Fast food restaurants have been attempting to get on board with the health food craze by offering salads to their customers as an alternative to their usual high fat, high-calorie options. Some of the tactics they have used that have been popular are offering it as a meal itself and offering a small salad on the side.
Burger King, one of the larger restaurant chains, offers some basic salad options. Choosing not to get too deep into the salad business, but being unwilling to be left behind by competitors, Burger King does not have a wide variety of salads available, but they do have salads.
Does Burger King Have Salads in 2024?
Burger King carries salads on its menu across all of its locations. Burger King consistently offers a Chicken Garden Salad option and a side Garden Salad option. This menu option differs depending on the season and the location, as some restaurants offer a Club salad as well.
With only two permanent salad menu items, there is no middle ground to Burger King’s salads. They have not had too much success with their line of salads in the past, having made multiple attempts to reintroduce the healthier alternative to their brand.
When Did Burger King Start Having Salads?
In the early 1980s, in an endeavor to keep up with the ever-growing McDonald’s and Wendy’s restaurants, Burger King started putting salad bars in all its locations. Burger King soon discovered that their salad bar was difficult to keep maintained and the profit margins on it were low, leading to its removal just a few years later.
In 1987 they added pre-packaged salads to their list of alternatives, before the last of the salad bars were removed from restaurants, including a chef and garden salad. In 1990, Burger King introduced a line of packaged salad options, complete with a licensing agreement with the salad dressing company Newman’s Own.
In 2004 they introduced another line, with warm grilled meats separated from the cold items, and accompanied by Ken’s dressings. Even with all the innovation, they were still not a very popular item on the menu.
What Type of Salads Does Burger King Have?
Burger King carries a garden side salad which consists of mixed lettuces, tomatoes, croutons, and a three-cheese blend. It also offers a much larger chicken garden salad. This salad includes romaine, green leaf, and radicchio lettuces, tomatoes, butter garlic croutons, and cheddar cheese topped with breaded chicken breast.
Both salads come with your choice of dressing. The only salad dressings Burger King carries are ranch, Italian, and lite honey balsamic. All three dressings are made by Ken’s Foods, whom Burger King has been getting their dressings from since 2004.
How Much Are Burger King Salads?
The price tag on any of the Burger King menu items depends on what location you choose. One restaurant in Colorado charges $1.98 for a side salad and $5.79 for the chicken garden salad. Another location in the same town charges $2.50 for a side salad and $5.99 for a chicken garden salad.
On Broadway in New York City, a side salad at Burger King goes for $2.89 and a chicken garden salad is $7.99. In some places in California, the side salad can be $2.59 and the chicken garden salad is $6.99. Where prices are concerned, there is no consistency between locations.
Large variances in pricing could be due to a few factors. Locations owned by a franchisee may be different because the owner is within their rights to set their prices for their products. Another factor is where they are located. Restaurants who pay more in rent or who offer higher wages to their employees may charge extra to offset costs.
How Many Calories Are in Burger King Salads?
Burger King’s side garden salad, without dressing, is 322 calories. It has:
- 32 grams of fat
- 336 milligrams of sodium
- 4.9 grams of protein
- 5.3 grams of carbohydrates
- 3.9 grams of sugar
- And only 1.1 grams of fiber
Burger King’s Crispy Chicken Gardner Salad is a tremendous 870 calories, minus the dressing, and:
- 70.5 grams of fat
- 100.8 milligrams of cholesterol
- 1,605 milligrams of sodium
- 7.4 grams of sugar
- 27 grams of protein
- And only 3 grams of fiber
This is before adding one of their Ken’s dressings. Ranch dressing is an additional 260 calories, Italian is 160 calories, and lite honey balsamic is 120 calories. With all the added calories, sodium, and fat, these nutritional options are not offering you too much nutrition.
Did Burger King Stop Selling Salads?
Burger King fast-food restaurants have had some form of salad options on their menus since 1983 when they introduced salad bars to their locations. They have removed the salad bars and attempted many versions of a salad menu with prepackaged options since then. They have not stopped selling salads, even though they have greatly reduced their offerings.
They did, however, stop selling their fire-grilled salads, which consisted of fire-grilled shrimp or broiled chicken kept separate from the rest of the salad, a notion that was new to fast-food salads. This concept was popular for a short amount of time but soon lost its novelty.
Does Burger King Have/Still Have Salads in 2024?
Burger King offers salads for its customers, although a very small selection of them. The Crispy Chicken Garden Salad and the Garden Side Salad are the only options they carry consistently, although some franchised locations may have alternative options available. Their salad dressings are now provided exclusively through Ken’s Foods.
With the introduction of meatless options and bunless options, Burger King salads can be less healthy for you than some other menu items. The Original Chicken Sandwich, for instance, has around 200 fewer calories than the Crispy Chicken Garden Salad, more protein, a lot less fat, and nearly 500 milligrams less sodium content.
