Low-carb and keto fast food

The fastest way to cut carbs at any chain is to lose the bread: a bun, tortilla or 6-inch roll is 35–50 g on its own. These full meals are sorted by total carbs, lowest first.

Up to

#	Meal	kcal	Protein	Carbs	g protein / 100 kcal	Sodium
1	No-bread bowl: double rotisserie chicken Subway	285	40 g	2 g	14.0	605 mg
2	Bacon cheeseburger lettuce wrap Five Guys	680	46 g	4 g	6.8	1,050 mg
3	Low-carb: grilled nuggets + side salad Chick-fil-A	315	31 g	10 g	9.8	1,090 mg
4	Cold brew + egg white bites Starbucks	175	12 g	11 g	6.9	485 mg
5	Greens + steak, light CAVA	330	26 g	12 g	7.9	880 mg
6	Low-carb: Original Recipe breast + green beans KFC	415	40 g	15 g	9.6	1,450 mg
7	Bowl: super greens + teriyaki chicken Panda Express	365	39 g	18 g	10.7	790 mg
8	Low-carb / keto steak salad Chipotle	540	31 g	22 g	5.7	1,315 mg
9	Green Goddess Cobb + cold brew Panera	540	42 g	26 g	7.8	955 mg
10	Grilled nuggets + fruit Chick-fil-A	240	26 g	29 g	10.8	590 mg
11	Under 500: chicken bowl, no rice Chipotle	470	47 g	33 g	10.0	1,410 mg
12	Steak bowl, no rice Qdoba	415	31 g	34 g	7.5	1,540 mg
13	Three barbacoa tacos Chipotle	525	33 g	38 g	6.3	1,220 mg
14	Grande vanilla latte Starbucks	270	13 g	39 g	4.8	170 mg
15	Three crunchy tacos Taco Bell	510	24 g	39 g	4.7	930 mg
16	Tuna with mayo Subway	595	21 g	40 g	3.5	1,090 mg
17	Turkey on multigrain, all the veg Subway	310	21 g	41 g	6.8	1,010 mg
18	Tenders + green beans KFC	515	39 g	42 g	7.6	1,610 mg
19	Italian B.M.T. classic Subway	495	22 g	43 g	4.4	1,365 mg
20	You Pick 2: half Caesar + cup chicken noodle Panera	405	25 g	44 g	6.0	1,350 mg
21	Whopper Jr. + chicken fries Burger King	610	28 g	46 g	4.6	1,310 mg
22	Egg McMuffin + hash brown McDonald’s	450	19 g	47 g	4.2	1,080 mg
23	Rotisserie chicken, double meat Subway	430	44 g	49 g	10.2	920 mg
24	Oat shaken espresso + croissant Starbucks	380	7 g	49 g	1.8	435 mg
25	Jr. Cheeseburger + small chili Wendy’s	540	32 g	50 g	5.9	1,700 mg

25 meals shown. Every row opens in its calculator so you can tweak it. Sodium over the 2,300 mg daily value is marked in red.

How to order low-carb at the big chains

Chipotle: a salad or bowl with no rice and no beans. Meat, fajita veggies, salsa, cheese and guac keeps it near 20 g.
Subway: order any sandwich as a no-bread bowl. The 6-inch bread is 36–48 g of carbs, nearly all of the sandwich’s total.
Chick-fil-A: grilled nuggets are 1 g of carbs for eight; breaded are 11 g. Zesty Buffalo is the lowest-carb sauce.
Five Guys: any burger can be a lettuce wrap, which removes the bun’s carbs entirely.
KFC: Original Recipe has less breading than Extra Crispy; green beans are the low-carb side.

Drinks matter as much as food. Unsweetened iced tea, black coffee, water and diet sodas are close to zero; a regular soda or lemonade can carry more carbs than the meal.

Also see: high-protein fast food and low-calorie fast food.

FAQ

What fast food is lowest in carbs?

In this list, a Subway no-bread bowl with double rotisserie chicken (about 2 g of carbs), a Five Guys bacon cheeseburger as a lettuce wrap (about 4 g) and Chick-fil-A grilled nuggets with a side salad (about 10 g) are the lowest. All of them drop the bun, bread or tortilla.

Is fast food keto-friendly?

It can be, if you remove the starch. Most keto approaches keep total carbs to roughly 20–50 g a day, so one meal should stay well under that. Grilled or roasted meat, cheese, guacamole, leafy vegetables and oil-based dressings are the usual building blocks.

Where are the hidden carbs in fast food?

Sweet sauces and drinks. A packet of honey mustard or barbecue sauce is about 11–12 g of carbs, a medium lemonade or soda can be 50–80 g, and breading on fried chicken adds 8–11 g per piece.

Are these total or net carbs?

Total carbohydrates, as the chains publish them. Net carbs subtract fibre, so a bowl with beans or guacamole will be somewhat lower in net carbs than shown here.