In the food world, there are many great starter dishes. Unfortunately, there are even more
that aren't up to snuff. The age-old saying "you are what you eat" is all too true, so
let's talk about some of the appetizers you should never order, even if it's hard to resist.
A blooming onion appetizer sounds harmless. Heck, it's a vegetable — how bad could it
be? But throw this pungent produce in a deep fryer, add a bowl of dipping sauce, and you've
got yourself one unhealthy fried starter dish that contains thousands of calories and almost
double your daily sodium intake.
Sure, you might be sharing with others, but those watching their waistline will want to
skip this onion appetizer. While the nutrition facts may vary from restaurant to restaurant,
routinely gorging on fried appetizers, like an onion blossom, will not only stuff your
stomach before the main course, but it will also put you at a greater health risk for
serious diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
In addition to the health risks involved in eating fried foods, horrifying amounts of
calories are also lurking within this appetizer. While Chili's onion Awesome Blossom Petals
and sauce appetizer skirts away with just under 760 calories, Outback Steakhouse offers
a Bloomin' Onion appetizer that clocks in at almost 2,000 calories — that's nearly
a day's worth of calories in the first course alone!
"You want to? Christian?"
"Sure."
"Ok, It's done. Megan? May we have an Awesome Blossom please? Extra awesome?"
Nobody really likes the before-meal bread basket, unless you happen to be at Olive Garden
of course — those breadsticks are irresistible. But the bread basket at most restaurants is
usually filled with disgustingly dry loaves of mixed grain bread along with slabs of frozen
butter to help you saturate the stale-tasting bread. This appetizer is a staple at many
establishments, but still remains a relatively unhealthy start to your meal.
Offering little nutritional value and packed with tons of sugars and carbohydrates, bread
has been an archenemy of dieters and health-conscious foodies for decades.
"Bread makes you fat."
"Bread makes you fat?"
White bread proves even more dangerous as it's made with refined flour, which offers
even less nutritional value than other breads. Erin Palinski-Wade told Everyday Health that
"When a grain is refined, [it] removes the fiber and some (25 percent) protein, leaving
behind the starch."
Without fiber, bread is nothing but a carb-loaded calorie waster that will fill you up before
your meal even makes it to the table.
Clam chowder is a sketchy seafood appetizer that should be eaten at your own risk. This
boiled clam and cream-based soup curdles easily when heated, and can quickly become a breeding
ground for harmful bacteria if it's kept at improper temperatures. That's food poisoning
waiting to happen.
This seafood appetizer is also made with heavy cream, butter, and salted pork, all of which
contain unnecessary amounts of calories, saturated fats, and sodium — and that last one is
a huge deal.
Despite the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendation of limiting sodium intake to
less than 2,300 milligrams per day, Americans eat on average about 3,400 milligrams of sodium
each and every.
One cup of clam chowder might only muster between 120 to 200 calories, but it contains
around 870 milligrams of sodium – nearly half the amount of salt an adult should have
in a day. No need to sacrifice your health for a few spoonfuls of chunky chowder.
If you think this dish tastes too good to be true, you are right. Spinach and artichoke
dip tends to be a top choice to share at restaurants like the Cheesecake Factory and Applebee's,
but add pita, chips, or baked bread and you'll be full before the main course arrives. Even
Ruby Tuesday's version, which comes in under the average calorie count, still tortures
tummies everywhere with 1,052 calories and over 1,600 milligrams of sodium.
Cream is one of the worst enemies of the wellness world. Dripping in saturated fats, the creams
used in spinach and artichoke dip, such as cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream,
can cause your body's cholesterol levels to spike. Dairy-loaded creams are best enjoyed
in moderation, so it's best to skip on a cream-saturated starter snack like spinach and artichoke dip.
If you have an egg allergy, eat this appetizer with caution. A select few store-bought spinach
and artichoke dips were recalled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration due to the use
of undeclared eggs. If you have an egg-related food allergy and want to take your risk with
this dish, have the chef confirm the ingredients.
Just the name of this appetizer makes us full. Potatoes alone are an extremely filling food,
but add loads of calorie-heavy potato innards, cream, and dipping sauce, and you'll want
to skip your main course and head straight for a nap. While potatoes may offer some potential
wellness benefits, when served with dairy-heavy ingredients, like sour cream and cheese, they
can quickly become a trigger for unwanted health issues.
Invented as a creative and cost-effective way to use discarded potato skins, this appetizer
was rescued from the trash, tossed into a deep fryer, and filled to the brim with cheese,
bacon bits, sour cream, and green onions. The official loaded potato skin was first
offered as an appetizer in the early 1970s, at restaurants like The Prime Rib Restaurant
in Washington, DC and TGI Fridays. Since first hitting the market decades ago, these loaded
taters continue to be a staple on restaurant tables across the country.
Those seeking an overwhelming amount of pre-dinner nosh can look no further. The loaded potato
skin will fill your belly with all the gut-busting ingredients, along with a nauseatingly high
calorie count, such as TGI Friday's whopping 1,510-calorie batch.
"Do you see the problem?"
"I see a problem."
If the thought of dipping one of these slippery sea creatures into a shared chunky cocktail
sauce doesn't send you running, then the slurping and residual tail trash just might. Before
you order your next round of shrimp cocktail, it's important to know just where your shrimp
is coming from, and the findings may shock you.
According to the Southern Shrimp Alliance, shrimp is one of the most commonly consumed
seafoods in the United States. This creepy-looking creature is offered in such excess that there
is often little regulation on shrimp purchases from Thailand, Vietnam, and India, forcing
the U.S. to import low-grade shrimp discards. What's even more repulsive is that only 2
percent of imported seafood gets tested by the FDA.
The planet will also thank you for limiting your shrimp cocktail orders. Before these
ocean creatures gained obscene popularity on the restaurant table, shrimp was caught
solely in the wild. Due to the high demand, shrimp farms began popping up to keep the
shrimp supply cranking. As a result, entire forests are being destroyed in order to clear
space for an ever-growing number of shrimp farms.
As taboo as fried squid sounds, this dish is actually a popular appetizer at many restaurant
tables. Gaining initial popularity in Europe, calamari made its way to the States and has
since become a common crowd-pleasing starter course across the U.S. But don't let this
seemingly fresh seafood plate fool you: once you take the "healthy" squid and bread it,
toss it in the fryer, and cover it in seasoning, this dish instantly turns into a saturated
fat nightmare.
The squid alone won't ruin your wellness routine, but the deep-fried goodness that coats each
squid serving sure will. This fat is what forks over so much flavor, but also serves
up some unhealthy side effects.
The American Heart Association warns that consuming fat-laden food, like calamari, can
lead to high cholesterol and increased risk of heart disease and stroke. When ordering
an appetizer, stay away from the fryer.
Have you ever heard of anyone having just one fry? This calorie-heavy appetizer may
be an easy-to-share choice, but your entire table will be shoveling down cheesy fry after
cheesy fry until all the fat-filled, greasy goodness is gone. And that means you should
consider the fact that Outback Steakhouse's Aussie Cheese Fries clocks in at a whopping
1,760 calories.
You know you aren't doing your health any favors by feasting on fries. A regular order
of plain restaurant fries, like the batch from Buffalo Wild Wings, comes in at just
420 calories. But add a heap of melted cheese and that modest fried potato snack becomes
a colossal calorie meal, before you even get your actual main course.
Size does matter, and in this case, "mini" means more. Many restaurant patrons love advertising
appetizers as "mini", and customers would rightly expect a smaller serving size. However,
this "mini" burger dish may give you more than you bargained for, dishing up at least
1,200 calories from just four mini burgers.
Chili's takes the cake when it comes to mini burger bites, offering up to six sliders in
their Triple Dipper appetizer. While there are slightly "healthier" slider offerings
available, like the Cheesecake Factory's Roadside Sliders, you're still looking at 800 calories
and 1,720 milligrams of sodium from only four sliders, which doesn't include dipping sauce
or condiments. And let's be honest, you won't be able to stop at two little sliders, and
you're only climbing up the calorie hill from there.
Chips and dip may be one of the most common appetizer choices when dining out, but be
wary of this seemingly harmless salty snack. There are tons of unsuspecting fats, carbs,
calories, and of course, sodium lurking about.
You may think the unhealthiest part of this appetizer is the cream and cheese-filled dip,
but the health risks involved in consuming these chips will shock you. Made from thin
potato slices, tortilla cornmeal, or white and yellow corn, chips are cooked and fried
to crispy perfection in deep fat. During this process, the chips are often burnt to achieve
that highly cherished crunchy texture.
Unfortunately, those high temperatures cause a chemical reaction to occur, resulting in
the production of a harmful chemical known as acrylamide, which could be linked to cancer.
Additionally, while a couple of corn chips and cheese sauce doesn't seem like much, an
entire serving can cost you almost a day's worth of calories. Just one order of Chili's
White Spinach Queso and chips comes in at 1,480 calories. Do your body a favor and rethink
ordering this appetizer in favor of something else.
"Can I help you boys?"
"You got any white bread?"
"Yes."
"I'll have some toasted white bread, please."
We can already hear the slurping and finger-licking from here. Calorie count aside, this may be
one of the messiest appetizer dishes out there. What could be more unappetizing than watching
fellow diners covered in barbecue or hot sauce devouring sticky chicken wings like wild animals?
The taste may be undeniable, but you'll have a hard time keeping up an appetite after sharing
a batch of chicken wings with your table.
Whether you're at a sports bar or a more refined establishment, wings manage to make their
way onto most menus. This chicken-based starter dish is usually not only fried, but also drenched
in a sauce of your choosing, including barbecue sauce — which gets its sweet, tangy flavor
from sugar!
A single roasted chicken wing contains only about 240 calories, according to the United
States Department of Agriculture. But add some barbecue or hot sauce and ranch or blue
cheese dipping sauce to an order of wings, and you're looking at up to 1,280 calories:
which is what you'll get with one order of Red Robin Bone-In Bar Wings.
Gooey, salty slime balls from the bottom of the ocean? No thanks — we'll pass, and you
should too. Oysters are a celebrated seafood delicacy all around the globe, but unless
you watch your chef capture, clean, and serve your raw oysters, you should strongly consider
skipping this appetizer.
Eating straight from the sea is always sketchy, and depending on the day of the week, your
"fresh" fish may not be as fresh as you think. There's a lot at stake here, too: oysters
can actually kill you if they aren't handled and stored correctly. Plus, many oysters are
served with a lemon garnish, which could be covered in bacteria. Now that's enough for
us to pass on this menacing mollusk forever.
If a seafood appetizer is what you crave, we suggest avoiding any uncooked items, as
they can easily contract germs and harmful bacteria. No need to ruin your day, week,
and perhaps even more than that because of an appetizer that came with much more than
you bargained for.
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