When I first started the keto diet, I was a little bit lost when it came to eating out at restaurants, especially with fast food style restaurants.

When doing initial research on this diet, I heard so much conflicting information about nearly every aspect of the diet, it was very confusing, and eventually it became downright discouraging.

Though through a few months of trial and error, I was able to finally figure out what worked, and what definitely didn’t work.

That’s why i wanted to set out and make this guide to eating low carb at Chipotle. At the beginning of my keto journey, I didn’t think anything on Chipotle’s menu was keto-friendly, but I was absolutely wrong.

In this article I’ll be doing a deep dive on Chipotle’s menu, which foods work, which foods don’t work, and will provide some extra tips on how to hack your way to a more enjoyable keto dining experience.

Tips for Ordering Low Carb at Chipotle

• Double up on meat

What I really like about Chipotle is that they offer both steak and pork, which are both fattier cuts of meat that can really help when you’re trying to get more fat into your keto diet. They also don’t make it difficult to heavy up on meat in your order.

There are some caveats to just how keto-friendly there meats are. A lot of their meat options are marinated in mixtures that likely have some amounts of sugar in them, and most of their meats are fried in sunflower oil, which can cause inflammation that isn’t inherently good for maintaining a state of ketosis either.

But ultimately, when you’re in the tough position of not being able to eat rice or beans, doubling up on meat is a great way to help make your meal more filling and tasty.

• Double up on guacamole

Similarly with meat, I’m all about doubling up on guacamole. Yes it costs extra, but in my opinion, its worth it.

Guacamole is a powerhouse of healthy fats, and can help you stay less hungry, all while keeping your total carb count way down. It goes great with meats and cheeses, and can mix in with sour cream to feel even more filling and savory.

If mixed just right in a bowl, it can act as a great base for the rest of your meal – and it’ll definitely be worth the extra couple of bucks in exchange.

• Be careful with your toppings

At Chipotle, not all toppings are created equal, and you may need to exercise a little bit of caution when deciding which toppings to include in your meal.

One of Chipotle’s biggest benefits is that they are super customizable, but a drawback as any Mexican restaurant, is that most of the options like rice, beans, and sugary salsas simply aren’t keto-friendly.

It’s best to stay away from these starchy and sugary options, in favor of grilled fajitas and dairy options.

But be sure to still do some research, because even dairy options like their queso is milk-based, meaning it’s higher in carbs than regular cheese, and could really contribute to your net carb count if you’re not paying attention.

• Always make it a bowl

This is the golden rule of eating at Chipotle.

As great as burritos and tacos may be, Chipotle still hasn’t come around to low carb tortilla recipes yet, and you’re better off just avoiding the tortilla altogether.

Bowls can be a great way to get all of the food you want in an easy, non-messy container.

What I also like about bowls is since they’re open faced, you can really see every single ingredient that’s added to your dish while the Chipotle employees prepare it. You’ll know exactly what you’re getting, and it’s much easier to add extra toppings like cheese, sour cream, and guacamole without setting off the balance of the meal like extras might do with a burrito.

• Order online when possible

Chipotle’s app and online ordering capabilities aren’t just good for people who are in a hurry, but they can be effective tools to help you stay on track with your keto diet and avoid any hiccups from hidden net carbs.

With online ordering, you can customize your order exactly how you like it, and can click into all of their ingredients to see just how many carbs are being added to your meal. You can use the online ordering tool to place deliveries, and you can order ahead of time for pick up.

You can check out their ordering tool right here.

Keto-Friendly Options at Chipotle

Normally with these food chain and fast food guides, I’d split the options into ‘Breakfast’, ‘Lunch’, and ‘Dinner’. But for Chipotle, since it’s mostly a lunch and dinner type of restaurant, I’ll just jump right into it.

• Meats

For those who do eat meat, Chipotle’s meats are all easily keto-friendly, and can have some pretty solid macro ratios:

• • Barbacoa – 1 gram of net carbs; 7 grams of total fat
  • Chicken – 0 grams of net carbs; 3 grams of total fat
  • Steak – 0 grams of net carbs; 6 grams of total fat
  • Carnitas – 0 grams of net carbs; 12 grams of total fat

• Vegetables:
• • Fajita Peppers and Veggies – 4 grams of net carbs
  • Romaine Lettuce – 1 gram of net carbs

• Guacamole and Salsas:
• • Tomato Red-Chili Salsa – 3 grams of net carbs
  • Fresh Tomato Salsa – 3 grams of net carbs
  • Guacamole – 2 grams of net carbs; 22 grams of total fat (great keto macros!)

Dairy options:

• Sour Cream – 2 grams of net carbs; 9 grams of total fat
• Cheese – 1 gram of net carbs; 8 grams of total fat
• Queso – 3.5 grams of net carbs; 8 grams of total fat

By sticking with a combination of these options in the form of a bowl, you should be in great shape to have a perfectly keto-friendly meal.

As you can see, going for big amounts of dairy and guacamole are solid ways to get those fat macros up, without getting too deep into your carb counts, though I’d recommend to order the queso as sparingly as possible.

Now let’s get into what foods you can’t have while maintaining a ketogenic diet.

Foods to avoid on keto at Chipotle

As I mentioned above above, there are quite a few foods at Chipotle that you definitely will want to avoid when following a keto diet.

First and foremost, you’ll want to stay away from all tortillas, tortilla chips, rice, and beans. The net carb breakdowns of these and other foods to avoid are as follows:

• White Rice– 39 grams of net carbs
• Brown Rice – 34 grams of net carbs
• Roasted Chili-Corn Salsa -13 grams of net carbs
• Tortilla Chips – 65 grams of net carbs
• Black Beans – 15 grams of net carbs
• Pinto Beans – 13 grams of net carbs
• Burrito Tortilla Wrap – 47 grams of net carbs

Additionally, as I mentioned above the Queso dipping sauce comes in at around 3.5 grams of net carbs, and if combined with other more carb heavy options, may be a poor choice for a keto-friendly meal.

If you’re still looking for some keto-friendly examples in action, one of my favorite YouTuberes, Aaron of High Fat High Fun made a great video example of his favorite keto-friendly Chipotle dish, which you can check out below:

In light of all of this, there are still some important benefits of choosing to eat at Chipotle over other fast food restaurant chains, which I’ll break down in further detail below.

Benefits of Eating at Chipotle

• Vegetarian and Vegan Friendly

One of the coolest parts about Chipotle as a fast food chain is that it allows for customization that’s friendly to both vegetarians and vegan, while still being keto-friendly.

Obviously by going vegetarian you miss out on a lot of the protein and fat benefits from their cuts of meat, and by going vegan you miss out on the healthy fat opportunities in their sour cream and cheeses, but it’s still fully possible to go with either diet restriction and keto, and be able to find a nice, hearty meal at Chipotle.

While Chipotle hasn’t fully gotten on board with the rest of the fast food chains by incorporating products like Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods into their menu, they still have some great selections available.

Their sofritas is a great example of tofu-based protein that can help add some texture and substance to any number of bowl combinations. It’s similar to that of other vegan/vegetarian options like Quorn or Gardein.

• Quality Ingredients

What sets Chipotle apart from the majority of fast food chains is the pride that they are able to take in the quality of their ingredients.

Chipotle’s vegetables are grown in healthy soil, and are committed to using real flavors from whole foods. As you can read on their website, they claim:

“We’re all about preparing food without added colors, flavors, or preservatives (other than 
lemon or lime juice, which can be used as preservatives — though we use them only for taste). 
Just genuine raw ingredients and their individual, delectable flavors. We source from farms rather than factories, and spend a lot more on our ingredients than many other restaurants.”

• Humanely Sourced

Another reason I prefer to eat at Chipotle compared to most other types of fast food chains is because of their commitment to humanely sourcing the animals used for their meat options. They believe that animals should be humanely raised in open spaces, with access to necessary conditions of quality life like fresh air, room to roam and graze as they please, without being pumped full of growth hormones.

Additionally, they ensure that their animals aren’t loaded up on antibiotics and other artificial concoctions that a lot of factory farms use.

• Extremely Customizable

As you’ve seen with how easy it is to form keto-friendly, vegetarian-friendly, and vegan-friendly dishes out of Chipotle, their customizability is truly one of their best offerings as a restaurant.

With their order-as-you-go system, where they build the food right in front of you, you’re able to easily double up on certain ingredients while taking out ingredients that won’t work for your diet, all while being able to see everything going into your dish so that you can have complete certainty that your order is being made as requested.

• Conveience and Ease

Along with its extreme customizability, Chipotle is simply convenient. You can visit any city in the United States and likely find a Chipotle restaurant or two. This makes traveling very easy, when you’re in a pinch on the road, you know there’s at least one fast food chain that you can hack into a keto-friendly meal.

Additionally, their website and app allows for complete convenience of ordering exactly what you want, when you want. Which is pretty rare for most fast food chains.

Keto Quick Restaurant Tips to Follow

• Aim for higher amounts of fat over protein

One big factor of the keto diet that a lot of beginners forget about is aiming for high fat content over high protein content. It’s easy to get hung up on protein with so many protein shakes, powders and bars being advertised, but with keto you really should be striving to hit your fat targets.

You can do this at restaurants by opting for fattier cuts of meat. At chipotle, the steak and pork are great ways to do that. Though if you’re looking for a lower calorie meal, you may be better off opting for chicken, and getting your fat form avocado, sour cream, and cheese at Chipotle.

• Plan out your order ahead of time

This rule is essential for sticking to your keto diet when you eat out at any type of restaurant, including ones like Chipotle.

One of the best ways to set yourself up for success with this diet is to just plan your meal out ahead of time, and stick to your plan once you’re prepared to place your order.

Chipotle and a lot of other large restaurant chains are great because they provide a ton of online resources, and will tell you not only the calories of all of the food options, but the net carbs as well. If you know ahead of time just how many carbs you’ll be getting in each meal, you’ll be more likely to stick to it.

• Balance out your meals for the rest of the day

On top of doing your research ahead of time, balancing out the rest of the meals that you eat in a day is a great way to have a hard carb limit for the day, so that even if you decide to or accidentally go over your carb counts, the rest of your day will be balanced enough so that you have a better shot at maintaining a state of ketosis.

Your body will be a lot better at processing junk food or fast food if you balance your other meals with healthy fats and natural foods, much better than simply not eating altogether as a way to overcorrect it.

• Watch out for deep fried options when possible

Deep fried oils can be tricky with the keto diet. There are definitely keto-friendly ways to fry food, but a lot of oils that are used in fast food restaurants, like vegetable or canola oil, are known to promote inflammation within the body. Inflammation works directly against the ketogenic process, and enough of it can actually knock you out of ketosis entirely.

Chipotle unfortunately uses a few of these oils for their meats, but it isn’t as bad as other restaurants like McDonald’s or Burger King, which use much more oil.

You don’t have to completely avoid fried foods because of this, but you should be more conscious of it when making your meal choices.

• Don’t get discouraged if you go over your carb limits

Last but not least, when it comes to sticking with keto, it’s extremely important to not get too discouraged. It’s totally normal for accidents to happen, or for cravings to take over, and sometimes there just isn’t a keto-friendly option available when you’re in a pinch.

If you end up getting knocked out of ketosis after eating fast food, it’s going to be okay. The keto diet is absolutely a marathon, and not a sprint. You’ll be more likely to stick to keto in the long run if you don’t get discouraged and give up after every bump in the road.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there’s more than one way to have a fully keto-friendly bowl at Chipotle. And because of this restaurant chain’s commitment to customizability, it works for almost any dietary restrictions, including keto, vegetarian, and even vegan.

While not everything on the menu is low carb, there’s enough on there that is both low carb and high fat to make a solid keto meal. And because Chipotle restaurants are so ubiquitous throughout the United States, it can serve as a great fall back for when you’re out traveling, and need a reliable keto-friendly meal.

Do you have any favorite keto-friendly snacks and meals from Chipotle that I haven’t mentioned? Drop them in a comment below!