Cheesecake Factory Herb Crusted Salmon: Price, Calories & Lunch Choice (2026)
Cheesecake Factory Herb Crusted Salmon sits at the top of the seafood menu at $29.95 to $33.95 for dinner and 1,350 calories, and lunch works differently here. The same salmon is also on the lunch menu, but not as a smaller plate of this dish: lunch is a choice menu where one price buys any of four salmons, and the Herb Crusted version at lunch has 1,150 calories. That choice-menu twist is the most useful thing to know before you order, because people walk in expecting a lunch portion and find a four-way choice instead. It is a herb crusted filet of salmon served with a delicious lemon sauce, asparagus and mashed potatoes.
Every location sets its own price inside the range, and the calorie numbers come from the brand's published nutrition data.
Dinner or lunch: two different ways to order the same salmon
At dinner you order the dish by name and get the full plate. At lunch you order "Lunch Salmon" and pick one of four: Grilled, Herb Crusted, Miso or Cajun. The price is the same whichever one you pick, and the calories change with your pick. So the lunch question is not "how much smaller is it" but "which salmon do I want at the lunch price." The table below puts both orders side by side for the Herb Crusted pick.
| Dinner | Lunch | |
|---|---|---|
| How you order it | By name, full plate | Lunch Salmon choice menu, pick 1 of 4 |
| Price | $29.95–$33.95 | $19.95–$23.95 |
| Calories | 1,350 | 1,150 |
| Protein | 64g | 48g |
The practical read is simple. If you want this exact dish at its full size, order dinner. If you are there at lunch and like salmon generally, the choice menu is the better deal, because you get the same Herb Crusted filet for $19.95 to $23.95 depending on location, and you can switch to Miso or Cajun at no extra cost if you change your mind at the table.
What is Herb Crusted Salmon?
A herb crusted filet of salmon served with a delicious lemon sauce, asparagus and mashed potatoes. That is the full official description, and it is short for a reason: there is nothing hidden in this dish. The crust gives the filet its texture, the lemon sauce keeps it from tasting heavy, and the sides are classic rather than creative. Asparagus and mashed potatoes will not surprise anyone, and that is the point. This is the plate people order when they want salmon done properly, not salmon reinvented. Our own seafood guide calls it the most consistently recommended dish in the section and the safest first order if you have never ordered seafood here, and the menu agrees: it sits at the top of the salmon choices at both dinner and lunch. For the rest of the category, see our full seafood menu.
How much does Herb Crusted Salmon cost?
$29.95 to $33.95 is the dinner spread, $31.95 the median, across 50 official location menus. Fresh location menus checked for this post show where inside that range a real order lands: Southlake, St. Louis and Atlanta list it at $29.95, while Escondido, Westbury and Sacramento list it at $31.95. There is no one national price for this plate, the range is the spread across 50 location menus, and your restaurant lands somewhere inside it.
One exception sits outside the range. Kapolei, Hawaii lists it at $34.95, which is above the mainland top of $33.95. Hawaii pricing runs higher across the menu, so treat $34.95 as the Hawaii figure, not as a sign the range is wrong. Lunch, meanwhile, is a separate range: the Lunch Salmon choice menu runs $19.95 to $23.95 on the mainland, with $19.95 at Southlake, St. Louis and Atlanta and $22.95 at Escondido, Westbury, Sacramento and Anaheim, and two fresh 21-menu checks put the mainland top at $23.95. Kapolei, Hawaii lists it at $25.50, the same Hawaii exception as dinner, so treat $25.50 as the Hawaii figure, not the mainland top.
| Source | Price |
|---|---|
| 50 official location menus, dinner (range) | $29.95–$33.95 |
| 50-store median, dinner | $31.95 |
| Southlake, St. Louis, Atlanta (dinner) | $29.95 |
| Escondido, Westbury, Sacramento (dinner) | $31.95 |
| Kapolei, Hawaii (dinner, exception) | $34.95 |
| Lunch Salmon choice menu (range) | $19.95–$23.95 |
| Kapolei, Hawaii (lunch, exception) | $25.50 |
Herb Crusted Salmon calories and full nutrition
The dinner portion has 1,350 calories, according to the official Summer 2026 nutrition guide (Fish & Seafood section). The full breakdown:
| Nutrient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Calories | 1,350 |
| Total fat | 93g |
| Saturated fat | 43g |
| Cholesterol | 290mg |
| Sodium | 1,620mg |
| Carbohydrates | 65g |
| Fiber | 5g |
| Sugar | 4g |
| Protein | 64g |
The lunch portion is lighter across the board: 1,150 calories, 86g of fat, 34g of saturated fat, 235mg of cholesterol, 1,140mg of sodium, 42g of carbohydrates and 48g of protein. The 200 calorie gap between dinner and lunch is modest compared with pasta dishes, where the gap can run near 900, because lunch here is a different order format rather than a small plate. If you track sodium, note that dinner carries 1,620mg, which is the number most worth watching on this plate. For the rest of the menu, see our seafood nutrition numbers.
Herb Crusted, Miso, Grilled or Cajun: which salmon should you order?
Four salmons share the menu, and they are not four versions of the same idea. They are four different plates that happen to start with the same fish. The table below is the honest comparison, with dinner prices and calories from the official guide and location menus.
| Salmon | Dinner price | Dinner calories | What makes it different |
|---|---|---|---|
| Herb Crusted Filet of Salmon | $29.95–$33.95 | 1,350 | Herb crust, lemon sauce, asparagus, mashed potatoes; most-recommended |
| Miso Salmon | $29.95–$33.95 | 1,340 | Miso marinade, snow peas, white rice, miso sauce; sweet-savory |
| Grilled Salmon | $27.95–$31.95 | 1,270 | Simplest preparation, mashed potatoes and broccoli; cheapest of the four |
| Cajun Salmon | $29.95–$33.95 | 1,570 | Blackened with Creole sauce, mashed potatoes, buttered corn; richest |
First time ordering salmon here? Pick Herb Crusted. It is the one our seafood guide recommends first, and it is the middle of the range on both price and calories, so there is no surprise in either direction. Want sweet-savory instead of herby? Miso, at nearly the same calories. Want the plainest plate or the lowest price? Grilled, which also starts $2 lower. Want heat and the richest plate? Cajun, but know it is 220 calories above Herb Crusted before you order it. And if you actually want a light salmon, none of these four is the answer: the SkinnyLicious Grilled Salmon sits under 600 calories and belongs to a different part of the menu entirely.
Do not confuse it with the salmon salad
The name causes real mix-ups, so here is the line between the dishes that sound alike. Herb Crusted Salmon Salad is a different item: chilled herb crusted salmon over baby lettuces, tomato and vegetables in balsamic vinaigrette, priced like a salad rather than an entree. If a listing shows a salmon salad price near $17 or $18, that is the salad, not this plate. Parmesan-Herb Crusted Chicken is chicken, not salmon, at 1,370 calories, and it fools people because the crust wording matches. SkinnyLicious Grilled Salmon is the light salmon, under 600 calories, with no crust and no lemon-butter style sauce. And the Factory Combinations pair this salmon with something else, Steak Diane and Herb Crusted Salmon or Herb Crusted Salmon and Shrimp Scampi, which are combo plates with their own prices. When you search the price, make sure the listing says Filet of Salmon and shows the lemon sauce, asparagus and mashed potatoes. That is how you know you are looking at the entree on this page.
Is Herb Crusted Salmon gluten-free?
No, not as served. The herb crust contains breadcrumbs, and official menus do not carry this dish in their gluten-free-upon-request set: Grilled, Cajun and Miso salmon carry that marker, Herb Crusted does not. It also contains milk, according to our allergen data. If you have a gluten sensitivity, do not assume the kitchen can rebuild this plate gluten-free; confirm with your server before ordering, and remember the restaurants are not allergen-free environments. For the full picture across the menu, see the allergen details for this plate.
Frequently asked questions
At dinner it runs $29.95 to $33.95, and the middle of 50 official location menus is $31.95. Hawaii runs higher: Kapolei lists it at $34.95.
Dinner is 1,350 calories and lunch is 1,150, per the official Summer 2026 nutrition guide.
A herb crusted filet of salmon served with a delicious lemon sauce, asparagus and mashed potatoes. That is the full official description.
No. The herb crust contains breadcrumbs, and official menus do not mark this dish as gluten-free upon request. It also contains milk. If either one matters to you, ask your server before ordering.
Lunch is not a smaller plate of this dish. Lunch Salmon is a choice menu: one price buys any of four salmons, Grilled, Herb Crusted, Miso or Cajun, and the Herb Crusted version at lunch has 1,150 calories. So dinner costs you 200 more calories than the lunch pick, 1,350 against 1,150.
Herb Crusted is the safest first order and the most consistently recommended salmon on the menu. Miso (1,340 calories) suits a sweet-savory taste, Grilled (1,270 calories) is the simplest preparation, and Cajun (1,570 calories) is the richest of the four.
No. The salad is a different item: chilled herb crusted salmon over baby lettuces, tomato and vegetables in balsamic vinaigrette. The entree on this page is a hot filet with lemon sauce, asparagus and mashed potatoes.
Who should order it, and who should skip it?
Order it if you want the seafood section's most recommended plate, a rich but not extreme salmon, and sides that need no explanation. It is the right pick for a first seafood order, for someone who likes lemon and herbs more than heat, and for anyone who wants the full dinner plate without paying the Cajun premium in calories. Skip it if you need gluten-free, because the crust rules it out, and skip it if you are counting calories hard, because the SkinnyLicious Grilled Salmon does the same fish for under 600 calories. Also skip it at dinner if the lunch choice menu is running and you are flexible: the same filet at lunch costs $19.95 to $23.95, and that is a real saving for the same salmon.