Lovin’ it. Yes, it is possible to be gluten free at McDonald’s.

Posted by Gluten Free Girl on 21st December 2009

McDonald's french fries

McDonald's french fries. Image courtesy of cfinke

When you’re on the run, it’s tempting to dash into your local fast food joint and grab yourself a quick bite. But if you’re following a gluten free diet surely your local McDonald’s is off limits?

Not so. There are numerous foods which are gluten free at McDonald’s. (Although we recommend you don’t eat them every day.) Note: these apply to UK McDonalds’s restaurants only.

Meaty stuff
A McDonald’s hamburger, cheeseburger, Quarter Pounder®, and Big Mac® are all gluten free IF eaten without the bun. All McDonald’s burgers are made with 100% beef; so they’re not ‘beefed up’ with any cereal, rusk or flour.

And according to McDonald’s they’re happy to serve you just the burger minus the bun if you ask your server when ordering. Apparently, they don’t even mind if you bring your own gluten free bun in with you.

Potato things

  • French fries (Note: UK only. It seems that US french fries do have gluten.)
  • Potato wedges
  • Hash browns

Green stuff

  • Fruit bags
  • Carrot sticks
  • Garden salads

McFlurrys

  • Cadburys Crunchie McFlurry andDairy Milk McFlurrys are both gluten free
  • But Aero McFlurrys are NOT gluten free

Sundaes

  • Strawberry sundaes are gluten free
  • But toffee sundaes are NOT gluten free

Drinks

  • Regular coffee
  • Latte
  • But Cappuccinos are NOT gluten free. (The chocolate chips used contain gluten.)
  • Hot chocolate
  • Apple juice
  • Orange juice
  • Soft drinks
  • Milkshakes

Sauces

  • Big Mac sauce
  • Heinz Tomato Ketchup
  • Mustard
  • Mayo
  • Spicy tomato salsa

What else to avoid
The obvious things to avoid are buns, wraps and anything in breadcrumbs. Fish fingers, chicken nuggets and onion rings are also off limits.

But if you’re not sure about any ingredients just ask your server. And if they don’t seem sure ask to speak to the manager. Don’t run the risk of being ill over a Filet-O-Fish®

Update: Following on from a number of queries we had regarding the fries, we contacted McDonald’s directly. See this post for their reply.

Bookmark and Share

Related posts

Liked this post? Subscribe to the blog feed for more of the same!

5 Comments | Posted in Gluten Free Eating Out, Gluten Free Foods and tagged french fries, mcdonalds, mcflurry, restaurants

5 Responses to “Lovin’ it. Yes, it is possible to be gluten free at McDonald’s.”

  1. Stephanie: 3rd June 2010 at 9:20am

    Following your article on McDonald’s, I thought you may be interested to know that they often cook their fries with other products that do contain gluten, therefore making them no longer gluten free. I was ill after eating their fries on 2 occasions, and it took me a while to discover that this was what was causing it. This is now also the case with Burger King fries too!! They do also do their burgers without the buns if you ask when ordering.

  2. Gluten Free Girl: 7th June 2010 at 9:49am

    Hey Stephanie
    Hmmm…that’s not great to hear. I’ve eaten fries with no problems and McDonald’s themselves claim their fries are 100% gluten free as does their forum.

    But leave this with us and we’ll investigate further!

  3. Jen Rowan: 7th July 2010 at 9:01am

    I have just been recently diagnosed Coeliac and have just been ill after eating a Mcdonalds Quarter pounder without bun and fries as I believed the fries to be OK however I have learnt today that McDonalds fries may be cooked in the same fryer as Fillet of fish and apple pies.

  4. Gluten Free Girl: 8th July 2010 at 10:13am

    Hi Jen
    We’ve got a call out with McDonald’s at the moment on this. As soon as they get back to us we’ll let you know.

  5. Gluten Free Girl: 14th July 2010 at 7:36pm

    Hi guys
    We contacted McDonald’s directly on the issue of gluten free fries. This is what they had to say.

Leave a Reply