Who doesn’t love appetizers? Sometimes I go to restaurants and skip the main entree and order a few apps instead. After all, they allow you to try many different things instead of investing in a big meal. While it might seem like a healthier option to order a few “light” bites instead of a meal, be forewarned: many of your favorite chain restaurant apps actually have more calories than a meal. Here are 7 chain appetizers with more calories than most meals.
TGI Fridays Loaded Potato Skins
TGI Fridays Loaded Potato Skins are one of the chain’s trademark dishes. But they have over 900 calories per serving plus loads of fat, saturated fat, and sodium. “This appetizer contains deep-fried potato skins filled with melted cheese, bacon, and sour cream,” Mary Sabat MS, RDN, LD, previously told ETNT.
Cracker Barrel Fried Pickles
Cracker Barrel
Fried pickles are a delicacy in southern fare, and Cracker Barrel does them justice. However, Sabat says the appetizer is “high in calories, saturated fat, and sodium.” Sodium alone comes to almost 7,000 milligrams. The daily recommended limit? 2,300.
Applebee’s Spinach & Artichoke Dip
Applebee’s
I am a sucker for Applebee’s Spinach & Artichoke Dip, a creamy dip of spinach, artichokes, and parmesan cheese, which I eat with tortilla chips and salsa. The calorie count? A whopping 980. And, unfortunately, the app isn’t exactly filling.
Outback Steakhouse Bloomin’ Onion
Outback Steakhouse
How can you go to Outback Steakhouse without ordering the chain’s legendary app, the Bloomin’ Onion? Unsurprisingly, the deep-fried onion served with a creamy sauce is nearly 2,000 calories. “This popular appetizer features a deep-fried onion that is sliced to resemble a flower and is served with a dipping sauce, and it contains around 1,620 calories and over 120 grams of fat, making it one of the unhealthiest appetizers on any menu,” says Sabat.
Buffalo Wild Wings Ultimate Nachos
Buffalo Wild Wings
Nachos might be a favorite app anywhere you go, but they are rarely good for you. At Buffalo Wild Wings the Ultimate Nachos is a plate of loaded chips piled high with toppings, including queso, cheddar-jack cheese, pickled hot peppers, crema, and pico. The total calorie count is much higher than a full meal, at 1770 calories.
Texas Roadhouse Cactus Blossom
The Texas Roadhouse Cactus Blossom is similar to the Bloomin’ Onion in more ways than one. The fried onion appetizer is clocking in at entrée-level calories, a staggering 2,250 calories,135 g fat (26 g saturated fat), and 5,000 mg sodium.
Olive Garden Lasagna Fritta
Olive Garden
It is no surprise that deep-fried lasagne isn’t good for you. Olive Garden Lasagna Fritta is basically fried pasta bites layered with cheese and sauce, and very calorie-dense. “The Lasagna Fritta features small portions of lasagna that are breaded and deep-fried,” says Sabat. “It contains over 1,100 calories and over 75 grams of fat, making it a very unhealthy choice.”
