CAVA Nutrition Calculator – Build Your Bowl, See the Numbers

bowl total = base + main + dips + toppings + dressing + extras

The bowl on this page. Saffron Basmati Rice 290 + Grilled Chicken 250 + Hummus 50 + Tzatziki 30 + Tomato and Cucumber 5 + Persian Cucumber 15 + Crumbled Feta 35 + Greek Vinaigrette 130 = 805 calories. The same addition gives 42.5 g fat, 2,055 mg sodium, 65 g carbohydrates, 5 g fibre, 5 g sugars and 40 g protein.

Halves are kept, not rounded away. CAVA prints some values to half a gram — grilled chicken’s dips sit at 2.5 g of fat, Crazy Feta at 230 mg of sodium. This calculator adds the figures exactly as printed and rounds only the final display, so a bowl built from several halves can land on a .5 — that is the guide’s arithmetic, faithfully carried through.

One figure in the guide contradicts itself. CAVA prints its Pita Crisps topping as 70 calories with 11 g of fat — although 11 g of fat alone is about 99 calories. The printed figures are reproduced here unchanged, crisps included, because silently correcting a source is how wrong numbers get a false air of authority. If CAVA fixes the guide, this page will follow it.

Daily values. Percentages use the standard reference intakes: 2,000 calories, 78 g fat, 2,300 mg sodium, 275 g carbohydrates, 28 g fibre and 50 g protein. Total sugars has no daily value, so that row shows a dash instead of an invented percentage.

The default bowl — saffron basmati rice, grilled chicken, tzatziki, hummus, Persian cucumber, tomato and cucumber, crumbled feta and Greek vinaigrette — comes to 805 calories with 40 g of protein, 2,055 mg of sodium and 42.5 g of fat. Every figure in this section was produced by changing the stated control on this page and reading the result back. Each variation changes one stop on the line only, so each difference is that choice’s own effect.

Greens instead of rice. Swapping the saffron basmati rice base for super greens takes the bowl from 805 calories to 550, from 2,055 mg of sodium to 1,320 mg, and from 40 g of protein to 38 g. The rice contributes 290 calories and 770 mg of sodium; the greens contribute 35 calories and 35 mg — a saving of 255 calories and 735 mg of sodium in a single move, for a protein cost of just 2 g (the rice’s 5 g against the greens’ 3 g). That is the largest single saving available on the line, and it is why the base page calls the base the quiet heavy lifter: the base is chosen first, almost by habit, and it sets the floor for everything after it. A bowl built on greens starts 255 calories lighter before a single topping is chosen, which is more than any dressing or topping swap can offer.

Falafel instead of chicken. Swapping the grilled chicken main for falafel takes the bowl from 805 calories to 905, from 40 g of protein to 18 g, and from 2,055 mg of sodium to 2,195 mg. The chicken contributes 250 calories, 670 mg of sodium and 28 g of protein; the falafel contributes 350 calories, 810 mg of sodium and just 6 g of protein. Every column moves the wrong way at once: more calories, more sodium, far less protein. That is the honest trade this calculator exists to show — a main chosen for variety or for avoiding meat can still be the worse bowl on every measured column, and the only way to see that is to price the swap rather than assume it. The plant-based option here is not the light option; the roasted vegetables at 100 calories would be, at the cost of almost all the protein (3 g).

Garlic dressing instead of vinaigrette. Swapping the Greek vinaigrette for garlic dressing takes the bowl from 805 calories to 855 — up 50 calories, since the garlic dressing contributes 180 against the vinaigrette’s 130 — while the dressing’s sodium falls from 230 mg to 90 mg, the lowest-sodium dressing on the menu. That is the two-numbers trade in miniature: the dressing that costs calories saves sodium, and the dressing that saves calories costs sodium. The base page’s sodium guidance names exactly this tension, and the numbers behind it are the reason the guidance exists: no dressing is best on both columns, so the choice depends on which column your bowl is already heavy on. A bowl already over sodium should take the garlic dressing’s 90 mg; a bowl already over calories should not.

The toppings that salt without showing it. Kalamata olives, a topping people sprinkle on without thinking, add 360 mg of sodium for 35 calories — more than the feta (125 mg) and the pickles (180 mg) combined would suggest at a glance, and more than any single dip except harissa at 250 mg. The default bowl’s toppings are gentle by comparison: Persian cucumber at 110 mg, crumbled feta at 125 mg, tomato and cucumber at no sodium at all. The lesson generalises across the line: brined and pickled toppings are sodium-dense in a way their calories never suggest, and one brined topping instead of three saves several hundred milligrams — the base page’s own sodium advice, priced here in the guide’s own figures. Count the brined toppings, not just the calories, and the bowl’s sodium becomes manageable without giving anything up.

Each row starts from the default bowl (805 calories, 40 g protein, 2,055 mg sodium) and changes only what the row says.

The dressing row’s sodium (1,915 mg) follows from the guide figures: the default 2,055 mg less the vinaigrette’s 230 mg plus the garlic dressing’s 90 mg. The table’s pattern is the line’s pattern: bases move calories and sodium together, mains move protein most, dressings trade calories against sodium, and toppings salt quietly. Price the swap, not the craving, and the bowl follows.

The named bowls, as CAVA publishes them. CAVA publishes totals for its own recipe bowls, and they are the reference points any build should be judged against: the Greek Goddess Steak Salad at 470 calories with 1,250 mg of sodium and 34 g of protein is the lightest named bowl, while the Pomegranate Glazed Salmon Bowl at 1,040 calories with 2,120 mg of sodium and 36 g of protein is the heaviest. Between them sit the Greek Salad Bowl (580 calories, 1,810 mg, 37 g protein), the Steak and Harissa Bowl (620, 1,830 mg, 37 g), the Chicken and Rice Bowl (700, 1,810 mg, 40 g), the Greek Goddess Salmon Bowl (700, 1,800 mg, 34 g), the Salmon and Yogurt Dill Bowl (710, 1,870 mg, 35 g), the Spicy Lamb and Avocado Bowl (800, 1,670 mg, 43 g), the Harissa Avocado Bowl (830, 2,010 mg, 41 g) and the Falafel Crunch Bowl (860, 2,210 mg, 24 g). The pitas run heavier still: the Greek Chicken Pita at 720 calories with 2,230 mg of sodium and 48 g of protein, the Steak and Feta Pita at 820 with 1,800 mg and 44 g, and the Spicy Chicken and Avocado Pita at 930 with 2,290 mg and 48 g — the last of those nearly spending a whole day’s sodium in a single pita.

Why your build and CAVA’s total disagree — in both directions. CAVA publishes two kinds of figures: per-serving numbers for every component, and totals for its named bowls and pitas. They do not always reconcile, because a recipe is portioned by the kitchen, not by the nutrition table. The Chicken and Rice style build on this page sums the standard servings to 805 calories and 2,055 mg of sodium, while CAVA’s published Chicken and Rice Bowl total is 700 calories and 1,810 mg — yet the protein matches exactly at 40 g and the fat is within half a gram, which tells you the recipe is the same food in slightly smaller servings of the heavy pieces. The Greek Salad runs the other way: the page’s build comes to 445 calories against CAVA’s published 580 for the Greek Salad Bowl. Neither direction is an error to be “fixed” by bending a number; the page keeps the honest sum of the published servings and explains the gap, because silently correcting a source is how wrong numbers get a false air of authority. If CAVA fixes its guide, this page follows it — and the same rule applies to the guide’s one self-contradicting figure, the Pita Crisps topping printed as 70 calories with 11 g of fat, although 11 g of fat alone is about 99 calories.

The halves are kept, not rounded away. CAVA prints some values to half a gram — grilled chicken’s dips sit at 2.5 g of fat, Crazy Feta at 230 mg of sodium — and this calculator adds the figures exactly as printed, rounding only the final display. That is why a bowl built from several halves can land on a .5, as the default bowl’s 42.5 g of fat does: it is the guide’s arithmetic faithfully carried through, not a rounding error. The same honesty applies to the daily values: percentages use the standard reference intakes of 2,000 calories, 78 g of fat, 2,300 mg of sodium, 275 g of carbohydrates, 28 g of fibre and 50 g of protein, while total sugars has no daily value, so that row shows a dash instead of an invented percentage. A calculator that invented a sugar daily value, or rounded halves away mid-sum, would be tidier and less true; this one chooses true.

What to do with a bowl that beats the named range. If your build lands above CAVA’s heaviest named bowl — above 1,040 calories, or above roughly 2,200 mg of sodium — the first question is which stop on the line did it. The swaps above give the answer in most cases: a grain base plus a heavy main plus a full-fat dressing plus brined toppings stack four moderate choices into one heavy bowl, and removing any one of them brings the bowl back inside the named range. If your build lands below the lightest named bowl, the same logic applies in reverse: greens plus a light main plus a light dressing is a bowl the menu never names, because the menu names indulgent bowls, not minimal ones. Either way, the named bowls are the map, not the territory — your build is the territory, and the calculator is the surveyor.