McDonald's Keto Hacks You'll Wish You Knew Sooner

If you’re on the keto diet, you may be wondering if there’s a way to stick to it without having to cook all of your meals all of the time. The good news is that it is entirely possible, and not just at “safe” restaurants. You can always be keto at McDonald’s!

Yes, you can eat keto at fast-food joints, like McDonald’s. What you need to know is how to order properly.

Though McDonald’s isn’t everyone’s first option for delicious low-carb fast food, it can help you stick to your keto diet when you’re on the go or in a rush.

McDonald’s, thankfully, has tons of keto options. You don’t have to sacrifice your weight-loss advantages just because you’re traveling or on a budget. We’ll go through the best low-carb choices at McDonald’s so you can stay on track with your keto diet.

McDonald’s Keto Friendly Lunch And Dinner

Keto Bunless Burgers at McDonald’s

Simply ask for lettuce instead of the bun. It’s a fantastic bun substitute that saves about 30 grams of carbs and 180 calories!

When the bun is removed, almost all of the burger options can easily be converted to a ketogenic diet.

When you order a sandwich without a bun, it is usually served in a plastic container for you.

These values were all calculated plain, with no bun. These are all choices from the McDonald’s menu.

Hamburger

Cheeseburger

Double Cheeseburger

McDouble

Quarter Pounder With Cheese

Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese

Big Macs

Bunless Big Macs typically come with shredded lettuce instead of broad leaf lettuce. This is fantastic because it adds to the authenticity of the Big Mac!

Big Mac – With Big Mac Sauce

Big Mac – Without Big Mac Sauce

Keto McDonald’s Breakfast Options

Even before I started the Keto diet, McDonald’s breakfast was a guilty pleasure of mine.

Start your day off right with a delicious keto McDonald’s breakfast! Only make sure to stick to our keto-friendly modifications.

Here are McDonald’s breakfast items, not including any type of bun or flour tortilla. Sauces are included where indicated.

Keto McDonald’s Breakfast Sandwiches

Egg McMuffin

Sausage McMuffin

Sausage McMuffin with Egg

Bacon, Egg And Cheese Biscuit

Sausage Biscuit

Sausage Biscuit With Egg

Bacon, Egg And Cheese McGriddle

Sausage, Egg And Cheese McGriddle

Bacon, Egg And Cheese Bagel

*Includes Breakfast Sauce

Sausage Burrito

Keto McDonald’s Breakfast Side Items

Sausage patty

Round Egg

Canadian Bacon

Folded egg

American Cheese, Slice

Breakfast Drink Options

Traditional breakfast drinks can surprise you with their carb content: a cup of orange juice has almost 26 grams of carbs, and eight ounces of whole milk has almost 12 grams of net carbs.

The “sugar-free” coffee flavorings at McDonald’s can also throw your ketosis off.

Although the sugar-free flavoring contains no net carbs (only 2g of sugar alcohols), all McDonald’s iced coffees also contain cream and milk, which can add up to 9g of carbs to your beverage.

Stick to hot, black coffee or order an iced coffee without cream or milk if you just want a coffee drink with your keto breakfast (and, preferably, no flavorings or sweetener, as sugar alcohols can sometimes impact blood sugar levels).

McDonald’s Keto Condiments

Mayonnaise

Mustard

Ketchup

Pickles

Lettuce

Tomato

Big Mac Sauce

Tartar Sauce

McDonald’s Keto Dipping Sauces

Creamy Ranch Sauce

Spicy Buffalo Sauce

Things To Keep In Mind About Sauces

One packet of Honey Mustard Sauce contains 6 grams of carbs, which is more than all of the breakfast sandwiches we suggest.

Both the Sweet ‘n Sour Sauce and the Tangy Barbeque Sauce have 11 grams of carbs per package, which is more than any other menu item we recommend.

General Guidelines For Keeping McDonald’s Keto

Regardless of what you’re ordering, there are a few things to consider before ordering your favorite mouthwatering treat. If you want to adopt a keto diet, here are some helpful tips to keep in mind.

Before you go to McDonald’s, you can even build your own Keto meal. The online nutrition calculator is amazing, and it’s what I used to calculate all the values on this post.
Both burgers should be served without a bun. A single bun contains 28 grams of carbohydrates.
Similarly, there would be no cookies or muffins.
Crispy chicken and nuggets, for example, are high in carbs.
Don’t be misled by sugar-free drinks; they’re always heavy in carbohydrates.
Always just say no to the fries! It might be hard, but it’s worth it.
Order no ketchup. It’s higher in sugar than you think.

Check out our other fast food keto guides too!

Sources

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/about-our-food/nutrition-calculator.html