Wingstop Gluten-free Menu Items

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

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If you love chicken wings, you may have found yourself at Wingstop a time or two. With so many types of wings and different sauces to choose from, there’s a reason this restaurant is so popular.

But if you’re just getting started with a gluten-free diet or have been at it for a while, you may have realized that gluten can be found just about anywhere when it comes to eating at restaurants.

That’s why I’ve been digging into different restaurant menus to pull out options that may not contain gluten ingredients and might be okay to enjoy on a gluten-free diet. All that is dependent upon how much effort goes into keeping different surfaces clean and separate for people who avoid gluten and other allergens in each of these restaurant’s kitchens.

Learning about a restaurant’s policies on allergens, how they handle cross contamination (or don’t), and even looking over menus to see how items are presented and what substitutions can be made has been eye-opening.

In this post, we’re doing a deep dive into Wingstop. We’ll go over what they have to say in regards to how they handle allergens, what you need to know about the Wingstop menu, and some menu items you might feel okay ordering if you are following a gluten-free diet.

But before we get into that, let’s go over some of the basics of what gluten is, where you can find gluten in food and in restaurants, and what you need to know about cross contamination in restaurants.

Let’s talk about Wingstop!

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, pasta, pizza crust, or flour in the more obvious places.

You can also find gluten as a binding ingredient, an ingredient added for texture like to make 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.

Wingstop allergen disclaimer

According to the Wingstop Allergens page on their website, here is what they have to say about allergens in their restaurants:

“Wingstop is committed to providing its consumers with meaningful information about food allergens. Though we avoid allergen cross-contamination in preparing our food, we cannot guarantee that it does not occur. For those with food allergies, we recommend caution and provide the following information.”

Regarding wheat, they have this specific declaration:

“All of our fried foods are cooked in the same oil, though we filter the oil to minimize cross-contamination from wheat. Nevertheless, we do not claim that our products are gluten free. Additionally, our Hawaiian sauce contains wheat as an ingredient, as do our baked rolls and blue cheese dip.”

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

Wingstop makes it clear in their Allergen Declaration that they use shared fryers with the same oil for their gluten-containing foods and those that don’t contain gluten. But they are clear that none of the items on their menu are considered truly gluten-free due to the possibility of cross contamination.

The restaurant brand does not give any ingredient information out on their website and need to be contacted for detailed information for each menu item.

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.

Wingstop does not offer any information on their website regarding ingredients or whether or not a menu item contains any wheat or gluten ingredients. The information below is based on my own best guess after reviewing the menu item on the website.

None of the menu items listed here are truly considered gluten-free by the restaurant as they are aware that there is a chance of cross contamination in their kitchens and prep areas.

Wings

The regular bone-in wings from Wingstop come in a variety of different flavor options. These are most likely the only option of wings from Wingstop that contain no gluten or gluten ingredients.

The boneless wings, thigh bites, and boneless tenders contain gluten and wheat ingredients. Steer clear of this option when trying to stick with a gluten-free diet.

Wing Sauce

Lemon Pepper
Original Hot
Hickory Smoked BBQ
Atomic
Mango Habanero
Cajun
Spicy Korean
Louisiana Rub
Mild
Garlic Parmesan
Plain

Sides

Seasoned Fries (be aware of a shared fryer)
Cheese Fries (be aware of a shared fryer)
Louisiana Voodoo Fries (be aware of a shared fryer)
Buffalo Ranch Fries (be aware of a shared fryer)
Cajun Fried Corn (be aware of a shared fryer)
Veggie Sticks

Dips & Flavors

Homemade Ranch
Honey Mustard
Hot Cheddar Cheese Sauce

Drinks

Dr. Pepper
Coke
Diet Coke
Sprite
Fanta Orange
Fanta Strawberry
Lipton Tea – Sweet
Lipton Tea – Plain
Minute Maid Lemonade
Nestea Raspberry Tea
Gold Peak Sweet Green Tea
Gold Peak Unsweetened Tea
Gold Peak Southern Tea
Nestea Peach Tea

Desserts

None of the dessert options from Wingstop are considered free of gluten or wheat ingredients.

If you’ve been wondering what menu items are safe for folks on a gluten-free diet at Wingstop, I hope this post has been helpful for you. While nothing is truly considered gluten-free by this restaurant, there are a few options that are less likely to contain gluten than others.

Use your best judgment about what you know about how your body reacts to gluten to help you decide if this is a restaurant that you should visit and what to order.

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

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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.