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Finding a Keto Dessert at a Fast Food Restaurant

Fast food dessert with a high sugar content is not very keto.

You might think it’s going to be impossible to find an actual keto-friendly dessert at a fast-food restaurant. You’re preparing to just power through your craving. While it is indeed difficult to find a dessert that you can eat while following the keto diet… it’s definitely not impossible. 

Time to place your order? Jump to the list of options!

Fast food dessert with a high sugar content is not very keto.

In this article, we’re going to list some of your options when heading out to a fast food joint and looking for dessert. We’ll also point you in the right direction in case you’re looking to whip up something sweet at home.

The problem with fast food desserts on keto

There is a fundamental problem you’ll run into when using ‘keto’ and ‘dessert’ in the same sentence – especially when you add ‘fast food’ into the mix. You see, most desserts are very sweet and usually, they’ll contain a ton of sugar. As you may know, a lot of sugar equals a lot of carbs.

That’s where things go wrong since keto is a low-carb diet. So, most of the ‘usual’ desserts have such a high sugar content and should be avoided altogether when you’re on the keto diet – whether you’re looking for fast food or not. 

Keto fast food dessert: your best chances

That being said, there are some exceptions. Let’s take a look at your options when you’re eating out at a fast-food restaurant. 

1. McDonald’s

First up is McDonald’s. Just so we’re clear, all their usual options like ice creams, milkshakes, and any type of cookie or muffin are completely off-limits if you’re looking for a keto dessert.

There is another option however: fruit. 

Fruits are a love/hate kind of food to keto enthusiasts because most of them are not keto-friendly. Most fruits actually contain a lot of carbs. That being said, eating a little bit of fruit is still a better idea than going for a chocolate muffin. 

That brings us to McDonald’s Apple Slices. In small portions, they can be eaten as a dessert while on the keto diet. Your body will not exit ketosis, provided you don’t eat a whole bunch of them.

Sadly, that’s it for McDonald’s. There’s not really any other option, even though their menu lists a lot of different desserts. 

2. Wendy’s

Moving on to another popular fast food joint. Wendy’s actually has a slightly better option compared to McDonald’s – even if it’s also fruit. At Wendy’s, you can order the ‘Berry Burst Fruit Cup’ which, as the name implies, is a cup of berries. 

As we’ve mentioned above, most fruits are not really compatible with a keto diet… but berries are*! Raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries aren’t that high in carbs which makes them safe to eat on keto (in small amounts).

*Blueberries should be avoided

So remember: the Berry Cup from Wendy’s is a great option if you’re looking for a keto fast food dessert.

3. Five Guys (and others)

Other popular fast-food joints have little to no options when craving a keto fast food dessert. It might come down to your own creativity to customize your order and make it keto-friendly.

For example, at Five Guys you could ask them to serve you whipped cream with some strawberries (basically combining two of their milkshake topping options) in a separate bowl. You’ll have a very tasty dessert that’s safe to eat on a keto diet. Of course, you’ll have to specifically ask them for this, as it’s not part of the standard menu.

As you can see, finding a keto-friendly dessert at a fast-food restaurant is rare.

One thing worth mentioning is that you can always opt for a cup of coffee. Some nice, hot coffee with a little bit of whipped cream or milk can also serve as a nice and tasty dessert. As a bonus, you’ll enjoy the extra health benefits of coffee!

Making some keto “fast food” dessert at home

If you’re looking to eat some dessert that is truly keto, the best option might be to create one yourself. It might not exactly be the “fast food” you wanted, but we think it still qualifies – depending on how you look at it.

1. Online recipes

There’s a lot of good recipes to be found on the internet. Think of a keto chocolate cake or low-carb cupcakes. Most of them are not too hard to make, even if you’re not really familiar with baking and/or cooking.

A Reddit user has come up with a weird milkshake alternative as a fast food keto dessert.

2. Weird milkshake alternative

Something else we came across in our search for a keto dessert is this suggestion from a Reddit user. He says that if you’re craving a milkshake, a good alternative is to take some orange soda and add a bit of whipped cream. It sounds disgusting – at least to us – but apparently it’s very tasty and a nice alternative to a regular milkshake.

3. Say cheese

Last but not least, a personal favorite of ours is to have a plate of cheese. A nice small selection of different cheese is a perfectly valid dessert. It’s also very tasty and (depending on the specific cheese) completely keto-friendly.

So if you’re looking for a keto fast food dessert to make at home, some nice cheese might just be the easiest way to go. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s clear that a keto fast food dessert is quite rare, simply because most desserts are very sweet. Sugar and keto don’t go well together.

See also: How To Bake Keto-Proof Pizza

Hopefully, we’ve given you some ideas based on the options above. If you have any other suggestions or you want to share your favorite keto fast food dessert recipe, make sure to let us know in the comments!

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Ranking the Best Keto Diet Plans

Whether you’ve been a long time keto-worshipper or just testing out the keto diet or any of its variants, you might have experienced that it’s not always easy. 

You need enough inspiration to keep going past the initial phase. Some people are happy with eating the same meals over and over, but for those who like some variety in their food, a keto diet meal plan is the perfect tool to stick to the ketogenic lifestyle.

To help you pick the right one for you, we’ve listed the most popular and widely used Keto Diet Plans and given them a ranking. Keep in mind that in the end, this choice is personal, so read on to find the one that works best for your taste!

Our #1 Pick: Custom Keto Diet

Our #1 Pick: Custom Keto Diet

Highly personalized & Tasty – this plan has it all!

Custom Keto Diet is an online meal plan that takes into account your food preferences, daily activity levels, height, weight and target weight goals. Not only will you receive a custom meal plan based on this information, you’ll also get access to shopping lists, recipes, macro nutrient information, and more.

Price: Use our link for a $1 Trial

Safely purchase the Custom Keto Diet here.

Runner-up: Healthful Pursuit Keto Meal Plans

Runner-up: Healthful Pursuit Keto Meal Plans

More than a meal plan

The Healthful Pursuit is the perfect starting point for anyone trying out the Keto lifestyle. It’s founder Leanne is a nutrition educator and host of The Keto Diet podcast. She uses her knowledge to take the stress and guesswork out of eating low-carb diets for her clients. Plus, you’ll gain access to her exclusive Facebook Group Community.

Price: A yearly plan costs $8/month

Safely purchase the Healthful Pursuit Meal Plans here:

https://shop.healthfulpursuit.com/product/balanced-keto-weekly-meal-plans/

Budget Pick: Kickstart Keto Diet

Budget Pick: Kickstart Keto Diet

When you need some emotional support, this one’s for you

The Kickstart Keto Diet was created by Anni Sirvio, who will coach you throughout your Keto journey with the help of Freddie, a certified personal trainer. The Kickstart Keto Diet is a membership platform that not only provides you with a proper meal plan, but serves as a support system for those times when you need a boost.

Price: Lifetime access for $37

Safely purchase the Kickstart Keto Diet Plan here:

https://www.kickstartketodiet.com/keto-affiliates

For Women: Ketogenic Girl

For Women: Ketogenic Girl

A 28-day challenge with countless happy reviews

Besides the meal plans, Ketogenic Girl offers a Challenge which motivates you to reach your goals and provides you with coaching. Started in 2015, Ketogenic Girl Vanessa Spina has built a social media audience of over half a million people. Using #KetogenicGirlChallenge allows you to win prizes during the challenge!

Price: the 28-day Accelerated Ketogenic Girl Challenge costs $159

Safely purchase the Ketogenic Girl plans here:

https://www.ketogenicgirl.com/

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Cheat Day: your Keto Fast Food Guide

McDonald's fries are off the menu when looking for a keto fast food breakfast!

If you’re following the keto diet and you’re looking to go out for some fast food or to a drive-through but you don’t really know what your options are or what you should look out for when ordering keto fast food, you’ve come to the right place. 

Obviously as a follower of the ketodiet you know it’s not always easy to find something keto friendly when eating out. Or if you’re just a beginner, you will soon find out. 

When it comes to keto fast food, it is actually even more difficult, as fast food is very high in carbs and/or high in sugar. This means it’s something you should generally avoid. However, some fast food is keto friendly, even if it means you have to make some just adjustments to the meal. 

Still, if you would go to a fast food restaurant looking for a keto meal and you’re not prepared, you might end up ordering something wrong or not ordering at all. Either way that’s not really a fun experience so in this article, we’ll try to help you plan out your next visit to the fast food joint, while complying to the basic rules of the ketogenic diet. 

Let’s take a look at the things you have to pay attention to when going out for a keto fast food meal. 

#1 Bunless Burgers

So first of all: burgers! When you think of fast food, a lot of people instantly think of burgers. And here’s our first problem, because a staple ingredient of a burger is the bun, and the bun is bread… which makes it not really keto friendly as it’s high in carbs. 

First rule: ditch any bun or sandwich or kind of bread. 

#2 Fried is bad

Secondly, avoid anything fried. This could, of course, mean KFC fried chicken, but don’t forget mozzarella sticks or any kind of fried fish (for example in a fish and chips meal). The breading and frying process adds a ton of carbs with which should be avoided. In the case of fried chicken, a good alternative could be grilled chicken, which they also offer at KFC and some other fast food restaurants.

Second rule: Nothing fried. Grilled can be an alternative. 

#3 Stupid Sides

Next, we have sides. Lots of fast food joints offer potato-based sides like French fries, tater tots, chips, etc.. Which contain a very high carb content and should definitely not be eaten while following the keto diet. This also applies to other popular sides like corn, rice, fried onion rings and stuff like that. Avoid at all costs. Except for a side salad, even though you still have to be wary of the dressing, as we’ll see in the next paragraph.

Third rule: Avoid (most) sides.

#4 Dangerous Dressings

Next up is dressings and sauces. To start off, not all sauces, dressings or condiments are evil, but quite a lot of them – especially at a fast food restaurant – have a very high sugar content. This means they are high in carbs as well. A very famous example of this is ketchup. Some people think ketchup is actually quite healthy, while it’s very high in carbs, and should therefore be avoided on a keto diet.

Fourth rule: Pay attention to the sauce. If it’s sweet, avoid it.

#5 Desserts

Last but not least, desserts! As you can see in this article, finding a keto proof dessert at a fast food restaurant is almost mission impossible. There are some options though, if you’re willing to eat a slight amount of carbs. In general, you should not really hope to find a keto fast food dessert. Your options are extremely limited, as both sweets/cookies and any kind of fruit is going to have a lot of carbs in it.

Fifth rule: Desserts are no-go

Conclusion

These rules list out pretty much what you should avoid when looking for some keto fast food. Still, that doesn’t mean you there’s nothing you can eat. As you apply these rules, you’ll see that there’s actually quite a lot of options left, like Bunless Burger or some kind of burrito bowl with some low carb ingredients.

Bon appetit!

Keto Fast Food Cheat Sheet

If you’re looking for a quick reference to see your options at a glance, you can download our printable Fast Food Cheat Sheet here!

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Vegan Keto Fast Food – Mission Impossible?

A balanced Keto Fast Food Breakfast

Maybe you’re a vegan that wants to try out the Keto Diet, or maybe you’re on the keto diet and you want to go Vegan. Either way, both diets are quite different but they also both contribute to a lot of health benefits. So good on you for living in both the vegan and the keto lifestyle! 

On the other hand, you are probably  here because you were looking for fast food. Just like the rest of us, you definitely sometimes just have that fast food itch. 

Let’s take a look at the possibilities when you’re looking for some vegan keto friendly fast food. 

Overlap between vegan and keto

So first of all, let’s talk about the overlap between vegan and keto – or rather the lack thereof.

Vegan, by definition, is a diet that avoids any kind of animal products or ingredients that come from animals. While the ketogenic diet is a high fat, low carb diet that basically avoids anything that is high in carbs (and therefore also avoids a lot of sugar).

So at their core these diets don’t really overlap at all. This actually makes it harder to find foods that are compliant, so to speak, for both of these diets, especially when we’re talking about fast food, as you will see later in this article. 

Protein is important

One thing that should be noted is the importance of protein. As vegans avoid any kind of animal based products, they should make sure that they have another source of protein to turn to, to make sure they get at least the minimum recommended amount of protein for a healthy balance in their diet. There’s a lot of options to achieve this, there’s a lot of vegan protein sources. So while it should not pose a problem, it should be kept in mind. 

Keto, on the other hand, is a diet that does not really focus on protein too much. It’s more of a moderate protein approach. But if you have to choose between carbs and protein, it’s always going to be protein. 

General rules for fast food restaurants

If you’re looking for a keto meal at a fast food restaurant that is also vegan, we’ll have to keep in mind the basic rules. So starting with keto, that means no carbs in the form of no buts, no fries or any other potato dish nor rice. Pay attention to avoiding most sauces as well, because some sauces, condiments and dressings contain quite a lot of sugar. Like ketchup, for example, which also means they are high in carbs and should be avoided when following the keto diet. 

Besides all these things, as a vegan, you’ll also want to avoid any kind of meats, egg based ingredients, chicken and cheese. This means that on your average fast food burger, you’re left with… the pickles. Quite a bummer, as this can barely be called “fast food”, right?

That being said, there are still some options, for example in the form of salads. But again, you’ll have to stick to salads that do not contain any kind of meat, fish or chicken, while also making sure that they don’t contain any kind of fruit because a lot of fruits are actually high in carbs and therefore not keto friendly. 

So you’re really going to be focusing on greens and lettuce. Also, again, be wary of any possible salad dressings that are high in sugar because they’re not to a friendly. 

At places like Chipotle and Taco Bell, they have a bowl option, which you can use to your advantage by customizing the bowl and basing it around lettuce and some fajita veggies, some green salsa, some guacamole. However, obviously, any rice or beans should be excluded to make it to keto approved. The same goes for cheese and things like sour cream, as they are not vegan-friendly.

Still, this meal still has quite the fast food feel to it and it’s a good option for both keto and vegan diets. 

The verdict: Mission Impossible?

Besides this very short list of options, there isn’t really all that much that you can eat when looking for a vegan keto fast food meal. It’s not completely impossible, but it’s quite rare. 

If you’re truly looking to stick to your vegan keto lifestyle, it might be the best idea to just whip up something yourself or go to another restaurant that isn’t based solely around fast food. Still, if your friends are heading out to a fast food restaurant, you’ll be able to order something if you’re applying the basic rules of vegan and keto, but your options will be fairly limited. Keep that in mind. 

Vegetarian Keto Fast Food

If you’re not strictly vegan but more of a vegetarian, your options to find some keto fast food quickly multiply. This means that you can actually include egg based stuff and cheese or sour cream, and that basically opens up a lot more options.

For example, you could bake a keto-friendly pizza at home.

Besides that, there’s also a lot of fast food places that have specific veggie options. So if you order one of these veggie dishes and then apply the rules of keto by removing the bun or the fries, you would have a perfectly fine vegetarian keto fast food meal. Obviously, if you’re looking for something truly vegan, the above solution is not for you.

If you have any suggestions for vegan keto fast food or you’d like to share some ideas, then make sure to let us know in the comments below!

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The Quest for a Keto Fast Food Salad

If you and your friends are heading out to a fast food restaurant and you are on the keto diet, you might be afraid there’s not really any options for you. Luckily, most fast food restaurants offer some kind of salad menu. Most of the time these salad options are safe to eat while on the keto diet. 

Obviously, fast food restaurants are not really known for their salads, so if you’re actually looking for a decent salad you should probably go elsewhere. But if you find yourself in a fast food place in a pinch, they are a good option to eat something keto-friendly and just have a healthier meal overall. 

Fast Food vs “Fast” Food

First of all, to get any confusion out of the way, when we talk about fast food, we are actually talking about fast food joints. We know some people might be looking for “fast food” to make at home. But for that, you should just apply the basic rules of eating keto. 

→ See also: Ranking the Best Keto Diet Plans

This article will list a few of your options when actually going out to eat to a fast food place and looking for a keto approved salad. 

Rules to live by when making a Keto Salad

The keto “rules” to keep in mind when making a salad. come down to the basic rule of keto, which is low carb. Of course, a salad by definition has greens or lettuce as the main ingredient, which are (in most cases) low carb. So the most important thing to keep your salad keto-friendly is to avoid bread,pasta or rice and other fillers that you would possibly include with your salad.

As we mentioned above, most greens and any meat, chicken or fish are all fine. Dressings, on the other hand, are a special case. Some dressings are completely fine to eat on a keto diet. Other dressings contain a lot of sugar and sauces that are high in sugar content have a lot of carbs, so they are not keto approved. That said, if you want some specific dressing that you really like but you’re not sure if it’s keto, you can find a lot of recipes online to create a keto variant of almost any popular dressing. 

One note, though. When you’re making a salad at home (or looking for a salad somewhere else) is that you should be wary of some vegetables. Not all greens are low carb!

Things like corn, green peas, sweet potatoes and raw carrots are actually quite high in carbs and should be avoided in any kind of keto salad or any kind of keto meal, for that matter. So be wary of high carb vegetables.

The best Keto Salads at Fast Food Restaurants

So with the basics out of the way, let’s take a look at your actual options for a keto fast food salad. Starting with the most famous fast food joint in the world: McDonald’s.

McDonald’s

A nice choice at McDonald’s is the Bacon Ranch Grilled Chicken Salad with guacamole. It has some carbs, but not enough to take you out of ketosis. Also, it does contain quite a lot of protein and fat, so that’s that’s perfect for any follower of the keto diet. 

You won't find a Keto Fast Food Salad at McDonald's

Wendy’s

Let’s take a look at Wendy’s next. Actually Wendy’s almost didn’t make this list, because a lot of their salads contain a lot of carbs, even though it might not seem that way. For example, their Apple Pecan Chicken Salad contains 52 grams of carbs, which is way too much to be keto approved. So this one should definitely be avoided. It’s just one of those cases where a dressing and some fruit quickly adds up to a high carb content. 

Chipotle

Looking at Chipotle. Here you can order a nice salad bowl, with any kind of meat like steak or chicken. Add some lettuce or greens and add as much cheese and sour cream as you want. However, be careful with the salsa. The corn salsa has quite a high carb content compared to the tomato salsa. Again, this gives you a meal that is low in carbs, but has quite a lot of fat and quite a lot of protein. So it’s a perfect pick when looking for a keto fast food salad at Chipotle.

Subway

Then there’s Subway. It might be weird to find Subway on this list because by definition, subway is all about the sub sandwiches, which means bread and therefore is not keto friendly. However, you can actually order any of their sandwiches to be turned into a salad in which they replace the bread with some veggies and use the other ingredients that would have been on the sandwich in a salad bowl instead. They also have real nice portions where you’re ordering one of these salad bows, so you’ll definitely won’t be leaving hungry. 

Honorable Mention

Besides the ones listed above, we think Five Guys deserves a special mention, because even though they’re not really about salads at all, they do have the option to order any of their burgers with a lettuce wrap to replace the bun.

You can barely speak of a “salad” in this case, But still, it’s a very nice option. We’d say this is one of the meals that comes closest to real fast food when looking for a keto fast food salad. 

And that’s it! As expected, there’s not really that many options when looking for a keto fast food salad, as “fast food” and “salad” usually don’t go well together.

If you’re looking for a Meal Plan to help you stick to your Keto lifestyle and maximize your health benefits, take a look here!

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Lunchtime: Keto Fast Food Lunches that Rock

Sometimes you just crave some fast food. But if you’re following the Keto diet, then you might be afraid that you will have to miss out and just ignore the craving. But that’s definitely not the case. 

Luckily, most fast food joints have something very nice to offer in terms of a keto fast food lunch, and even if they do not, you can customize a dish of their menu and still enjoy your nice fast food lunch while on the Keto Diet.

Fast Food vs “Fast” Food

So first of all, to get something out of the way. People can mean two different things when they talk about the fast food lunch. Either they mean going to an actual fast food restaurant and grabbing lunch there, or they’re talking about making a fast lunch at home. Assuming you’re thinking of what to order or you want to know what your options are when going out to a fast food joint on the Keto diet, we will be talking about those.

Keto rules to keep in mind

As a follower of the keto diet, you’ll obviously know the basic rules, which, to sum it up,  It’s low carb. When applying the low carb rule to your favorite fast food restaurant, you’ll see that some of their staple ingredients have to be avoided. 

First of all, anything that is breaded or fried should be dropped. Obviously, it adds a lot of carbs to whatever it is that you’re frying , so think of KFC for example, with their fried wings. Those cannot be eaten on the Keto diet. 

Next, we also have burgers, which is a pretty big one, as the burger is often a staple dish for a lot of fast food chains that we will be listing in his article. And it’s actually the bun itself that’s the problem. So ditching the bread is a good way to make most burgers keto friendly. 

Take note, though, that sauces are also pretty dangerous.

Things like mayonnaise and mustard are actually fine. But ketchup and barbecue sauce, for example, have a high sugar content and should be removed or avoided when going for a keto fast food lunch.

Lastly. There’s also actually some sides that you should be cautious of. Obvious ones are anything that are made from potatoes. So fries, hash browns, tater tots should all be avoided. But also rice, beans, and corn are a no-go when following the Keto diet. 

And again, be careful with sauces and condiments. 

Top keto lunches at fast food restaurants

Let’s dive into the actual list of some nice choices that you have when going out for a Keto fast food lunch, depending on where you’re headed to. 

1. The Chicken Colonel

Let’s start with KFC. As we already mentioned above, a lot of the items on their menu are actually fried, which makes them a bad choice for anyone following the Keto lifestyle. But luckily they offer one good alternative, which is grilled chicken instead of fried chicken? 

Actually, grilled chicken is a lot healthier than fried chicken, not only for those following Keto, but basically for anyone. 

So if you’re heading for KFC, make sure to check to take the grilled chicken. And as a side, you’ll sadly only have one option, which is the green beans. That being said, the grilled chicken with beans is actually a well rounded meal that should power you throughout the day.

You might think that coleslaw also is an option, but actually it contains five times as much carbs as the creme beets. So that’s a no go. 

2. Keto Burgers vs. Buns

Secondly, we’ll have a look at the popular burger joints. Think of Burger King. McDonald’s, In-N-Out. Obviously, as we mentioned, the buns are an issue. You’ll either have to avoid any item on the menu that has a burger bun (good luck though) or you can customize it. 

Personally we prefer the second option.

You can just remove the bun and any ketchup or BBQ sauce and you’ll have a perfectly good burger that you can enjoy while still having a keto lunch. 

Some of these fast food restaurants actually go as far as to offer a lettuce replacement for the bun. Which is always a good idea, because otherwise you’ll be needing a fork and a knife to eat what’s left of your burger. That being said, it’s still very tasty, even without the bun.

3. Sub in a Tub

Next, we’ll take a look at Subway. Of course, as the name implies, the sub sandwich is their staple ingredient for most of their dishes. And that’s something we have to avoid. 

Subway has a very nice alternative for this, which basically is a sub in a tub. You can order any of your favorite subs to be made into a salad. So you’ll avoid the bread while you can still eat your favorite composition of sub, with some added some added salad or greens. 

Maybe think of taking a chicken salad or turkey breast to keep it as healthy as possible. 

4. Bowl Buddies

Finally, you also have places like Chipotle and Taco Bell. In both of these cases, your best option is to go for a bowl. 

Both Chipotle and Taco Bell offer a bowl dish on their menu that you can customize yourself. The takeaway here is to replace the rice and beans, as they are both very high in carbs. A good replacement for them is some lettuce or other greens and some guacamole. This makes sure you have a nice protein- and fat-packed meal, which actually makes a very good keto fast food lunch to get you through the afternoon.

One thing that is to be noted is that at Chipotle you should probably avoid the corn salsa as well.

Conclusion

All right.  We’ve listed a few of the most popular fast food joints and included some options of how to pick or customize your keto fast food lunch. As you see, if you have a craving for fast food or your friends are going out for fast food, you definitely don’t have to miss out even though you’re on the keto diet. 

Just applying the basic rule of keto can get you pretty far. You’ll still be able to enjoy a nice keto fast food lunch. 

If you have any suggestions or you want to share your favorite keto dish at any of these fast food joints, make sure to leave us a note in the comments!

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Which Fast Food Restaurants are Keto Friendly?

A Reddit user has come up with a weird milkshake alternative as a fast food keto dessert.

Imagine you’re getting that fast food itch, but you are on the keto diet. You think you’re screwed, and don’t have any options. But that’s not true at all!

In this article, we’ll take a look at what dishes or what meals you can choose when you’re on the keto diet and looking for some fast food. We’ll take a look at which restaurants have a good keto offer or have something that is keto-friendly on their menu. 

Fast food restaurants that serve keto food

So let’s take a look at the list of fast food restaurants that supply some kind of keto dish. Actually, most of them have either something to offer that’s completely keto or you can customize a certain dish to make it keto-approved. Restaurants that offer some keto options include, but are not limited to:

  • Chipotle
  • In-N-Out Burger
  • KFC
  • Burger King
  • Subway
  • Taco Bell
  • Wendy’s. 

And of course, don’t forget McDonald’s.

Some of these will require a custom order to make the fast food keto-friendly.

Starbucks could be included in this list, as it offers quite a lot of food besides their coffee menu. Even though not a lot of people think of Starbucks as a fast food chain. 

Rules for eating keto at a fast food restaurant

The rules that apply for eating keto at all of these fast food restaurants are, well, the basic rules of keto, so we go for a low-carb approach. 

This immediately poses quite a problem. A lot of the fast food includes bread, burger buns and the like. In other cases, at KFC for example, most meals are fried, which also adds a lot of carbs to the food. And then there’s sauces and condiments like ketchup, which has actually quite a lot of sugar in it, which in turn means it has a high carb content.

As you’ll see throughout the article, we’ll be ditching bread, sauces and fried stuff ingredients. But still, besides these things, most of the fast food restaurants we’ve mentioned here have something tasty to offer for anyone following the keto diet.

Keto Fast Food Restaurants

Let’s take a look at each individual restaurant and list out some options, starting with Subway. 

1. Subway

For Subway, of course, their main ingredient is bread – the sub – which we obviously cannot eat when we’re on the the keto diet. Luckily, they have a nice solution to this, which is basically making a sub into a salad. You can ask for any sub they offer to be turned into a salad, which they’ll dress nicely and is perfectly safe to eat on keto. 

Some exceptions apply, namely the meatballs and the sweet onion teriyaki, as well as anything that includes a very sugary dressing. Besides those limitations, you should be able to turn every of your favorite subs into a salad and enjoy it while still adhering to the keto diet.

2. Taco Bell

Next up is Taco Bell. You’ll have an easier time at Taco Bell eating keto because they have a highly customizable menu. Even though two of their main ingredients, which are rice and beans, are not too keto-friendly, they’re easy to replace with extra lettuce and guacamole. This results in a nicely fat- and protein packed meal. 

In other words, either you customize one of their dishes and swap out the rice and beans, or you just put together a custom bowl yourself. Whatever you desire, as long as it’s not high in carbs. 

Notice we are only mentioning the bowls here because obviously you can’t eat something that includes a taco or tortilla. 

3. Wendy’s

Next, we have Wendy’s. They have some good-to-go salads available on their menu. But for those of you who don’t really like salads (we don’t blame you) there’s also the option of just picking out a nice burger. 

Take their iconic Baconator, for example, and just remove the bun. You’re now good to go! You’ve got a satisfying low carb meal. Obviously, without the bun you’ll need a fork and a knife to eat it… or a lot of napkins. 

4. KFC

Let’s take a look at KFC next. As we said that in the intro, anything fried is definitely a no-go while looking for some keto fast food. Which kind of limits your choices at KFC altogether.

However, they have another variant of their chicken, which is the grilled chicken. With grilled chicken, you’re good to go. Still, just chicken by itself is not much of a meal. You can add a side of green beans, which unfortunately is the only keto-friendly side they offer. 

Even though it doesn’t sound that awesome, with some grilled chicken and the greens beans you’ll have a nicely rounded fast food meal that is keto-approved.

5. Burger King

Next up on this list of fast food restaurants is Burger King. As the name clearly implies, the focus here is on burgers. But as you now know, you’ll have to ditch the bun to make a burger keto approved. 

So basically, just pick your favorite Whopper variation or another burger. Remove the bun and the ketchup, just like we mentioned above for Wendy’s. You’ll end up with some very nice keto fast food , lots of protein, lots of fat and still tasty nonetheless.

6. In-N-Out

Same goes for In-N-Out Burger, but they have a nicer way of ordering some keto fast food, because it’s featured on the “secret menu”. You can order any burger and just order it “protein style”. This will swap out the buns for a crispy lettuce wrap. Meaning you basically turn a burger into a keto friendly fast food meal.

If you don’t like the idea of a lettuce wrap instead of buns, you can order a Flying Dutchman, which means you get just two patties with two slices of cheese in between. Very tasty. But you’ll probably need a fork and a knife to eat this without making a mess.

7. Chipotle

Then there’s Chipotle. Just like with Taco Bell, they have bowls available. Swapping out your rice and beans is the way to go here. You can add some guacamole and some greens to replace the rice. Add some nice cheese and you will be good to go. 

Together with Taco Bell, we think Chipotle is one of the more keto friendly fast food restaurants on this list!

Also, make sure you don’t think the corn salsa. It’s quite high in carbs.

8. McDonald’s

Finally, this list would not be complete without McDonald’s. Just like the other burger places, you know what to adjust, so you can take (almost) anything off their menu. It just means you have to ditch the bun and the ketchup or any other sauces because the McDonald’s sauces are all pretty high in sugar, meaning more carbs. 

You could pick a grilled chicken sandwich with no bun, no ketchup. Or maybe a quarter pounder with no bun and no ketchup. Also, if you’re looking for some breakfast, the Egg McMuffin can be eaten with no bread. You can read more about that here.

Conclusion

We went over quite a few of the most popular fast food restaurants. There’s more, obviously, but if you apply the rules we’ve lined out at the start of the article, you can find a keto friendly dish in almost any fast food restaurant, really.

So, next time your friends want to go out for some burgers or you have the craving for some tasty fast food, don’t worry. You can just stick to you keto diet, even though it might mean that you have to skip out on the bun or some some sauces.

If you have any favorites on this list or maybe some other restaurants that we didn’t mention, make sure to let us know in the comments!

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Keto Fast Food Breakfast to Kickstart the Day

There’s two kinds of people; those who eat breakfast, and those who don’t. People who skip breakfast usually do this because of time constraints, but in reality, they’re missing out. In a rush? Jump to the Keto Fast Food Breakfast list!

Studies suggest that breakfast has quite some health benefits (depending on the exact foods, of course). Think of memory boosts, prevention of weight gain, and lower risk of diabetes. 

Followers of a keto diet will notice that some of these advantages overlap with those of keto. In other words, a nice keto breakfast is the perfect way to start the day!

A balanced Keto Fast Food Breakfast

What makes up a good breakfast?

Although there’s lots of “good” food you can include in our breakfast, some specific ingredients are always a good idea.

First there’s an all-time classic: eggs! For some time in the past, people believed that too much eggs were bad for your cholesterol. We now know, however, that the high cholesterol contained in eggs is not directly related to elevated blood cholesterol in humans.

Besides that, it’s also keto-proof and fast! But you probably didn’t come here just to find out eggs make a good breakfast, did you?

Other widely suggested ingredients for a nice breakfast are oatmeal, whole-grain bread, granola… Sadly, these are contain a lot of carbs, and therefore should not be included in your keto breakfast.

Fruits are a different matter. Even though most people think of fruits as “healthy”, most fruits contain quite a lot of carbs. This means most fruits have to be avoided on the keto diet. Not all of them, though. For example, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries all contain quite low amounts of carbs, and should be safe to eat on a keto diet. Just don’t overdo it!

Lastly, you’ll need a beverage to go with that nice breakfast. A warm cup of coffee is perfect for this. It’s keto-friendly and has more health benefits as well!

Fast Food vs “Fast” Food

When talking about fast food, people can think different things. Some exclusively mean the fast food restaurants chains like Chipotle and Wendy’s that we’ve all grown to love. Other people are looking for actually “fast” food recipes to whip up at home.

Assuming you’re looking for an idea of what to pick at the fast food joint, we’ll be looking at those in this article. So, let’s dive in!

Having a Keto Breakfast at a Fast Food Restaurant

If you’re going for fast food, that probably means you’re in a rush and just need a quick pick-me-up. Kudos to you for still sticking to the keto rules – lack of time in the morning is a dangerous situation to screw up your diet and pull yourself out of ketosis.

Let’s take a look at your options when looking for a keto fast food breakfast.

Keto Breakfast at McDonald’s

While “keto” and “McDonald’s” usually don’t appear in the same sentence, their menu is highly customizable. This means that with some creativity you can shape their menu to your liking.

McDonald's fries are off the menu when looking for a keto fast food breakfast!

The classic Egg McMuffin is the perfect choice – except you’ll have to remove the bun. Order a bunless McMuffin, grab a knife and fork and enjoy your McKeto Breakfast!

Keto Breakfast at Taco Bell

Usually, you’ll have a slightly easier time eating keto-friendly taco bell. Their bowls are the way to go, even though you’ll have to ditch some carb-heavy ingredients.

It’s the same story when it comes to breakfast. Taco Bell’s Breakfast Skillet, minus the potato, is a very nice keto breakfast when you’re craving some fast food.

Keto Breakfast at Starbucks

Listing Starbucks as a fast food joint might be up for discussion, but besides all the sugared coffee drinks, they have quite the range of food to offer. 

Your best chance at eating a keto-friendly breakfast at Starbucks is ordering some Egg Bites. They’re not completely carb-free, but all variations have fewer than 15 grams of carbs per serving. Our favorite is definitely the one with chicken chorizo.

Keto Breakfast at Burger King

Just like McDonald’s, you wouldn’t link “keto” to “Burger King”. The same solution applies though; customize your order!

Burger King’s breakfast offer, the Croissan’wich, is good to go for a keto breakfast once you’ve ditched the actual sandwich. You’ll need a knife and a fork for this version though… or a ton of napkins.

Keto Breakfast at Chick-Fil-A

Finally, we have Chick-Fil-A. The chicken-focused fast food chain has its own answer to the McMuffin breakfast in the form of the Egg White Grill. With 25 grams of protein and 7 grams of fat, it’s perfectly compatible with your keto diet. But as you probably know by now, remove the bun first!

Conclusion

As you’ve noticed most fast food restaurants have something to offer in terms of a keto breakfast – even though you might have to customize your order a little bit.

That said, if you’re craving some fast food and are in need of a keto-friendly breakfast, don’t let anyone hold you back! Experiment with some of them, and you’ll quickly find your own favorites. 

Got any other suggestions we should try? Let us know in the comments!

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Your Best Keto Options when Going for Fast Food

Who doesn’t love a good bit of fast food now and then? Whether you’re a seasoned Keto veteran or just trying out the wonderful keto diet lifestyle, there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of fast food here and there.

The challenge, however, lies in finding the right keto fast food options that scratch the fast food itch. Luckily, it turns out that’s not too hard to do, depending on if you’re looking for a keto fast food breakfast, lunch or maybe just a quick snack.

Read on for some of your best options when looking for keto fast food!

Making sure your fast food is actually keto proof

If you’re not yet familiar with the keto diet, or you would like a small reminder: the ketogenic diet is all about low-carb, high-fat. Even though there are quite some variations, this is the basic rule to keep in mind when looking for keto fast food options.

Of course, fast food is all about carbs, so pay extra attention when going for keto fast food. Things like bread, rice, and noodles should obviously be avoided, but be extra careful of hidden carbs (like the sugar content in ketchup sauce, for example).

Which fast food joints have decent keto options?

Plenty of fast food places have some sort of keto option available. Sometimes it’s just a matter of picking the right one of the menu, at other times you’ll have to put together the keto dish yourself. 

The following fast food restaurants have at least one keto option available:

  • Chipotle
  • Wendy’s
  • KFC
  • In-N-Out Burger
  • Burger King
  • Subway
  • Taco Bell

There are obviously more fast food chains than the ones listed above. However, we listed the most popular ones that offer a decent keto meal. If you want to branch out, applying the basic rules of keto allows you to select or create keto fast food options almost anywhere.

Keto Options at Chipotle

Chipotle is one of the more keto-proof ones in this list. It’s actually very easy to make your Chipotle bowl keto: just make sure to get rid of the rice and the beans.Chipotle’s “Supergreens Salad Mix” is the perfect replacement. Oh, and you’ll want to leave out the corn salsa too.

Your Best Bets for Eating Keto at Wendy’s

Your local Wendy’s has some nice low-carb salads on the menu, ready to go for anyone living the keto lifestyle. But let’s be honest here; you wouldn’t normally head to Wendy’s for just a salad, would you?

Unfortunately, to enjoy one of Wendy’s other options like a grilled chicken sandwich or even The Baconator, you’ll have to give up the bun. Still that’s a small sacrifice for a delicious keto fast food meal. Again, be wary of the ketchup as well – it has lots of sugar (which means: carbs!).

The Best Keto Fast Food at KFC

You might be thinking; “Chicken! We’re good to go!”. Hold back just a minute there. Even though KFC’s main ingredient – chicken – is indeed keto-friendly, their famous batter is not. Every piece gets fried in this, adding a lot (relatively speaking) of carbs to every bite of tasty chicken.

But there’s another option; grilled chicken (versus the fried version). Order yourself some grilled chicken with a side of green beans, and you’ve got a completely keto-friendly fast food dish from the Colonel himself!

Eating Keto at In-N-Out Burger

Looking for a good keto option at In-N-Out? They’ve got you covered! It’s actually really easy: just order any burger “protein-style”, and you buns will be swapped out for two pieces of lettuce. According to their “secret menu”, you can also order a “Flying Dutchman”, which is just two pieces of burger meat with cheese. Wash your hands afterwards!

Our Favorite Keto Options at Burger King

Ah yes, the home of the Whopper. As with most burgers, making this iconic meal keto-friendly is not complicated. Just remove the bun and ketchup, and you’re good to go.

Keto Fast Food at Subway

What’s in a name? Well, for Subway it’s a Sub – and that’s what you need to get rid of. Your best bet for keto fast food options at Subway is staying away from the subs all together and going for a fresh, healthy salad.

You can also choose to have your favorite subs turned into a salad! Just make sure to avoid meatballs and sugary sauces. Enjoy your sub-salad!

The Best Keto Options at Taco Bell

To eat keto at Taco Bell, you’ll have to stick to the sides. Meaning, no main dishes. However, their menu is highly customizable, so in the end it should not be a problem to come up with the keto-friendly cheesy meat fest that you’re looking for. 

As we said above for Chipotle; choose a bowl and replace the beans and rice with some lettuce and guacamole. You’ll have a nice fast food dish meal with quite some protein and fat to keep you going.

Which Menu has the Best Keto Fast Food Options?

As you can see, most fast food joints have something nice to offer in terms of keto-friendly menu options. Either they offer a nice keto dish, or it’s up to you to create one – but most of the time you’ll be able to join your non-keto buddies to any fast food joint and you won’t be leaving hungry!

What’s your favorite Keto Fast Food meal? Let us know in the comments!