Plenty of fast food chains are getting on board with offering menu items for customers looking for gluten-free choices, but that doesn’t usually extend to French fries. While this seems a little hard to believe, seeing as how potatoes are naturally gluten-free, restaurants have sneaky ways of making their food tastier by adding extra ingredients where you least expect them, like McDonald’s, which fries its potatoes in a vegetable oil that contains Natural Beef Flavor consisting of wheat and milk derivatives. These changes often taking seemingly one-note foods and turning them into something that people with gluten sensitivities or allergies can’t consume.
There are a couple of reasons why this gluten-free ingredient isn’t always gluten-free at fast food restaurants. Some chains cook their French fries in the same oil that other items are fried in. If those items contain gluten, such as a breaded chicken strip, then the oil is considered contaminated and can put those with celiac disease or a gluten intolerance at risk.
Another issue is that the French fries from some chains contain additional ingredients that introduce gluten into the fries, like EverCrisp, a batter booster made from wheat dextrin that improves the texture of fried foods, makes them crispier when fried, and doesn’t alter the taste. Fortunately, there are three fast food chains where the fries are gluten free and safe to eat. However, it is always a good idea to double check with the restaurant to make sure the kitchen is aware of your dietary restrictions and can help you avoid any potential problems with your order.
In-N-Out
The chain that helped shape the drive-thru as we know it has a cult-like following for plenty of reasons, one of which is their fries. The fries are not only made 100% from potatoes, you can actually watch them being cut as you wait for your order. Employees put whole potatoes through a slicer right before they are cooked. The fries are cooked in 100% pure sunflower oil without any additives and with the potatoes going from whole to cut to fried in a matter of minutes, there is no opportunity for the chain to sneak in any gluten-containing additives. In-N-Out’s secret menu item, the Flying Dutchman, is another good gluten-free option.
Five Guys
Five Guys has made quite a name for itself since the brand first launched in 1986. Its fries aren’t exactly known for being healthy, but they are completely gluten-free. The chain cuts its potatoes fresh, soaks them in water, then fries them in 100% peanut oil that isn’t shared with any other products. The only chance of cross contamination comes from the fact that the bread used for the burgers contains gluten and is served in the same store, although unless you are putting fries in a burger, you shouldn’t have to worry about any risk.
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A sells a different kind of fry — the waffle-cut potato fry. It also serves hash browns for breakfast, and both items are listed on the brand’s website as gluten-free. The chain does serve items that are not gluten-free by any means (hamburger buns and breaded chicken products, to be more specific), so there is always that potential for cross contamination, but the potato products themselves are gluten-free and fried in a separate fryer. Rather than using a product like EverCrisp to give the fries a crispy finish, Chick-fil-A makes its potatoes with pea starch, a product that is non-GMO, non-allergenic, and gluten-free.
