The infamous salad bar, available everywhere from work cafeterias to family restaurants, can round out a meal with a wholesome side dish, or be a meal all by itself. What could be more healthy and nutritious? Those vegetables and fruits can be loaded with a variety of nutrients, including beta-carotene, vitamins A and C, potassium, folic acid and fiber.
However, the salad bar can also be filled with dangerous landmines, ready to blow your calorie intake to smithereens. In fact, if you’re not careful, you can innocently fill that salad plate with items that add up to over 1,000 calories—more than a burger and fries or a steak and potato dinner.
Take the safe path and apply these strategies to avoid salad bar traps:
- Use a smaller plate; limit the number of trips you make.
- Start with the nutrient-rich dark green, leafy vegetables, such as spinach, romaine and endive.
- Fill up your plate with vegetables like lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli and tomatoes.
- Power on the protein with legumes, beans, lean meat, turkey and crabmeat.
- Take only a small taste of the high-fat food items such as pasta salad, potato salad, macaroni salad and coleslaw.
- Go easy on extras like croutons, chow mein noodles, crackers, nuts, seeds, crumbled bacon and shredded cheeses.
- Dress your salad for success with two tablespoons of a low-calorie or light salad dressing, OR only one tablespoon of regular salad dressing. For a new taste twist, try a splash of flavored vinegar.
- If the salad bar contains soups, go for a broth-based version over a cream-style selection.
- Allow only a small taste of the whipped topping-jello-fruit combinations.
- For dessert, return to the salad bar for a small plate of fruit topped with a little yogurt or cottage cheese.
Salad Bar Guide
Use the following guide to chart your course while maneuvering through your next salad bar excursion:
| Food |
Amount |
Calories |
Fat Grams |
| Vegetables |
| Artichoke Hearts |
1/4 Cup |
20 |
Trace |
| Avocado |
1/4 Cup |
75 |
8 |
| Bean Sprouts |
1/4 Cup |
8 |
Trace |
| Beets |
1/4 Cup |
15 |
0 |
| Bell Pepper |
2 Tbsp |
3 |
Trace |
| Broccoli |
1/4 Cup |
6 |
Trace |
| Carrot, shredded |
1/4 Cup |
15 |
Trace |
| Cauliflower |
1/4 Cup |
6 |
Trace |
| Cucumber |
1/4 Cup |
4 |
Trace |
| Green Peas |
2 Tbsp |
30 |
Trace |
| Lettuce |
1 Cup |
10 |
Trace |
| Mushrooms |
1/4 Cup |
5 |
Trace |
| Olives, ripe |
2 Tbsp |
30 |
4 |
| Radishes |
2 Tbsp |
2 |
Trace |
| Spinach |
1 Cup |
10 |
Trace |
| Tomato |
1/4 Cup |
15 |
Trace |
| Fruits |
| Fruit Cocktail, canned in juice |
1/4 Cup |
35 |
0 |
| Mandarin Oranges, in juice |
1/4 Cup |
25 |
0 |
| Melon, fresh |
1/4 Cup |
15 |
0 |
| Peaches, canned in juice |
1/4 Cup |
25 |
0 |
| Pineapple, canned in juice |
1/4 Cup |
35 |
0 |
| Raisins |
2 Tbsp |
60 |
0 |
| Strawberries, fresh |
1/4 Cup |
10 |
0 |
| Beans, Nuts, Seeds |
| Chickpeas |
1/4 Cup |
40 |
< 1 |
| Kidney Beans |
1/4 Cup |
55 |
Trace |
| Sunflower Seeds |
1 Tbsp |
80 |
7 |
| Meat, Poultry, Fish, Eggs |
| Eggs, chopped |
2 Tbsp |
25 |
2 |
| Ham, chopped |
1 oz |
35 |
1 |
| Shrimp |
1 oz |
30 |
< 1 |
| Turkey |
1 oz |
35 |
< 1 |
| Tuna, canned in water |
1 oz |
35 |
< 1 |
| Cheese, Dairy |
| Cottage Cheese, creamed |
1/4 Cup |
60 |
3 |
| Cottage Cheese, 1% low fat |
1/4 Cup |
40 |
< 1 |
| Cheddar Cheese |
2 Tbsp |
55 |
5 |
| Mozzarella Cheese |
2 Tbsp |
40 |
4 |
| Parmesan Cheese |
2 Tbsp |
45 |
3 |
| Others |
| Chow Mein Noodles |
1 Tbsp |
15 |
<1 |
| Croutons |
1/4 Cup |
27 |
4 |
| Bacon Bits |
1 Tbsp |
25 |
2 |
| Mixed Salads |
| Cole Slaw |
1/4 Cup |
45 |
5 |
| Macaroni Salad |
1/4 Cup |
100 |
10 |
| Potato Salad |
1/4 Cup |
100 |
10 |
| Tuna Salad |
1/4 Cup |
190 |
10 |
| Three Bean Salad |
1/4 Cup |
60 |
0 |
| Dressings |
| Blue Cheese |
2 Tbsp |
155 |
15 |
| Italian |
2 Tbsp |
160 |
15 |
| French |
2 Tbsp |
135 |
15 |
| Italian, low calorie |
2 Tbsp |
15 |
0 |
| Lemon Juice |
2 Tbsp |
8 |
0 |
| Oil and Vinegar |
2 Tbsp |
100 |
8 |
| 1000 Island |
2 Tbsp |
120 |
10 |
| Vinegar |
2 Tbsp |
4 |
0 |
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