Ultimate Keto To-Go Guide: Top Fast Food Options That Keep You in Ketosis!

The ketogenic diet, often called the keto diet, has gained popularity as a weight-loss method. It also has some research supporting its use in managing certain health conditions, according to the UNM School of Medicine. The primary principle behind the keto diet is drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This shift puts the body into a metabolic state called ketosis, where it begins to burn fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. The weight loss associated with the keto diet is partly attributed to the satiating effect of fats, which can lead to a reduction in overall calorie consumption, according to Abby Langer, RD, founder of Abby Langer Nutrition.

As Dina Griffin, RDN, owner of Nutrition Mechanic, points out, the high proportion of fat in a ketogenic diet can also decrease snacking urges. This is because the satiating fats keep you feeling fuller for longer. However, cravings can still occur, and it's essential to have a plan for keto-friendly snacks and meals when you're on the go.

Fortunately, many fast-food and restaurant chains now offer options that can be adapted to fit a ketogenic lifestyle. Eating out while following a ketogenic diet doesn't have to be a challenge. By making informed choices, you can enjoy meals with friends and family without compromising your dietary goals.

General Tips for Keto Fast Food Success

Before diving into specific restaurant recommendations, here are some general tips for navigating the fast-food landscape while staying keto:

Plan Ahead: Most fast-food restaurants post their menus online, so you can browse keto-friendly options before you go. This will help you avoid feeling pressured when ordering.
Customize Your Order: Don't be afraid to ask for modifications. Request no bun for burgers and sandwiches, and substitute high-carb sides with low-carb alternatives.
Be Mindful of Sauces and Condiments: Many sauces are loaded with sugar. Avoid ketchup, honey mustard, barbecue sauce, teriyaki sauce, and most low-fat or fat-free dressings. Opt for mustard, mayonnaise (in moderation), ranch dressing (check for added sugars), or olive oil and vinegar.
Choose Sugar-Free Beverages: Stick to plain black coffee, unsweetened iced tea, diet soda, or carbonated water. Avoid beverages with high-fructose corn syrup.
Embrace Bowls and Salads: Many restaurants offer bowls or salads that can be customized with keto-friendly ingredients.
Prioritize Whole Foods: While fast food can be convenient, remember that home-cooked meals made with low-carb whole foods are always the best option for your health.

Keto-Friendly Fast Food Chains: A Restaurant-by-Restaurant Guide

Here's a breakdown of keto-friendly options at popular fast-food and fast-casual restaurants:

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1. McDonald's

It may seem counterintuitive, but it is possible to eat keto at McDonald's. The key is to go bunless.

Burgers: Order any burger without the bun.
Breakfast: Skip the hashbrowns and English muffins. A Big Breakfast, made without the biscuit or hash browns, contains just 3g of carbohydrates.
Drinks: Stick to black coffee, unsweetened iced tea, or diet soda.

2. Taco Bell

Taco Bell offers options that can be modified to fit a keto diet.

Bowls: Order your favorite fillings in a bowl instead of a tortilla.
Customization: Don't be afraid to customize your order. Ask for no rice, beans, or tortillas. Add sour cream, cheese, and guacamole for healthy fats.

3. Chipotle

Chipotle is considered one of the best places to eat on keto because of its variety of menu items.

Customizable Bowls: Stick with customizable bowls for the easiest low-carb meals. Combine different keto-friendly ingredients like sour cream, chicken, steak, and cheese to meet your preferences and keep things low-carb.
Keto Salad Bowl: Chipotle offers a Keto Salad Bowl that uses a base of supergreens instead of beans, rice, or a tortilla.
Nutrition Calculator: Chipotle has a helpful online nutrition calculator that allows you to see the exact carb content of your meal.

4. Wendy's

Wendy's is a good choice for keto fast food, especially if you're a fan of bacon.

Bunless Burgers: Ordering bunless burgers at Wendy’s is easy, and you can also get most of their sandwiches as lettuce-wrap burgers. Fans of the chain love that their burgers are made with 100% pure beef - no fillers and hidden carbs.
Salads: Wendy’s offers a Southwest Avocado Chicken Salad that contains 13g carbs, with 7g of this being fiber.

5. Burger King

Similar to Wendy's, Burger King has keto fast food burger options.

Bunless Burgers: Order any burger without the bun.
Breakfast: Skip the hashbrowns.
Sauces: Remember to skip sauces, ketchup, and fries.

6. Chick-fil-A

Ordering keto at Chick-fil-A can be trickier than other fast-food joints because of the breading and condiments, but you can still make it work if you track your macros closely.

Grilled Chicken: For the fewest carbs, we recommend their grilled chicken.
Grilled Nuggets: Chick-fil-A offers grilled chicken nuggets. A 12-piece serving contains just 2g of carbs.
Sauces: Their buffalo sauce has 0g net carbs.

7. Starbucks

Starbucks can be a little tricky if you don’t read through ingredient lists, as many of their specialty items are full of sugar.

Customizable Drinks: Stick to drinks you can customize to fit your keto macros.
Plain Coffee: Plain coffee or espresso is always an option.

8. Subway

Subway is one of the best low-carb fast foods if you love salads.

Salads: You can keto-fy almost any sandwich at Subway by making it a chopped salad.
Dressings: Remember to avoid toppings covered in sweet sauces like teriyaki or meatball marinara.
Low-carb Options: If you’re on a modified keto diet that is a little more forgiving on carb counts, their steak and cheese salad is a filling option with 21 grams of protein.

9. Sonic

For the lowest-carb meals at Sonic, go for their no-tortilla breakfast burritos and bunless sandwiches.

Bunless Sandwiches: We like their burgers and chicken over highly processed hot dogs, even without the bun.

10. Buffalo Wild Wings

Buffalo-style chicken wings, tenders, burgers, and wraps are some of the most popular items on their menu.

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Classic Wings: We recommend sticking to classic wings over the breading-heavy boneless options. Buffalo Wild Wings offers traditional style Original Buffalo wings that contain 2g of total carbs per 6-wing serving.

11. Five Guys

Five Guys’ burgers, hot dogs, and french fries can be seriously tempting when you’re famished.

Proteins Only: You can still enjoy a satisfying meal or snack under 5 grams of net carbs by eating only the proteins. Five Guys serves up bunless burgers the right way.

12. KFC

KFC is most popular for its fried chicken, so their options are limited for keto dieters.

Grilled Chicken: Each piece of grilled KFC chicken contains 0 g of carbs.
Sides: Green beans contain 5 g of carbs per serving, 3 g of which are fiber. Coleslaw is another low carb choice, with 14 g of carbs per serving, 4 g of which are fiber.

13. Arby's

At first glance, the menu at Arby’s is full of non-keto items.

Bunless Sandwiches: You can make it work by ordering any of the sandwiches below without the bread.
Salads: Arby’s offers an entree-size roast chicken salad that provides only 8g of total carbs per serving.

14. Jack in the Box

Jack in the Box has quite a few items that are very low in net carbs as long as you customize your order.

Customization: Avoid their bread, buns, croutons, and sauces, and the menu opens up to keto dieters.

15. In-N-Out Burger

California’s first drive-thru hamburger chain may not be the first thing you think of when it comes to keto items, but any of their burgers are available protein-style without the bun.

Protein Style: In-N-Out offers their signature burgers “protein style,” meaning they replace the bun with a lettuce wrap. Their Double-double with onion usually contains 39 grams of carbohydrates. Protein style, this same burger contains 11g total carbohydrates.

16. Chili's

Chili’s, an American Tex-Mex chain, is less of a fast-food option and more of a casual sit-down spot, but we wanted to include a few of these to give you more options.

Wings: It’s hard to argue with chicken wings, and Wingstop has some of the best there is!

17. Olive Garden

While you won’t be able to dig into the never-ending pasta and breadsticks, there are a few meals at the casual Italian chain that are OK for keto.

Antipasto Salad: An entrée-size serving (402 g) of antipasto salad with ham, cheese, fish, and vegetables is rich in protein and contains 15.6 g of carbs per serving, 4.4 g of which are fiber.

18. Dunkin' Donuts

Your go-to fast food options at Dunkin Donuts are their plain coffee drinks.

Coffee: Some locations may have dairy or sweetener alternatives, but don’t expect those everywhere.
Sandwiches: If you want their sandwiches, just remove the wrap or bread.

19. Panera Bread

Panera is known for its bread, but you’ll want to stick to the salad menu for the most keto-friendly options.

Salads: Skip the bread and chips as your side in favor of an apple. One apple from Panera will still net you about 11 grams of carbs, but it’s the healthiest, antioxidant-rich option.

20. Moe's Southwest Grill

Much like Chipotle, your best option at Moe’s is customizing one of their burrito bowls.

Bowls: Their tortillas have 51 grams of carbohydrates on their own!

21. Panda Express

If you enjoy American Chinese cuisine, Panda Express has lots of menu items that are under 15 grams of carbs.

Customize: Our suggestions below include the usual toppings that come with each option. They just skip the bread.

22. Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut isn’t the easiest place to eat keto, but thankfully, there are still a few options to satisfy your cravings while keeping your carbs low outside of their pizza.

Wings: Bone-In wings at Pizza Hut are keto friendly at just 1g of carbs per two wings.

23. Carl's Jr./Hardee's

Carl’ s Jr or Hardees is a great keto fast food option that can easily be made low carb.

Low Carb Style: Carl’ s Jr also does all their food “low carb style”, which is where they press a button notifying the kitchen of your keto request.

24. Other Restaurants

Blaze Pizza: Blaze Pizza made waves in 2019 when they began offering a keto friendly cauliflower crust pizza.
Jersey Mike’s: Jersey Mikes has a cult following in the keto community for their “sub in a tub”. It’s all of the fillings you would typically get in a sub sandwich served in a bowl.
Popeyes Chicken: They have blackened chicken tenders at most locations(but not all).
Zaxby’s: Navigating the menu at Zaxby’s can be challenging. There are a lot of different items on the menu so it’s important to have a plan going in.
Papa John’s: Your only real option is the Unsauced Roasted Wings which clock in at 4g of carbs per 8 wings.
Dairy Queen: You’ll find most of the lower carb offerings on the breakfast menu.
Culver’s: There are a few other keto takeout options on the menu that can be modified to be low carb, but nothing compares to a Butterburger.
El Pollo Loco: In recent years El Pollo Loco has dramatically increased the amount of keto options on their menu. They have keto tacos, keto burritos, and a cauliflower rice option for their pollo fit bowls.
Jimmy John’s: Just about any of Jimmy John’s sandwiches can be made keto, all you have to do is ask for a Jimmy John “unwich” instead. Add avocado, cheese, and bacon to any unwich to up the fat content. A Jimmy John unwich lettuce wrap is certainly the way to go when trying to find keto fast food options.
Red Robin: The showstopper here is the cobb salad.

Keto-Friendly Snack Options

When snack cravings strike, be prepared with these easy and portable keto-friendly options:

Hard-boiled eggs: A convenient and protein-rich snack.
String cheese: Individually wrapped cheese sticks are a simple on-the-go option.
Nut butter packets: Single-serving nut butter packets provide healthy fats and protein.
Jerky: Choose jerky made from beef, turkey, or other meats, but be mindful of added sugars in seasonings.
Nuts and seeds: Macadamias, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds are all great keto-friendly choices.
Pork rinds: A crunchy and savory snack option.
Keto-friendly chips: Look for chips made from cheese, nuts, or meat.
Tuna snacks: Choose tuna snacks without the crackers.

Keto-Friendly Drink Options

Stay hydrated with these low-carb beverage choices:

Coffee or tea with half-and-half: A satisfying way to enjoy your favorite hot beverage.
Black coffee and unsweetened tea: Simple and carb-free options.
Tea with lemon: Add a lemon wedge for a brighter flavor.
Carbonated water: A bubbly and refreshing alternative to soda.
Diet soda: Most diet sodas are low in sugar and carbs.

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