When I chose to cover Chick-fil-A, I didn't expect to encounter these numbers: namely in their basic sandwich and sauces. Listed are the items that can work based on their carb to portion/protein ratio. This is how you can eat Chick-fil-A with gestational diabetes.
Click on any food item name to visit the nutrition information.
Breakfast
Since fasting blood sugars are particularly sensitive, the breakfast menu items are too carb heavy to be safe. The one item that gives some leeway is the Hashbrown Scramble Bowl. It has 21g of carbs and 30g of protein, and it includes Jalapeno salsa. So you can nix the salsa and eat only a few of the hashbrowns and be close 15g of carbs.
Lunch
Grilled chicken sandwiches are 36 carbs each, and fried chicken sandwiches are 40 carbs and above. The fried chicken is breaded, so halving the bun might not be enough to cut carbs, but it's worth a try. Gluten free and multigrain buns are available upon request for all sandwiches, however their website doesn't offer nutrition information for these options. In fact, their website isn't as advanced/intricate as other fast food spots that allow you to fully customize any menu item.
The 8-piece fried nuggets come in at 9 carbs, and the grilled nuggets at 2.
For chicken strips, count 7 carbs per strip.
Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap - 29 carbs
Salads
The Cobb Salad has 28 carbs, most of which come from the breading on the chicken and corn kernels. The Market Salad has 25 carbs, but they mostly come from the fruit and granola. Lastly, the Southwest Salad has 36 carbs that come mainly from the corn, black beans and tortilla strips.
None of the carbs in the salads include the dressings that accompany them. Thankfully, their dressings are mostly low carb EXCEPT for the Fat Free Honey Mustard and Zesty Apple Cider Vinaigrette that have 22 and 16 carbs, respectively. The other dressings are pretty reasonable in carbs.
Sides
- Chicken Noodle Soup - 15 carbs
- Superfood Side - 17 carbs
- Side Salad - 12 carbs
- Greek Yogurt Parfait - 28 carbs
- Fruit Cup - 12 carbs
- Fries - 43 carbs ?? Maybe you can have 5.
Sauces
Big win in this department! The Zesty Buffalo and Garlic & Herb Ranch have only 1 carb each! Following them is the Chick-fil-A sauce with 6.
The other sauces range from 9-11 carbs.
Drinks & Treats
Unfortunately, the only winners here are Hot Coffee and Diet Sodas. Even the Iced Coffee has 26 carbs.
No treats, Mama, unless you portion! The lowest were the Ice Cream Cone at 30 carbs, and the Chocolate Chunk Cookie at 49!
View the McDonald's, Taco Bell and Starbucks posts.
Dani Cole
Thank you sooo much. This is my first time ever having gestational diabetes and also my first pregnancy. This took away a lot of my headache because I still crave chick fil a!
The Gestational Diabetic Chef
Hi Dani! I'm so glad you found it helpful. Yes, I lived two blocks from Chick-fil-A when I had GD so I was there OFTEN.