Boston Market Gluten-free Menu Items

Find out what menu items from Boston Market do not contain gluten and what you need to know about their gluten-free options.

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Boston Market offers homestyle cooking that you don’t have to lift a finger for. Roasted chicken, turkey, ribs, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and salads are all on their menu.

This restaurant makes it easy to have a family style dinner without doing any hard work in the kitchen.

If you’re gluten-free, you know that a lot of prepared food and especially restaurant food comes with some warnings of gluten cross contamination.

It’s always possible (and probable) for most restaurants to have some kind of gluten cross contact in the kitchens and prep areas.

So that’s why I’m diving into this restaurant’s allergen statement and discussing what you need to know about the Boston Market menu. 

We’ll also talk about gluten and cross contamination at other restaurants so you know what to expect when you go out for a meal at a restaurant so you can be prepared.

But first, let’s cover the basics of gluten and where you can find it in many foods.

What is gluten?

Gluten is a protein found in most wheat products, and acts as the “glue” that helps to hold wheat, barley, kamut, spelt, farro, durum, bulgur, rye, and semolina together to maintain their shape. 

Gluten is naturally occurring, and therefore is impossible to strip away from the grain. If a grain naturally has gluten in it, there’s no way to make that food gluten-free.

Where can you find gluten in food?

Gluten can be found in the form of wheat and grain products, like bread or flour in the more obvious places.

You can also find gluten as a binding ingredient, an ingredient added for texture like to make a food more crispy, or as a thickening agent.

Where can you find gluten in restaurants?

Depending on the restaurant you’re visiting, you may find gluten in a variety of places. 

At fast food restaurants, there will be gluten in hamburger buns, the breading of crispy chicken sandwiches or chicken nuggets, some French fries, salad dressings, croutons on salad, and chili or soup options.

At other restaurants, you’ll find gluten in flour in sauces, in pizza or other pastry dough, pasta, and as a thickener in some soups. 

Where gluten is found in the menu items will vary from restaurant to restaurant. That’s why it’s always a good idea to review menus from home, and see if you can find any allergen information before you get to the restaurant itself.

Being able to review nutritional information and allergen statements before visiting a fast food restaurant can be the difference between ordering something that you think is safe for your gluten-free diet and getting sick.

Being knowledgeable about what specific menu items you’ll be able to eat without any worries of later reactions is crucial to sticking with your gluten-free diet.

Boston Market allergen statement

On their Nutrition page, you can find Boston Market’s full nutrition disclaimer. It reads:

“We understand the challenges facing the community of people who struggle with food allergies or have to manage food sensitivities in their lives. We know how difficult it is to eat safely, especially when eating out. 

Your options are often severely limited because of the absence of available information. It is with that understanding that we have compiled information on all of our menu items and are providing it to you. The information on our website includes allergy declarations for all menu items as well as foods that should be safe to order for each of the major food allergens and gluten.

The allergen information provided is accurate and up-to-date to the best of our knowledge. It is based entirely on the information provided by our ingredient manufacturers and suppliers. We have limited this discloser to the “Big 8” (wheat, soy, milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish) as those are the only allergens manufacturers are required to disclose. 

We have very few items that contain peanuts or tree nuts, however, several of our food products contain ingredients manufactured in the same plant as, and/or using the same equipment used to process, peanuts or tree nuts, which may be a source of contamination. These items are noted in the ingredient statements.

We have soy, milk, eggs, fish, nuts and wheat/gluten in our restaurants, and there may be cross contact with your food because of shared cooking and food preparation equipment.

Several menu items contain fully refined soy oil, which according to the FDA is not an allergen.

No allergen or nutritional information on our website should ever be considered a guarantee, but simply a good faith effort to serve our customers.

In addition, testing of new recipes of existing products may be conducted from time to time in certain markets. These new recipes may contain different/additional ingredients, including allergens, as compared to the original version. Some restaurants may serve menu items which are not listed on this Site.”

What you need to know about the gluten-free options at Boston Market

Boston Market has a specific page for Allergens and Special Diets on their website, which makes it easy to narrow down your options for any allergies or food intolerances you may have.

Boston Market does a good job at making their allergens known and you can find a number of entree options that contain no gluten-containing ingredients. This is encouraging for folks who are gluten intolerant, as many restaurants have very little options for folks who avoid gluten.

That said, none of the menu items (even those without gluten ingredients) are considered truly gluten-free. This is because there is gluten in their kitchens and it’s always a possibility for cross contamination to occur in the prep areas and with shared equipment and utensils.

Keep this in mind when reviewing the options below and before deciding whether or not to visit this restaurant based on what you know about how your body tolerates gluten from cross contact.

What to know about cross contamination at restaurants

Most fast food and carryout restaurants are not considered gluten-free establishments so it’s useful to keep this in mind when making decisions about where to go and what to order.

It’s important to know that even if a fast food restaurant claims that their menu items do not contain gluten, that the possibility and probability of gluten in their products is going to be high if there is even one menu item with gluten available. 

Depending on your level of sensitivity to gluten, this can be make or break information for you.

If you are Celiac and are allergic to trace amounts of gluten, you’ll likely want to avoid most fast food restaurants that offer any bread products or French fries that are cooked in a shared fryer with other gluten-containing ingredients.

If you are not sensitive to gluten at the trace level and have adverse reactions to gluten due to a food intolerance, you may decide that these trace amounts of gluten from cross contamination are worth risking for a quick, easy, and convenient food option.

Being aware of how you have reacted to gluten in your diet in the past and how much gluten it takes for your body to react is useful knowledge when it comes to situations like these.

Use your best judgment about what you know about your body, how you react to gluten, and what the risks are for you specifically.

Boston Market Gluten-free Menu Items

The items listed below are considered to not contain any gluten or wheat ingredients. This information is from the Allergens and Special Diets page on the Boston Market website. 

None of these menu items are gluten-free and cross contamination is likely to occur. 

Entrees

• Baby Back Ribs
• Chicken Salad
• Rotisserie Bourbon & Bacon BBQ Chicken
• Rotisserie Cordon Blue Chicken
• Roast Signature Chicken
• Skinless Chicken Breast
• Rotisserie Chicken Nuggets
• Turkey Breast

Sides

• Cranberry Walnut Relish
• Creamed Spinach
• Garlic Dill New Potatoes
• Mashed Potatoes
• Steamed Broccoli
• Sweet Corn

Salads

None of the Salad menu items from Boston Market are considered safe for a gluten-free diet.

Sandwich

None of the Sandwich menu items from Boston Market are considered safe for a gluten-free diet.

Soup

None of the Soup menu items from Boston Market are considered safe for a gluten-free diet.

Kids Meal

• Dark Chicken (Kids) – 1 Thigh & 1 Drumstick
• Turkey (Kids)

Sauce

• Beef Au Jus
• Chipotle Aioli
• Herbed Mayonnaise

Dessert

None of the Dessert menu items from Boston Market are considered safe for a gluten-free diet.

Miscellaneous

None of the Miscellaneous menu items from Boston Market are considered safe for a gluten-free diet.

Condiment

• Caesar Dressing
• Chipotle Ranch Dressing
• Bleu Cheese Dressing
• Homestyle Ranch Dressing
• Ranch Dressing
• Smokin’ Flame
• Boston Market Sauce

Is Boston Market Cornbread Gluten-free?

According to the Allergens & Special Diets page of the Boston Market website, their cornbread contains wheat and gluten ingredients. If you’re trying to stick with a gluten-free diet, you’ll want to avoid this side dish option.

Is Boston Market gravy gluten-free?

Boston Market offers both beef gravy and poultry gravy. Reviewing their Allergens & Special Diets page on their website, we can see that their beef gravy has both wheat and gluten ingredients. Their poultry gravy contains gluten ingredients.

You will probably want to avoid the gravy from Boston Market if you’re trying to stick with a gluten-free diet.

What sides from Boston Market are gluten-free?

If you find yourself at Boston Market and looking for some options for side dishes that don’t contain gluten or wheat ingredients, these are your best choices.

Note that these are not considered gluten-free by Boston Market as there is a high risk for cross contamination, but that these do not have gluten or wheat ingredients in their recipes.

• Cranberry Walnut Relish
• Creamed Spinach
• Garlic Dill New Potatoes
• Mashed Potatoes
• Steamed Broccoli
• Sweet Corn

If you love getting a home cooked tasting meal from Boston Market without putting in the work in the kitchen, I hope you’ve found this information helpful.

Many of the entree and side items from Boston Market do not contain gluten or wheat ingredients, but are also likely to contain gluten from cross contamination in the kitchen.

Keep this in mind before choosing this restaurant or ordering from the menu.

Looking for more information on gluten-free restaurants?

Be sure to check out my Gluten-free Restaurants post or get all the information in one place with my Gluten-free Restaurant Guide!

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More Gluten-free Restaurant Menu Items

If you’re looking at other popular restaurants and wondering what gluten-free menu items they offer, be sure to check out my Gluten-free Restaurant Guide. I’ve outlined all the gluten-free options from 45+ popular restaurants and fast food chains.

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