g
— Protein: 64 g
— Source/photo: St-Hubert
TRY THIS INSTEAD: St-Hubert garden salad with chicken (Fat: 14 g/Sat. Fat 7 g/Sodium: 610 mg) - 8/13
5. WENDY’S SPICY CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD, FULL-SIZE
This salad features hand-chopped romaine lettuce, Wendy’s signature spicy cut chicken breast, three-cheese blend (asiago, parmesan, and Romano cheeses) grape tomatoes, French bread croutons, and is topped with Marzetti Caesar dressing. Sounds delic, but contains a staggering 49 grams of fat (15 grams saturated) — over half the recommended amount of saturated fat in one sitting. Even the half-sized option packs in 26 grams of fat.
Salad serving: Full-size
— Calories: 730
— Fat: 49 g (Saturated Fat 15 g)
— Carbohydrates: 36 g
— Sodium: 1,730 mg
— Sugar: 6 g
— Protein: 39 g
— Source/Photo: Wendy’s Canada - 9/13
4. EARLS KITCHEN + BAR SANTA FE CAJUN CHICKEN SALAD
This salad is filled with lettuce, corn, and beans, as well as a splattering of cheese and dressing, ringing in at 1,040 calories, 23 grams of sugar (about 6 teaspoons) and 1,940 mg of sodium! Honourable mention: The warm kale salad has less calories (790) but a staggering 18 grams of saturated fat, almost your entire recommended amount for the day in one meal.
Salad serving size: 507 g
— Calories: 1,040
— Fat: 63 g (Saturated Fat 13 g)
— Carbohydrates: 85 g
— Sodium: 1,940 mg
— Sugar: 23 g
— Protein: 48 g
— Source/photo: Earls Kitchen + Bar
TRY THIS INSTEAD: Earls Kitchen + Bar grilled chicken Caesar salad, no dressing. (Fat: 14 g/Sat. Fat 6 g/Sodium: 870 mg) Yahoo News is better in the app
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- 10/13
3. THE KEG STEAKHOUSE & BAR: COBB SALAD
The Keg cobb salad features romaine and Artisan greens topped with chicken, avocado, bacon, tomato, egg and crumbled blue cheese — but contains a whopping 74 grams of fat (21 grams saturated), more than the recommended amount for the average adult in one day.
Serving size: 545 g
— Calories: 966
— Fat: 74 g (Saturated Fat 21 g)
— Carbohydrates: 15 g
— Sodium: 1,401 mg
— Sugar: 4 g
— Protein: 60 g
— Nutrition info: The Keg Steakhouse & Bar / Photo: Getty
TRY THIS INSTEAD: The Keg Steakhouse & Bar mixed greens with oven roasted chicken (Fat: 9 g/Sat. Fat 2 g/Sodium: 126 mg) - 11/13
2. BURGER KING CAESAR GARDEN FRESH SALAD WITH TENDERCRISP CHICKEN
Burger King products topped our lists of unhealthy fast food burgers and unhealthy breakfast sandwiches, and their Caesar garden salad with dressing and chicken places the fast food giant on out list once again. The salad (w/out dressing and croutons) contains 24 g of fat (7 g sat.) and 730 mg of sodium. Throw in the Kraft Creamy Caesar Dressing (16 g fat/410 mg sodium) and Tendercrisp chicken (36 g fat/1,604 mg of sodium) and a simple Caesar garden salad all of a sudden contains 76 g of fat (15.5 g saturated) and 2,744 mg of sodium. Customers have the choice of adding the juicy Tendercrisp or Tendergrill chicken to any salad, so perhaps forgo this option to lower the sodium content.
Salad serving size: 151 g
— Calories: 330
— Fat: 24 g (Saturated Fat 7 g)
— Carbohydrates: 14 g
— Sodium: 730 mg
— Sugar: 1 g
— Protein: 14 g
— Source/Photo: Burger King Canada
TRY THIS INSTEAD: Burger King Garden side salad (Fat: 1 g/Sat. Fat 0.2 g/Sodium: 610 mg) — a much healthier option, especially if you’re munching on it as a side to, say, a triple whopper with cheese. - 12/13
1. BOSTON PIZZA: CRISPY CHICKEN PECAN SALAD, FULL ORDER
Features garden greens mixed with ranch dressing and topped with bacon, breaded chicken breast fillet, pecans, mozzarella, cheddar, chopped egg, carrots and diced tomato. This salad tops our list with a staggering 88 grams of fat, 1,170 calories and 1,550 mg of sodium (without sides or dips).
Serving size: 659 g (full order)
— Calories: 1,170
— Fat: 88 g (Saturated Fat 15 g)
— Carbohydrates: 46 g
— Sodium: 1,550 mg
— Sugar: 15 g
— Protein: 53 g
— Source/Photo: Boston Pizza
TRY THIS INSTEAD: Boston Pizza House Chicken Salad. (Fat: 16 g/Sat. Fat 2 g/Sodium: 1,350 mg) The chicken salad has significantly less fat (16 g) and more protein (59 g) than the chicken pecan salad, but it’s still packed with sodium (1,350 mg). Yahoo News is better in the app
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- 13/13
Our ‘Unhealthiest’ food series continues
Check out our lists on the unhealthiest fast food burgers and unhealthiest breakfast sandwiches in Canada!
In the following Unhealthiest Food segment, we’ve rounded up some of the least healthy salads you can order at top Canadian fast food and casual dining chain restaurants: McDonald’s, Boston Pizza, Subway, Pizza Pizza, Tim Hortons, Earl’s, The Keg, Burger King, Pizza Hut, St-Hubert and Wendy’s. Spoiler alert: one top offender contains 88 grams of fat; another salad option contains more than 2, 700 mg of sodium! Yikes.
Based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet, the daily recommended intake for the average adult is about 65 grams of fat (no more than 20 grams saturated), and between 1,500 – 2,400 mg of sodium.
Unfortunately, many chain restaurants load their greens with crispy croutons, fried poultry, cheeses and fattening dressings; so whether you choose a salad as a side dish, or as the main course, you might be taking in more than half the calories and sodium recommended for the entire day in one sitting. On the plus side, we’ve also rounded up some healthier alternatives.
Scroll through to the end of the gallery to see what topped our list of unhealthy salads and make sure to check out our lists on the unhealthiest fast food burgers and unhealthiest breakfast sandwiches in Canada.
Let us know what you think by tweeting @YahooStyleCA!