What to Eat at Bob Evans: Healthy Menu Choices and Nutrition Facts

Bob Evans is known for its numerous breakfast offerings and diner-style dinners. You can find nutritious foods on the Bob Evans menu and stick to your dietary needs, plus you can often enjoy a full meal for $15 or less.

With grilled protein and vegetable side choices, you can load up on vitamin-rich meals. Bob Evans also offers hearty soups and fresh salads for heart-healthy meals.

Navigating the Menu

Bob Evans offers diner-type items, from breakfast dishes with build-your-own egg entrees to nostalgic "Dinner Bell" plates with standards such as chicken fried steak. Most of the menu items contain a high amount of sodium, and many are high in calories and fat. For a balanced meal, choose grilled chicken, turkey, or egg dishes for protein, and opt for veggie sides like steamed broccoli or salad.

Most Nutritious Option

The healthiest choice at Bob Evans is a soup and salad combination, such as the farmhouse garden salad and a cup of hearty beef vegetable soup.

Family Meals

Designed to remind you of comfort foods from your youth, classic family meals at Bob Evans mirror typical homestyle favorites you might have eaten over Sunday meals with your family. With six servings, these family-style meals are meant to be shared. Nutrition values below are for a single serving of the main dish, which also comes with bread and a choice of sides.

✓ Fork-Tender Pot Roast

The fork-tender pot roast family meal includes slow-roasted meat, onions, beef gravy, and carrots to create a hearty dish. This popular entrée contains 270 calories, 16g fat, 6g saturated fat, 17g carbohydrates, 14g protein, and 540mg sodium.

✗ Wildfire Meatloaf

The wildfire meatloaf includes the Bob Evans wildfire sauce, meatloaf, and haystack onions, It contains 660 calories, 43g fat, 13g saturated fat, 42g carbohydrates, 28g protein, and 1,060mg sodium per serving.

To save calories, carbohydrates, and sodium, consider ordering the down-home country fried steak family meal for 540 calories, 34g fat, 11g saturated fat, 39g carbohydrates, 21g protein, and 970mg sodium per serving.

Breakfast Combos

The Bob Evans breakfast offerings are some of the most popular on the menu, and they are served all day for those pancake-for-dinner enthusiasts. Most of the breakfast fare is high in sodium and includes high-fat/high-protein sides, such as eggs, sausage links and patties, ham, and bacon.

✓ Original Farmer's Choice

When you order this meal, you choose from several options for eggs, meat, and a griddle item. Selecting egg whites, hickory-smoked ham, and brioche French toast will give you the smallest amount of calories and fat: 1,030 calories, 22.5g fat, 8g saturated fat, 144g carbohydrates, 57g protein, and 2,750mg sodium. Ask for the French toast without butter and syrup to reduce calories, fat, and added sugar.

✗ Double Meat Farmer

The double meat farmer with two scrambled eggs, a double serving of sausage links, and hotcakes totals 1,900 calories, 104g fat, 35g saturated fat, 174g carbohydrates, 71g protein, and 3,400mg sodium.

Lower your calorie intake by choosing egg whites over whole eggs and ham over sausage links or patties. And although it may be surprising, the French toast also has fewer calories than the hotcakes.

Omelets and Skillets

You can pick an omelet with pre-chosen ingredients or build your own. For the most nutrient-dense dish, choose a combo of:

• Egg whites
• Baby spinach
• Diced ham
• Diced tomatoes
• Mushrooms
• Onions
• Red and green bell peppers

Both the omelets and skillets come with your choice of two biscuits or banana nut bread. The biscuits have 520 calories and the banana bread has 320 calories. Skipping the bread altogether will save those calories and more than 30 grams of carbs. 

✓ Sunshine Skillet

If you prefer not to build your own omelet, the sunshine skillet offers the best nutrition profile, at least in terms of fat and sodium content. It comes with eggs, sausage, gravy, cheddar cheese, and home fries and has 660 calories, 17g fat, 6g saturated fat, 107g carbohydrates, 20g protein, and 720mg sodium.

The Western omelet is comparable in calories (650), comes with vegetables (onions and peppers), provides more protein (40g), and has fewer carbohydrates (11g) than the sunshine skillet. However, it has significantly more fat: 50g fat and 17g saturated fat. It also has more than twice as much sodium at 1,590mg.

✗ Three Meat Omelet

The three meat omelet, with eggs, sausage, ham, bacon, onions, tomatoes, provolone cheese, American cheese, and cheddar cheese, is also very high in fat, cholesterol, and sodium. It has 1,210 calories, 94g fat, 34g saturated fat, 21g carbohydrates, 70g protein, and 3,400mg sodium.

Hotcakes

The hotcakes portion of the menu contains a selection of pancakes and French toast that gives you sweet breakfast options.

✓ Brioche French Toast

The brioche French toast contains two slices of brioche French toast, butter, syrup, and powdered sugar for 810 calories, 20g fat, 7g saturated fat, 142g carbohydrates, 16g protein, and 910mg sodium.

You can also consider the banana berry oatmeal from this section of the menu. It is served with blueberry topping, banana, milk, pecans, and a slice of banana bread. The entire dish (including the bread) has 750 calories, 18g fat, 3g saturated fat, 121g carbohydrates, 13g protein, and 760mg sodium. Surprisingly, though, this option is higher in sugar than the French toast. It has 76g sugar, vs. 49g for the French toast.

✗ Buttermilk Hotcakes

A serving of buttermilk pancakes (four per plate) with butter and syrup comes out to 1,150 calories, 28g fat, 9g saturated fat, 209g carbohydrates, 17g protein, and 1,910mg sodium. However, the hotcakes have the lowest amount of sugar (39g) of the dishes in this category.

Turkey and Chicken

Bob Evans serves Thanksgiving-style dinners, which can be nutritious options. Higher-calorie comfort foods include pot pie, fried chicken, and chicken tenders.

✓ Grilled-to-Perfection Chicken

The grilled-to-perfection chicken breast meal includes two chicken breasts and a choice of two sides. You can choose from any of the following sides:

• Bread and celery dressing
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Coleslaw
• Corn
• French fries
• Fruit
• Garden salad
• Green beans with ham
• Hash browns
• Home fries
• Macaroni and cheese
• Mashed potatoes and chicken gravy
• Sausage gravy and biscuits
  

On their own, the two grilled chicken pieces provide 270 calories, 4g fat, 1g saturated fat, 2g carbohydrates, 55g protein, and 1,040mg sodium.

To keep the calories in your meal low, choose the green beans and carrots sides for 120 additional calories. Other lower-calorie side options include broccoli, salad, and fruit.

✗ Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit Dinner

The honey butter chicken biscuit dinner comes with fried chicken filets, two sides, and a biscuit with butter and honey. Not including the sides, the meal provides 940 calories, 48g fat, 16g saturated fat, 58g carbohydrates, 70g protein, and 2,460mg sodium.

For a lower-calorie fried chicken option, consider the homestyle boneless fried chicken. It comes with two fried chicken breasts, a roll, and your choice of two side dishes. On its own, the chicken has 580 calories, 27g fat, 6g saturated fat, 19g carbohydrates, 66g protein, and 1,650mg sodium.

Burgers & Sandwiches

Bob Evans offers sandwiches as an alternative to heavier dinner plates. The most nutritious protein options to include in a sandwich are grilled chicken and slow-roasted turkey. Burgers and sandwiches come with your choice of one or two sides. To cut calories, ask for broccoli, carrots or fruit, which also add vitamins and fiber to your meal.

✓ Farmhouse Grilled Chicken Sandwich

The farmhouse grilled chicken sandwich comes with bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, pickles, a bun, and honey mustard. You can choose between grilled or fried chicken. The grilled chicken has 670 calories, 34g fat, 10.5g saturated fat, 42g carbohydrates, 47g protein, and 1,780mg sodium. If you'd like to cut back on calories, fat and sodium, hold the bacon, cheese, and pickles; for fewer carbs, skip the bun.

✗ Rise & Shine Burger

The rise and shine breakfast burger comes with an egg, bacon, bun, hash browns, beef patty, spicy maple syrup, and American cheese. It has 1,300 calories, 77g fat, 26g saturated fat, 102g carbohydrates, 51g protein, and 1,580mg sodium.

As an alternative, consider the cheeseburger, which includes an Angus beef patty, American cheese, pickles, onion, and a brioche bun. One cheeseburger has 680 calories, 39g fat, 17g saturated fat, 47g carbohydrates, 37g protein, and 1,260mg sodium.

Steak & Seafood

Like the chicken and turkey offerings, the steak and seafood meals come with a choice of the sides. Focus on veggies to make your meal more nutrient-dense.

✓ Lemon Pepper Sole Fillets

Lemon pepper sole fillets—the meal includes two sole fillets, a roll and two sides—have 380 calories, 18g fat, 2g saturated fat, 25g carbohydrates, 28g protein, and 680mg sodium. Plus, you'll benefit from the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish. These can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, which is why the American Heart Association recommends consuming at least two servings per week.

✗ Mushroom and Onion Chopped Steak

The mushroom and onion chopped steak is served with mashed potatoes, gravy, and broccoli. The meal, including those sides, has 870 calories, 62g fat, 19g saturated fat, 41g carbohydrates, 37g protein, and 1,680mg sodium.

Soups & Salads

The salads and soups on the Bob Evans menu change seasonally. There are berry salads and fruit plates for summer, and hearty, warm soups for wintertime. However, some offerings are available year-round.

✓ Hearty Beef Vegetable Soup

A cup of hearty beef vegetable soup with two Saltine crackers has 120 calories, 2.5g fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 18g carbohydrates, 7g protein, and 620mg sodium. (Roughly double these numbers for the larger portion, a bowl.)

The small cup of soup might not fill you up completely. Consider ordering half a sandwich or a half-portion of salad in addition to this soup for a combo meal.

✗ Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

The cranberry pecan chicken salad contains 920 calories, 59g fat, 15g saturated fat, 55g carbohydrates, 47g protein, and 1,780mg sodium. The wildfire chicken salad has a similar nutrition profile if you choose fried chicken, except it has less sugar and more protein than the cranberry pecan salad.

Shareables & Sides

The sides range from vegetables, such as carrots, broccoli, and green beans, to hearty and starchy mashed potatoes and chicken gravy, bread and celery dressing, macaroni and cheese, and hash browns. There are even sweet sides: fresh fruit and cinnamon biscuits with icing.

If a meal allows for two sides, choosing two servings of vegetables (or one fruit and one vegetable) will provide the most vitamins, minerals, and fiber for the fewest calories.

✓ Broccoli

This simple side has 20 calories, 0g fat, 0g saturated fat, 4g carbohydrates, 2g protein, and 20mg sodium when ordered without butter. The green beans are another nutritious option, even though they come with ham and are higher in sodium than the broccoli: 40 calories, 1.5g fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 4g carbohydrates, 2g protein, and 560mg sodium.

✗ Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

The sausage gravy and biscuits side comes in two portion sizes, cup and bowl. The bowl size provides 770 calories, 46g fat, 26.5g saturated fat, 74g carbohydrates, 19g protein, and 2670mg sodium. The cup size is still high in calories (660), fat (38g), saturated fat (22g), and sodium (2260mg).

Bakery & Desserts

The bakery and desserts menu is actually fairly small, despite the comprehensive choices elsewhere on the menu. Some offerings may be seasonal.

✓ Banana Nut Bread

A serving of the banana nut bread (two slices without butter or margarine) provides 320 calories, 10g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 37g carbohydrates, 5g protein, and 440mg sodium. It has the fewest calories and least carbohydrates of the offerings in this category, and also provides a little fiber and protein.

✗ Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

One slice of chocolate peanut butter pie topped with Reese's has 680 calories, 41g fat, 20g saturated fat, 74g carbohydrates, 7g protein, and 420mg sodium.

If you're craving pie, consider ordering the double crust apple pie instead. One slice has 530 calories, 24g fat, 10g saturated fat, 77g carbohydrates, 3g protein, and 410mg sodium.

Kids Menu

The lunch- and dinner-style options on the kids' menu come with a choice of side (French fries, mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, broccoli, or fruit), and all kids' meals come with a drink. Choose among apple juice, orange juice, or soda.

✓ Chicken & Noodles

The chicken and noodles main entrée, which includes a side of steamed broccoli, has 150 calories, 7g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 14g carbohydrates, 10g protein, and 540mg sodium.

If your child wants a breakfast entrée, the one with the best nutrition profile is the turkey sausage breakfast: an egg, wheat toast, and a turkey sausage link. This meal provides 240 calories, 5g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 26g carbohydrates, 20g protein, and 750mg sodium.

✗ Plenty-O-Pancakes

The pancakes with syrup and whipped cream comes with 5 hotcakes and a choice of breakfast meat. It provides 1,800 calories, 39g fat, 16g saturated fat, 326g carbohydrates, 32g protein, and 3,440mg sodium for the pancakes alone. A sausage link adds 50 calories and a bacon strip 100.

Among the lunch and dinner entrées, the cheeseburger and chicken tenders options have the most calories, at 760. They come with a side of fries and the calorie total is for both the entrée and the side together.

Beverages

Like most diner-style restaurants, Bob Evans offers sodas, coffee and hot tea, fruit juice and milk, and iced teas and lemonades. While water is always a good option, since it hydrates without providing any calories, sugar, or fat, there are other unsweetened beverages available at Bob Evans.

✓ Hot Tea and Decaf Coffee

Both the hot tea and decaf coffee contain 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g saturated fat, 0g carbohydrates, 0g protein, and 10mg sodium. (Caffeinated coffee has 5 calories per cup.) Note that adding milk, cream, and sugar will change these nutrition stats.

✗ Hot Chocolate

The hot chocolate has 320 calories, 9g fat, 7g saturated fat, 55g carbohydrates, 4g protein, and 300mg sodium. It also has 44g added sugar, makes it more like a dessert than a thirst-quencher.

Diet-Specific Options

Dining out can sometimes be challenging if you have dietary restrictions or preferences. While there are few low-sodium options at Bob Evans, you will find selections for gluten-free, low-fat, and vegetarian diets.

Gluten-Free

Bob Evans has a variety of gluten-free options, and publishes an allergen chart on its website that includes gluten. However, it only alerts you to menu items that contain gluten. It does not certify any offerings as gluten-free, and warns that there is a risk of cross-contamination. For a nutritious meal without gluten ingredients, try the slow-roasted turkey with broccoli and carrots on the side.

• Golden cornmeal mush
• Meat sides: Bacon, sausage, turkey sausage, ham, sirloin
• Omelets: Border scramble, meat lovers, Southwest avocado, Western
• Pot roast hash
• Breakfast sides: Fruit, grits, cornmeal mush, hash browns, home fries, oatmeal
• Chicken Cobb salad
• Cranberry pecan chicken salad
• Wildfire chicken salad (select grilled chicken)
• Beef burger patty
• Sirloin beef
• Pot roast
• Grilled or slow-roasted chicken
• Southwest avocado chicken
• Lemon pepper sole fillets
• Sliced or slow-roasted turkey
• Sides: Baked potato, broccoli, carrots, corn, cornmeal mush, French fries, grits, hash browns, home fries, mashed potatoes, beef vegetable soup
• Kids' grilled chicken
  

Low-Fat

Customers with a goal of reducing their fat intake for weight loss and cardiovascular health have several options at Bob Evans. For a hearty low-fat meal, order a bowl of the beef vegetable soup. The entire serving contains only 5g fat. Or, consider the grilled chicken with a side of broccoli for 9g fat.

• Egg whites (0g fat)
• Hickory-smoked ham (2.5g fat, 1g saturated fat)
• Turkey sausage links (7g fat, 2g saturated fat)
• Steel-cut oatmeal, cup (2.5g fat, 1g saturated fat)
• Small wildfire chicken salad with grilled chicken (15g fat, 4g saturated fat)
• Hearty beef vegetable soup, cup (2.5g fat, 0.5g saturated fat)
• Farmhouse garden side salad, no dressing (2g fat, 0g saturated fat)
• Chicken-N-Noodles, cup (7g fat, 1.5g saturated fat)
• Green beans with ham (1.5g fat, 0g saturated fat)
  
• Carrots (4.5g fat, 1.5g saturated fat)
• Steamed broccoli (0g fat, 0g saturated fat)
• Golden fried shrimp (2.5g fat, 0g saturated fat)
• Grilled to Perfection Chicken (9g fat, 3g saturated fat)
• Caramel sundae (7g fat, 4.5g saturated fat)
  

Low-Sodium

Keeping your sodium count low when eating out is challenging, regardless of the restaurant. You won’t find a wide variety of items available to you at Bob Evans, but the following are fairly low in sodium. Stick to a low-sodium dinner by ordering the lemon sole dish. It contains 680mg sodium, and you can add a side of broccoli or corn for an additional 110mg sodium.

• Corn (110mg sodium)
• Broccoli (110mg sodium)
• Carrots (115mg sodium)
• Baked potato (120mg sodium)
• Freshly cracked eggs (140mg sodium)
• Hash browns (160mg sodium)
• Farmhouse garden side salad without dressing (180mg sodium)
  
• Lemon pepper sole fillets (680mg sodium)
• Caramel sundae (135mg sodium)

Vegetarian

You can consume meatless items at Bob Evans, although following a vegan diet in a restaurant known for breakfast items will be a much greater challenge. It's possible to dine on a vegetarian diet at Bob Evans by sticking to the breakfast menu (eggs are a nutritious vegetarian option), choosing a salad and omitting the chicken topping, or selecting a few vegetable dinner sides.

• Eggs (egg whites, scrambled eggs, freshly cracked eggs)
• Omelets made without meat ingredients
• Brioche French toast
• Hotcakes
• Farmhouse garden salad
• Wildfire chicken salad (omit chicken)
• Cheddar baked potato soup (omit bacon topping)
• Sides: Sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes (without gravy), baked potato, French fries, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, carrots, corn, bread and celery dressing, broccoli, home fries, hash browns, fruit)

Vegan

There are not too many items on the menu that are completely free of animal products. And since all fried foods are prepared in a shared fryer, there is a possibility of cross-contamination with meats.

• Breads except banana nut bread, biscuits, brioche bun, dinner rolls, and English muffins
• Golden cornmeal mush
• Fruit
• Baked potato
• Steamed broccoli
• Farmhouse garden side salad (omit cheese and choose Colonial dressing)
  

Food Allergies and Safety

Bob Evans offers a comprehensive menu with a variety of foods that contain any of the following allergens:

• Milk
• Soy
• Wheat and gluten
• Peanuts
• Egg
• Fish
• Shellfish
• Coconut

The website states that the establishment reviews all ingredients to keep customers informed of any potential allergens, but managers cannot guarantee that any item is totally free of allergens. You might also experience cross-contamination, as foods can contact one another during preparation, such as the use of a common fryer or countertop.

At Bob Evans, soybean oil is used for frying and grilling. Although soybean oil isn’t an allergen, a sensitivity to soybean is common and you should avoid any fried or grilled item if you experience such health issues.

To help protect yourself from allergens, you can:

• Tell a manager if you have any allergies prior to placing your order.
• Ask for modifications. For example, ask for a salad free of cheese if you have a dairy intolerance. 
• Peruse the section of the Bob Evans website that lists allergens, which is updated periodically. In this allergen information, items are marked if they are processed in a facility or using equipment associated with a particular allergen. This chart also offers a dedicated phone number you can call if you have further questions regarding allergens and food safety.

A Word From Verywell

As the home of “America’s Farm Fresh” (the restaurant's motto), Bob Evans sources its food from farms and prepares menu items with simple ingredients to avoid offering foods packed with preservatives.

You will find eating at Bob Evans a challenge if you follow a low-sodium diet, as the majority of the breakfast items contain a lot of salt. However, if you familiarize yourself with Bob Evans’s nutritional information beforehand, you can stick to a heart-healthy diet.

Ordering oatmeal for breakfast, filling up on farmhouse sides, such as carrots, broccoli, and green beans, and eating half a portion of a lean protein (for example, turkey, sole, and grilled chicken), are nutritious alternatives to typical fried, diner-type foods.