These Are The Fast Food Salads That Are Actually Good
Not all drive-thru salads deserve a bad rap.
We know, we know. Who goes to a fast food restaurant to eat a salad? When you have a bevy of burgers and French fries available, the last thing most of us want to do is order a bowl of lettuce.
Fast food salad offerings have long been ridiculed for not fitting in with the rest of the menu. They've been teased in standup comedy routines and even in Spongebob Squarepants.
And for a long time, it seemed like national chains were in on the joke. Salad offerings were relegated to the bottom of fast food menus and were typically comprised of all the vegetables you'd normally find on their burgers. Maybe, if they were feeling generous, they'd add a handful of shredded cheese. It's almost as if they didn't want us to order them in the first place.
Since the fast food salad boom of the early aughts, we've largely let go of the expectation that burger chains need something green. Spots like Burger King, McDonald's, and Taco Bell have quietly removed salads from their menus over the past few years. And with the rise of fast-casual salad chains like Sweetgreen and Just Salad, we anticipate that the availability of fast food salads will continue to dwindle.
But for when you're on the road and want a quick, (relatively) affordable salad, we've rounded up the best salads you can get at regional and national fast food chains. Listed in no particular order, these are the salads that are actually worth buying.
We factored in things like the variety of ingredients, how substantial they are, and overall quality. What we didn’t consider in our roundup was the nutrition info—but we included that information in case that’s important to you. So the next time you're at the drive-thru you can get your greens without sacrificing flavor.
More Fast Food Roundups:
Zaxby’s House Zalad
House salads are rarely exciting. Zaxby’s is the exception. Their House Zalad includes all of the greens you’d expect from a salad, but they also include Cheddar Jack cheese, fried onions, and your choice of fried or grilled chicken (but let’s be real: you should be getting the former). And to top it all off, it includes a side of Texas Toast. Score!
660 Calories
37g Fat
1920mg Sodium
33g Carbohydrates
44g Protein
Chick-fil-A Cobb Salad
There's a reason why this is the chain's most popular salad. It checks off all the boxes, and then goes above and beyond.
The first thing we love? Your protein options are almost endless: nuggets, filet, spicy, mild, crispy, grilled, even cauliflower! You can also find the usual suspects in a Cobb, but there's also roasted corn, charred tomato, crispy red peppers, and Monterey Jack cheese. Top it off with their avocado lime ranch, and we're in salad heaven.
830 Calories
60g Fat
2220mg Sodium
31g Carbohydrates
42g Protein
Panera Balsamic Chicken Greens with Grains
The Balsamic Chicken Greens with Grains is one of the newest offerings on Panera’s menu, and it’s one of the most sophisticated salads of the bunch. A simple combination of romaine, mixed greens, and balsamic gets elevated with a blend of farro and rice, feta, pepperoncini, avocado, and Green Goddess dressing. This salad does the absolute most—and it’s far more substantial than your average bowl of lettuce.
580 Calories
29g Fat
1330mg Sodium
49g Carbohydrates
37g Protein
Wendy's Parmesan Caesar Salad
A Caesar salad is one of the best bites known to man. The rich, anchovy-scented dressing is the perfect compliment to crisp romaine and savory Parmesan. And Wendy's version captures the flavors we know and love.
They even up the ante with crispy Parmesan croutons on top of their Italian blend that's already in the salad. Cheese lovers, this salad is for you.
530 Calories
37g Fat
1340mg Sodium
15g Carbohydrates
33g Protein
Chick-fil-A Spicy Southwest Salad
Chick-fil-A's Southwestern-inspired salad is packed to the brim with toppings. There's corn, black beans, grape tomatoes, cheddar, crispy tortilla strips, poblano and red bell peppers, and we can't forget about the chili lime pumpkin seeds.
This salad is accompanied by their creamy salsa dressing, but pro tip: ask for the avocado lime ranch instead.
680 Calories
49g Fat
1570mg Sodium
27g Carbohydrates
33g Protein
El Pollo Loco Double Chicken Tostada Salad
The crispy tortilla bowl has fallen out of fashion over the past ten years, but El Pollo Loco’s Double Chicken Tostada Salad makes a convincing case to bring it back. The bed of beans and rice makes it arguably more of a bowl than a salad. But the two servings of their beautifully grilled chicken is delicious enough to ignore the technicalities.
1000 Calories
46g Fat
1790mg Sodium
82g Carbohydrates
65g Protein
Panera Southwest Chicken Ranch Salad
Surprise, surprise: another southwestern salad. But they’re a staple at chain restaurants for a reason. At Panera, their version includes both ranch and chipotle aioli to give you the best of both worlds. And the roasted corn and crispy tortilla strips add some exciting textures too. We could eat this every day and be happy.
650 Calories
45g Fat
1040mg Sodium
34g Carbohydrates
31g Protein
Wendy's Cobb Salad
Cobb salad has the most textural variety and toppings out of any salad out there, so it's no surprise that there are several on our list. And you can't go wrong with Wendy's version.
We love how the egg is chopped and can be easily distributed throughout the bowl. The ranch is creamy, tangy, and classic. And don't even get us started on those crispy fried onions.
670 Calories
49g Fat
1270mg Sodium
18g Carbohydrates
37g Protein
Expertise: TikTok Trends, Drinks, Pop Culture
Education: B.A. in Journalism and B.S. in Communications from NYU, Culinary Arts degree from The Institute of Culinary Education
About Me: As an associate editor at Delish, Gabby works on everything from features to recipes to content on our social media channels. Before joining the team, she wrote for StarChefs Rising Stars Magazine, Mashed, and Food52. When she’s not developing cocktail recipes, she’s making cocktail-inspired dishes like Dirty Martini Pasta and Aperol Spritz Trifle. Her features cover online trends like the Millennial Shopping Cart, rank everything from hard seltzers to frozen French fries, and answer some of your most pressing food safety questions. You can also find her posting content on Delish’s TikTok, including her three-part series about cooking like influencer Nara Smith that garnered over 3M combined views. She loves eating spicy food, collecting cookbooks, and adding a mountain of Parmesan to any dish she can.
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