What to Eat at Red Lobster: Healthy Menu Choices and Nutrition Facts

At Red Lobster, you’ll find a wide range of fish and shellfish dishes, as well as plenty of “land lover” fare like steak, chicken, and pasta. Many types of seafood can be healthy meal options, whether you’re dining out or at home, because they are a good source of lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids. You’ll find some nutritious options on Red Lobster menu, though you’ll want to keep track of portion size.

Navigating the Menu

Red Lobster offers an interactive menu online which you can use to view the nutrition data for individual menu items or combo meals, helping you keep track of calories and macronutrients if you visit Red Lobster regularly. Checking the nutrition of Red Lobster’s menu and estimating the calories of your order before you go can help you plan on a meal that’s in line with your dietary needs, preferences, and goals.

Most Nutritious Option

To gain the most nutritional benefits from your meal at Red Lobster, order the simply grilled rainbow trout, part of the restaurant's classic menu. You'll benefit from the trout's protein, omega-3s, and vitamin D, and the plate comes in at under 500 calories.

Starters

Red Lobster’s starters can be as high in calories as a full entree. Many options are fried or served with high-calorie sauces. Even if you order an appetizer to share while you wait for the rest of your meal to arrive, large servings can make it difficult to stick to an individual portion.

✓ Signature Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail

Start your meal with the signature jumbo shrimp cocktail, which includes 130 calories, 0g of fat, 0g saturated fat, 11g carbohydrate, 21g protein, and 1,070mg sodium. This smaller-portion appetizer comes with chilled shrimp and cocktail sauce. Skip the cocktail sauce to lower the sodium intake.

✗ Langostino Lobster-Artichoke-and-Seafood Dip

The Red Lobster langostino lobster-artichoke-and-seafood dip provides 1,190 calories, 74g fat, 21g saturated fat, 92g carbohydrate, 36g protein, and 2,160mg sodium. Even if you're sharing, that's a significant amount of fat, calories, and sodium before you've even started your main meal.

You’ll find a few non-seafood options on the appetizer menu at Red Lobster, most of which are typical casual dining staples like fried mozzarella sticks and stuffed mushrooms. Seafood options such as the 340-calorie bacon-wrapped scallops can be healthier starter choices—especially if you order them to share. 

Soups

Red Lobster’s soup options are all milk-based chowders and creamy bisques. In addition to being high in calories and fat, many of these soups are also quite high in sodium. If you do choose a soup, go with a cup instead of a bowl.

✓ New England Clam Chowder (Cup)

A cup of the New England clam chowder provides 240 calories, 15g fat, 9g saturated fat, 11g carbohydrates, 7g protein, and 680mg sodium. While the Red Lobster menu only features two types of soup, the cup-sized portion of the chowder is the lowest-sodium and lowest-calorie soup option on the menu.

✗ Lobster Bisque (Bowl)

A bowl of Red Lobster's lobster bisque delivers 600 calories, 40g fat, 23g saturated fat, 27g carbohydrate, 18g protein, and 1,730mg sodium.

With 310 calories and 20 grams of fat, the cup-sized lobster bisque is a lower-calorie option. Try pairing it with a side house salad if you’re ordering a combo meal.

Bowls

You’ll find a mix of standard and seafood salads and bowls at Red Lobster, as well as a range of salad dressings and toppings.

✓ Classic Caesar Salad

Red Lobster's classic Caesar salad has 520 calories, 46g fat, 9g saturated fat, 18g carbohydrates, 10g protein, and 1,050mg sodium. While the most nutritious of Red Lobster's salad and bowl options, this salad is relatively high in sodium.

You can save calories, fat, and avoid hidden sugars by ordering your salad without dressing, cheese, or croutons. Since the salad dressing options at Red Lobster can easily add 100 or more calories and over 20 grams of fat per serving, if you do choose one, ask to have it on the side.

✗ Baja Shrimp Bowl

The Baja shrimp bowl includes shrimp, beans, quinoa rice, slaw, sour cream, pico de gallo, tortilla pieces, and more. It also has 1,130 calories, 70g fat, 15g saturated fat, 88g carbohydrates, 41g protein, and 3,410mg sodium.

Save carbs and sodium by skipping extras like sour cream, tortilla chips, and dressing. Instead, pack on the protein to make your salad more satisfying.

Sandwiches

Red Lobster offers three sandwich options: a crispy cod sandwich, a Nashville hot chicken sandwich, and a wagyu bacon cheeseburger. All come with a choice of a side. If you're craving a sandwich or burger, opt for a low-calorie and low-sodium side to accompany the meal.

✓ Crispy Cod Sandwich

The crispy cod sandwich features hand-battered and deep-friend fish, and contains 830 calories, 46g fat, 7g saturated fat, 60g carbohydrates, 45g protein, and 1,410mg sodium. Choose the broccoli, green beans, or house salad side to incorporate more vegetables and nutrients into your meal.

✗ Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich

The Nashville hot chicken sandwich includes chicken tenders, ranch sauce, peppers all served on a bun with a side.It also includes 1,140 calories, 69g fat, 10g saturated fat, 84g carbohydrates, 49g protein, and 2,210mg sodium. If you're craving a meat-based sandwich, the wagyu bacon cheeseburger has more protein than the Nashville hot chicken sandwich, and fewer calories, fat, carbohydrates, and sodium.

Pastas

You won’t find a low-carb, low-fat, or low-carb option among Red Lobster’s selection of pasta. With such large portions of creamy linguine alfredo, even if you only ate half of the food on your plate you'd still be getting over a meal’s worth of calories, fat, carbs, and sodium.

✓ Crab Linguini Alfredo

The crab linguini Alfredo dish provides 1,110 calories, 68g fat, 23g saturated fat, 75g carbohydrates, 46g protein, and 2,440mg sodium. Although the Alfredo with crab contains 120 more calories than the same dish with shrimp, it saves you nearly 600mg of sodium.

✗ Kung Pao Noodles with Crispy Shrimp

The Kung Pao noodles with crispy shrimp dish comes loaded with 1,360 calories, 35g fat, 8g saturated fat, 203g carbohydrates, 55g protein, and 5,700mg sodium. This pasta dish is substantially higher in sodium than all other pasta meals on the menu. (For reference, the American Heart Association recommends limiting sodium intake to 1,500mg per day for most people).

If you do opt for a pasta dish, ask for a half-order instead of the full meal and skip the starters and sides.

Classics

From salmon to steak to crab legs, you’ll find all your favorite seafood, shellfish, and meat dishes on the menu at Red Lobster. In addition to meals, some of these proteins are also used to create salads, pasta dishes, and combo meals. The chain also changes up its seafood offerings based on what’s available at certain times of the year and in particular regions.

✓ Simply Grilled Rainbow Trout

At 490 calories, 22g fat, 4.5g saturated fat, <1g carbohydrates, 67g protein, and 170mg sodium, the simply grilled rainbow trout classic dish is easily the most nutritious on the menu. It's one of the lowest-sodium dishes at Red Lobster, and you can add vegetable sides to further boost the nutrient content.

If you go for broiled, baked, or grilled preparations and avoid battered and fried versions, most fish options at Red Lobster can make a nutritious meal. In addition to being lower in calories and fat than other protein sources, fish is also a source of key vitamins and minerals, healthy fats, and amino acids.

✗ Fish & Chips

The fish and chips dish at Red Lobster contains 1,230 calories, 65g fat, 8g saturated fat, 117g carbohydrates, 46g protein, and 2,910mg sodium.

Whichever fish you choose, avoid the "endless" option that's available at lunchtime or during happy hour. When you're constantly adding more food to your plate, it's easy to lose track of how much you are consuming.

Make any fish choice healthier by asking for it to be prepared with limited butter or oil. Or skip the butter and opt for cocktail sauce instead; it provides just 45 calories per serving.

Feasts

Red Lobster feasts include multiple protein mains as well as two sides. Some are pre-planned, while others are customizable. These packed plates can easily deliver a daily intake of calories, fat, and sodium all in one dish.

✓ CYO With Broiled Bay Scallops and 7-oz. Wood-Grilled Sirloin

Red Lobster allows for a Create Your Own (CYO) feast option, where visitors can choose two or three proteins and two sides. For a nutritious option, order the broiled bay scallops and 7-ounce wood-grilled sirloin for 540 calories, 19g fat, 8g saturated fat, 22g carbohydrates, 72g protein, and 2,740mg sodium.

This surf-and-turf combination delivers a healthy amount of protein, but keep in mind these nutritional values are for the proteins only. Choosing veggie sides will help keep calories and fat lower while adding vitamins and fiber to your your meal.

✗ Admiral’s Feast

With deep-fried shrimp, scallops, clam strips, and whitefish, the Admiral's Feast has 1,570 calories, 94g fat, 9g saturated fat, 121g carbohydrates, 60g protein, and 4,610mg sodium. For smaller portions of shrimp and lobster, look to the Kids' Menu and choose grilled or baked dishes, rather than deep fried options. 

Sides & Additions

Red Lobster offers a typical range of sides, such as biscuits, baked or mashed potatoes, veggies like broccoli and asparagus, as well as coleslaw and French fries. Other extras like butter and sauces can also add well over 100 calories to your meal.

✓ Broccoli

Add a side of broccoli to your meal for an additional 40 calories, 0g fat, 0g saturated fat, 8g carbohydrates, 3g protein, and 270mg sodium. This low-calorie side not only has no fat and minimal carbohydrates, but also delivers heart health benefits.

✗ Loaded Baked Potato

The loaded baked potato at Red Lobster contains 520 calories, 26g fat, 12g saturated fat, 57g carbohydrates, 17g protein, and 2,170mg sodium. That makes it more akin to an entree.

Even relatively healthy dishes like steamed veggies and grilled fish can become a high-calorie meal if you aren’t mindful of extras. For example, a side serving of butter adds 300 calories and 33 grams of fat to your meal. Tartar sauce, a traditional accompaniment to many seafood dishes, adds 210 calories and 19 grams of fat.

To add flavor to a dish without extra calories, try low-carb condiments like pico de gallo. Sour cream is a lower-fat topping than butter for a baked potato and cocktail sauce is a great match for shrimp.

Kids

The Red Lobster kids menu features smaller portions of some of the chain's most popular and favorite dishes, including the lobster tail, shrimp, fish, and chicken tenders. Opt for this menu to enjoy the restaurant's signature dishes in a healthier size.

✓ Garlic-Grilled Shrimp

The garlic-grilled shrimp kids' meal comes with 80 calories, 3.5g fat, 0.5g saturated fat, <1g carbohydrates, 11g protein, and 580mg sodium. Add a side of broccoli, green beans, or coleslaw to round out the meal with additional vegetables and fiber.

✗ Chicken Tenders

The kids' chicken tenders meal provides 620 calories, 45g fat, 5g saturated fat, 28g carbohydrates, 24g protein, and 1,490mg sodium. Since this dish is already high in salt, choose a low-sodium side like coleslaw, green beans, or salad.

Desserts

Sweets make up a relatively small corner of Red Lobster’s large menu. Though there are only a few to choose from, desserts are among the highest in carbs and sugar items at Red Lobster. 

✓ Key Lime Pie

The key lime pie dessert provides 500 calories, 21g fat, 10g saturated fat, 70g carbohydrates, 10g protein, and 190mg sodium. With 55g sugar, it's the lowest-calorie sweet option on the menu.

✗ Brownie Overboard

The brownie overboard dessert has 1,020 calories, 57g fat, 29g saturated fat, 121g carbohydrates, 13g protein, and 360mg sodium. So even if you are sharing this dessert, it can add quite a lot of calories, carbs, and fat to your meal.

If you’re looking for something slightly sweet to top off your meal, a side of fruit from the kids' menu can be a healthier choice. While they’re still a sugary option, you’ll also find kid-sized fruit smoothies, coolers, and slushies for under 200 calories.

Beverages

Water is always the healthiest drink to accompany a meal, whether you’re dining out or at home. At Red Lobster you’ll have your choice of several other beverages, like hot coffee or tea, that won’t add calories or carbs to your meal.

✓ Iced Tea

While water is always a nutritious option, for a flavored beverage, reach for the iced tea, which has 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g saturated fat, 1g carbohydrates, 0g protein, and 15g sodium. While diet sodas don’t have calories or carbs, they can be sources of artificial sweeteners or preservatives like aspartame, which you may want to avoid.

✗ Peach Fruit Smoothie

The peach fruit smoothie at Red Lobster contains 470 calories, 6g fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 96g carbohydrates, 7g protein, and 240mg sodium. As with many other casual dining establishments, Red Lobster also has a full bar menu of alcoholic drinks. If you choose to imbibe, make sure to factor in the calorie and carb count of your cocktail when you’re planning your meal.

Diet-Specific Options

Red Lobster has meal options for gluten-free, low-carb, diabetes-friendly, low-fat, low-sodium, vegetarian, and vegan diets, but does not have low-FODMAP meals.

Gluten-Free

Red Lobster doesn’t have any specific gluten-free options, but there are items on the menu that aren't made using gluten or wheat. However, because all the meals are prepared in the same kitchen, it's possible your meal will come into contact with gluten or wheat-containing ingredients during the storage, prep, or cooking process. If you need to avoid gluten, it’s always best to exercise caution when dining out.

• Baja shrimp bowl
• Garlic shrimp skewers
• Steaks (filet mignon, sirloin, NY strip)
• Ultimate surf & turf
• Sea-salted fries
  

Low-Carb

To put together a low-carb meal, opt for the soy-ginger salmon, which will also provide heart-health and mood-boosting benefits thanks to the fish. Other low-carb choices include:

• Bacon-wrapped sea scallops appetizer (5g carbs)
• New England clam chowder, cup (11g carbs)
• Wild-caught snow crab legs (0 carbs)
  
• Atlantic salmon, grilled (<1g carbs)
• Coleslaw (10g carbs)
  

Diabetes-Friendly

Choose the classic Caesar salad or the Maine lobster tail—each of which are lower in sodium than the alternatives—to keep your meal diabetes-friendly (lower in carbohydrates and sugar).

• Maine lobster tail
• Classic Caesar salad
• Buffalo chicken wings
• Wood-grilled sirloin steak
• Yucatan shrimp tasting plate
  

Low-Fat

Stick to a low-fat diet while at Red Lobster by ordering the oven-broiled bay scallops. Choosing the garlic shrimp skewers also saves on calories and fat thanks to the cooking method. Other options include:

• Signature jumbo shrimp cocktail (0g fat)
• Garlic shrimp skewers (11g fat)
• Baked potato (3.5g fat)
• Quinoa rice (3.5g fat)
• Side house salad (6g fat)
  

Low-Sodium

Keep your meal low-sodium by ordering the simply grilled rainbow trout, which is also the most nutritious option on the menu. The grilled salmon is similar, with only 10 more milligrams of sodium.

• Perfectly grilled rainbow trout (170mg sodium) or salmon (180mg)
• Live Maine lobster - 1-1/4 lb., steamed (290mg)
• CYO Atlantic salmon, oven-broiled (120 mg) or blackened (200mg)
• Coleslaw (140mg)
• Side house salad (200mg)
  

Vegetarian

With a menu that’s based on fish, you won’t find many vegetarian-friendly dishes at Red Lobster. Since the chain also uses many other animal products, like poultry and dairy, to create meals, some meat-free dishes prepared in a shared kitchen may not work for you, depending on the type of vegetarian diet you follow.

For fully vegetarian meal, order the linguini pasta with Alfredo sauce. Just be sure to ask for no meat.

• Mashed potatoes
• Cheddar Bay Biscuits
• French fries
• Mozzarella Sticks
• Langostino Lobster Pizza (no meat)
• Linguini Pasta with Alfredo Sauce (no meat)
  

Vegan

You may be able to create some vegan dishes from choices across the menu as well as some clever substitutions and modifications. Order the garden salad with a baked potato side for filling meal with plenty of vegetables and carbohydrates.

• Rice pilaf
• Broccoli
• Fruit (kids' menu)
• Garden salad (no croutons) with Champagne vinaigrette
• Baked potato (no butter) with pico de gallo or pineapple relish
  

Food Allergies and Safety

Generally, Red Lobster can accommodate diners who have a milk, egg, soy, gluten, sulfite, tree nut, peanut and MSG allergy, but those with a shellfish or fish allergy should be careful while dining at the restaurant. You can use Red Lobster’s Food Allergy Wizard to search the menu for allergens.

Red Lobster reminds diners that because all menu items are prepared in shared kitchen space, cross-contamination of allergens is possible. Therefore, the chain cannot guarantee your meal will be completely free from a specific allergen. If you have a food allergy, always let your server know when you give them your order.

A Word From Verywell

Red Lobster’s menu gives you a wide range of seafood, chicken, steak, and salad choices—which also range widely in nutrition. Eating nutritious meals at Red Lobster is possible if you are mindful of portion sizes, preparation methods, and the nutritional makeup and benefits of each menu item. Use Red Lobster’s online nutrition tools to find items on the menu that suit your tastes and dietary needs.