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McDonald’s is a very well-known fast food restaurant. And with almost 40,000 franchise stores spread across 100 countries, it is difficult to resist it.
However, when you’re doing Keto, you may think that there is no possible way that you can eat there. After all, you immediately think about all those burgers and fries that would completely destroy all your efforts. While you can be sure to find that there are a lot of high carb food options at McDonald’s, there are certain adjustments you can make so that you’re able to enjoy low carb fast food options.
In fact, McDonald’s tends to include a wide range of options for individuals who are on special diets such as Keto. So, all you need to ensure is that you customize your order to ensure they are low enough in carbs to make them Keto friendly.
Eating Fast Foods While doing Keto
The truth is that sticking to a low-carb meal when you are going out for dinner may be hard. And this is especially true when we are talking about fast food restaurants.
With these tips below, you should be able to confidently pick some really tasty low carb options when you’re dining out.
Tips To Make Eating Out Easier On Keto
Plan Ahead:
This is a crucial step. As you probably know, most restaurants already have their menus online. So, you can take a peek at it before you go. This way, you have the time to check all the Keto-friendly options they include and to choose wisely.
Eliminate The Starchy Sides:
When you eat out, you need to make sure that you don’t touch potatoes, bread, pasta or rice.
Add Healthy Fat:
In order to feel satisfied without eating carbs, you will need to add some healthy fats to your meals. You have a couple of options:
– ask for olive oil and vinegar dressing
– ask for extra butter and melt on meat or veggies
– ask for heavy cream for your tea or coffee.
Watch Out For The Condiments And Sauces:
This is where the problem resides for many people. Most of the times, you just don’t know what ingredients are in the sauces. So, whenever in doubt, ask. You do not want to be having sauces that contain flour, sugar or any other thickeners filled with carbs.
In case you get ketchup, for example, you know it contains carbs. On the other hand, if you get the Béarnaise sauce, you know that it contains mainly fat.
Pick The Right Drinks:
The best drinks that you should have is definitely water, sparkling water, coffee or tea.
Dessert – Should You Have It?
The truth is that you should only get dessert if you are really that hungry after your meal. However, it is far lot better to simply enjoy a cup of tea or coffee while you wait for others.
In case you are still hungry, you should think about ordering berries with heavy cream or just a cheese plate.
Ordering Keto At Mcdonalds
So, it’s finally time to check all the options that you have when you go to Mcdonalds and you’re following the keto lifestlye. The truth is that many people have no idea about what they should at all! So, we are about to show you the ultimate Keto Mcdonalds guide for every meal.
Keto Mcdonalds Breakfast Options
Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Biscuit: In this meal, you will need to skip the biscuit. However, with the rest of the breakfast, you will be ingesting 23 grams of fat, 18 grams of protein, and 3 grams of net carbs.
Egg McMuffins: In this case, you will need to skip the muffins. By the end, you’ll end up with a complete breakfast where you will get 12 grams of fat, 18 grams of protein, and 3 grams of net carbs.
Steak, Eggs, & Cheese Biscuit: With this option, you will need to skip the biscuit as in the previous option. In addition, you will be left with American cheese, grilled onions, a steak patty, and fluffy folded eggs. You will get 30 grams of fat and 25 grams of protein.
Sausage Biscuit with Egg: This is an extremely simple meal where you will need to remove the biscuit. You will get more than 30 grams of fat and 16 grams of protein.
Big Breakfast: In case you want to opt for the Big Breakfast, you need to ensure that you don’t include the biscuits and the hash browns. So, you’ll only be eating the sausage patty with scrambled eggs. You will get 50 grams of fat and 25 grams of protein.
Keto Lunch Ideas At Mcdonalds
As you probably already know, Mcdonald’s is famous not only for their burgers but also for their popular buns. These usually are artisan rolls that can be topped with sesame seeds. Since just one role has 28 grams of net carbs, you need to avoid it at all costs.
At Mcdonald’s, you won’t have any problems with this. The truth is that they allow you to order your burger without buns. Just to give you an idea, in case you would like to have a bunless Big Mac, you would get 27 grams of fat and 25 grams of protein which is great.
So, here are some of the best Keto lunch ideas you can try:
Quarter Pounder with Cheese: When you ask for it to be bunless, you will get 28 grams of fat, 31 grams of protein, and 11 grams of carbs. However, in case you are looking for a lower carb value, then you just need to skip the ketchup. You can use mustard instead since it is low-carb.
Triple Cheeseburger: This Keto Mcdonalds lunch idea is perfect when you are very hungry. However, make sure that you avoid ketchup and go for mustard instead. You will get 28 grams of fat, 32 grams of protein, and 7 grams of carbs.
Hamburger: Eating just a hamburger is perfect when you’re not too hungry. Besides, you will only get 8 grams of fat, 13 grams of protein, and 3 grams of carbs.
Bacon McDouble: If you are a fan of bacon as almost everyone, this Bacon McDouble is the perfect option. After all, it will provide you with 23 grams of fat, 28 grams of protein, and 6 grams of carbs. Besides the bacon, this burger also includes onion, pickles, American cheese, and mustard.
Cheeseburger: In case you’re not familiar with Mcdonalds, a Cheeseburger is just a hamburger with a slice of melty cheese. In this case, you will get 8 grams of fat, 13 grams of protein, and 3 grams of carbs.
Keto Dinner Ideas At Mcdonalds
Mcdonalds also has a wide variety of salads and you can be sure that some of them are the perfect keto dinner ideas.
Here are the best salads that you can order:
Side Salad: This salad includes a blend of kale, baby spinach, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, and other lettuce varieties. One of the best things about it is that it complies with keto. In case you opt for this salad, you will get iron, calcium, folate, and vitamins A and C. In addition, this salad only has 3 grams of net carbs.
Bacon Ranch Grilled Chicken Salad: When you are hungry, then you need to go for this salad. After all, this is a full-bodied grilled chicken salad. You will get 14 grams of fat, 42 grams of protein, and 7 grams of net carbs. In case you want to add more fats to your dinner, you should use Newman’s Own Ranch Dressing.
Keto Friendly Condiments And Topping Ideas
The reality is that condiments and toppings make a huge difference in any meal. In fact, these can really enhance the flavors of your food. When eating out, and when you’re following the keto eating plan, you need to pay special attention to the sauces as they are usually high in carbs.
So, here are the best Keto condiments and toppings that you can add to both your hamburgers and salads when eating out.
Mayonnaise: This is the perfect sauce to hit your Keto macros. After all, it has 10 grams of fat.
Tartar Sauce: This sauce is made with mayonnaise, lemon juice, dill, pickles, and other flavorings. While you may usually use this sauce for seafood, the truth is that it is also suitable for meat-based meals. You will get 15 grams of fat and 4 grams of carbs per two tablespoons.
Mustard: Mustard is great for both salads and beef parties. And since it’s low in carbs, it is a great option for keto.
Spicy Buffalo Sauce: This spicy sauce is the perfect sauce. You can expect it to contain 1 gram of carbs per package and 3 grams of fat.
Creamy Ranch Sauce: Again, when you are looking for the best Keto friendly sauces at Mcdonalds, you need to consider this one. It contains about 1 gram of carbs and is made with egg yolk, vinegar, buttermilk, and other flavorings.
Low Carb Drink Options At Mcdonalds
So, what about drinks? What low carb options can you choose from?
Diet Coke: Without sugar or calories, diet coke also doesn’t offer you anything in terms of nutrition. Diet coke is that has no carbs.
Bottled Water: There are no questions that when you are looking for the best Keto Mcdonalds drink, you should pick bottled water. This is the best low-carb drink that you can choose.
Coffee: As you know, when you’re on keto, you can drink coffee. You can use low carb sweeteners to make your drinks tastier.
Premium Tea: Another great drink that you can order is one of their unsweetened teas. You can choose between the Green Tea, Peppermint, Tea, Earl Grey Tea, and Orange Pekoe Tea.
What To Avoid At Mcdonalds If You’re Doing Keto
While you can eat at Mcdonalds and still keep yourself on track with your Keto , not all Mcdonalds food is good for keto. So, here are all the things that you need to avoid at Mcdonalds to stay in ketosis:
- – Hashbrowns
- – Biscuit
- – Hotcakes
- – Maple Syrup
- – Fries
- – Burger Bun
- – Chicken Filet
- – Large Softdrink
- – McCafe Vanilla Shake
- – Baked Apple Pie
- – Hot Fudge Sundae
As you can see, when you are following a keto way of eating, you can still eat out even though you need to be more careful about what you eat. However, and probably the most surprising thing, is that you have a wide variety of Keto ideas you can enjoy at Mcdonalds. You can choose from breakfast to lunch, dinner, and even drinks1
The truth is that when you pay extra attention to the ingredients, you will notice that you will be able to maintain a normal life and eat out with your friends without feeling embarrassed for not eating anything. And the truth is that this is what happens with most diets but, it doesn’t have to happen with keto.
So, if in the past you’ve steered clear of McDonald’s since starting keto, you’ll feel relieved to know that you can try them out while trying to achieve your keto goals!
