How many calories are in a Greek salad with pita?
A Greek salad with cheese, an olive oil dressing and a pita comes to about 440 kcal. The vegetables are close to free. The cheese is 120 and the dressing about 90, which between them are nearly half the plate.
The plate, as served
A dressed salad, a handful of crumbled cheese, a drizzle of olive oil and one pita.
Where the calories come from
| Nutrient | Grams | Calories | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein | 16g | 64 | 15% |
| Carbs | 42g | 168 | 38% |
| Fat | 23g | 207 | 47% |
| Fibre | 5g | counted within carbs | |
The ring is sized by calories, not grams: protein and carbs are 4 kcal a gram, fat is 9. Drawn by grams, fat would look like a sliver of what it actually contributes.
What is on the plate
| Pita breadOne large white pita, about 60 g | 165 kcal |
| Cheddar, gratedA handful, about 30 g | 120 kcal |
| Green salad, dressedA side salad, about 100 g | 110 kcal |
| Grilled tomato and mushroomsAbout 120 g | 45 kcal |
The same dish, several ways
This is where the calories actually move. Not the ingredient, the cooking.
- With grilled chicken690+250
Turns a side into a meal, and takes the protein past 55 g.
- A dressed salad, a handful of crumbled cheese, a drizzle of olive oil and one pita.As served440
- Undressed, oil on the side385-55
The dressing is 90 kcal of the leaves on its own.
- Without the pita275-165
A side salad rather than a lunch. Depends what you wanted.
Where each number comes from
Composition tables list ingredients, not dinners. There is no row anywhere for this plate, so it is built from its parts, and the preparation assumed for each part is written next to it, because that assumption is usually worth more calories than the ingredient.
| Component | Portion and preparation | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Pita bread | One large white pita, about 60 gPlain white pita. | 165 |
| Cheddar, grated | A handful, about 30 gFull-fat cheddar. | 120 |
| Green salad, dressed | A side salad, about 100 gLeaves with about a tablespoon of oil-based dressing. Undressed it is about 20 kcal, which is the whole point. | 110 |
| Grilled tomato and mushrooms | About 120 gGrilled dry or with a spray of oil. Fried in the bacon fat, closer to 120 kcal. | 45 |
| Total | 440 | |
Sources: USDA FoodData Central. Every figure is an estimate with a range around it, and is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal rather than pretending to a precision that does not exist.
Why you will see 250 to 800 kcal quoted for this
How much oil and how much cheese, plus whether bread came with it. Salads have the widest published spread of any category for exactly this reason.
Which is why this page shows the sum instead of asserting a total. Build the plate you actually eat and the number is yours rather than an average of strangers.
Build your own plateCommon questions
- How many calories are in a Greek salad?
- About 440 kcal with cheese, an oil dressing and a pita. Without the pita it is 275.
- Why are salads higher in calories than people expect?
- The dressing and the cheese. Leaves and tomatoes are almost free; the dressing on a bowl of leaves is about 90 kcal and a handful of cheese is another 120.
- Is a Greek salad a full meal?
- Not on protein. It is about 11 g without meat, so it works better as a side unless you add chicken, which takes it past 55 g.
- How do I make a salad more filling without more calories?
- Add lean protein rather than more dressing. Grilled chicken is 250 kcal for 46 g of protein, and it changes the meal completely.
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