Low Carb Ketogenic Fast Food Menu Options: How To Eat Successfully At Restaurants

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For those who eat low carb or keto diets, there is almost always something to eat at every restaurant or fast food place. Plan ahead. Before entering a restaurant, check its menu and nutritional information online at home or using your smartphone. It’s always good to be aware of safe options before being tempted by menu items you shouldn’t have on a low-carb diet.

To make it easier to find a quick keto option, I’ve compiled a list of various fast food restaurants and places and those items that I’ve found to be the lowest carb (and most emotionally satisfying) options. These aren’t all perfect options, but when you don’t have other options due to time or location constraints, they’ll do it in a pinch.

It helps a lot that fast food places are required to post nutritional content. Every day it is easier to follow the ketogenic plan. The carb count I am listing is approximate and is in NET grams.

In general, there is usually a salad option wherever you are. At burger joints, simply remove the bun, and many places offer lettuce instead. Chicken should not have breading.

As a side note, it helps to have a knife and fork handy in your car or bag. Big, juicy burgers on little pieces of lettuce end up on the table, or in your lap. Small, flimsy plastic fast food containers also make it difficult to eat. Get out your own sturdy utensils and enjoy!

Now for food choices… here are some pretty obvious rules of thumb to follow:

  • Skip the bun or wrap
  • Skip the pasta, potato or rice.
  • Salads – without croutons. Stick with the low-sugar dressing options: Caesar, blue cheese, ranch, chipotle. Look at the name which may give you a clue, things like “honey” in the honey dijon or “sweet” in the name of the dressing; they are generally not a good choice. Check the ingredient for items that have a higher carbohydrate content.
  • Chicken – Choose grilled or sautéed. Stay away from any chicken that is breaded.

mcdonald’s – go for any burger (zero g) or grilled chicken (2 g) without the bun and topped with cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, onion, etc. No tomato sauce. Add a salad (3 g). Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad or Grilled Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad are 9g.

king of burgers – same burger info as McDonald’s: burger (zero g) without the bun and topped with cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, onion, etc. No tomato sauce. The grilled chicken sandwich without the bun is 3 g. BEWARE: You may think the veggie burger is low, but it has 19g of carbs, so that’s about a full day’s worth of carbs on keto. Add a salad (3 g). Grilled Chicken Tender Garden Salad is 8g without dressing or croutons. Crispy Tender Chicken Salad is not an option. Do not you dare.

BONUS – dessert!?! – fresh apple fries are not fried and have 5g net carbs with NO caramel sauce.

Underground – You should probably skip the subway if you can. Buns and wraps are high in carbohydrates. I suppose you could ask them to throw the ingredients in a wrapper with no bread, but that doesn’t sound appealing. I have no information on what the carb count would be for each non-bread sub, but you can probably figure it out: chicken or pepperoni are fine, but is “sweet onion” chicken okay? No idea. Stick with the salads, but keep in mind that you’ll only get iceberg lettuce (4g).

Carl’s Junior and Hardees – This chain offers “lettuce wraps”: your burger wrapped in a big piece of lettuce for easy low carb eating. (Like I said, I tried it and I don’t love it. Instead, I like to bring my own fork.) Non-bun options: $6 Burger (7g), 1/2-Thick Burger (5g), Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich (7g/10g at Hardees). Grilled chicken salad without croutons is 10 g. The salad is 3g.

Jimmy John’s – The unwich, a sandwich wrapped in lettuce, fits perfectly here. Meats are fine, just make sure the ingredients aren’t high in carbs.

Wendy’s – Once again, you can get your burger in a lettuce wrap or in a box. Any burger with toppings. Mayo has corn syrup and is 1 g. Grilled chicken fillet is 1 g. It can be ordered from the chicken club sandwich or the ultimate grilled chicken sandwich. Best salads: chicken caesar (7g), blt chicken salad with grilled chicken. Side salads 6 g or 2 g for Caesar.

Pizza Hut and other pizzerias – It is possible to get used to eating pizza without crust. You need to eat twice as much, but if there’s a party or dinner out that you can’t avoid at a pizzeria, just remove the cheesy toppings and eat the big messy pile of cheese and toppings. A salad is a nice addition. Otherwise, just opt ​​for making pizza at home with a low carb base.

mongolian barbecue -YES! Fill your bowl with chicken, shrimp, onion slices, and mushrooms, then top with the Asian Black Bean Sauce. I know beans have carbs, but the label on this dip says 1 gram of carbs per ounce (each dip is clearly labeled). Add some garlic and wait for the grill to do its job. Needless to say, you skip the appetizers, tortillas, and rice. Ask the servers not to bring them to the table.

Italian restaurants – These require a bit of cunning, but they can be conquered! Ideas: How about Chicken Marsala at an Italian place? Make sure it doesn’t come with pasta. Substitute broccoli or some other keto side dish, or a large salad. Chicken piccata is also a possibility.

Mexican and Chinese restaurants are the hardest, because any low-carb option isn’t the reason to go to the restaurant in the first place. At a Mexican restaurant, I tend to order a large burrito with no beans and spread out the soft tortilla like a plate. Eat the inner ingredients and mix the tortilla.

If you MUST go to a chinese buffet (I attended a funeral dinner at one), you can find options, but they probably won’t be your favorite General Tso’s. How about the salad bar options? eggs? the insides of the eggrolls, and I even ate just the insides of the crab rangoons. Unfortunately, these ideas leave a lot of discarded shells and fried outer pieces on your plate and make it look like you’re actually wasting food.

wings anywhere -Standard buffalo sauce is usually fine, as is garlic parmesan.

Convenience stores it can also be a good option! 7-11 has packets of hard-boiled eggs, slabs of cheese, slim jims, almonds, and chicharrones. The pork rinds come in BBQ flavor and are ZERO carbs.

Remember, whatever you choose, hold the bread, potatoes, rice, noodles, French fries, and tortillas. And watch out for the possibility of cornstarch, breadcrumbs, and other fillers. With proper planning and a good attitude, you can find healthy, low-carb keto options when dining out and stick to your successful keto diet plan.

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