Pricier Salad LTOs Drive a Fresh High

Salad LTOs had their biggest half-year on record, with chains prioritizing pricier, entrée-style dishes over side salads that have long been a mainstay of the category.

Datassential’s Launches & Ratings platform captured 103 salad LTOs in the first six months of the year, up from 71 a year earlier and topping the previous high of 84 set in the first half of 2022.

The second quarter alone accounted for 66 of those launches, itself a quarterly record.

The salads behind that growth are premium, entrée-style dishes, and pricing reflects that positioning: the median price of a salad LTO during the period was $13.95, 12.6% higher than those launched a year earlier.

Among the first-half offerings were a Steakhouse Salad from Saladworks and four Fresh Sydney Salad variants from Outback Steakhouse: grilled chicken, steak, crispy chicken, and salmon. Mellow Mushroom, meanwhile, rolled out a six-item salad line in a single month, and Applebee’s, Chipotle, Panera Bread, and Smashburger each added their own offerings to menus.

The shift toward premium salad formats lines up with a broader pricing pattern identified in Datassential’s State of Pricing 2026 report. At casual dining chains, for example, the median price grew 7% for entrée salads and 9% for appetizer salads. In the fast casual segment, appetizer salads prices jumped 12% year over year, while salad entrées grew 4%.

It also comes as limited-service salad and healthful chains remain among the fastest growing concepts identified in Datassential’s 500 ranking. “The strongest performers were concepts that paired wellness positioning with stronger indulgence cues and more visible protein,” the report noted. “Consumers still respond well to health-forward brands, but increasingly only when those brands also offer convenience, satiety, and a more craveable sense of value.”