With the growing obsession with increasing nutritional awareness in the US, fast food chains have begun to up their game on healthy options. Adding salads to the menu is a smart choice. The problem with most fast-food restaurants is the quality of those salads.
In order to appeal to their key demographic, places that specialize in burgers often end up adding so many unhealthy toppings that you might as well have not gotten a salad at all. Wendy’s offers a Jalapeno Popper Salad, Parmesan Caesar, Southwest Avocado, Apple Pecan, and Taco Salad.
Does Wendy’s Have Salads in 2024?
Wendy’s Old-Fashioned Hamburgers has five salads available on its menu. They are entree sizes large enough to count as a meal. The types of salads change from year to year, giving customers a chance to try something new. Wendy’s uses flavorful Marzetti dressings to top them off.
Customers get to try new flavor combinations at Wendy’s, like Summer Strawberry Salad which paired strawberries with chicken and cheese. Although most restaurants are in the salad game now, Wendy’s was one of the first fast-food restaurants to offer salad as an option to its consumers.
When Did Wendy’s Start Having Salads?
Wendy’s opened its first restaurant in 1969 in Columbus, Ohio. Wendy’s quickly became popular for its unique frosty and square hamburger patties that were larger than their buns. Wendy’s did not offer fresh salads until 1979 when it introduced a self-service salad bar.
With the demand for more options at the drive-thru in the 1990s, Wendy’s introduced to-go salads in 1992
. Their first to-go salads included a Grilled chicken salad, a deluxe garden salad, a taco caesar salad, and a simple side salad.
By 2006, Wendy’s had completely eliminated its self-service salad bar. They began to exclusively serve the salads from their menu options. They also used to sell half salads which was a convenient side choice for customers but did away with this alternative as well only within the last year.
What Type of Salads Does Wendy’s Have?
Wendy’s offers multiple salads on its menu. The Jalapeno Popper Salad contains spicy chicken breast meat, applewood smoked bacon, crispy jalapeno and cheddar crouton mix, and jalapeno ranch dressing. These toppings pair with a salad base of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, spring mix, and jalapeno slices.
Other salad choices are the Parmesan Caesar Salad, with salad blend, three cheese blends, grilled chicken breast, parmesan crisps, and caesar dressing. The Southwest Avocado Salad includes a salad blend with pepper jack cheese, grilled chicken breast, fresh avocado, applewood smoked bacon, and a southwest ranch dressing and is their most popular salad.
The Taco Salad is a salad blend and chili, as well as round tortilla chips, sour cream, and salsa. The Apple Pecan Salad has been around since 2010. With a salad blend mixed with apple bites, grilled chicken breast, roasted pecans, bleu cheese crumbles, and a pomegranate vinaigrette dressing.
How Much Are Wendy’s Salads?
A single Wendy’s salad goes for $6.99. Wendy’s also gives you the option to make your salad into a combo meal. This means along with your salad you get fries and a drink. A salad with a small fry and a small fountain drink is $10.09.
You can also upgrade your combo to a medium fry and drink for an additional $1.19 or for an additional $1.39 you can make it a large. This is an option Wendy’s offers with all of its entree menu items, even if they don’t necessarily go together.
How Many Calories Are in Wendy’s Salads?
While eating a salad is a healthier option for you than a cheeseburger and fries, it comes down to the toppings and dressing as to whether it is healthy or not. Wendy’s salads, which claim to be made fresh daily, are no exception. The amount of calories and sodium in some is discouraging.
Although a Wendy’s Apple Pecan Salad is full of healthy protein, calcium, and potassium, it also hides over 1000 mg of sodium. It contains 550 calories including the dressing. The Parmesan Caesar salad is 440 calories.
The Jalapeno Popper Salad has a whopping 1,500 mg of sodium including the dressing and 660 calories. The Southwest Avocado Salad has 39 grams of total fat, and although some of this comes from the avocado, much of it is not healthy fat. It is 570 calories. The Taco Salad, unlike its predecessor the Taco Caesar, is 690 calories, the highest of the options.
Which salads are available varies from year to year and seasonal salads are sometimes introduced for a limited time.
Did Wendy’s Stop Selling Salads?
Wendy’s has consistently offered salad options to its customers since 1979. It introduces and discontinues different types of salads regularly, trying out new combinations and eliminating what doesn’t work to make room for new possibilities. It got rid of the salad bar in 2006.
The half salad and side salad are also a thing of the past. They were less popular and profitable than their full-sized versions even though some customers were disappointed to learn of their removal from the menu. Wendy’s has no plans on bringing them back anytime soon.
Does Wendy’s Have/Still Have Salads in 2024?
Wendy’s has freshly made salads in different flavor combinations which they carry in all their restaurant locations. Only the full-sized entree options are available since Wendy’s discontinued half salads and side salads. Wendy’s salads are made with fresh, crisp romaine lettuce and their own grilled or breaded chicken breast.
Fast food has become one of the biggest industries in the world and it has almost always been synonymous with unhealthy eating. With increased regulation on transparent nutritional information and stricter sourcing, it is becoming easier to eat healthy as long as you do your research, even at fast-food restaurants.
At Wendy’s, healthy and fresh options have been on the menu longer than at any other restaurant. Their salads have been around for over 40 years and continue to bring more fit choices to their customers.
