Restaurant salads vs. home salads

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CarlyRobbinsGilbert
CarlyRobbinsGilbert Posts: 64
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a question -- why do restaurant salads contain so many more calories and carbs than made-at-home salads? Now before you go answering, I would like to point out that I order restaurant salads EXACTLY the way I make them at home; that is, basically, just lettuce, cucumbers, cheese, and dressing on the side, no croutons, no tortilla chips or other would-be explanatory add-ons. But, for example, I ate a house salad at Outback last night. No dressing, no croutons, and it has 14 carbs according to this site? From what? If people are going to bother to make a separate food entry for a salad with no croutons and no dressing, why use the same nutritional information as a fully-loaded salad? Why does my go-to (make that formerly go-to) salad at TGI Friday's contain over 700 calories if it's just lettuce, cheese, and chicken? Help! Thanks!

Replies

  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    There are carbs in vegetables, you know! And cheese is pretty high calorie too.
  • countrygirl812
    countrygirl812 Posts: 116
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    Not only that, but restaraunt prepared salads are packed with sodium. Just a small side salad from Wendy's contains over 400mg of sodium. I just make them at home. That way I know EXACTLY what is going into my body.

    To answer your question, it is probably the seasoning and the way the chicken is being prepared, and the cheese will add a lot of calories as well.
  • MsPinVa
    MsPinVa Posts: 29 Member
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    W/o looking up the actual calories in 1 cup of lettuce (I'm sure its more like 3/4 @ resturants)

    That seems like a lot of carbs, but let us not forget that greens do have our healthy carbs.
    Protein - The method of cooking will result in high kcals of course...
    Cheese - They may use a full fat, where I imagine you use a low-fat/skim at home?

    Just a few ideas to why they are higher. Thier counts do seem far fetched, but I imagine they also keep the number on the low side.
  • MrsKunz
    MrsKunz Posts: 151 Member
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    Ok i figured i respond due to the fact that i was a restaurant manager for years now a stay at home mom until our family restaurant opens in 3 months.
    Restaurants actually have things packaged differently adding things so that it lasts longer.
    Example a salad i got from Olive Garden lasted a week in my fridge without wilting i still didn't eat it that was just too long for me
    but i made the same salad with their dressing from veggies from Walmart it lasted 3 days then it wilted.
    Also restaurants season heavily!!!! that way it leaves a lasting impression to make you return.
    Hope this helps!!

    PS when recording don't use a lot of the things already in the system make new ones i have figured out alot of the things in here aren't right (Pepsi does not have 175 calories in 1 can)
  • MrsKunz
    MrsKunz Posts: 151 Member
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    Ok i figured i respond due to the fact that i was a restaurant manager for years now a stay at home mom until our family restaurant opens in 3 months.
    Restaurants actually have things packaged differently adding things so that it lasts longer.
    Example a salad i got from Olive Garden lasted a week in my fridge without wilting i still didn't eat it that was just too long for me
    but i made the same salad with their dressing from veggies from Walmart it lasted 3 days then it wilted.
    Also restaurants season heavily!!!! that way it leaves a lasting impression to make you return.
    Hope this helps!!

    PS when recording don't use a lot of the things already in the system make new ones i have figured out alot of the things in here aren't right (Pepsi does not have 175 calories in 1 can)
  • pdameron
    pdameron Posts: 3
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    True, there are carbs in vegetables, but not many. I believe one full cup of lettuce only results in 5 grams of carbs. That amount is negligible. It would take a very large salad to get that many carbs. However, I do agree that the cheese is loaded with calories. Restaurants probably use cheese made with whole milk rather than 2% milk. Continue ordering the dressing on the side because the dressings are generally loaded with calories.
  • kateroot
    kateroot Posts: 435
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    Restaurant salads are full of preservatives, sodium and artificial ingredients. For example, if you get a restaurant salad with chicken, the chicken will likely have more calories than the chicken you would eat at home, because it's pumped full of additives. Restaurants typically use the cheapest (and therefore highest calorie) ingredients available. So even if it looks the same, your salad at home will generally have less calories and sodium overall.
  • CarlyRobbinsGilbert
    CarlyRobbinsGilbert Posts: 64
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    Thanks for the thoughts! I know the cheese adds calories but most cheddars are less than 1 carb per serving, many are zero. I'm just going to try to stick to preparing them at home ahead of time. It's hard though, being busy!

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