10 Unhealthiest Texas Roadhouse Orders, According to Dietitians

Known for their line-dancing servers, eating at Texas Roadhouse will have your tastebuds dancing too. However, eating at restaurants poses nutrition challenges when it comes to making balanced choices, particularly at the Roadhouse, where many popular dishes are high in saturated fat, fried, calorie-dense, and laden with added sodium. While this is typical of offerings at steakhouses, certain menu items stand out as particularly unhealthy at this popular steakhouse chain. We spoke with dietitians to identify the top offenders you should avoid next time you dine at Texas Roadhouse.

We considered the following factors when determining the unhealthiest menu items at Texas Roadhouse:

• Total Calories: Cooking methods like deep frying and the addition of oils and sauces quickly add additional empty calories, and provide very little nutritional value in return.

• Total Fat: Ingredients such as butter, oil, fatty meats, and deep frying significantly contribute to the high fat content of Texas Roadhouse's menu items, which taste delicious, but can add 100 calories or more with each tablespoon of added fat used. We love the honey cinnamon rolls as much as the next person, but depending on how much butter you use, those calories from fat can add up quickly.

• Sodium: Restaurants enhance their menu items with added salt, but this can lead to excessive salt in your diet if you're dining out regularly, easily surpassing the daily recommended limits of 2,300 milligrams or more.

While the occasional indulgence at Texas Roadhouse is unlikely to be detrimental to your health, regularly selecting items from this list could warrant reconsideration. Let's explore which specific menu items dietitians recommend avoiding at Texas Roadhouse for better health.

For healthy Texas Roadhouse options, check out our master list of The Best & Worst Menu Items at Texas Roadhouse.

Cactus Blossom

With 2,250 calories in this starter, you'll have overdone it on empty calories before you've even ordered your main meal. "This crispy fried onion contains more calories than most people may need in a day," shares Kelsey Sackmann, MS, RD. "Not to mention it provides 130% of your recommended daily intake for saturated fat and double your sodium intake," she adds.

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The Cheese Fries

If you order the regular size, you're getting nearly 200% of your added sodium in a day—a whopping 5,400 milligrams. "The cheese fries at Texas Roadhouse stand out as one of the least healthy options, packing a staggering 1,240 calories and 65 grams of fat," comments Alyssa Simpson, RDN, CGN, CLT, owner of Nutrition Resolution. "Adding chili boosts the count to 1,460 calories and 80 grams of fat, making it difficult to fit into most people's balanced diet. If this is a favorite, I recommend sharing it with a couple of friends and pairing it with a lighter option like the house salad," Simpson says.

Country Fried Sirloin Steak

The Country-Fried Sirloin Steak is both high in sodium and saturated fat, making it a losing combo if you're worried about cardiovascular health like cholesterol or blood pressure. "Weighing in at 1,170 calories, 22 grams of saturated fat, and 2,220 milligrams of sodium, this meal is incredibly high in calories, sodium, and saturated fat. The American Heart Association recommends limiting sodium intake to no more than 2,300 milligrams per day. This steak alone accounts for almost a full day's maximum sodium intake. For a healthier option, I recommend you enjoy the grilled sirloin steak at Texas Roadhouse," Mandy Tyler, M.Ed., RD, CSSD, LD explains.

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Texas Roadhouse's Tater Skins

"Texas Roadhouse's Tater Skins is one of the worst menu choices, packing 1,320 calories and 88 grams of fat in just your order," says Jessie Winstead, RD, LD, an Atlanta-based registered dietitian and creator of Health Down South. "Consuming such a high-fat, calorie-dense appetizer is not an ideal way to begin a meal, as it can lead to eating beyond your needs and may hinder weight management efforts," she cautions.

Country Fried Chicken

"The Country Fried Chicken from Texas Roadhouse is essentially a large fried chicken tender smothered in calorie-laden cream gravy," Michelle Rauch, MSc, RDN, a dietitian for The Actors Fund says. This order delivers more than half of the suggested daily sodium intake for most adults or almost 100% of the daily salt allowance for individuals with diagnosed conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, and kidney disease, according to The American Heart Association.

Filet Steakhouse Salad

This salad might look fairly balanced, but it contains more than the daily recommended limit of saturated fat and sodium, and it almost meets the daily allowance of added sugar. Rauch explains: "This salad contains 103 grams of fat from the steak filet, bleu cheese crumbles, bacon, and bleu cheese dressing. Of the 103 grams of fat, 25 grams is saturated fat and 2.5 grams of trans fat. Eating a diet high in saturated and trans fats increases the risk of 'bad' cholesterol which in turn increases the risk of heart disease and stroke."

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Chicken Caesar Salad

"Texas Roadhouse offers very few healthy options even including their menu of salads," Haley Bishoff, RD, LD, a plant-based dietitian and owner of Rūtsu Nutrition in Las Vegas tells us. "The Chicken Caesar Salad at Texas Roadhouse packs over 1,000 milligrams of sodium and 89 grams of fat. While this menu option will give you some veggies and fiber, this doesn't outweigh the fact that it meets 137% of your daily fat and 45% of your daily sodium needs," Bishoff shares.

Big Ol' Brownie

The dessert menu is typically not the best place to look for healthy options, but this Texas Roadhouse menu item contains nearly six times the daily recommended limit of added sugar. "One order contains 790 milligrams of sodium, 24 grams of saturated fat, and a staggering 151 grams of added sugar. Excessive sodium and saturated fat intake can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease. The high amount of added sugar can contribute to various health conditions including diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease," says Wan Na Chun, MPH, RD, CPT, the Owner of One Pot Wellness.

Granny Apple Classic

If you're splitting this Apple Classic a few ways, you're likely not overdoing it. However, if you're finishing your meal with this order from Texas Roadhouse's dessert menu, you're topping your meal off with nearly a day's worth of saturated fat intake and four times the daily added sugar recommendation.

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12-Ounce Ribeye and Ribs

"The Texas-sized combo of 12-ounce Ribeye & Ribs may be overdoing it," says Mackenzie Burgess, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist and recipe developer at Cheerful Choices. "Just the portion of meat alone contains 1,510 calories with a whopping 111 grams of fat—including 46 grams of saturated fat. That means two-thirds of your calories here are solely from fat. For a more well-rounded meal, try ordering a smaller portion like the 6-ounce sirloin steak and be sure to add a fiber-rich vegetable side like salad, green beans, or steamed broccoli," Burgess shares.