Wendy's Salads: Our Review of Each Salad

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Jul 15th 2010 @ 1:00PM

Photo: Elizabeth Hait

This week, Wendy's launched four new salads, joining their Garden Sensations line which launched in 2002.

To be honest, we were surprised to see the rather high calorie and fat content in the Baja Salad, Apple Pecan Chicken, BLT Cobb and the Spicy Chicken Caesar Salad (more details about the salads after the jump), especially during the summer months when most people are trying to slim down. The original Garden Sensations line boasts much lighter options, notably the Mandarin Chicken Salad and Chicken Caesar.

While we weren't a fan of all of them, we can say that if were at an airport, stuck with limited options, we'd be happy to grab one of these.

Each salad reviewed after the jump...

BLT Cobb Salad
Grade: B
Nutritional Info: 47 grams fat, 670 calories
What's in it: Spring salad greens, two strips of Applewood Smoked Bacon, tomatoes, blue cheese, chopped egg, warm grilled chicken with a creamy avocado ranch dressing.
Our testers said: "Of course I'm going to like this one, it's full of fat and calories!" "The bacon was surprisingly good -- didn't have that chemical aftertaste most fast-food establishments can't avoid." "The combination of the chopped eggs, chicken and blue cheese went perfectly with a really light ranch dressing (which is hard to come by)."

Apple Pecan Chicken Salad
Grade: C
Nutritional Info: 27 grams fat, 580 calories
What's in it: Spring salad greens, blue cheese, Granny Smith and sweet red apples, roasted pecans, dried cranberries, warm grilled chicken with a pomegranate vinaigrette dressing.
Our testers said: "I really wanted to like this salad, but it just didn't come together for me." "The combination of apples, cranberries AND pomegranate was overwhelming -- the salad was too sweet and the chicken got lost." "I would have loved this with just the apples, chicken, blue cheese and a simple vinaigrette."

Spicy Chicken Caesar Salad
Grade: --
Nutritional Info: 49 grams fat, 740 calories
What's in it: Romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, shaved Asiago cheese, French bread croutons, Wendy's spicy chicken with a lemon garlic Caesar dressing.
Our testers said: We can't officially give this salad a grade because Wendy's forgot to put the salad dressing in our bag. However, we can say that the garlic croutons with sea salt, black pepper and garlic were absolutely delicious. And with Wendy's classic spicy chicken filet on top, we believe this salad has potential. We look forward to going back and trying this one again (with the dressing this time).

Baja Salad
Grade: D
Nutritional Info: 47 grams fat, 740 calories
What's in it: Spring salad greens, cheddar and pepper-jack cheeses, guacamole, Pico de Gallo, tortilla strips, Wendy's chili with a creamy red jalapeno dressing.
Our testers said: "Some people really like Wendy's chili, I don't, therefore this salad just didn't do it for me." "I found that the chili watered down the greens, which got lost underneath a heap of beef and avocado." "The only thing I liked about this salad was the refreshing Pico de Gallo, which there wasn't enough of."

Eat your way through more of Slashfood's Fast-Food Reviews.

Have you tried these items? If so, tell us your thoughts in the comments section.

Filed Under: Taste Test, Fast Food, Reviews
Tags: garden sensations, salad, wendys

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Reader comments (Page 5 of 5)

8-17-2010 @11:12PM tnky60 said... the Apple Pecan Chicken Salad is ok but would be better with macintosh apples.
Also, why did they disccontinue the Chicken Cesear Salad? It was good.
They always get rid of all the good things.
Get rid of the influence of Arby's and keep Wendy's on track with the good food
it has had for years.
If I wanted Arby's I would go to Arby's!
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8-23-2010 @12:53PM Lori said... Wendy's used to be the only fast food restaurant I'd go to for salads. I loved indulging in the Chicken BLT salad- which was do-able, at 340 calories and 18 grams of fat. The new BLT Cobb has an astouding 540 calories and 29 fat grams- WITHOUT dressing! The "suggested" two packets of Avocado Ranch adds on an ADDITIONAL 200 calories and 21 grams of fat! Who needs a 750 calorie, 49 fat gram SALAD?!? The general population assumes that eating a salad, any salad, is a healthy fast food alternative. The public way of thinking is that "salad" is good for you- and it can be, if it's not loaded up with tons of additional empty calories. Most do not realize that they shouldn't pour on the additional packets of goodies: croutons, dressing, pecans, etc, because they could have had a meal of a Double JBC, fries, AND a Frosty with less fat content! And what good is getting one of these expensive salads without putting any of the additions on it that make it what it's supposed to be? Shame on Wendy's!!
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9-02-2010 @4:12AM Emmm said... Wait wait wait...so you're going to tell me that it doesn't even taste as good and has MORE calories??? What?
FYI though, I don't go to FAST FOOD restaurants because I'm trying to watch my waistline. ;) Dripping grease on lettuce doesn't automatically make the grease healthy.

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8-26-2010 @3:06AM Alayna said... I was at a Wendy's earlier this evening when I was told the Mandarian Chicken Salad was discontinued. The lady then gave me a flyer for the new salads. I ended up driving away with nothing. They all looked awful and were extremely unhealthy. At least the Mandarian Chicken Salad wasn't fairly healthy without the dressing. They need to bring back the Mandarian Chicken Salad and stop comming up with new salads that are excessively unhealthy. America is fat enough as it is.
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