Wendy's: Core Salads Behind-The-Scenes Look

On Wednesday March, 25th I had the pleasure of visiting one of my favorite Wendy's location at 1795 Howell Mill Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30318 for an exclusive behind the scenes look on how some of our favorite salads are made. Wendy's founder Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy's restaurant in 1969 grounded on the premise that "Quality is our Recipe^®." For more than 45 years, Wendy's has been invested in bringing customers the quality ingredients that differentiate them from others in the industry.

During my visit I learned so much on how they prepare their salads -- what's really cool is that they have employees come in as early as 8am to start salad prep and the locations open at 10am. The process is just like when you make a salad at home. In every Wendy's restaurant, employees freshly chop vegetables every day, starting with full heads of iceberg and romaine lettuces and other veggies like cucumbers and tomatoes.

Jenna Wlotzko, Wendy's Culinary Expert explaining to us the salad prep process

After the lettuce is cut --- it is then added to ice water to be cleaned. To learn more about the Wendy's Romaine Lettuce Journey take a look at this quick video.

The machine that cuts the lettuce into bite sizes

Drying the Lettuce

Fresh cut cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers for the salads

Now it was time for us to build our salads.....

My finished Wendy's Apple Pecan Chicken Salad!!! It marries the crisp refreshing snap of ripe red and green apples with the delectable crunch of roasted pecans. This springtime splendor harmonizes sweet and savory throughout with delicious cranberries and creamy blue cheese crumbles topped with Marzetti® Simply Dressed^® Pomegranate Vinaigrette.

Enjoying our delicious salads and chit chatting

Fun Facts:

• The salad prep process takes about 20 mins and 12-20 heads of lettuce are used. This process is repeated through out the day to ensure freshness.
• Wendy's has a cool free app -- that lets you view your favorites, menu, target calorie range and view nutrition information.
• Every salad entrée uses only premium white meat chicken breasts that are grilled at the time of your order and placed warm on your salad.
• Half-Size and Full Size Salads are available  

I had to share this cool moment -- I shared my experience on Instagram and one of my followers went to Wendy's to try out the Wendy's Apple Pecan Chicken Salad and she loved it!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.