Here's Why This Chick-Fil-A Salad Dressing Is Considered The 'Unhealthiest'

When we hit the drive-thru of our favorite fast food restaurant, there are a lot of choices that need to be made. Salad dressing might seem like a pretty minor one, but here's some food for thought: Opt for one particular dressing at Chick-fil-A, and you're getting as many calories as an order of Chick-n-Strips, more fat than what's in a Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Biscuit, and more sodium than two orders of Waffle Potato Chips. And yes, we're still talking about a single serving of salad dressing. 

Chick-fil-A's salad dressings also hit supermarket shelves in 2023, and while the nutritional information for its Avocado Lime Ranch dressing is packaged differently — it's listed for 30-gram servings in the bottle instead of 57-gram servings you get at the restaurant — the nutrition is the same. Since it can be difficult to judge just how unhealthy something is by numbers alone, let's take a closer look at what's in this particular salad dressing and why it's considered so unhealthy. 

The dressing clocks in with 520 milligrams of sodium, but the American Heart Association recommends that Americans should be aiming for no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium for the entire day. The AHA cautions that many Americans already consume more than their recommended daily allowance of sodium, which can ultimately lead to consequences such as an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Coupled with the high fat, calorie, and cholesterol content, this is the unhealthiest of Chick-fil-A's dressing options. 

Taking the American Heart Association's guidelines for sodium into consideration, the 520 milligrams in this dressing is about a third of their recommended daily intake — and that doesn't even include whatever you're putting the dressing on! Medical experts stress that regularly consuming too much sodium can have catastrophic effects on health, including chronic inflammation in the short term. In the long term, it's been linked to things like high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke, which are some of the most common causes of death in the U.S. 

Let's look at what else is contained in that dollop of dressing. This particular offering has 310 calories, 32 grams of fat, and 25 milligrams of cholesterol. Although precise recommendations vary, experts suggest a person consume no more than 200 to 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day: That means that, depending on a person's specific requirements, a packet of dressing can contain between 6% and 12% of the day's recommended limits. The consequences of too much cholesterol are similar to too much sodium, and include things like an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. 

When it comes to dietary fats, that also varies: Most experts suggest limiting dietary fats to between 45 and 78 grams per day, as too much can also increase your risk of heart disease. That means this dressing contains between 41% and 71% of the daily recommended limits. 

There are a number of mistakes you might be making when you're ordering at Chick-fil-A, and if the nutritional information in that Avocado Lime Ranch dressing has you rethinking some things, you should know that there are healthier options available. One option is their Light Italian dressing, which has 25 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 470 milligrams of sodium, which still isn't a low-sodium option by any means, but is still a healthier option. (Generally, in order to be considered low-sodium, a food should have less than 140 milligrams per serving.) 

While none of Chick-fil-A's dressings are truly low-sodium, several others are lower in other areas of concern. The 90-calorie, Fat-Free Honey Mustard dressing also has no cholesterol (and 440 mg of sodium), which makes this a healthier option than the Avocado Lime Ranch. The Light Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing is also a healthier option, with 80 calories, 4 grams of fat, no cholesterol, and 360 mg of sodium.

While this fan-favorite chain has some seriously delicious options on its menu, there are some things that you might want to reconsider ordering from Chick-fil-A. The Avocado Lime Ranch dressing? That's definitely one of those things.