Gluten-free Chick-fil-A Menu Items

Find out what menu items from Chick-Fil-A do not contain gluten and what you need to know about gluten-free options from fast food restaurants.

Note: I am a proud Amazon, Chomps, MunkPack, and Thrive Market affiliate and am happy to recommend their service and products to you. Please know that as an affiliate, I may receive a small commission on the products you purchase after clicking through my links. For more info, please see my disclosure policy here.

Do you love swinging by Chick-fil-A for a quick bite to eat? Or are you trying to figure out what fast food restaurants you can eat at on your gluten-free diet? If you answered yes to either of those questions, you’re in the right place.

It can feel extremely overwhelming trying to find a restaurant that offers decent food options when you’re getting adjusted to a gluten-free diet. If you’re just getting started with your gluten-free journey or are looking for some fast food choices for vacation or other reason, I have you covered in today’s post.

I’ve been reviewing menus from fast food restaurants to help you make informed decisions next time you find yourself needing to cruise through a drive-thru or go to a fast food restaurant for a quick meal. I know that when someone outlines my specific options, it can make decisions much easier when it comes time to choose a restaurant or to put in an order.

In this post, find out what menu items from Chick-fil-A are gluten-free, where the most common places to find gluten in a fast food restaurant, and what to know about cross contamination at fast food restaurants.

Before we dive into the menu items, let’s make sure we’re on the same page as it relates to gluten and which foods it’s most likely to be found in.

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 of 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 many fast food 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 and dips, croutons on salad, and chili or soup options.

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 extremely helpful on a gluten-free diet.

Chick-Fil-A allergen statement

When it comes to food allergies, Chick-Fil-A does their best to be transparent about what they use in their different menu items. You can find a full list of what food options they serve on their menu plus the allergens present in them on their website.

Chick-Fil-A’s website states the following about allergens found in their food:

“Due to the handcrafted nature of our food, variations in our supplier ingredients, and our use of shared cooking and preparation areas, we cannot ensure that our food is free from any allergens.

Products containing wheat, egg, soy and milk are all made in our kitchens. There could be other potential allergens not addressed here. Please consult the ingredients on each product prior to consuming.”

As you can see, Chick-Fil-A is telling us that any menu item has the potential for cross contamination with wheat, egg, soy, and milk no matter what the ingredients in a specific menu item are.

What to know about cross contamination at fast food restaurants

Most fast food 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.

Gluten-free Menu Items from Chick-Fil-A

Though none of the menu items from Chick-Fil-A are technically gluten-free, there are a few that do not contain wheat products. Let’s go over what some of these options are so that if you find yourself at a Chick-Fil-A, you can make an informed decision as to what to order and what to avoid.

Since I also follow a dairy-free diet and you might too, I’ve noted those without milk ingredients in this list as well. These items are marked with an asterisk (*) and are both without wheat or milk ingredients.

Breakfast

Hash Browns*
Greek Yogurt Parfait with Granola
Fruit Cup*

Read on: Are hash browns gluten-free?

Entrees

Grilled Nuggets*

Salads

Spicy Southwest Salad
- With Spicy Grilled Filet (Cold)
- With Grilled Filet (Cold)
- With Grilled Nuggets
- With Grilled Filet (Warm)
- With No Chicken
Market Salad
- With Spicy Grilled Filet (Cold)
- With Grilled Filet (Cold)
- With Grilled Nuggets
- With Grilled Filet (Warm)
- With No Chicken

Sides

Chick-fil-A Waffle Potato Fries*
Fruit Cup*
Kale Crunch Side*
Greek Yogurt Parfait with Granola
Waffle Potato Chips*
Buddy Fruits Apple Sauce*

Kid’s Meals

Grilled Nuggets Kid’s Meal*

Treats

Frosted Lemonade
Frosted Coffee
Chocolate Milkshake
Strawberry Milkshake
Vanilla Milkshake
Icedream Cup

Drinks

Freshly-Brewed Iced Tea Sweetened*
Freshly-Brewed Iced Tea Unsweetened*
Chick-fil-A Lemonade*
Chick-fil-A Diet Lemonade*
Sunjoy (½ Sweet Tea, ½ Lemonade)*
Sunjoy (½ Sweet Tea, ½ Diet Lemonade)*
Sunjoy (½ Unsweet Tea, ½ Lemonade)*
Sunjoy (½ Unsweet Tea, ½ Diet Lemonade)*
Iced Coffee
Coca-Cola*
Dr Pepper*
Dasani Bottled Water*
Honest Kids Apple Juice*
Simply Orange*
1% Chocolate Milk
1% Milk
Coffee*

Read on: Is soda gluten-free?

Dipping Sauces

Barbeque Sauce*
Chick-fil-A Sauce*
Garden Herb Ranch Sauce
Honey Mustard Sauce*
Polynesian Sauce*
Zesty Buffalo Sauce
Honey Roasted BBQ Sauce*

Dressings

Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing*
Creamy Salsa Dressing*
Fat Free Honey Mustard Dressing*
Garden Herb Ranch Dressing
Light Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing*
Light Italian Dressing*
Zesty Apple Cider Vinaigrette Dressing*

Proteins

Grilled Breakfast Filet*
Bacon*
Sausage*
Grilled Filet*

Sandwich Toppings

Bacon*
Lettuce*
Tomato*
American Cheese
Colby Jack Cheese
Pepper Jack Cheese

Buns

Gluten Free Bun

Salad Toppings

Chili Lime Pepitas*
Harvest Nut Granola*
Roasted Nut Blend
Seasoned Tortilla Chips

Soup Toppings

The saltines from Chick-Fil-A contain gluten. You’ll want to skip this as an option if ordering soup here.

Is Chick-fil-A sauce gluten-free?

According to the allergen guide on the Chick-fil-A website, there are no wheat ingredients in their Chick-fil-A sauce.

Like all ingredients from this restaurant, there may be a potential from cross contamination with other gluten ingredients just because the kitchen has other menu items that contain gluten.

Are Chick-fil-A fries gluten-free?

Though their website didn’t state anything about cross contamination in a fryer, I found an article by Gluten-free Living that says “The waffle fries are cooked in canola oil while the fried chicken is cooked in peanut oil. That’s right—the French fries are safe at a fast-food restaurant!.”

Yes, Chick-Fil-A has gluten-free French fries!

Read on: Are Chick-fil-A fries gluten-free?

Read on: Are French fries gluten-free?

Are Chick-fil-A nuggets gluten-free?

Chick-Fil-A nuggets are not considered gluten-free. They contain wheat ingredients, and therefore should not be consumed by folks who have gluten intolerance or celiac disease.

The grilled nuggets from Chick-Fil-A do not contain any wheat ingredients. There is still a chance for cross contamination in the restaurant’s prep area in the kitchen. Keep this in mind before ordering from this restaurant if you’re trying to stick to a gluten-free diet.

Read on: Are Chick-fil-A nuggets gluten-free?

If you love Chick-fil-A or are just wondering what menu items from this fast food restaurant are gluten-free, I hope this post has helped you get the information you’ve been looking for.

There are a few menu items from this restaurant that don’t contain wheat, but they are not considered gluten-free due to the risk of cross contamination with other foods served at this restaurant.

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!

Make dining out easier with the 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

Gluten-free menu items from popular restaurants

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.

Additional menu