8 Underrated Texas Roadhouse Menu Items To Breathe New Life Into Your Order

Texas Roadhouse is a chain restaurant that commands a lot of respect. The steaks are great, which is what you'd hope from a steakhouse, but he menu has so much more to offer. Not everything here is meaty, and we've ranked the best vegetarian items at Texas Roadhouse before. Still, even if you're committed to getting a steak every visit, there's also the fact that the 10 best sides at Texas Roadhouse should be enough to get some variety in your order.

Yes, it's easy to get stuck in a rut, ordering the same tried and true favorites every time you visit a restaurant that you like. If you do ever feel boredom creeping in, though, Texas Roadhouse's menu has plenty of high-quality items to hold your interest. Each visit here can be unique and still be a treat. If you're a frequent Texas Roadhouse customer looking to change up your ordering habits? Give these oft-overlooked menu items a try on your next visit.

Tangy and savory while still being relatively light, a Caesar salad is an excellent choice when you're eating at a steakhouse. Texas Roadhouse's grilled chicken Caesar salad is topped with fork-sized strips of grilled chicken, which is a popular variation on the classic Caesar salad for a good reason. Caesar and chicken go together so well that we've recommended Caesar dressing as a must-try ingredient for roast chicken before.

Want to try the grilled chicken Caesar salad, but still have room for an entrée? One TikTok user, who works at Texas Roadhouse, has a hack. Apparently, you can order a side salad, then a protein from the kids' menu, and ask for the protein on top. Not a bad way to get some green veggies without filling up.

People do love this salad, and some even say that they order the grilled chicken Caesar salad every time they go to Texas Roadhouse. Still, in a Facebook post from the restaurant, asking people to say which salad was most appealing, few comments listed the chicken Caesar as an immediate go-to. Sure, other salads might be flashier, but a good chicken Caesar is dependable. If you haven't tried this one, give it a go on your next Texas Roadhouse visit.

Catfish is one of the United States' greatest delicacies. There's nothing quite like the sweet and mild taste of these massive freshwater beasts. Texas Roadhouse cooks up a catfish that's crispy, fried, and satisfying. It's breaded in a hearty Southern cornmeal, too. Grab one of these, dip it in tartar sauce, and you'll be switching culinary allegiances from turf to surf in no time. Fans of this fried catfish say it's seriously underrated, and we have to agree. Some diners even say they buy it every time they go to Texas Roadhouse.

Sure, when you're at a steakhouse, it's understandable if you want beef, but the cooks here know how to handle seafood. This fried catfish is so good that one Reddit commenter, who said they don't like catfish, claimed to really enjoy this stuff. Whether you're celebrating Friday with fried fish or simply taking a break from red meat, the fried catfish at Texas Roadhouse is a great order.

Texas Roadhouse's smothered chicken packs a ton of flavor. What's this tenderized chicken breast smothered in? The great part is, you get to choose between brown gravy, cream gravy, or Jack cheese. Whichever one you're feeling, you can't go wrong. This dish also has sautéed mushrooms and onions, bringing big tastes to the party. If the thought of ordering chicken at a steakhouse gives you flavor FOMO, rest assured that the smothered chicken should get your taste buds dancing.

This dish inspires people — you can find pleas online for copycat recipes from people who've  attempted smothered chicken at home and just can't quite make it like Texas Roadhouse does. One Facebook user even said that the dish was delicious without the gravy. Of course, we're big gravy fans here. The U.S. is a country full of different styles of regional gravy, all delicious in their own way, but it's a testament to Texas Roadhouse's quality, if the smothered chicken can stand on its own.

It's understandable if you don't look at the burger section of a steakhouse's menu. You're not at a Wendy's, you're at Texas Roadhouse. Look again, though. Doesn't the smokehouse burger seem enticing? Any time a burger has sautéed onions and mushrooms, it's a burger worth trying. Those two toppings don't even begin to scratch the surface of the smokehouse burger, either. This behemoth also includes BBQ sauce and both American and Jack cheeses. It's the kind of burger that your most ravenous uncle would prepare for himself at the family cookout, but made by the capable line cooks at Texas Roadhouse. What's not to love?

While some are initially intimidated by the sheer mass of this burger, the taste tends to blow people away. A little mess on your plate is worth it for a sandwich of such quality. Any time you order a burger at a steakhouse, even a chain restaurant steakhouse, you should expect nothing less than the heartiness and rich flavor of Texas Roadhouse's smokehouse burger. When The Daily Meal ranked the best chain steakhouse burgers, this one made the list, and for good reason.

What exactly is Texas Roadhouse's herb crusted chicken? At its most basic, it's boneless chicken breast coated in a flavorful marinade and grilled to perfection. If that doesn't get you going, the chicken is also finished with caramelized lemon, and if you've never tasted one before, you're missing out on a wonderful flavor dimension. Charring that versatile little fruit makes the juice sweeter, and adding caramelized lemon juice, with parsley, to a chicken that's already been sitting in an herbaceous marinade adds up to an absolute flavor explosion on your plate.

One Reddit post, apparently from a Texas Roadhouse employee, said that even though they didn't usually like chicken, the herb crusted chicken was their go-to order, noting that "it's seasoned well, but not overpowering." That makes sense, given how well chicken works as a canvas for letting other flavors shine. A dish as tasty as the herb crusted chicken is bound to make converts out of the poultry averse.

With flashier sides like baked potatoes, steak fries, and buttered corn, it's understandable if green beans get lost in the shuffle sometimes. Don't sleep on Texas Roadhouse's green beans, though. Green beans are a classic country side, simmered and perfect for those times when you're nostalgic for some down home cooking, and some servers at Texas Roadhouse count this among the best sides. Most mains at Texas Roadhouse come with two sides to complete your meal, so if you've never tried them, pick the green beans as one of your sides.

One thing about this bowl of beans is that vegetarians or people who abstain from pork should stay away. There are bits of bacon in here, after all, and judging on taste, there's plenty of pork fat involved in the making of these beans. Obviously, these ingredients are there to vary up the texture and add a burst of flavor. While some crispy bacon adds some welcome crunch, it does make the side inaccessible to some diners.

A baked potato is a classic steakhouse side, but we think it's time the sweet potato got some love. Texas Roadhouse's sweet potatoes come with topping options like butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and honey cinnamon butter. For a slight upcharge, you can get things like mini marshmallows or honey-cinnamon caramel sauce. It's a customizable side, and no matter what, you're in for a treat. Some folks praise this as the best side at the chain.

Now, unless you order it plain, this sweet potato is loaded with sugary ingredients. That caveat out of the way, don't sleep on the health benefits of sweet potatoes. These things are packed with vitamin A, vitamin B, potassium, and other nutrients that your body needs. Sure, you probably expect a restaurant to add more butter and sugar than what you'd make for yourself at home, but underneath all of that, the baked sweet potato is one of the more nutrient dense sides on the menu.

Yes, it's possible for a beef dish to be underrated at a steakhouse, and this one is for when you want to do a little something different with steak. Texas Roadhouse's beef tips is a comfort food plate that's maybe best consumed on a rainy day. This plate of cut bites of beef comes topped with sautéed onions and mushrooms, brown gravy, and sour cream. All of that saucy goodness gets served over your choice of seasoned rice or mashed potatoes and a side. Talk about comfort food.

One aspect of this dish worthy of praise is the portion size, especially given the price. All of that makes this a favorite item for some folks to add to their Texas Roadhouse main. Serving sautéed mushrooms with onions is maybe the greatest trick up a steakhouse chef's sleeve. The combination just bursts with umami. In this particular dish, those sautéed veggies combine with savory gravy and beef to make a hearty, comforting bite.