The Healthiest Cava Menu Items—and What To Skip

If you haven't eaten at Cava, chances are you soon will. In 2023, they were one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains, and once you get a taste, you'll know why. Their better-for-you Mediterranian style menu offers limited pre-selected salad and grain bowls or pitas and the ability to completely customize your order with over 45 fresh ingredients to choose from.

Unlike many fast food options, which are high in calories, fat, and sodium and void of vegetables or fresh ingredients, almost everything on Cava's menu is fresh, green, and incredibly nutrient-rich. Creating a mouthwatering order with half a day's worth of fiber and multiple servings of vegetables while not going overboard on calories or sodium is easy when you know what you're looking for.

Whether you want a curated bowl with a winning flavor combination or want to build your own custom meal, knowing what items to choose and what you may want to skip is essential.

How To Navigate Cava's Menu

The menu at Cava is completely customizable, with a few preselected options that make putting together a meal easy. You can choose a base of a salad bowl, grain bowl, grains + green bowl, or pita, then add all the fixings to make a meal that fits your nutrition goals and taste preferences.

When creating your custom order, you can choose from a pre-determined number of ingredients from the following categories:

• Greens
• Grains
• Mains
• Dips + spreads
• Toppings
• Dressings

For example, when choosing a salad bowl, you can select one full or two half portions of greens, up to three dips, one full portion or two half portions of mains, any number of toppings, and up to two dressings. Then, choose from optional sides, desserts, and drinks to complete your meal.

Keep reading to learn what dietitians recommend eating and skipping from the Cava menu!

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Mains

Eat This:

• Grilled chicken
• Grilled steak
• Roasted vegetables

Not That:

• Spicy lamb meatballs
• Falafel

Adding protein to your bowl, salad, or pita is easy with Cava's list of mains, but you'll want to stick to the grilled options. The grilled steak has just 160 calories, only 3 grams of saturated fat, and is incredibly low in sodium, with only 260 milligrams per serving. On the other hand, spicy lamb meatballs contain over two times the amount of sodium and saturated fat.

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Greens+Grains

Eat This:

• SuperGreens
• SplendidGreens
• Black lentils

Not That:

• Saffron basmati rice
• Brown rice

Whether you're in the mood for a heartier meal with rice or lentils or something a little lighter, you can't go wrong with any of the grains or greens on Cava's menu. For the most nutritional bang and fewest calories and carbohydrates, choose one of their specialized greens blends, including the SuperGreens or SplendidGreens, which combine greens for three to four grams of fiber per serving.

While all the grains on Cava's menu are moderately healthful, you can't beat the black lentils. They have 15 grams of fiber and just 520 milligrams of sodium compared to the saffron basmati rice, which has just 2 grams of fiber with 770 milligrams of sodium.

Toppings

Eat This:

• Avocado
• Tomato and cucumber
• Cabbage slaw

Not That:

• Salt-brined pickles
• Pita crisps

Piling the toppings on your bowl or pita is a great way to get more vegetables and flavor without a lot of calories, sodium, or fat added, unless you choose the salt-brined pickles or pita crisps. While the pita crisps are much healthier than eating actual pita chips on the side, they're more than double the amount of calories and fat than most other toppings on the menu. And the salt-brined pickles? While they add only 5 calories, they add 280 milligrams of sodium sans other beneficial nutrients.

Instead, choose vegetable-rich toppings, like the tomato and cucumber blend or cabbage slaw. Even the avocado, which does have 160 calories and 15 grams of fat, is an amazing choice thanks to the seven grams of fiber and heart-healthy mono-unsaturated fat it adds to your meal.

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Dips+Spreads

Eat This:

• Tzatziki
• Roasted eggplant
• Red pepper hummus

Not That:

• Crazy feta
• Harissa

A creamy, savory spread can take any meal to the next level, and Cava has plenty of healthy choices. The roasted eggplant dips add a robust and earthy flavor with only 50 calories and 0.5 grams of saturated fats and feature fresh ingredients like eggplant, parsley, onions, and garlic. Choose this or other dips that are low in calories and fat but high in flavor, like the tzatziki or red pepper hummus, instead of  Crazy Feta dip, which is tasty but adds 6 grams of fat and 220 milligrams of sodium to your meal.

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Dressings

Eat This:

• Yogurt dill
• Lemon herb tahini
• Skhug

Not That:

• Greek vinaigrette
• Garlic dressing

A drizzle of dressing helps balance the flavors of your meal and adds a delicious creamy or smooth element to the dish—and if you choose the yogurt dill or lemon herb tahini dressings, it also adds two grams of protein. The garlic dressing may be more satiating, but it has six times the calories as the lighter yogurt dill, thanks to the 20 grams of fat in each serving.

Sides

Eat This:6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

• Side pita

Not That:

• Pita chips

When choosing a side at Cava, you really only have two choices: pita bread or pita chips (and an extra cup of sauce to dip them). Skip the fried pita chips and save 280 calories and 630 milligrams of sodium. The side pita is a satisfying way to scoop up any leftovers or dip and adds just 80 calories and 190 milligrams of sodium to your meal.

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3 Healthy Cava Menu Options

Steak Mezze Salad

While the Steak Mezze Salad contains a few high-fat and high-sodium ingredients, the entire meal is balanced to be one of the lowest in calories, saturated fat, and sodium while still providing 4 grams of fiber and 33 grams of protein. Toppings like feta, fire-roasted corn, pickled onions, and red pepper hummus add tons of Mediterranian flavor to every bite.

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Tahini Caesar Bowl

If you love classic Caesar dressing, you'll love the Mediterranian twist on this popular Cava-curated bowl. The entire bowl has just 1,200 milligrams of sodium, which makes it one of the lowest-curated options. The grilled chicken combined with tahini dressing and hummus packs this bowl with 37 grams of satiating protein. Oh, and the entire bowl is just 550 calories!

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Build Your Own Salad Bowl

With SuperGreens, Grilled Chicken, Pita Crisps, Avocado, Tomato + Cucumber, Yogurt Dill, Cabbage Slaw

You can't go wrong with a build-your-own salad bowl! Starting with a bed of super greens, cabbage, chicory, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and kale provides a high-fiber, hearty base. To make the salad more satisfying, add a protein like grilled chicken.

Make it your own by adding a variety of vegetable toppings. I like the avocado, tomato, cucumber, and cabbage slaw as they add plenty of fiber, satisfying fats, and an enjoyable contrast of flavors and texture. Drizzling the yogurt dill dressing on top is a lighter option, adding plenty of flavor with just 30 extra calories. To top it all off, the pita crisps give this salad a satisfying crunch while adding less than 100 calories and just 35 milligrams of sodium—a much healthier option than pita chips on the side!

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