Jennifer Aniston Salad Serving Size & Nutrition
I got pretty excited when I read about this salad! Jennifer ate this dish while on the set of Friends every day for 10 years! It’s making the rounds on the internet (again) right now, and since she’s such an icon of health and fitness, I immediately wanted to add this to my list of “go to” dishes. I wanted to find the serving size and nutritional values. But when I searched for Jennifer Aniston Salad Serving Size, nothing came up! Just more questions about where the serving sizes were. It’s a new mission of mine to hit my macros, so I was pretty bummed when I couldn’t find them, so I decided to approach making the salad by using “My Fitness Pal” app to measure all the nutritional values and macros there!
Macros Babe, Macros
I’ve always resisted truly checking my caloric intake, and my macros. I think I eat healthfully in general, but actually logging your meals is so helpful to see what you need to adjust.
I’ve found that even meals I thought were healthy, had far more carbs and fat than is recommended by the strategy of nutrition I’m going for.
Macros are MacroNutrients. Fat, Protein and Carbohydrates. There are different perspectives on what ratio is needed for you based on what your goals are. I’m menopausal, so I’m currently looking to Melissa Neill for her advice. I’m really inspired by her hard earned success at weight loss & fitness at 53! I’m not a nutritionist, so I need all the help I can get lol! Macro goals are different for everyone, so that is research for all of you to do if you’re interested in this nutrition strategy. But My Fitness Pal has a default setting, and you can tweak what you’re aiming for. Oh, and if you want another super inspiring person to follow, try Joan MacDonald. She’s also an influencer that follows a macro focused diet.
What I Love About This Salad
Well it’s delicious! Very light, and refreshing. I haven’t had bulgar wheat before. It’s a welcome change from the usual cast of characters that are out there in salad world. And while I actually was kind of over feta for a while, having OD’d in the 90s and early 2000’s from Greek Salads, used more as a seasoning as it is in this No-Dressing Salad, it’s a welcome burst of flavor, mixed with the mint and cucumbers.
It’s easy to make, and when you keep the ingredients contained separately after preparation, you get several days worth (if you’re single lol). Now let’s get to the recipe, and 2 different approaches to finding the serving size and nutritional values.
Here is the recipe I followed from The Modern Nonna:
INGREDIENTS
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- 1 cup Bulgur + 2 cups water — cook on the stove as per the directions on the package
- ½ finely diced red onion
- ½ cup finely chopped parsley
- ⅓ cup finely chopped mint
- as many pistachios as you like
- 2 mini cucumbers — 1/2 cup
- chickpeas are optional — I left them out
- handful of crumbled feta
INSTRUCTIONS
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In a pot on the stove add one cup of bulgur and 2 cups water.
Cook the bulgur just like you would cook rice or you can follow the package instructions. -
Finely dice all of your herbs and vegetables and take your time because this should be therapeutic and enjoyable. Add everything to a bowl with the cooked and cooled down bulgur and mix.
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Feel free to add some chickpeas as that was in the original recipe but I felt like leaving them out.
I added a touch of olive oil, lemon juice, and salt but feel free to adjust. Enjoy
My Personal Tips for preparing the original recipe:
- There is no dressing in the original recipe, and I agree with others who’ve tried it. It could use a little something. For where I am in my fitness journey, I thought a squeeze of lemon would be best. I loved it.
- Mix the pistachios, garbanzo beans and herbs together and store them in their own container.
- Store the cooked bulgar and cucumbers in their own containers….or better yet,
use Persian cucumbers and slice a fresh one each time you mix a new serving for yourself. - I added this Black Hawaiian-style Sea Salt as a twist to the salad and it’s a YES for me. I used it both on the cucumbers as I stored them, and a pinch to season the salad with.
- I think this could use a handful of arugula per serving, and serve with a side of lean protein, or a protein shake to get the protein balance up a bit more.
Jennifer Aniston Salad Serving Size and Nutritional Values:
The single serving prep was the only way for me to be sure of my serving size. It’s still very easy, and worth it if you’re looking out for your calorie intake.
Single Serving Prep:
Here’s my hack for how I attained the nutritional values for this salad: prepared all ingredients in measurements provided by the above recipe, and stored them separately. Then as I prepared each serving, added a tablespoon of pistachios, a teaspoon of diced parsley and diced mint, squeeze of lemon and pinch of salt each time I prepared the salad.
The recipe I used says the garbanzos are optional, but adding them adds more protein. So I’ve added them, but at half the portion size of the bulgar in order to help keep the carbs down just a bit. It really didn’t change the numbers much, but for me right now, every little bit helps. Adding an additional 4oz of low fat protein on the side is helpful get my macros where they need to be.
Single Serving Ingredients:
1/2 cup of cooked bulgar
1/4 cup of Garbanzo beans (organic & optional, but I say keep them in for protein’s sake)
1 tbsp pistachios
3oz of cucumber
1tsp chopped parsley (regular, not Italian. My own personal preference)
1tsp chopped mint
1 pinch salt
1 squeeze lemon (to taste)
Bulk Serving Prep (This way was more delicious)
Prepare the full ingredients from the original recipe, and guesstimate how many servings in the whole batch. I’m pretty sure I was wrong in my guess. I entered in 4 servings for the whole salad, but if you’re watching your calories/macros, I think that the serving size is more likely to be around 6 servings. I also only used 1/c of Pistachios. When I entered the recipe into My Fitness Pal and entered in 4 servings for the recipe. I’m not sure of a few things here….should it be cooked bulgar or uncooked bulgar as the recipe input?
So I’m not going to share the values of this until I understand whether those calories are equal.
I’m going to remake the salad and reassess the servings, then I’ll update this post : )
This is a recipe high in carbohydrates, and I’m aiming for high protein right now. I like to serve this with a side of lean protein. Probably 4oz of chicken breast would be the best….but I’m still grilling a thigh, which boosts the fat levels way up. #workinprogress!
If you have My Fitness Pal App, you can input the single serving recipe and play around with the ingredients to see how it changes your macros, then add it to your daily diary. Additionally, add your protein in as a meal to dial in your protein to your specific needs!
