How many calories are in a steak salad?
A 1-cup (182 g) serving of steak salad is 475 calories. Per 100 g the same mix runs 261 calories, which puts it closer to a beef entree than to a bowl of greens. The steak brings 32.5 g of protein; the dressing brings most of the 35.2 g of fat.
You'd need to walk about 95 minutes to burn the 475 calories in a 1-cup (182 g) serving.
How long does it take to burn off steak salad?
A 1-cup (182 g) serving is 475 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb
| Activity | Time to burn 475 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 1 hr 35 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 59 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 1 hr 8 min |
| Jogging | 56 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 1 hr 46 min |
Times are for a 155 lb adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (182 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Steak salad quick facts
- US servings from a side cup to a dinner plate
- Deli tubs and half-cup sides
- The dressing moves fat and sodium more than the steak does
- How does steak salad compare?
- Most popular steak salad brands
- FAQ
Steak salad quick facts
The record behind every number here is FNDDS 2706749, "Beef salad", filed under Meat mixed dishes. It is the one USDA entry that describes the plate people actually order: cooked beef, raw greens and vegetables, dressing already on it. The Foundation and SR Legacy sets have no composite dish for this — only separate cuts of beef and separate leaves, which would leave you adding up parts and guessing at the dressing.
USDA's own household measure for that record is one cup, 182 g. That is the serving used in the table below and in the lead.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 cup (182 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 261 | 475 | — |
| Total fat | 19.32 g | 35.2 g | 45% |
| Saturated fat | 3.85 g | 7.0 g | 35% |
| Carbohydrate | 2.9 g | 5.3 g | 2% |
| Dietary fiber | 0.4 g | 0.7 g | 3% |
| Total sugars | 2.1 g | 3.8 g | — |
| Protein | 17.85 g | 32.5 g | 65% |
| Sodium | 338 mg | 615 mg | 27% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Two rows you would see on a package are missing: added sugars and trans fat. The FNDDS release does not publish either nutrient for composite dishes, so there is nothing honest to print for them. Cholesterol and potassium are published: 61 mg and 206 mg per 100 g, which works out to 111 mg of cholesterol (37% DV) and 375 mg of potassium (8% DV) in a cup.
US servings from a side cup to a dinner plate
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 74 kcal |
| Half-cup side | 91 g | 238 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 261 kcal |
| 4 oz | 113 g | 295 kcal |
| 1 cup | 182 g | 475 kcal |
| Two cups on a dinner plate | 364 g | 950 kcal |
Only the 1-cup line is a USDA household measure. The ounce, the half cup, the 4 oz and the two-cup plate are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings — useful, but scaled by us.
The gap between the top and bottom of that table is the whole story. A half cup spooned next to a sandwich is 238 calories, a normal side. The same food heaped on a dinner plate as the meal itself is 950, which is a large restaurant entree by any measure. Nothing about the recipe changed between those two lines except how much of it is on the plate.
If you log by weight rather than by cup, the 1 oz line is the handy one: 74 calories an ounce means every extra fork of steak and dressing costs about as much as a slice of bread.
Deli tubs and half-cup sides
Packaged steak salads read lighter per gram than the FNDDS dish, because a deli tub holds far more lettuce relative to beef and dressing.
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical portion | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half-cup side | 261 kcal | 1/2 cup (91 g) | 238 kcal |
| Full cup, USDA household measure | 261 kcal | 1 cup (182 g) | 475 kcal |
| Dinner-plate portion | 261 kcal | 2 cups (364 g) | 950 kcal |
| Deli chimichurri salad with steak | 175 kcal | 1 salad (234 g) | 410 kcal |
| Store-bought salad with steak | 162 kcal | 1 salad (340 g) | 551 kcal |
Read that table twice, because it contains the trap. The store-bought salad with steak is the least calorie-dense item on the page at 162 calories per 100 g — and the single biggest package, at 551 calories, because it weighs 340 g. Density and total are not the same question. The deli chimichurri tub is denser per gram at 175 and still lands lower at 410, simply because it is a smaller box.
Both packaged rows come from USDA's Branded database, where the calories are the manufacturer's label, not a lab analysis of that specific tub. They are labeled as generic deli products with no brand owner listed, which is why we describe them rather than name them.
The dressing moves fat and sodium more than the steak does
One cup gives you 65% of the Daily Value for protein and 45% of the Daily Value for fat at the same time. That combination is unusual, and it is not the beef doing both jobs. Lean cooked beef sits nowhere near 19.32 g of fat per 100 g; a vinaigrette or a creamy dressing does. Same for the 615 mg of sodium in a cup — 27% of the FDA Daily Value of 2,300 mg, or roughly a quarter teaspoon of table salt — arriving mostly through marinade and dressing rather than through the meat.
Saturated fat is the row worth a second look. A cup carries 7.0 g, which is 35% of the FDA Daily Value. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans put the ceiling at under 10% of daily calories from saturated fat, about 22 g on a 2,000-calorie day, so a single cup uses roughly a third of that budget.
The upside is real too. At 32.5 g in a cup, this is a serious protein food by the standard MyPlate uses for the protein group, and it does it with 5.3 g of carbohydrate. If you are watching carbs, few 475-calorie lunches come in this low. If you are watching saturated fat or sodium, dressing on the side is the single change that moves both numbers.
How does steak salad compare?
All four rows are USDA beef mixed dishes, priced at the same 4 oz (113 g) so the comparison is fair. That 4 oz portion is our arithmetic from each 100 g figure, not a USDA serving.
| Dish | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steak salad | 261 kcal | 4 oz (113 g) | 295 kcal |
| Stewed dried beef, Puerto Rican style | 258 kcal | 4 oz (113 g) | 292 kcal |
| Stewed seasoned ground beef, Puerto Rican style | 278 kcal | 4 oz (113 g) | 314 kcal |
| Beef pot pie | 271 kcal | 4 oz (113 g) | 306 kcal |
Our take: the leaves buy you almost nothing. Of these four beef dishes, only the stewed dried beef is lighter per 100 g, and the margin is three calories — inside the noise of how much dressing a kitchen pours. What the salad does win is composition: 17.85 g of protein per 100 g is the highest of the four, and its 2.9 g of carbohydrate is a fraction of the pot pie's 23.95 g, over eight times less, because pastry is carbohydrate and lettuce is not. So pick steak salad for protein per calorie and for low carbs, not because it is a salad. The gram total on the plate still decides the day.
Most popular steak salad brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Chimichurri Salad With Steak | 175 cal |
| Salad With Steak | 162 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Steak salad FAQs
How many calories are in a steak salad?
A 1-cup serving is 475 calories, built from 182 g at 261 calories per 100 g. A half-cup side is 238, and two cups piled on a dinner plate reach 950. Packaged versions read lighter per gram: a deli chimichurri salad with steak is 410 calories for the whole 234 g tub.
How much protein is in a steak salad?
One cup carries 32.5 g of protein, 65% of the FDA Daily Value, from 17.85 g per 100 g. That is the highest protein density of the four USDA beef mixed dishes on this page. A half-cup side still gives about 16 g, roughly a third of a day's value.
How many carbs are in a steak salad?
A cup has 5.3 g of carbohydrate, 2% of the Daily Value, with 0.7 g of fiber and 3.8 g of total sugars. Per 100 g it is only 2.9 g. That is why steak salad suits low-carb logging: a beef pot pie carries over eight times the carbohydrate per gram.
How much sodium is in a steak salad?
One cup holds 615 mg of sodium, 27% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value and about a quarter teaspoon of table salt. Two cups reach 1,230 mg, more than half a day. The salt rides in with the marinade and the dressing, not with the beef itself.
How many calories in a steak salad without dressing?
There is no USDA record for steak salad without dressing, but the lightest related row runs 162 calories per 100 g against 261 for the dressed mixed dish. Fat is what changes: the dressed version carries 19.32 g per 100 g, so leaving the dressing off trims calories faster than trimming the steak.
Is steak salad good for weight loss?
A half-cup side is 238 calories with about 16 g of protein, while a two-cup plate is 950. Portion size decides this, not the word salad. If you are counting, one cup at 475 calories and 32.5 g of protein is the version that fits a normal lunch target.
Is steak salad healthy?
One cup delivers 65% of the Daily Value for protein, which is the strong part. The same cup delivers 45% of the fat Daily Value, 35% of the saturated fat Daily Value and 27% of the sodium Daily Value. The greens are not the issue; the dressing and the marinade are.
How many calories in a restaurant steak salad?
The closest USDA reference points are packaged: 410 calories for a 234 g deli salad with chimichurri and 551 for a 340 g store-bought bowl, since USDA publishes no restaurant record. A restaurant plate is usually larger and lands nearer the two-cup figure of 950 calories.
Similar foods
- Steak — 368 cal per regular steak
- Eggnog — 112 cal for 1/2 cup
- Protein Shake — 156 cal per cup
- Bubble Tea — 239 cal per drink
- Apple cider — 114 cal per cup
- Root beer — 152 cal for 12 fl oz glass
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the steak, the greens and the dressing together.
