Calories in a Large Taco Salad Shell

Taco salad shells are typically deep-fried, which makes them fairly heavy on calories. Pair them with ingredients like ground beef, cheddar cheese, sour cream and guacamole, and you could end up eating more than 1,000 calories in a single salad. To spare your waistline, only eat half of the shell or less, and fill it high with lettuce, tomato, onion and salsa while going easy on the higher-calorie ingredients.

While the exact numbers vary by brand, one large taco salad shell could contain nearly 400 calories. More than half of those calories may come from fat -- in fact, that shell could provide one-third of the fat that you should have in a single day. Most of the other calories come from carbohydrates, while a small amount comes from protein. At home, try baking your taco salad shells instead of frying to reduce the calories. Without the added oil, your shell will contain considerably fewer calories