Fast Times: Whataburger Chicken Strips Salad

Photo by Christina Uticone

Find a tomato, win a prize.

I'm experiencing a serious case of fast food burger fatigue -- it was only a matter of time. Looking for something on the light(er) side of fast food, I zipped through the drive-thru at Whataburger recently and ordered a Chicken Strips Salad with low-fat vinaigrette dressing, but said no to bacon and cheese. The fried chicken is bad enough, right?

I think Whataburger does a decent job with chicken -- while it's no Chik-fil-A, Whataburger crispy chicken is quite tasty, if a little heavy and salty. With that in mind, and with a craving for at least the appearance of vegetable consumption, I sat down to give the Chicken Strips Salad ($5.60) a whirl.

Considering the cost, this was a good-size salad, but that's about the most positive thing I can say about it. The website lists the bed of lettuce as a "romaine mix" but there was a lot more iceberg than romaine. And there were maybe four grape tomatoes, so essentially this was a couple of chicken strips chopped up on top of lettuce greens with some croutons and a packet of low-fat dressing. Absolutely nothing distinguished this salad -- certainly not the bland, run-of-the-mill dressing or the tiny, salty little croutons.

I'm not expecting magic when I order a chicken finger salad, but for almost $6, a few more measly tomatoes would have been nice. After eating all the chicken and tomatoes, and a healthy portion of the greens, I was left with a lot of gloppy iceberg.

Verdict? Just get the chicken sandwich.

Nutrition info: 450 calories, 20 grams fat, 6 grams saturated fat, 36 mg cholesterol, 1663 mg sodium, 47 g carbohydrates, 5 grams dietary fiber, 20 grams protein, 12 grams sugar

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