When I first started the keto diet, one type of food that I immediately started to miss and crave was sandwiches. I used to eat these all the time, and until I really started paying attention to carb and calorie counts, I thought they weren’t that unhealthy for you.

Fortunately, there are some simple steps that you can take that can make almost any dish at a sandwich shop keto-friendly.

In this article, I’ll be providing some tips on one of my favorite chains, Jersey Mike’s.

Tips for Ordering Keto at Jersey Mike’s

• Go for the sub in a tub

One of the best things about Jersey Mike’s is that you can easily turn any sandwich into a ‘salad’ so to speak, through their ‘sub in a tub’ option. You may recognize this serving style from other restaurants that use tubs like Five Guys for non-bread sandwiches and burgers.

It’s probably the best route to take when trying to stick to keto at this restaurant, as all other big meal alternatives involve bread or tortilla wraps, and will end up needing a tub to be eaten with minimal mess anyway.

Even if you just want to get a half sub, getting it in a tub is the best method to make your meal keto-friendly.

• Double up on meat and cheese

One issue with Jersey Mike’s is that a lot of their additional ingredients, especially sauces tend to have a ton of hidden carbs, most of which come from sugar. While this is just something to expect a lot of the time with fast food chains, you don’t have to sacrifice your meal’s substance to avoid sugar.

They’ll usually accommodate asking for extra helpings of meat and cheese, and you can also add in bacon and avocado to most ‘sub in a tub’ dishes.

• Avoid dressings and toppings

As I just mentioned, a lot of Jersey Mike’s dressings, toppings, and sauces tend to have a pretty absurd amount of hidden carbohydrates that you wouldn’t find in store-bough versions of those ingredients. So it’s good to know exactly what’s going into your meal by planning it out ahead of time.

I will give them credit for their great meal builder on their website, which automatically adjusts its carb count depending on what ingredients you include in it.

Fortunately, you can’t go wrong with dressings like mustard, as it will almost always be 0 carbs.

As far as toppings go, cucumber and avocado tend to always be safe for keto too.

• Not all tubs are created equal

While the ‘sub in a tub’ is a pretty great hack for making Jersey Mike’s keto-friendly, unfortunately there are a ton of options that simply don’t make the cut when looking at net carb counts.

A lot of subs, like the Philly Chicken Cheese Steak for example, still come in at a pretty high carb count, mostly from the sauce and type of American cheese that they use.

This is why it’s especially important to do all of the necessary research before going into the restaurant, so you don’t fall victim to Jersey Mike’s treacherous hidden carbs.

I’d even wager that a lot of tracking apps won’t provide the level of accuracy that you’ll probably need when planning out your meals in advance for this restaurant, because a lot of those apps are self reported, and the specific ingredients that Jersey Mike’s tends to use are just way higher in carbs than they need to be.

From here, I’ll get a little bit more into some of the best keto-friendly options that Jersey Mike’s has to offer, and will cover some other big sources of hidden carbs to avoid as well.

Keto-Friendly Jersey Mike’s Options

• Breakfast Options:

  • Egg and Cheese sub in a tub:
    • 220 calories | 15.5g fat | 3g carbs | 0g fiber | 17g protein
  • Turkey, Egg, and Cheese sub in a tub:
    • 160 calories | 9.5g fat | 0g carbs | 0g fiber | 16g protein
  • Pork Roll and Cheese sub in a tub:
    • 350 calories | 28.5g fat | 3g carbs | 0g fiber | 19g protein
  • Pork Roll, Egg, & Cheese sub in a tub:
    • 440 calories | 16g fat | 4g carbs | 0g fiber | 30g protein
  • Steak, Egg, & Cheese sub in a tub:
    • 380 calories | 23.5g fat | 3g carbs | 0g fiber | 39g protein
  • Bacon, Egg, & Cheese sub in a tub:
    • 340 calories | 26.5g fat | 3g carbs | 0g fiber | 23g protein
  • Ham, Egg, & Cheese sub in a tub:
    • 290 calories | 18.5g fat | 4g carbs | 0g fiber | 28g protein
  • Sausage, Egg, & Cheese sub in a tub:
    • 690 calories | 60g fat | 3g carbs | 0g fiber | 35g protein
  • Omelet with Ham:
    • 310 calories | 5g fat | 3g carbs | 0g fiber | 27g protein
  • Omelet with Ham and Bacon:
    • 430 calories | 31.5g fat | 3g carbs | 0g fiber | 33g protein
  • Omelet with Bacon:
    • 400 calories | 30.5g fat | 2g carbs | 0g fiber | 28g protein

• Lunch and Dinner Options:

  • Regular tub with extra meat and cheese:
    • 160 calories | 10g fat | 2g carbs | 0g fiber | 15g protein
  • Cancro Special (Regular/Tub Extra Cheese and Meat):
    • 230 calories | 15g fat | 1g carbs | 3g fiber | 22g protein
  • Grilled Chicken Parmesan:
    • 340 calories | 7.5g fat | 6g carbs | 1g fiber | 41g protein
  • BLT (Regular/Tub Extra Meat):
    • 120 calories | 10.5g fat | 0g carbs | 0g fiber | 6g proteinJersey Shore Favorite
  • American Classic (Regular/Tub Extra Cheese and Meat):
    • 180 calories | 10.5g fat | 2g carbs | 0g fiber | 17g protein
  • Roast Beef & Provolone (Regular/Tub Extra Cheese and Meat):
    • 250 calories | 15g fat | 1g carbs | 27g protein
  • Veggie (Regular/Tub Extra Cheese and Meat):
    • 220 calories | 17g fat | 1g carbs | 0g fiber | 16g protein
  • Club Sub (Regular/Tub Extra Cheese and Meat):
    • 270 calories | 17.5g fat | 1g carbs | 0g fiber | 26g protein
  • Club Supreme (Regular/Tub Extra Cheese and Meat):
    • 300 calories | 19g fat | 0g carbs | 0g fiber | 31g protein
  • Albacore Tuna Salad (Regular/Tub Extra Meat):
    • 240 calories | 20.5g fat | 2g carbs | 0g fiber | 11g protein
  • Stickball Special (Regular/Tub Extra Cheese and Meat):
    • 180 calories | 12.5g fat | 2g carbs | 0g fiber | 15g protein
  • Original Italian (Regular/Tub Extra Cheese and Meat):
    • 260 calories | 17g fat | 1g carbs | 3g fiber | 23g protein
  • Super Sub (Regular/Tub Extra Cheese and Meat):
    • 200 calories | 11.5g fat | 3g carbs | 0g fiber | 20g protein
  • Chicken Salad (Regular/Tub Extra Meat):
    • 240 calories | 23.5g fat | 0g carbs | 0g fiber | 8g protein
  • California Club (Regular/Tub Extra Meat):
    • 250 calories | 16.5g fat | 1g carbs | 0g fiber | 24g protein
  • California Dreamin’ (Regular Extra Meat):
    • 50 calories | .5g fat | 0g carbs | 0g fiber | 12g protein
  • Chipotle Turkey (Regular/Tub Extra Cheese and Meat):
    • 180 calories | 11g fat | 2g carbs | 0g fiber | 18g protein
  • Turkey Breast & Provolone (Regular/Tub Extra Cheese and Meat):
    • 170 calories | 9.5g fat | 1g carbs | 20g protein

What to Avoid at Jersey Mike’s on Keto

Obviously you’ll need to avoid all forms of bread, desserts, chips, and wraps, but there’s a lot of subs that even in tub form don’t exactly fly on a keto-friendly diet.

• Subs to Avoid:

  • Meatball and Cheese:
    • 520 calories | 39.5g fat | 13g carbs | 3g fiber | 27g protein
  • Chicka-Phila-Roni:
    • 450 calories | 27g fat | 11g carbs | 0g fiber | 40g protein
  • Chicken Philly:
    • 400 calories | 21g fat | 16g carbs | 1g fiber | 37g protein
  • Steak Bacon Ranch Cheesesteak:
    • 650 calories | 50.5g fat | 11g carbs | 0g fiber | 39g protein
  • Steak Philly:
    • 400 calories | 27g fat | 14g carbs | 1g fiber | 35g protein
  • Pastrami and Swiss:
    • 350 calories | 18.5g fat | 11g carbs | 0g fiber | 34g protein
  • Chipotle Steak:
    • 720 calories | 57g fat | 17g carbs | 3g fiber | 35g protein
  • Big Kahuna:
    • 490 calories | 31g fat | 15g carbs | 1g fiber | 39g protein
  • California Cheesesteak:
    • 660 calories | 52g fat | 12g carbs | 0g fiber | 35g protein
  • Chicken Parmesan:
    • 390 calories | 20g fat | 17g carbs | 2g fiber | 36g protein
  • California Chicken Cheesesteak:
    • 620 calories | 46g fat | 14g carbs | 0g fiber | 37g protein
  • Chicken Bacon Ranch Cheesesteak:
    • 620 calories | 44.5g fat | 13g carbs | 0g fiber | 41g protein
  • Grilled Chicken Sub:
    • 430 calories | 30g fat | 9g carbs | 0g fiber | 31g protein
  • Reuben:
    • 380 calories | 22g fat | 17g carbs | 4g fiber | 29g protein

• Toppings to Avoid:

  • Mike’s Original Way (regular):
    • 280 calories | 28g fat | 7g carbs | 1g fiber | 1g protein
  • Russian Dressing:
    • 160 calories | 16g fat | 4g carbs | 0g fiber | 4g protein

Keto Restaurant Rules to Follow

• Do your research

This is one that I can’t stress enough. While you can’t always be prepared, and most trips to fast food chains are usually a bit more spur of the moment on road trips or while traveling, any research that you are able to do ahead of your meal will benefit you greatly.

As you can see from the above foods to avoid, not all fast food chains are intuitive when it comes to hidden carbs, so using a restaurant’s own site is the best thing you can do if you’re looking to get an accurate carb count before going into your meal.

If you’re in a pinch and just don’t have the time to do research, there’s also no harm in asking an employee if they have the restaurant’s nutrition facts handy to check out for yourself.

• Focus on fat over protein

Focusing on high fat over high protein is an important part of eating out anywhere on the keto diet, especially at sandwich places like Jersey Mike’s.

A lot of people spend too much time focusing on meats and getting their protein count up, but will ignore the true catalyst of the fat burning aspects of the keto diet – the fat macro.

Additionally, eating too much protein can actually put your state of ketosis at risk, because it can cause something called gluconeogensis, in which your body could actually turn protein into glucose when digesting it.

• Balance out the rest of your meals

When eating out on keto, one of the most important things to remember is to balance out the rest of your meals. It’s okay to bend outside your macros every once in a while, and cheat meals are totally doable while sticking to the constraints of the keto diet if you balance everything correctly.

This balance can be achieved with fasting protocols like OMAD (One Meal A Day), or simply by keeping close track of the macronutrients that you’re eating.

Personally, my favorite and most reliable macro tracker is NOOM, which provides a ton of insight along with basic calorie and macro measurement tools.

• Don’t get discouraged

This is probably one of the most important takeaways for those that want to stick with keto in the long run.

Eventually, you’ll reach a point where either cravings will take over, or there simply won’t be a more keto-friendly option available, and you may accidentally get knocked out of ketosis. What’s important to remember is that this doesn’t automatically undo all of your hard work.

One of the main reasons that people quit this diet is because they get discouraged when they found out that they’ve lost ketosis. But in reality, getting back into ketosis is much easier if your body’s already been fat adapted before.

Additionally, it’s important to always remember that the results you’re striving to achieve with ketosis are made from a marathon and not a sprint. This is a long term lifestyle choice, and one slip up isn’t going to set you back to square one.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there’s a few key ways that you can easily turn your old Jersey Mike’s sub order into a tasty keto meal.

As long as you come in prepared, and keep an eye on those hidden carb counts, you should be in pretty solid standing to hit your macro targets and not have anything to worry about when it comes to sticking with keto while eating out.