Gluten-free Cheesecake Factory Menu Items

Find out what menu items from Cheesecake Factory do not contain gluten and what you need to know about gluten-free options from restaurants.

If you have ever been to a Cheesecake Factory, you may have been overwhelmed by the vast menu that they offer. With page upon page of options, it can take ages to get through the menu, then having to narrow that down to what you actually want.

If you have been in a Cheesecake Factory and been overwhelmed by the menu and what to order while avoiding gluten, this navigation through the menu can be even more daunting.

In this post, we’re going to go over all the gluten-free options that Cheesecake Factory offers, as well as make sure you know the details of what you’re getting into when ordering gluten-free items from a restaurant.

Next time you’re at Cheesecake Factory, hopefully it will be far less intimidating to find what options work for you on a gluten-free diet after you’re done reading this post.

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.

Gluten is in noodles, sauces, buns, salad croutons, and even salad dressings.

Where can you find gluten in many restaurants?

Depending on the fast food restaurant you’re visiting, you may find gluten in a variety of places. Hamburger buns, the breading of crispy chicken sandwiches or chicken nuggets, some French fries, salad dressings, croutons on salad, and chili or soup options.

Gluten is usually in any pasta dishes, many sauces, and in pie or cheesecake crusts, or cakes. Many desserts contain gluten.

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, and being knowledgeable about what specific menu items you’ll be able to eat without any worries of later reactions.

Cheesecake Factory allergen statement

The notice that Cheesecake Factory gives when looking through their allergen guide on their website is the following:

“Please take note of the following when making a menu selection dependent upon our allergen information:

We have prepared this guide to assist our guests with food sensitivities or allergies. While we use reasonable efforts in our sourcing, preparation and handling procedures to avoid introduction of the named allergens into these menu choices, we are unable to guarantee that any menu item will be free of any allergen.

Our menu items are handcrafted in our restaurants, which are not allergen free environments. Menu items may be prepared using shared equipment (including common fryers) and cross-contact with allergens may occur. We rely on supplier ingredient labels, which may not be accurate, and which may contain unregulated advisory statements such as “may contain.” We do not take these unregulated statements into consideration when developing allergy-friendly meals.

PLEASE inform your server if you have a food allergy. If you have any questions regarding our menu, please contact our Guest Services Department in advance of dining with us so that we may try to assist you.”

What this means for us gluten-free folks is that there are plenty of options that they might have on their menu that have no specific gluten ingredients, but the likelihood of cross contamination is present even on these menu items.

Restaurant kitchens are busy places and it’s hard to ensure the level of detail that will be taken to ensure keeping foods with gluten away from those that are gluten-free.

What to know about cross contamination at restaurants

Most 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 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.

Gluten-free Menu Items from Cheesecake Factory

Cheesecake Factory has a number of gluten-free options available. They have a few different menus that you can choose from depending on the time of day you go and a separate menu for kids. I’ve done my best to include all of these different options here in this list.

Some items repeat throughout the list and this is because they are repeated throughout the menus Cheesecake Factory uses. I wanted to be sure this list is thorough so if you go looking for something in one area, it’s obvious to you which choices are gluten-free.

All the information I’ve included here was found on the Allergen Guide on the Cheesecake Factory website.

Since I also follow a dairy-free diet in addition to avoiding gluten and I know many of my readers do as well, I’ve noted all the items that are both gluten and dairy-free with an asterisk (*). Look for these as you make your way through this list.

Small Plates & Snacks

• Beet and Avocado Salad

Appetizers

• Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes

Salad Additions

• Avocado*
• Chargrilled Steak*
• Grilled Chicken*
• Grilled Salmon*
• Grilled Shrimp*

Lunch Favorites

• Lunch Shepherd’s Pie

Glamburgers

• French Fries*
• Sweet Potato Fries*

Salad Dressings & Condiments

• Barbeque Ranch Dressing
• Blue Cheese Dressing
• Caesar Dressing
• Citrus Honey Dressing*
• Ketchup*
• Ranch Dressing
• Thousand Island Dressing*

Sandwiches

• French Fries*
• Sweet Potato Fries*

Side Dishes

• Broccoli*
• French Fries*
• Fresh Corn
• Green Beans
• Mashed Potatoes
• Sauteed Spinach
• Sweet Potato Fries*

Specialties

• Shepherd’s Pie

Steaks & Chops

• Carne Asada Steak
• Chargrilled New York Steak
• Filet Mignon
• Grilled Rib-Eye Steak
• Steak Diane

Side Dishes

• Broccoli
• French Fries
• Fresh Corn
• Green Beans
• Mashed Potatoes
• Sauteed Spinach
• Sweet Potato Fries 

Eggs & Omelettes

• California Omelette
• Farm Fresh Eggs
• Farm Fresh Eggs with Grilled Ham
• Farm Fresh Eggs with Old Smokehouse Bacon
• Loco Moco
• Spinach, Mushroom, Bacon and Cheese Omelette

Factory Create an Omelette

• Add Avocado (to Omelette)*
• Add Bacon (to Omelette)*
• Add Bell Peppers (to Omelette)*
• Add Fresh Mushrooms (to Omelette)*
• Add Fresh Tomato (to Omelette)*
• Add Green Onions (to Omelette)*
• Add Grilled Asparagus (to Omelette)*
• Add Ham (to Omelette)*
• Add Red Onions (to Omelette)*
• Add Roasted Peppers (to Omelette)*
• Add Spinach (to Omelette)*

Breakfast Accompaniments

• Breakfast Potatoes
• Sliced Tomatoes*

Cheesecakes

• Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake
• Low-Licious Cheesecake
• Low-Licious Cheesecake with Strawberries

Read on: Is cheesecake gluten-free?

Cheesecakes & Desserts

• A La Mode
• Hot Fudge

Specialty Desserts

• Bowl of Fresh Strawberries

Ice Cream Delights

• Bowl of Vanilla Ice Cream
• Hot Fudge Sundae

Creamy Milkshakes

• Chocolate Milkshake
• Strawberry Milkshake
• Vanilla Milkshake

Iced & Frozen Drinks

• Frozen Iced Mango*
• Peach Smoothie*
• Strawberry Fruit Smoothie*
• Tropical Smoothie*

Hot Drinks & Espressos

• Cafe*
• Cafe con Leche
• Cafe Cortadito
• Cafe Latte
• Cafe Mocha
• Cappuccino
• Certified Organic Black and Herb Teas*
• Cold Brew Iced Coffee*
• Double Espresso*
• Freshly Brewed Black, Green or Tropical Iced Teas*
• Freshly Brewed Coffee*

Beverages

• Apple Juice*
• Arnold Palmer*
• Barq’s Root Beer*
• Canada Dry Ginger Ale
• Coca-Cola Zero Sugar*
• Coke*
• Cucumber Lemonade*
• Diet Coke*
• Diet Dr. Pepper*
• Dr. Pepper*
• Fanta Fruit Punch*
• Fanta Orange Soda*
• Fiji Natural Artesian Water*
• Freshly Brewed Black, Green or Tropical Iced Teas*
• Fresh Orange Juice*
• Peach Lemonade*
• San Pellegrino Water*
• Sprite*
• Sprite Zero*
• Strawberry Lemonade*
• The Cheesecake Factory Signature Lemonade*

Read on: Is soda gluten-free?

Skinnylicious Cocktails

• Skinnylicious Cosmopolitan
• Skinnylicious Mojito
• Skinnylicious Red Sangria

Skinnylicious Small Plates & Appetizers

• Beet and Avocado Salad

Skinnylicious Specialties

• SkinnyLicious Chicken Soft Tacos
• SkinnyLicious Shrimp Soft Tacos

Kids’ Entrees

• Kids’ Grilled Chicken
• Kids’ Grilled Salmon

Kids’ Sides

• Kids’ French Fries*
• Kids’ Fresh Fruit*

Kids’ Drinks

• Kids’ Apple Juice*
• Kids’ Barq’s Root Beer*
• Kids’ Coca-Cola Zero Sugar*
• Kids’ Coke*
• Kids’ Diet Coke*
• Kids’ Diet Dr. Pepper*
• Kids’ Dr. Pepper*
• Kids’ Fanta Fruit Punch*
• Kids’ Fanta Orange Soda*
• Kids’ Lemonade*
• Kids’ Sprite*
• Kids’ Sprite Zero*

Kids’ Desserts

• Kids’ Mini Hot Fudge Sundae
• Kids’ Scoop of Ice Cream
• Kids’ Strawberries

Gluten-free Small Plates & Snacks

• Beet and Avocado Salad

Gluten-free Appetizers

• Fire-Roasted Fresh Artichoke
• Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes

Gluten-free Appetizer Salads

• Appetizer Caesar Salad
• Appetizer Caesar Salad with Chicken
• Tossed Green Salad*
• Tossed Green Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing*
• Tossed Green Salad with French Mustard Vinaigrette*
• Tossed Green Salad with Ranch Dressing*
• Tossed Green Salad with Thousand Island Dressing*

Gluten-free Lunch Specials

• Lunch Evelyn’s Favorite Pasta
• Lunch Four Cheese Pasta
• Lunch Four Cheese Pasta with Chicken
• Lunch Fresh Grilled Salmon with Corn Succotash
• Lunch Fresh Grilled Salmon with Green Beans
• Lunch Fresh Grilled Salmon with Sauteed Spinach
• Lunch Pasta Carbonara
• Lunch Pasta Carbonara with Chicken
• Lunch Pasta Pomodoro
• Lunch Pasta with Chicken and Roasted Garlic
• Lunch Shepherd’s Pie
• Lunch Shrimp with Rotini

Gluten-free Glamburgers

• American Cheeseburger
• BBQ Kalua Pork*
• Bacon-Bacon Cheeseburger
• Factory Turkey Burger
• French Fries*
• Green Salad*
• Hawaiian Fish Sandwich – Ahi
• Hawaiian Fish Sandwich – Ono
• Hawaiian Fish Sandwich – Salmon
• Impossible Burger*
• Mushroom Burger
• Old Fashioned Burger*
• Stuffed Cheddar Burger
• Sweet Potato Fries*

Gluten-free Specialties

• Shepherd’s Pie

Gluten-free Pastas

• Evelyn’s Favorite Pasta
• Four Cheese Pasta
• Four Cheese Pasta with Chicken
• Pasta Carbonara
• Pasta Carbonara with Chicken
• Pasta with Chicken and Roasted Garlic
• Shrimp with Rotini
• Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta

Grilled Fish & Seafood

• Fresh Grilled Salmon with Fresh Corn
• Fresh Grilled Salmon with Green Beans
• Fresh Grilled Salmon with Sauteed Spinach
• Miso Salmon

Gluten-free Steaks & Chops

• Chargrilled New York Steak
• Filet Mignon
• Grilled Rib-Eye Steak
• Steak Diane

Gluten-free Side Dishes

• Broccoli*
• French Fries – Side*
• Green Beans
• Mashed Potatoes
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Sauteed Spinach

Gluten-free Salads

• Caesar Salad
• Caesar Salad with Chicken

Gluten-free Eggs & Omelettes

• California Omelette
• Farm Fresh Eggs
• Farm Fresh Eggs with Grilled Ham
• Farm Fresh Eggs with Old Smokehouse Bacon
• Loco Moco
• Spinach, Mushroom, Bacon and Cheese Omelette

Gluten-free Factory Create an Omelette

• Add Avocado (to Omelette)*
• Add Bacon (to Omelette)*
• Add Bell Peppers (to Omelette)*
• Add Cheddar Cheese (to Omelette)
• Add Fontina Cheese (to Omelette)
• Add Fresh Mushrooms (to Omelette)*
• Add Fresh Tomato (to Omelette)*
• Add Green Onions (to Omelette)*
• Add Grilled Asparagus (to Omelette)*
• Add Ham (to Omelette)*
• Add Red Onions (to Omelette)*
• Add Roasted Peppers (to Omelette)*
• Add Spinach (to Omelette)*
• Add Swiss Cheese (to Omelette)

Gluten-free Saturday & Sunday Brunch

• Jambalaya Hash & Eggs

Gluten-free Breakfast Sides

• Breakfast Potatoes
• Sliced Tomatoes*

Gluten-free Desserts

• Bowl of Fresh Strawberries
• Bowl of Vanilla Ice Cream
• Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake
• Hot Fudge Sundae
• Low-Licious Cheesecake
• Low-Licious Cheesecake with Stawberries

Gluten-free Skinnylicious Small Plates & Appetizers

• Beet and Avocado Salad

Gluten-free Skinnylicious Specialties

• SkinnyLicious Chicken Soft Tacos
• SkinnyLicious Shrimp Soft Tacos

Gluten-free Kids’ Menu

• Kids’ Grilled Chicken
• Kids’ Grilled Salmon
• Kids’ Mini Hot Fudge Sundae
• Kids’ Pasta with Alfredo Sauce
• Kids’ Pasta with Butter and Parmesan
• Kids’ Pasta with Marinara Sauce*
• Kids’ Scoop of Ice Cream
• Kids’ Strawberries

Gluten-free Happy Hour Menu

• “Happy Hour” Burger

If you’ve been looking to decide what to order next time you’re at the Cheesecake Factory, I hope this post helps you make your decisions. 

As always with restaurants, be aware that a gluten-free item may or may not come in contact with gluten in the prep kitchens. Use your best judgment based on what you know about your body to help you make a decision on what to order and eat.

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!

If you loved this post, I hope that you’ll share it with your friends on Facebook and pin it for future reference on Pinterest.

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.

• Gluten-free Fast Food: Options from Major Chains
• Gluten and Dairy-free Diet: 4 Restaurant Tips
• Applebee’s Gluten-free Menu Items
• Arby’s Gluten-free Menu Items
• Blaze Pizza Gluten-free Menu Items
• Boston Market Gluten-free Menu Items
• Buffalo Wild Wings Gluten-free Menu Items
• Burger King Gluten-free Menu Items
• California Pizza Kitchen Gluten-free Menu Items
• Cheesecake Factory Gluten-free Menu Items
• Chick-Fil-A Gluten-free Menu Items
• Chilis Gluten-free Menu Items
• Chipotle Gluten-free Menu Items
• Cracker Barrel Gluten-free Menu Items
• Crumbl Cookies Gluten-free Menu Items
• Culver’s Gluten-free Menu Items
• Denny’s Gluten-free Menu Items
• Domino’s Gluten-free Menu Items
• Dunkin Donuts Gluten-free Menu Items
• Einstein Bros Bagels Gluten-free Menu Items
• Firehouse Subs Gluten-free Menu Items
• First Watch Gluten-free Menu Items
• Five Guys Gluten-free Menu Items
• IHOP Gluten-free Menu Items
• Jack In The Box Gluten-free Menu Items

• Jimmy John’s Gluten-free Menu Items
• KFC Gluten-free Menu Items
• Little Caesar’s Gluten-free Menu Items
• Longhorn Steakhouse Gluten-free Menu Items
• McDonald’s Gluten-free Menu Items
• MOD Pizza Gluten-free Menu Items
• Nothing Bundt Cakes Gluten-free Menu Items
• Olive Garden Gluten-free Menu Items
• Outback Steakhouse Gluten-free Menu Items
• Panda Express Gluten-free Menu Items
• Panera Gluten-free Menu Items
• Papa Johns Gluten-free Menu Items
• Papa Murphy’s Gluten-free Menu Items
• P.F. Chang’s Gluten-free Menu Items
• Pizza Hut Gluten-free Menu Items
• Qdoba Gluten-free Menu Items
• Red Lobster Gluten-free Menu Items
• Red Robin Gluten-free Menu Items
• Ruby Tuesday Gluten-free Menu Items
• Shake Shack Gluten-free Menu Items
• Smashburger Gluten-free Menu Items
• Sonic Gluten-free Menu Items
• Starbucks Gluten-free Menu Items
• Subway Gluten-free Menu Items
• Taco Bell Gluten-free Menu Items
• Texas Roadhouse Gluten-free Menu Items
• Wendy’s Gluten-free Menu Items
• Whataburger Gluten-free Menu Items
• Wingstop Gluten-free Menu Items