Fast food on the keto diet to most people probably seems like an oxymoron. Fast food is traditionally one of the worst things you can eat, and keto is all about treating your body in a healthy and efficient way. While you’ll still need to be careful and count your carbs, there are still actually quite a few fast food restaurants that are perfectly keto-friendly in moderation.

One of my favorite fast food chains for keto is Five Guys. They have a great menu that allows for customization and are working hard to meet all types of dietary restrictions.

While you won’t be able to enjoy things like buns and sugary sauces, there’s still a lot of tasty meals you can get with Five Guys on keto. I’ll break down some initial tips to keep in mind first.

Tips For Ordering Keto at Five Guys

• Take a look at the nutrition facts ahead of time

One of the things that I like most about Five Guys is that it’s nutritional guide not only states the nutrition facts, but that it also lists all of the specific ingredients in each menu item. This way you can be cognizant of allergies and certain inflammatory ingredients that may be low carb, but still problematic on a keto diet.

It’s even better if you check out the nutrition guide ahead of time, which can be found on their website here. That way if you’re in a rush and need to make a decision, you will already have a pretty good idea of what to choose.

• Get to know which toppings are safe on keto

One of Five Guys’ biggest distinguishing factors as a fast food chain is its abundance in different types of toppings. However, not all of them are exactly keto-friendly.

If you decide to order a burger or a hot dog, on keto you’ll obviously want to get them without the bun, but you should also try to hold the sugar sauces. These include BBQ sauce, A1 steak sauce, ketchup, relish, fry sauce, and mayonnaise.

Mustard however is a great option for adding flavor without adding any carbs or really any calories either. Mustard uses vinegar instead of sugar to enhance flavors, and while vinegar may have some inflammatory properties, it’s a much safer bet especially in normally small quantities.

The Five Guys hot sauce options are usually pretty safe too. They can add a lot of extra zest to your meal, and may even have some weight loss properties of their own.

Safe food toppings include: fresh lettuce, tomato, cheese, bacon, fresh green peppers, and fresh onions. Pickles can be a little tricky. They’re usually fine to eat on keto in moderation, but some brands can have more sugar and preservatives than others.

• Always hold the bun

Going bunless is pretty much a requirement when it comes to eating out on the keto diet. There’s just no way to fit in bread, especially white bread on keto, because all of the natural and added sugar and carbs that come with each slice.

For example, the standard bun at Five Guys comes with a whopping 39 grams of carbs and only 2 grams of fiber! At 37 net carbs, that’s more than enough to take you out of ketosis in just one meal.

Generally, I advise going for burgers over hot dogs in general. Hot dogs are typically a lot more processed and have heavy amounts of nitrates that are bad for digestion and can definitely cause a lot more inflammation.

But in the cases of both hot dogs and burgers, asking for bunless is pretty easy, you’ll get a larger tin to eat out of, and they usually will provide extra lettuce to wrap the meat.

• Double up on meat and cheese

This is a pretty simple hack that works great at restaurants like Five Guys. If taking out the bun and certain toppings makes you worried about not feeling full after your meal, it’s easy to go ahead and just ask them to double up on your burger patty, cheese, and even get some extra bacon.

It’s a pretty great way to help feel fully satiated, get some extra fat into your daily macro count, and not go too overboard on carbs.

From here, I’ll dive a little deeper into all the best keto-friendly options at Five Guys.

Keto-Friendly Five Guys Options

• Burgers (always hold the bun)
  • Little cheeseburger (one patty)
  • Little hamburger (one patty)
  • Little bacon burger (one patty and two slices of bacon)
  • Little bacon cheeseburger (one patty and two slices of bacon)
  • Hamburger (two patties)
  • Bacon burger (two patties and two slices of bacon)
  • Cheeseburger (two patties and two slices of cheese)
  • Bacon cheeseburger (two patties, two slices of cheese, and two slices of bacon)
• Hot Dogs (always hold the bun)
  • Cheese dog (comes with a slice of melted American cheese)
  • Bacon dog (comes wrapped in bacon)
  • Bacon cheese dog (comes wrapped in bacon with a slice of melted American cheese)
  • Kosher style hot dog
• Toppings
  • Pickles (in moderation, check the brand)
  • Mustard
  • Fresh lettuce
  • Fresh onions
  • Fresh tomatoes
  • Fresh green peppers
  • Jalapeno peppers
  • Cheese
  • Bacon
• Sandwiches
  • BLT minus the bread and mayonnaise

Off Limits Five Guys Food for Keto

• Mayonnaise (Five Guys mayo contains high fructose corn syrup and vegetable oil)
• Grilled onions (contains high fructose corn syrup)
• Ketchup
• A1 sauce
• BBQ sauce
• Grilled mushrooms (contains high fructose corn syrup)

If you’re more into visuals, one of my favorite keto YouTubers, High Fat High Fun did a pretty great review of Five Guys for Keto that you can check out right here.

 

Keto Fast Food Rules to Follow

• Plan your order in advance

This rule is extremely important when it comes to sticking to keto while eating out at any type of restaurant, especially fast food restaurants.

One of the best ways that you can set yourself up for success by just planning your meal out ahead of time, and sticking to it once you’re actually ready to order.

Some of the most effective ways to succeed with this include research (like what you’re doing by reading this article right now!) and pre-entering all your meals into a macro-counting app. By doing this, you’ll be able to accurately know just how much you have left in your calorie and carb budget for the rest of the day.

• Watch out for deep fried options

This one can be pretty tough with fast food, but it’s still super important to pay attention to.

Specific types of oils that are often used when deep frying foods can sometimes promote inflammation in the body, which has been known to cause adverse affects on ketosis and may even slow down your weight loss process, even if they’re not inherently high in carbs.

This happens because inflammation works against the ketogenic process, and a lot of oils that are used in restaurant cooking are likely to cause inflammation.

Some of the big deep fried oils to look out for include soybean oil and vegetable oil. Whenever possible, ask to get your food not fried, or at least well done so that they’re cooked in more than one way.

• Focus on fat over protein

A lot of people try to overdo it on protein when avoiding carbs, especially while eating out. Sure protein is a great nutrient to get, but your focus is still much better put toward hitting your fat macro goals (and not by trans fats).

Focusing on getting more fat over protein is important on keto for a couple of reasons. Many people don’t know this, but eating too much protein can actually contribute to you getting kicked out of ketosis. For this reason, fat is definitely the safest of the three macronutrients.

This effect happens via a process known as gluconeogensis, and while it can be hard to induce, if you’re not paying attention to your protein count it’s definitely possible to experience it. During gluconeogenesis, your body will start to manufacture glucose from protein instead of sugar, which will take you out of ketosis quickly.

• Balance out your other meals of the day

If there’s at least one of these suggestions that you remember to follow when it comes to eating out on keto, I hope that it is this one.

It is absolutely fine to go ahead and bend the rules of your diet by having fast food every once in a while, and with keto being protein and fat focused, you can enjoy fast food pretty easily actually.

However if you do eat fast food, your body will thank you immensely if you also balance those unhealthy meals with nutrient-dense healthy meals before and after, so that your body can perform optimally and process that fast food much more efficiently, and not result in the pains of indigestion that typically follow greasy foods. If you do tend to overdo on calories (which is also easy from fast food), this will help your body bounce back from a caloric surplus as well.

• Don’t get discouraged

This last one is pretty vital when it comes to sticking with keto in the long run. Accidents happen, cravings take over, and sometimes there just isn’t another available option. If you go ahead and eat some fast food that you aren’t sure how to accurately track, and think it might knock you out of ketosis, ultimately it’s going to be okay.

One of the main reasons that people quit this diet is from being discouraged or accidentally eating the wrong thing and just giving up. But honestly, ketosis can be achieved fairly quickly. The whole objective of following the keto diet should be viewed as a marathon and not a sprint. You’re much better off sticking with ketosis, even with a dietary hiccup every now and then, than you are by just giving up completely.

Related Post: How to Eat Low Carb at Red Lobster on Keto

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are quite a few ways that you can still enjoy fast food options from time to time without entirely losing your benefits of ketosis. As long as you are always prepared and armed with the nutrition facts for each restaurant, you should be able to traverse the keto diet while eating out like a champ.

Do you have any favorite Five Guys keto hacks? Drop a comment if you do. I’m always looking for more versatile ways to eat keto.