The Lowest-Calorie Meals on the Menu
The lightest entrée on the menu is Herb Crusted Chicken at 260 calories. Second is Grilled BBQ Chicken at 300. Third is the 6oz Hand-Cut Sirloin at 250 — technically first, but sides are counted separately for every entrée.
What makes these numbers useful is that they are lower than most starters and far lower than every salad. The intuition that a steakhouse has nothing light is simply wrong; the intuition about which items are light is what needs correcting.
The lightest complete plates
A 6oz Hand-Cut Sirloin at 250 calories with green beans at 100 and applesauce at 110 gives you a complete steak dinner at 460 calories.
Herb Crusted Chicken at 260 with the same two sides comes to 470. Grilled BBQ Chicken at 300 comes to 510.
For comparison, the Chicken Caesar Salad on its own — no sides, dressing included — is 1,100 calories. The salad is more than double the steak dinner.
Why the steak is lighter than the salad
Grilled muscle meat with a dry seasoning rub is not calorie-dense. A 6oz sirloin is roughly 42 calories per ounce, and there is nothing else on the plate.
A salad, by contrast, is greens plus jack cheese, hard-boiled egg, bacon, croutons and a creamy dressing. The greens contribute almost nothing and everything on top of them contributes a great deal. Caesar dressing in particular is the dish rather than a garnish.
This is the single most useful correction to make about eating here. If you are counting, the chicken page and the leaner steaks are the answer, and the salad page is the trap.
Building the plate deliberately
Sides are where a light meal is won or lost. Green beans are 100 calories, applesauce 110, sautéed mushrooms 120. At the other end, seasoned rice and steak fries are both 360 and a loaded sweet potato is 740.
Since most entrées come with two sides, that single pair of choices can swing a meal by well over a thousand calories without touching the main course.
Also worth accounting for: the bread. Fresh-baked rolls with cinnamon butter arrive before you order and are not on any price list, which means most people leave them out of their mental arithmetic entirely.
- 6oz Sirloin + green beans + applesauce — about 460 cal
- Herb Crusted Chicken + two light sides — about 470 cal
- Grilled BBQ Chicken + two light sides — about 510 cal
- Kids Grilled Chicken — 110 cal, lightest protein on the menu
- Avoid — any salad, any starter except grilled shrimp
Frequently asked
What is the single lightest entrée?
Herb Crusted Chicken at 260 calories, just ahead of Grilled BBQ Chicken at 300. The 6oz sirloin is 250 but is a steak rather than a full plate.
Are the salads really that heavy?
Yes. The Chicken Caesar is 1,100 calories and the Steakhouse Filet Salad 1,340 — heavier than a 12oz prime rib.
Do the entrée calorie figures include sides?
No. Sides range from 100 to 740 calories each and most entrées come with two, so they are counted separately.
Keep reading
The Healthiest Things You Can Order
Calories are one measure. Protein density, portion control and what you drink matter too — and they point somewhere slightly different.
Read →
Why the Salads Are the Heaviest Light Option
Ordering a salad to eat lightly here is one of the most reliable ways to eat more than you intended.
Read →
All 12 Sides Ranked by Calories
Twelve sides, one price, and a 640-calorie spread. Price carries no information here, so calories are the only thing left to choose on.
Read →