Eating out can be a challenge when you’re following a keto or low-carb diet, and fast food restaurants like McDonald’s may seem like an impossible task. But with a little planning and knowledge, you can still enjoy a meal at McDonald’s while sticking to your diet.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss some easy ordering tips and low-carb options that you can choose from when eating at McDonald’s. Whether you’re following a keto diet or a low-carb diet, you’ll find some delicious and satisfying options that won’t derail your progress. So let’s explore how to order keto at McDonald’s and enjoy a low-carb meal without sacrificing taste or convenience.

Eating Keto at McDonald’s

While no one is saying that eating at a fast food restaurant is good for you, there are ways to make healthier choices when you are eating Keto at Mcdonald’s. Especially when traveling, you might find yourself eating fast food a bit more often.  While nothing beats a delicious homecooked meal, you don’t want a trip through the drive-through to throw you off your eating plan. Use these low-carb Mcdonald’s ideas and Keto options at Mcdonald’s to help you stay on track. 

The McDonald’s menu can easily be ordered from so you can stick to the ketogenic diet or a low carb diet as long as you know what to order and what to stay away from. Many fast food items contain lots of carbs and that can throw you off from sticking to the diet. 

Tips for Ordering Low Carb and Keto at McDonald’s

When you are eating low-carb and Keto at McDonald’s you want to stay away from the foods that have obvious carbs in them.  Following a keto diet can be challenging when eating out, but fast-food chains like McDonald’s offer a variety of keto-friendly options that you can choose from. With a little knowledge and planning, you can still enjoy a satisfying meal while sticking to your low-carb goals. Here are some tips on how to order keto-friendly foods at McDonald’s.

• Order bunless burgers, bunless cheeseburger, and bunless chicken. No buns on your sandwich. Also, watch the ketchup. Ketchup contains a lot of sugar and is one of those sneaky places people forget about the carbs. 
• Skip anything with breading. Anything that is breaded you want to skip as that will be high in carbs and will not be keto-friendly. That means any of the breaded chicken items including chicken nuggets should be avoided.  
• Skip the soda. While diet soda doesn’t have carbs, it is not good for you. I suggest sticking to unsweetened iced tea, water, or black coffee.
• Add veggies. While you will be adding carbs you will be adding healthy options to the food you are eating as well.  When you are ordering you can add lettuce to your meal. You can also add onions and tomatoes; each will bring about 1 carb per item to your total. 
• Add healthy fats. To make your meal more filling and satisfying, add healthy fats like cheese, bacon, avocado, or mayonnaise. These ingredients are low in carbs and high in healthy fats, which will keep you full and satisfied for longer. You can add cheese or bacon to your burger or salad, or ask for extra mayonnaise on the side.
• Choose protein-rich options. Protein is an important nutrient on a keto diet, as it helps to keep you full and supports muscle growth and repair. McDonald’s offers several protein-rich options that are low in carbs, such as grilled chicken, eggs, and beef patties. 

Keto Drink options at McDonald’s

When it comes to drinks at McDonald’s, water is the best and most keto-friendly option. It’s important to note that some of the other drinks at McDonald’s, such as fruit juices, milkshakes, and regular soda, are high in sugar and carbohydrates, so they should be avoided on a keto diet.  However, if you want to add some flavor to your beverage, you can consider these options:

1. Unsweetened Iced Tea. McDonald’s offers unsweetened iced tea, which is a good keto-friendly option as long as you avoid the sweeteners.
2. Coffee. McDonald’s coffee is also a good keto-friendly option, but be sure to skip the cream and sugar. Instead, you can add a splash of heavy cream or opt for black coffee.
3. Diet Coke or Coke Zero. If you’re looking for a carbonated beverage, Diet Coke or Coke Zero are both keto-friendly options since they are sugar-free.
4. Sparkling Water. McDonald’s also offers sparkling water, which is a great keto-friendly option if you’re looking for a little fizz.

What McDonald’s Sauces are keto?

When ordering a sandwich you are good to add mayo and/or mustard as they are zero carb sauce options. Be sure to skip the ketchup, as it is on most items and is high in carbs. 

For dipping sauces, the creamy ranch dressing and the buffalo sauce dip are both 1 carb each. You can mix them together for a sauce to put on your burger for a tasty twist. You will want to skip the honey mustard, honey, and the other sweet options as they are loaded with carbs. 

Low Carb Breakfast at McDonald’s

You can enjoy the keto options at McDonald’s that are listed while sticking to a low carb diet, but when you are low carb you do have the ability to eat more carbs than you do when following a keto diet. These low carb options at McDonald’s are choices. 

• Egg McMuffin (order with no muffin): The Egg McMuffin without the muffin is a good low-carb option for breakfast. It contains egg, cheese, and Canadian bacon, and you can also add extra bacon or sausage for more flavor.
• Sausage McMuffin with Egg (order with no muffin): The Sausage McMuffin with Egg without the muffin is another low-carb breakfast option. It contains an egg, cheese, and sausage, and you can also add extra bacon for more flavor.
• Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit (order with no biscuit): The Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit without the biscuit is another low-carb option for breakfast. It contains an egg, cheese, and bacon, and you can also add extra sausage for more flavor.
• Steak, Egg & Cheese Bagel (order with no bagel): The Steak, Egg & Cheese Bagel without the bagel is a low-carb option for breakfast. It contains an egg, cheese, and steak, and you can also add extra bacon for more flavor.

Keto Breakfast at McDonald’s

Remember to skip the high-carb items such as muffins, biscuits, and hashbrowns to keep your breakfast low in carbs. And as always, be aware of hidden carbs in sauces and dressings, so you may want to opt for a side of butter instead. These breakfast items are a great way to start the day and with only a few net carbs each, you do not have to worry about going off track. 

To keep things on the cheaper side order the cheapest item that has no bread. You will only be eating the meat, egg, and cheese from the breakfast sandwiches so there is no point in spending the extra money when you can order the cheaper option and get the same thing. 

• Steak Egg and Cheese Biscuit (order with no biscuit) Nutrition Information: 294 calories, 4 net carbs. 
• Bacon Egg and Cheese biscuit (order with no biscuit) Nutrition Information: 190 calories, 3 net carbs. 
• Sausage Egg and cheese Biscuit (order with no biscuit) Nutrition Information: 224 calories, 1 net carb. 
• Sausage McMuffin with Egg (order with No English muffin) Nutrition Information: 340 calories, 3 net carbs. 
• Egg McMuffin (order with no English muffin) Nutrition Information: 160 calories, 3 net carbs. The Egg McMuffin without the muffin is a good keto option for breakfast. It contains egg, cheese, and Canadian bacon, and you can also add a side of bacon or sausage patties.
• Single round egg. The lowest carb option at McDonald’s is the round egg which has just 1g of total carbs. 
• Egg Biscuit. (Order with no bun). This one is a fluffy egg so you will skip the biscuit and just get the fluffy egg. Nutrition information: 2 net carbs and  70 calories.
• Order sides. Another option is ordering scrambled eggs and a side of sausage patty.

Low Carb and Keto Burgers at McDonald’s

When you are ordering any of the burger or grilled chicken sandwiches at Mcdonald’s, just remove the bun to make it low carb. Any of the breaded chicken sandwiches are not low carb and should be avoided. If you are keto then you will also want to ask for no ketchup and no sauces like the big mac sauce as they are high in sugar and carbs. 

My best tip is to order a side salad and then add the burger on top of it to make a burger salad. You can then add in the mayo and mustard to keep it low-carb. If you want to add ranch dressing that will add carbs but will also add flavor. 

• Hamburger (order with no ketchup and no bun). You will have a burger patty with pickles and onions. You can add lettuce as well. Nutrition Information: 90 calories, 6g fat, 0g carbs, 7g protein
• Cheeseburger (order with no ketchup and no bun). You will have a burger patty with a cheese slice, mustard, pickle slices, and onions. Nutrition Information: 140 calories, 10g fat, 2g carbs, 10g protein
• McDouble (order with no ketchup and no bun). You will have 2 burger patties, a slice of cheese, mustard, pickles, and onions.  Nutrition Information: 220 calories, 16g fat, 3g carbs, 17g protein
• Double Cheeseburger (order with no ketchup and no bun). You will have 2 burger patties, 2 slices of cheese, mustard, pickles, and onions. Nutrition Information: 270 calories, 20g fat, 4g carbs, 1g fiber, 20g protein
• Triple Cheeseburger (order with no ketchup and no bun). You will have 3 burger patties, 2 slices of cheese, mustard, pickles, and onions. Nutrition Information: 360 calories and 3g carbs.
• Quarter Pounder with cheese. (Order with no bun and no ketchup). You will get a bigger and better burger patty than the lower priced options and have lettuce, pickles, onions, mustard, and cheese on your burger. Nutrition Information: 3g carbs and 310 calories. 
• Double Quarter Pounder with cheese. (Order with no bun and no ketchup). You will get 2 large burger patties then the lower priced options and have lettuce, pickles, onions, mustard, and 2 slices of cheese on your burger. Nutrition Information: 4 g carbs and 520 calories. 
• Big Mac (order with no sauce and no bun). If you keep the sauce you are adding 2g of carbs to your sandwich. You will get 3 beef patties, 2 slices of cheese, lettuce, onions, and pickles.  Nutrition Information:230 calories, 16g fat, 3g carbs, 1g fiber, 17g protein.
• Bacon McDouble (order with no ketchup and no bun). You will have 2 burger patties, bacon, a slice of cheese, mustard, pickles, and onions.  Nutrition Information:290 calories, 21g fat, 3g carbs, 23g protein

Low Carb Salad’s at McDonald’s

Salads are always an option when you are eating low carb or keto at McDonalds. You will want to go with a low carb dressing unless you want to eat the salad dry. personally, I love to use ranch, and while it isn’t keto as it comes in with 8g of carbs, making it not Keto friendly, it is one of those things that this is how I want it so this is how I am eating it. We all have to pick our battles. 

• McDonald’s Side Salad – (no carrots, no dressing). You can opt for ranch dressing if you want to. This is a great one to order if you are getting a burger and you are going to make a burger salad.  Nutrition Information: 18 calories, 0g fat, 1g protein, 3g net carbs
• Bacon Ranch Grilled Chicken Salad – (No croutons, no carrots, no tomatoes and no dressing). If you want dressing add the ranch dipping sauce which will add 1 g net carb to the salad.  Nutrition Information: 320 calories, 14g fat, 42g protein, 7g net carbs

Things to skip at McDonald’s

• Crispy chicken sandwich. This sandwich is a breaded sandwich which is a no-go.
• Apple Slices. If you are eating low carb and are ok with the added carbs then these can be a healthy option but if you are keto skip them as they are high in carbs. 
• Soda. Regular soda is a no-go. The diet sodas will be ok but they are not the healthiest drink option on the menu.
• Desserts. Skip the desserts, there are no keto friendly options for desserts at McDonald’s.
• Fries. While you might want some french fries those are a no go. 
• Hashbrowns. Hasbrowns are also a no go when ordering at McDonald’s and keeping to a low carb and keto diet. 

Keto Fast Food Options

There are lots of keto food options at Fast food places that make it easy to grab low carb foods on the go. If you are looking for more keto fast food options be sure to check out the rest of the places we have covered. 

• Keto at Corner Bakery Cafe
• Keto Starbucks Drinks
• Low Carb Taco Bell
• Keto at Wendy’s
• Keto at Burger King

If you want to make things at home try our Keto Big Mac Salad and our Keto Big Mac Chaffle burger that are perfect options to make at home!

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