calories in ceasar salad

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aerochic42
aerochic42 Posts: 822 Member
in Food and Nutrition
There was a grilled chicken ceasar salad left over from a meeting yesterday, that I claimed to eat today. Romaine lettuce, Parmesean cheese, grilled chicken, croutons and dressing. I just looked up the calories and it is 810 calories. How in the world can this salad get this high in calories? I planned on pulling off the croutons asthey are soggy and squishy and probably use only half of the dressing, because I don't want a salad drowned in dressing. I would be better off having Jimmy John's deliver a sandwich calorically.

I understand other salad - cobb, taco salad, southwest something or other getting to the high calorie content, but am really confused on this one.

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  • jlynnm70
    jlynnm70 Posts: 460 Member
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    It's the dressing - Cesar dressing is usually HIGH - eggs, anchovy, etc. Also - you have to add in the croutons, chicken and the parm cheese. Cesar is not the lowest salad out there - but it sure tastes good!

    edit - can't type....
  • SKME2013
    SKME2013 Posts: 704 Member
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    Hehe...yes it hit me the other day as well! I was thinking I am having a low calorie salad for lunch just to realise that I had used most of my daily allowance. Even if it is not Caesar salad, some have ingredients, e.g. nuts, that have tons of calories.
    Stef.
  • nangytime
    nangytime Posts: 7
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    Salads can get very confusing as far as calories go if you aren't the one controlling what goes into it. The main things that I always look for in a salad are calorie content in the dressing (I try to go for under 60 calories per 2 Tbsp. serving) and the toppings. Croutons will obviously add a lot of carbs, but the way that the other items on the salad are prepared make a difference too. Think about the difference between a grilled chicken breast and a breaded and fried piece of chicken. Cobbs are also heavy because they include bacon and bleu cheese.

    Caesar Salad has the croutons, the dressing is also high in calories, which usually comprises olive oil, anchovies, egg yolk, parmesan cheese, garlic and salt and pepper, many of those ingredients being high in fat.

    I recommend when you do salads, make them yourself, including the dressing if you have the time. I like to start off with a pile of greens, load it up with different vegetables instead of croutons, bacon bits, and cheese, and top it off with a lean protein like grilled chicken or shrimp. A simple dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard and salt and pepper works wonders. But if you're in a crunch, I really love the sun dried tomato and roasted red bell pepper dressings by Kraft or the orange champagne muscat dressing from Trader Joe's.
  • BillyBeckers
    BillyBeckers Posts: 1 Member
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    How do I add a Chicken Ceasar Salad to my food diary if I bought it from a food kitchen (university Kitchen).? Or How can I find out what a generic Chicken Salad is with calories? Its home/chef made, not from a company? How do I add that? Please help?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    edited April 2015
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    @aerochic42 I saw your thread title and my initial reaction is "too many". Yes, Caesar salad is that high. It's the high fat dressing dressing the salad. If you have control, add the dressing yourself and log the salad separate from the dressing.

    @BillyBeckers , you are just going to have to take a generic entry; guess.
  • notnikkisixx
    notnikkisixx Posts: 375 Member
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    It's a very real struggle! That's why I always order my salads without cheese or croutons and get the dressing on the side (that way I can see how much dressing is really going in my salad). Also, another trick I like to employ is to keep the dressing in the cup and lightly dip my fork in it before grabbing a bite of the salad. That way I get dressing on every bite and end up eating waaay less of it.

    On another note, if you every make caesar salad at home, Lighthouse Opa Caesar Dressing is the only light caesar dressing I've ever had that tastes as good at the regular stuff. It only comes in at 70cal for two tablespoons.

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