Gluten-free Fast Food: Options from Major Chains

Find out what options popular fast food chains offer for people following a gluten-free diet, including Burger King, McDonalds, and Wendy’s.

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If you love eating out or going through a drive through on your way home from work on a busy evening but find it practically impossible to find gluten-free options, you’re not alone.

There are so many great fast food chains out there, but without scouring every single restaurant’s menu and website, it can be hard to know what menu options are safe for your while sticking with your gluten-free diet.

I’ve been rounding up menu items from some of the most popular fast food chains, like Burger King, McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, and Taco Bell. My goal is to not only have a good understanding of what each fast food restaurant offers in terms of gluten-free items, but what their stance is on allergens in their kitchens.

As we all know, being gluten-free isn’t just about not including gluten ingredients in your food, it’s about the cleanliness of the preparation area and separation from foods with gluten.

In this post, we’re going to talk about some popular fast food restaurants, as well as go over some of the major things you’ll want to know about eating at fast food restaurants on a gluten-free diet.

Before we dig in, let’s go over some of the basics of a gluten-free diet so that we know we’re on the same page with our understanding of what this diet entails.

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 is often found in the form of wheat and grain products, like bread, flour, or crackers. It can also be found as a binding ingredient, an ingredient added for texture like to make a food more crispy, or as a thickening agent.

Now that we know what gluten is and where it’s often found in foods, let’s talk a bit more specifically about gluten in fast food restaurants.

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, croutons on salad, and chili or soup options.

At some fast food restaurants, gluten can be found in dessert menu items as well. Cookie or candy bites in ice cream contain gluten, as well as ice cream cones.

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.

How to find out information about a fast food chain’s allergen statement and information

When you’re at a drive through or standing in line at a fast food restaurant, it can seem like this information isn’t anywhere in sight.

You may need to ask about how the restaurant or chain handles allergens and specifically gluten. There may be a pamphlet on a bulletin board or a binder or folder that someone who works there can pull out from behind the counter for you.

What you’re looking for is to understand how this specific fast food chain handles allergens and if anything is done to ensure that foods with gluten or other allergens aren’t subjected to cross contamination.

The big spoiler here is that most fast food restaurants will likely have some cross contamination and that’s just the nature of visiting one of these places for a convenient meal.

You have to know what your body’s level of gluten sensitivity is and what your comfort level is knowing that gluten may be on the food that you order even if there’s no gluten in that particular menu item.

If you can’t find any allergen information in the fast food restaurant itself, you can look online. Most websites have some way of helping you to identify whether foods are made in shared fryers or what the ingredients in a menu item are.

If there’s no obvious allergen statement online, you can assume that there is no question about cross contamination at this fast food chain, and that it for sure happens at this set of restaurants.

How to find out which fast food menu items are gluten-free

The easiest way to determine what the fast food chain offers in terms of gluten-free menu items after looking for an allergen statement is to see if they offer nutritional information on their website.

Many websites will have a section on their website that calls out the allergens and/or nutritional information. You can look through ingredients lists or some websites will offer filtering of their menu items to help you rule out the options that contain gluten ingredients.

Depending on the chain, the amount of information available may vary. Do your research, or check out the posts that I’ve done the work for you to help decide what you’d like to order from these restaurants.

Arby’s Gluten-free Menu Items

Arby’s allergen statement makes its clear that there are no specific menu items that are gluten-free at any of their restaurants due to the cross contamination that is likely to occur in their kitchens.

Most menu items at this fast food chain have buns, sandwich bread, and/or are fried in a shared fryer with other gluten-containing ingredients.

That said, the few menu items you may consider ordering from Arby’s if you have a gluten sensitivity and can tolerate gluten from cross contamination in your diet are:

Shakes (jamocha, chocolate, and vanilla)
Beverages

Read on: Are Arby’s fries gluten-free?

Burger King Gluten-free Menu Items

Burger King is clear that there is likely cross contamination in their chain restaurants. Most of their burgers have buns, their fries are made in a shared fryer, and the preparation areas in the kitchen are shared with gluten and gluten-free menu items.

That said, if you’re still looking for something to order here that doesn’t contain any gluten ingredients, here are a few options you may want to consider:

Garden Side Salad with one of their three gluten-free salad dressing options
Soft serve cup, vanilla shake, or chocolate shake
A beverage, like coffee, iced coffee, soda, orange juice, or iced tea

The options here are extremely limited unfortunately.

Read on: Are Burger King fries gluten-free?

Chick-Fil-A Gluten-free Menu Items

Chick-Fil-A is great about being transparent about what ingredients they use in their menu items, though they make it clear that their restaurants very likely will have cross contamination with gluten in every area of their kitchens.

If you’re interested in ordering something from Chick-Fil-A knowing this information about cross contamination, here are some menu items without any gluten ingredients specifically added to them:

Grilled Nuggets
Spicy Southwest Salad
Market Salad
Waffle Potato Fries (they’re cooked in canola oil rather than a shared fryer)
Most of their beverages
Frosted lemonade or coffee
Chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla milkshake

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

Chipotle Gluten-free Menu Items

There is no specific “gluten-free” claim from Chipotle as this restaurant does offer ingredients that contain gluten. Their flour tortillas used for tacos and burritos are made with wheat flour and should be avoided.

Chipotle cares about transparency with the food they serve. You can review ingredients in all their different foods on their website, which is handy if you have questions about what a menu item contains.

Cross contamination is a possibility at Chipotle and the level of attention to keep the risk of cross contact will vary from one restaurant to another.

These are the menu items from Chipotle that do not contain gluten or wheat ingredients but still may have these from cross contamination:

Proteins (barbacoa, carnitas, chicken, sofritas, steak)
Rice (brown and white)
Beans (black and pinto)
Salsa (fresh tomato, roasted chili-corn, tomatillo green-chili, tomatillo red-chili)
Corn tortillas
Fajita vegetables
Tortilla chips
Some toppings (guacamole, Monterey jack cheese, queso blanco, romaine lettuce, sour cream, supergreens lettuce blend, chipotle honey vinaigrette)

Dairy Queen Gluten-free Menu Items

Dairy Queen has an official statement for folks who are gluten-sensitive, which states that many of their menu items will have cross contamination. The safest options are those that come in clear plastic packaging, like their manufactured novelties: Dilly® Bars, Buster Bar® Treats, Fudge Bars, Vanilla Orange Bars, or Starkiss® Bars.

If you are looking for other options knowing that there is still a likelihood of cross contamination, choose one of these menu items that have no gluten ingredients:

Rotisserie-style Chicken Bites or Salad Bowl
Four Blizzard options: Cotton Candy, Snickers, Turtle Pecan Cluster, Very Cherry Chip
One their shakes
One of their sundaes
A premium fruit smoothie
A Julius Original

Read on: Is Dairy Queen ice cream gluten-free?

Dunkin Donuts Gluten-free Menu Items

Dunkin Donuts has an Allergen and Ingredient Guide that states clearly that there is a high chance of gluten cross contamination with most of their food and drinks.

If you are still interested in ordering something from Dunkin Donuts with the knowledge that there is likely to be cross contamination, choose one of these options:

Bacon & Cheddar or Egg White & Veggie Omelet Bites
Many of their drinks
Many of their packaged drinks

Review this Dunkin Donuts Gluten-free Menu Items post for a full detailed list of the drink options – there are simply too many to list in this post!

Gluten-free Menu Items at Einstein Bros Bagels

Einstein Bros Bagels Gluten-free Menu Items

Einstein Bros Bagels states in their allergen statement that “there is a possibility of food touching, allergens like wheat becoming airborne or common equipment being utilized to handle foods containing any of the major allergens.”

Keep this in mind before ordering from this fast food restaurant. If you still want to find something without gluten ingredients, here are your options:

Broccoli Cheese Soup
Beverages

Some of the ingredients that are sold to go on their bagels don’t contain gluten ingredients, but they don’t sell them individually.

Firehouse Subs Gluten-free Menu Items

Firehouse Subs makes it clear that there is always a chance of cross contact within their restaurants.

Firehouse Subs does not offer any gluten-free bread options or guarantee that the food you order will be gluten-free due to cross contamination. They may make efforts to reduce the potential for cross contact, but they don’t guarantee it.

That said, most of the sandwich options are off the table. You may choose from a few of their Chopped Salad and Soup options. Many of the sub sandwich toppings and fillings don’t contain gluten ingredients, but as far as I can tell, there’s no way to order these without bread.

Stick to one of these options if you decide to visit a Firehouse Subs:

Some of their Chopped Salad options
Broccoli & Cheese Soup
Chili

First Watch Gluten-free Menu Items

First Watch doesn’t offer anything in their menu that is truly considered “gluten-free” because of the risk of cross contamination in the kitchens with cooking surfaces and utensils.

If you have a gluten intolerance and know that you can tolerate small amounts of gluten in your diet due to cross contact, you may be able to enjoy menu items that contain no wheat or gluten ingredients.

First Watch does offer gluten-free toast if you wish to substitute that for a ciabatta roll or whole grain artisan toast.

If you choose to order from this restaurant, these are a few options you may consider, but again they are not truly gluten-free:

Many of their breakfast sandwich fillings contain no wheat ingredients
Many omelets and frittatas have no wheat ingredients, but avoid any bread that comes on the side
A few of their salads like their Super Food Kale Salad, Chicken Avocado Chop Salad, Cobb Salad, and Sweet Honey Pecan Salad served without bread on the side
Market Vegetable Soup and White Bean Chicken Chili
Some of their Sides and Small Plates like sausage, ham, fruit, and grits
Most of their beverage options

Five Guys Gluten-free Menu Items

Five Guys makes their allergen and nutrition information easy to understand on their website, including the ingredients of each of the menu items they offer.

Their allergen statement makes it clear that there is always a risk of cross contamination at their restaurants because they offer menu items with gluten and wheat.

While they aim to take food allergies seriously, you can’t know for sure there will be no cross contact in their kitchens. Keep this mind before visiting this restaurant and before you make choices about what to order.

These are some of the menu items that you can order without gluten-containing ingredients:

Any hamburger with a gluten-free bun or lettuce wrap
Milkshakes with certain milkshake mix-ins (avoid cookies)
Fountain drinks
Bulk peanuts

Jack In The Box Gluten-free Menu Items

It’s important to know that none of the menu items from Jack In The Box are ever considered “gluten-free.” This fast food restaurant has shared prep areas in their kitchen and don’t generally have dedicated utensils or ingredients for folks who are trying to stick with a gluten-free diet.

None of their burgers, chicken, or breakfast options are considered safe for a gluten-free diet. Some of the options you can feel okay ordering if you aren’t sensitive to gluten at the amounts you might find from cross contact are some of their salads without croutons or dressing and their drinks.

If you decide Jack In The Box might have something for you, try one of these options that are said to not contain gluten ingredients:

Some of their salad options with grilled chicken, with select dressings and no croutons or crunchy toppings
French Fries (their fries are said to be made in a dedicated fryer)
Chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla shakes
Fountain drinks

Jimmy John’s Gluten-free Menu Items

While Jimmy John’s does have ingredients that you can order that contain no gluten, it’s important to know that this is not considered a gluten-free restaurant.

They can make a sandwich without the main source of gluten, the bread, and instead make your sandwich in a lettuce wrap. Order an “unwich” to get a lettuce wrapped sandwich.

If you decide to visit Jimmy John’s based on what you’ve read about the possibility of cross contamination, these are the menu items you may consider ordering that contain no gluten ingredients.

Unwich (lettuce wrap)
Ham, turkey, roast beef, salami, capocollo, and bacon
Avocado spread, Kickin’ Ranch, Hellman’s Mayo, Jimmy Mustard, Grey Poupon, yellow mustard, oil & vinegar, oregano and basil
Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, Jimmy Peppers, pickles
Regular, Thinny, and Jalapeno Jimmy chips

KFC Gluten-free Menu Items

KFC doesn’t offer any specific gluten-free items on their menu. They do have some options that contain no gluten ingredients, but there is always a chance of cross contamination at this restaurant.

Keep in mind that none of the chicken options from KFC are considered safe for folks on a gluten-free diet, as they all contain wheat.

If you decide to visit a KFC knowing there’s a real possibility for cross contact with gluten in the prep areas, these are some options you may consider as they don’t have wheat ingredients.

Some sides, like coleslaw, corn on the cob, green beans, mashed potatoes, potato salad, and sweet kernel corn
Caesar side salad and house side salad without croutons
Select dressings for salads, like Heinz Buttermilk, Hidden Valley Ranch, KFC Parmesan Caesar, and Marzetti Italian
Fountain drinks

McDonald’s Gluten-free Menu Items

McDonald’s like many other fast food chains are run as franchises, meaning one restaurant could vary from another down the road.

The McDonald’s company states in their allergen statement that “despite taking precautions, normal kitchen operations may involve some shared cooking and preparation areas, equipment and utensils, and the possibility exists for your food items to come in contact with other food products, including allergens.”

Knowing that there is likely some gluten cross contamination with most menu items, you can decide for yourself if you’ll order from this fast food restaurant. If you still want to find something to order, choose an option that has no gluten ingredients, including these menu items:

All their beverage options
McFlurry with M&M’s
Chocolate, Vanilla, or Strawberry Shake
Hot Fudge or Hot Caramel Sundae
All McCafe drinks

Read on: Are McDonald’s fries gluten-free?

Read on: Are McDonald’s hash browns gluten-free?

Papa Johns Gluten-free Menu Items

Papa Johns does offer a gluten-free crust option for folks on a gluten-free diet. However, they make a special note on their website that says that all their products may come into contact with wheat (and therefore gluten) in their restaurants.

The gluten-free crust may work for folks who are intolerant to gluten or can handle trace amounts of gluten from cross contamination, but this is not a safe place to order pizza from if you are celiac.

These are the options from the Papa Johns website that are considered to have no gluten-containing ingredients:

Any pizza with gluten-free crust
Many pizza sauces, cheeses, and toppings
Four types of wings, including Roasted, Honey Chipotle, Buffalo, and BBQ wings
Many dipping sauce options

Papa Murphy’s Gluten-free Menu Items

Papa Murphy’s offers a gluten-free crust that’s made by the Udi’s brand. Udi’s is a well-known and reputable manufacturer of many gluten-free products, like bread, pizza crust, and bagels.

Papa Murphy’s has gluten-free pizza crusts, but their pizzas are all prepared in a shared kitchen with ingredients used to make traditional pizza crusts containing gluten. The probability of cross contamination with gluten in the kitchen is high.

These are some of the menu items that you can order without gluten-containing ingredients:

Pizzas made on a gluten-free pizza crust
Any their sauces, including their Traditional Red
Any cheese and veggie options
Most meat toppings
Crustless Pizza Slices
Salads ordered without dressing or croutons – a select list of salad dressings, like 1000 Island, Balsamic, Bleu Cheese, Buttermilk Ranch, Caesar, and Italian contain no gluten

Panda Express Gluten-free Menu Items

Panda Express makes it known that they do not offer any gluten-free dishes whatsoever in their restaurants.

They are clear in their allergen statement that they use ingredients with wheat and gluten and these ingredients are used in their kitchens. It seems as though no effort is made to accommodate folks who are celiac or have a gluten sensitivity or intolerance.

To keep up with your gluten-free diet, your best bet is to stick with their fountain drinks and other beverage options.

Qdoba Gluten-free Menu Items

Qdoba, like many other Mexican restaurants, has a number of ingredients that do not contain gluten, in their corn tortillas, meat, cheese, and toppings.

The soft corn tortillas, tortilla chips, and tortilla strips don’t have gluten ingredients, but they do have a warning on their allergen information that they “may contain gluten).

There is always a chance of cross contamination, as this restaurant serves flour tortillas and other gluten-containing ingredients.

If you decide to visit this restaurant, your best options are those without any gluten but are still not considered truly gluten-free. You might choose one of these options:

Chicken Bows, like the Fresca, Protein, Queso, Hot & Sweet, and Low Cal Chicken Grain bowls
Salads like their Citrus Lime Chicken Salad and Paleo Chicken Salad
Fajita Vegan Bowl, Impossible Fajita Bowl, and Smoke Brisket Bowl

You may look through this post with Qdoba toppings that contain no gluten ingredients.

Shake Shack Gluten-free Menu Items

Shake Shack says that they are willing to work with any customer to make gluten-friendly options, including swapping a regular bun for a lettuce wrap.

Keep in mind that even if these menu items do not have gluten-containing ingredients in them, there is still a chance for cross contamination with gluten in the kitchen due to shared surfaces, equipment, and utensils.

These are some options that do not contain gluten ingredients that you may consider ordering:

Some of their burgers and sandwiches (Shackburger, Hamburger, SmokeShack) ordered with a lettuce wrap or gluten-free bun (if available at your location)
Shakes, floats, and cups
Any fountain drinks or Shack wines

Sonic Gluten-free Menu Items

Sonic makes it clear in their allergen statement that the ingredients used may vary from location to location, but some things do remain consistent.

The biggest takeaway is that they do not follow any protocols to keep foods that contain gluten away from foods that do not.

This means that if you’re ordering from a Sonic and want to make sure what you order is gluten-free, the chances are going to be quite slim as almost everything is susceptible to cross contamination.

With a shared kitchen, utensils, and fryer oil, it’s almost a guarantee that anything you order from the Sonic menu will contain at least some gluten from cross contamination.

The safest options from Sonic for folks trying to stay away from gluten are:

Fountain drinks, water, milk, juice, iced coffee, hot chocolate
Vanilla ice cream
Slush drinks and any flavor add-ins and syrups

Starbucks Gluten-free Menu Items

It might be easy to assume that all the drinks from Starbucks are gluten-free, but unfortunately that just isn’t the case.

Some drinks, especially cold blended drinks and Frappuccinos, contain gluten. It would be easy to look past this if I’d not done the research on ingredients while looking at their menus for this post.

As for their food items, all food in Starbucks are handled with shared gloves, utensils, and kitchen surfaces for gluten-containing foods and foods without gluten.

They also use a shared blender, espresso steam wand, and the pantry case keeps foods with and without gluten right next to each other.

These are some options from Starbucks you may consider safe if you can tolerate gluten from cross-contamination in your diet:

Most of their hot coffees and hot teas
Most (not all) of their Frappuccino options
Most cold coffee, cold drinks, and iced tea drinks
Three varieties of egg bites
Marshmallow Dream Bar

Subway Gluten-free Menu Items

Some Subway restaurants offer gluten-free bread, but not all. Check with your local Subway before visiting to make sure they have a gluten-free bread option for you.

Though they offer gluten-free bread, you’ll want to be aware of cross contamination throughout the kitchen and prep areas. Since they do serve bread with gluten, the chances of cross contact are high.

If you are gluten sensitive and not celiac, you may make the choice to visit this fast food restaurant. In this case, these are the toppings and options that Subway states do not contain gluten or wheat-containing ingredients:

Many protein options, like bacon, grilled chicken, cold cut combo meats, black forest ham, Italian BMT, pepperoni, steak, oven-roasted turkey breast, and more
Cheese (American, fresh mozzarella, Monterey cheese blend, parmesan, pepperjack, provolone)
Many of their condiment & dressing options (Caesar, chipotle southwest, honey mustard, mayonnaise, oil, ranch, and more)
All vegetable options
Broccoli & Cheddar soup

Taco Bell Gluten-free Menu Items

Taco Bell’s allergen statement states that they don’t claim any of their food is “gluten-free.” They go on to say “Some Taco Bell® items are made without gluten containing ingredients but are prepared in common kitchen areas, including common fryer oil, risking gluten exposure. Taco Bell® does not recommend products for customers with celiac disease. Customers with gluten sensitivities should exercise judgment when ordering.”

If you are still looking for options from Taco Bell, choose one of the following menu items that they say have no gluten ingredients included:

Crunchy Taco or Supreme version
Nacho Cheese Doritos Locos Taco or Supreme version
Power Menu Bowls with chicken, steak, or veggies
Black Beans or Black Beans & Rice
Many of their drinks and fountain beverages

Wendy’s Gluten-free Menu Items

Wendy’s makes it clear on their website that cross contact is possible in the handling and preparation of all food made in their restaurants. They don’t guarantee any menu item is completely free of allergens and customers with allergies and sensitivities should exercise judgment when ordering.

Even so, if you’d like to find an option from the Wendy’s menu that has no gluten ingredients, choose from the following:

Grilled Asiago Ranch Chicken Club, Parmesan Caesar Salad, Southwest Avocado Salad, and Apple Pecan Salad – though all have a note that a shared cutting board is used for the grilled chicken in these salads
Taco Salad
Chili
Baked Potatoes (all varieties)
Many of their beverages and fountain drinks
Classic Chocolate or Vanilla Frosty

Read on: Is Wendy’s chili gluten-free?

Whataburger Gluten-free Menu Items

This fast food restaurant doesn’t have an allergen disclaimer – or at least not one that is easily accessible to find online. Use your own judgment as to whether or not you’d trust this restaurant without any obvious allergen information.

There aren’t a lot of options from this restaurant that are clearly going to be safe for folks who avoid gluten in their diet. Most menu items come with buns and this restaurant doesn’t seem to take any precautions around keeping gluten and wheat ingredients away from others.

If you have to choose items from Whataburger on a gluten-free diet, these may be your best options, but they are certainly not considered gluten-free:

Some Whataburgers ordered without a bun
Packaged apple slices
A few of their salads don’t seem to have wheat ingredients, like their Apple & Cranberry Chicken Salad and garden Salad
Fruit Snacks for kids
Most drinks and shakes

If you’ve been wondering what your gluten-free options are for fast food, I hope this post has given you some insight as to what you can order. As you can see, there are rarely options that won’t have the caveat of potential cross contamination.

If you absolutely have to choose something at one of these fast food restaurants on a gluten-free diet, your best bet is to stick to beverages or foods that come in clear plastic packaging that have been manufactured away from the restaurant’s kitchen.

Have other fast food restaurants you want me to add to the list? Share them in the comments below!

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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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