Dining out can be challenging if you are following a low sodium diet. Many fast food chains do not have a lot of low sodium options, so you have to do some preplanning before ordering. In this post I’ll share the menu items that are under 600 mg of sodium, modifications you can make to lower sodium in your orders, and which meals I would order as a Dietitian across 21 major fast food restaurants.

Let’s go find some better-for-you options!

What Counts as Low Sodium?

The American Heart Association recommends keep salt intake to 1,500mg-2000mg in a day. This means for 3 meals and 1 or 2 snacks, aim to keep your sodium at 400-600mg for a single meal and 100-200 mg for a snack.

I know 2,000 mg sounds like a big number, but currently American’s eat well over 3,500mg of sodium in a day! There are many fast food options are well over 3,000 mg of salt for just one entree! This is why it is important to know what you can order from fast food before you hit the drive thru line. 

As more people are short on time and working long hours, it makes sense why we are turning to the drive thru for meals when we are in a time crunch. However, if you have high blood pressure, you need real meal ideas you can eat when dining out. Dining out is not always cheap, especially if you are ordering for your entire family. If you are short on time or don’t like to cook you can find really easy no cook ideas in How To Eat Healthy Without Cooking | Tips and Meal Ideas from a RD.

How to Eat Fast Food on a Low Sodium Diet?

• 1. Ask for No Salt or Butter– McDonalds you can request fries without added salt. Side steamed veggies at Applebees or Olive Garden can be ordered without butter and salt.
• 2. Put Dressing, Sauces, and Condiments on the Side– You don’t need to eat dry sandwiches and salads, but you can keep you sodium intake down by getting the condiments on the side and then adding 1/2 of the provided amount to still get flavor without taking in too much salt.
• 3.  Skip the “Salty 6“- these include processed American cheeses, pizza, subs, soup, and burrittos/taco. However, most fast food options are these exact foods. So when possible, make changes to your entree to lower the sodium. I will share plenty of examples in the fast food item suggestions below in this post : ) 
• 4. Check the Menu– most fast food apps and websites allow you to see the nutrition information for any menu items and then what it will be like if you modify an item (i.e chicken sandwich without the cheese and bun)
• 5. Be Mindful of Portion Sizes– it may sound obvious, but don’t forget a small teriyaki chicken from Panda Express is going to have much less sodium than the large entree. This will be a key strategy when you can’t make any menu modifications of removing cheese or sauces (like pizza). Sticking to a set portion size is the best alternative.
• 6. Keep Fruits or Vegetables on Hand– This might not always be realistic every time we eat fast food, which is why it’s last on this tip list. However, if you are on a road trip and you know ahead of time you are stopping for lunch at fast food, then you can easily make this happen. Pack some apples, baby carrots, bell peppers, or grapes in a cooler to add some heart healthy and filling food groups! If you don’t have time to pack something before leaving for work, could you grab an orange or banana to bring to the office to pair with the Subway sandwich you buy?

Are There Any Low Sodium Fast Food Options?

Making simple changes to your food order can drastically lower the sodium in your meal when ordering fast food. Even restaurants that offer the “healthier” options such as a salad, wrap, grilled chicken, or soup can have over 2,000mg or more of sodium! There are fewer menu options to pick from when eating low sodium fast food, but with some preplanning you can find a decent meal that won’t overdo the salt!

In a study from the Journal Appetite it was found on average a fast food meal has 1,000-1,500mg of sodium. For perspective, that is almost 100% of your daily recommended sodium intake! You cannot tell if something is low sodium just from taste alone.

Below I’ll cover 21 fast food chain restaurants and provide what has the least amount of sodium and would be an overall balanced meal.

What Fast Food has the Least Amount of Sodium?

The best option that is low in sodium and has adequate protein, calories, and fiber is the Subway grilled chicken on 6″ multigrain with avocado, lettuce, onion, tomato and vinegar for 435mg of sodium.

Can You Eat a Burger on a Low Sodium Diet?

While every restaurant’s burger is different, it is gauranteed the bun and the processed cheese will always have the most amount of sodium.

The best way to make a burger low sodium is to swap the bun for lettuce, and use mustard or tabasco for flavor instead of American cheese. 

If you really love bread and can’t imagine eating a burger without bread, you can eat it “opened face” and remove one side of the bun to cut down the sodium significantly.

Low Sodium Fast Food Options

As shared above, its recommended to keep sodium in a meal around 400-600 mg. For the fast food spots that do not meet the low sodium criteria for a meal, I give you the lowest sodium choice from their menu. All menu items are based off the fast food’s menu calculator from their website.

Keep in mind these are just ranked for sodium first and foremost. Most fast food restaurants do not have many options that have legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, olive oil, fruits and vegetables as recommended to eat more of when following a low sodium diet. Not everything on this list is necessarily a health food (I see you ice cream!)

When available, I made sure to suggest items that were somewhat healthier while also being lower in sodium. Some places just do not offer many nutrient dense choices, so ice cream and corn dogs were literally the only option.

Keep in mind some items come to the facility pre-prepared and cannot be changed. For example, a grilled salmon from Applebees cannot be grilled plain oil as its already marinated with a salt based seasoning.

Applebee’s

1. Side Caesar Salad (440mg)

– parmesan cheese- 40mg
– croutons- 130mg
– caesar dressing- 270mg

Lower the Sodium- remove croutons, use half the dressing, changes sodium down to 175mg.

2. House Salad no Dressing (230mg)

Lower the Sodium- remove croutons and cheese. Use half of honey mustard dressing for 135mg total

3. Riblets Plate, no sauce + Side of Coleslaw (690 mg)

4. Classic burger using lettuce cup, pickle chips, red onion, and tomato (630 mg)

When ordering the burger with a toasted bun and a side of fries, the sodium was over 2,000mg. 

5. Kids Chicken Quesadilla +  Broccoli no butter or salt (710mg)

Some locations will allow you to order from the kids menu regaurdless of age, other places are strict and require a child to be there. 

Burger King

Sadly, their website is not interactive. This means it does not allow for items to be removed, so you are unable to see how the sodium content changes as you remove toppings such as bacon, cheese or sauces. This means the sodium amounts below are for the foods without any changes made.

Breakfast

It is not going to be as filling as an egg biscuit for breakfast, but it does have significantly less sodium. Use a drizzle of the syrup to keep the added sugar on the low end.

Lunch/Dinner

Chick-fil-A 

You will need to use the Chick-Fil-A app, instead of their website, to see how sodium levels change when menu items are modified. At the time of this post, Chick-Fil-A does not offer a no-salt option for their fries.

The items below do not include any sauces! Be sure to choose the lowest sodium Chick-Fil-A sauces which are

• Honey Roasted BBQ sauce (75mg)
• Hot Sauce (125mg)

1. Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Muffin- cheese removed (550mg)
Add a fruit cup for 0mg sodium!

2. Small Hashbrown (440 mg)

3. Grilled Breakfast Filet (420 mg) + Fruit Cup (0 mg)
add 1 hot sauce (545mg)

4. Berry Parfait (85mg)

5. 8 ct Grilled Nugget (440mg) + Fruit Cup (0mg)

6. Icedream Cone (90mg)
Not a meal, but if you want a dessert this is a low sodium option than their cookie or brownie

Chipotle

This is a great example of a fast food restaurant that has more nutrient dense options like beans, brown rice and vegetables, but can be very high in sodium. While there are single food items that have less sodium, when you have 6 or more ingredients all in a bowl, it adds up super fast.

The biggest surprise to me was that the salsas and chipotle honey vinaigrette had more than 500 mg of sodium. Forget eating any actual lunch, your salsa just used all your sodium budget for the meal.

The white rice also has significantly more sodium than the brown rice. This just shows that you can never assume something is low sodium.

1. Crispy Tacos (460 mg)

• 2 Crispy Corn Tortillas (0 mg)
• 4 oz Chicken (310 mg)
• 2 oz Fajita Vegetable (150 mg)
• Lettuce (0 mg)

2. Vegetarian Salad Bowl (640 mg)

• Lettuce (0mg)
• 4 oz Cilantro Lime Brown Rice (190 mg)
• 4 oz Black or Pinto Beans (190 mg)
• 2 oz Tomatillo Green Chili Salsa (260 mg)

Dairy Queen 

Most people I know come here just for dessert. However, if you were hungry there are only 2 menu items to pick from.

1. Hot Dog (820 mg) + Side Salad (10 mg)

While this doesn’t meet the criteria for the low sodium meal, it is one of the only other non-dessert food options that is lower in salt.

2. Corn Dog (390 mg)

3. Desserts

• Butterfinger Mini Blizzard (150 mg)
• M&M’s Chocolate Candy Mini Blizzard (125 mg)
• Make It a Malt, Small (50 mg) or Medium (80 mg)
• Vanilla Moo Latte, Small (150 mg)
• Pineapple Sundae, Small (85 mg)
• Mango Pineapple Smoothie, Small (90 mg)
• Triple Berry Smoothie, Small (90 mg)

Their menu has A LOT of dessert options. While they are low sodium, that does not mean they are low in added sugar, so picking a small size is a great way to enjoy a treat while being mindful of empty calories.

Domino’s

Their website provides the nutrition data for each individual item (crust, sauce, cheese, and toppings). From a glance all the numbers look low, so remember you are seeing the sodium amount for an individual ingredient and not the whole pizza. You need to add everything up! This is what i’ve done for you, so you do not have to : )

As shared earlier, pizza is apart of the “salty 6” meaning it is going to have high levels of sodium. Unlike sandwiches and burgers, you can’t just leave off the cheese or use lettuce instead of the bread. The bread and cheese are essential parts to this food!

Eating pizza on a low sodium diet means sticking to a smaller portion size and adding in some heart healthy sides like fruit and raw vegetables (cucumbers, peppers, celery sticks, carrots etc) when possible to make your meal more filling!

From the Domino’s menu it is showing a cheese pizza with toppings will save you a bit over a 100 mg of sodium than a “cheese only” pizza. So be sure to order some veggie toppings with 0 mg of sodium! 

Here is the 8″ hand tossed pizza. By adding toppings instead of ordering a light cheese only pizza, you save 110mg of sodium which is pretty significant!

8″ Extra Small Hand Tossed Cheese and Veggie Pizza (550 mg)- for HALF the pizza

Crust (230 mg)
Pizza Sauce (90 mg)
Light Cheese (120 mg)
Green Peppers (0 mg)
Mushrooms (0 mg)
Onions (0 mg)
Fresh Tomatoes (0 mg)
Garlic (0 mg)

10″ Crunchy Thin BBQ Pineapple Pizza (345 mg)– for 1/4 of the pizza

Thin Crust (40 mg)
Honey BBQ (85mg)
Light Cheese (150 mg)
Pineapple (0 mg)
Onions (0 mg)
Green Pepper (0 mg)

10″ Small Gluten Free Pizza (600 mg) – numbers reflect 1/3 of the pizza

Crust (180 mg)
Pizza Sauce (120 mg)
Light Cheese (300 mg)

Five Guys

All the fries are over 500 mg of sodium- even in the smallest size! According to Reddit contributors, you CAN ask for unsalted fries, which means you can order a small fry on the side. 

Be aware that even a small fry without salt still has as many calories as your burger on a bun! If weight loss is your goal, try and split a small fry with whoever you dine with! Below is what I would order as a Dietitian.

Regular Burger with Veggie Toppings (386 mg)

Bun (330 mg)
Hamburger Patty (50 mg)
Green Peppers (1 mg)
Grilled Mushrooms (50 mg)
Onion/Grilled Onion (1 mg)
Jalepeno (0 mg)
Tomato (3 mg)
Lettuce (3 mg)

Don’t forget condiments can add sneaky amounts of sodium. The lower sodium condiments are:

• 1. Mustard (55 mg)
• 2. Relish (85 mg)
• 3. Mayo (69 mg) 

Watch out for the highest sodium condiments:

• 1. A1 (280 mg)
• 2. BBQ (400 mg)
• 3. Ketchup (160 mg)

If you love any of the options above, you can use half of the packet so you still get the flavor you enjoy without adding too much sodium!

IHOP 

Bread products (buns, pancakes, cakes etc) are usually a packed source of sodium, and IHOP is no exception! Can you believe the 3 count buttermilk pancakes have 1500mg of sodium? I was shocked because it’s not like they taste salty!

I realize the pancakes are huge, but even if you just eat 1 measly pancake, you pretty much use up all your sodium for the meal. A single pancake probably won’t keep you full for too long. Here are some lower sodium alternatives to the pancakes.

• Value Menu- French Toast Breakfast with Scrambled Egg (650 mg)
• Huevos Rancheros – no cheese or refried beans (430 mg)
• Avocado Toast- no salt added (410 mg)
• Quick 2-Egg Breakfast- fried or scrambled egg (420 mg)
• Spinach and Mushroom Omelette with Fresh Fruit- no hollandaise, no cheese or seasoned salt (570 mg)
• Garden Omelette with Fresh Fruit – no cheese (540 mg)
• 55+ Rise N Shine with scrambled or fried egg  (420 mg)
• Chopped Chicken Salad with Balsamic (590 mg)
• -no cheese, no bacon
  -Ask for dressing on the side and use half. This will drop the salt to 320 mg!
  

Jersey Mike’s Subs

Subs and Sandwiches are another food on the Salty 6 list! Deli meat and bread are always high in salt. If you are making sandwiches at home, there are several low sodium breads you can enjoy. I put together a list in Best Low Sodium Bread | Heart Healthy + Delicious Brands.

As you can see, the regular bread alone here is over 400mg of sodium, which means we have to be mindful of our toppings and portion size.

As always, load up on raw veggie toppings like onions, tomato, lettuce, and bell peppers. 

Jersey Mike’s condiments such as dill pickles, relish, and any type of mustard will rack up another 300+ mg of sodium to your sub. Mayo can be added for another 125 mg of salt.

COLD SUBS

Mini #14 the Veggie on Seeded Italian-no provolone (466 mg)
At first this sandwich would have had 1,310 mg of sodium! Here are 3 changes I made to drop it all the way down to 466 mg.

1. I kept the swiss cheese, but dropped the provolone
2. Order seeded italian instead of original white
3. Changed portion from original and made it a mini

Mini #11 Stickball Special on Seeded Italian- no provolone, no ham (560 mg)

Mini #12 Cancro Special on Seeded Italian- no provolone, no pepperoni (549 mg)

The salami has less sodium, and you can enjoy all the veggie toppings 

HOT SUBS

Even changing the size of a hot sub does not get us under 800 mg of sodium. I thought the wrap or a bowl could have something promising, but they are still not any lower in salt! 

One would hope the bowls are “better” because there is no bread. However, I took off the cheese and these bowls are STILL exploding with sodium. Bowls and wraps are a hard pass.

Deli meat once in a while is okay, but may increase your risk for developing certain cancers. If you need different sandwich toppings I created a lot of delicious ideas in Alternatives to Deli Meat | Low Sodium Heart Healthy Sandwich Ideas.

Kentucky Fried Chicken

Their website does not show nutrition details, so the information below is based off the Nutritionix site.

1. Original Recipe Chicken
   Whole Wing (380 mg)
   Whole Drumstick (430 mg)

• 2. Spicy Crispy
• Whole Wing (350 mg)
• Whole Drumstick (420 mg)

• 3. Extra Crispy Chicken
• Whole Wing (340 mg)
• Whole Drumstick (390 mg)
  
• 4. Grilled Chicken
• Whole Wing (180 mg)
• Whole Drumstick (220 mg)
• Whole Thigh (420 mg)

Sides

• Corn on the Cob (0 mg)
• Sweet Kernel Corn (0 mg)
• Coleslaw (180 mg)
• Cornbread Muffin (240 mg)

Sauces

Don’t forget condiments always count towards your meals sodium. As always, the info is for the entire sauce container. These are the lowest sodium options, and you can use less to save on the salt. 

• Lemon Juice (20 mg)
• Supergirl Honey Mustard/Classic Honey Mustard (120 mg)
• BBQ (150 mg)

Desserts

• Chocolate Chunk Cookie (105 mg)
• Apple Turnover (140 mg)
• Lemon Cake (170 mg)

Little Caesar’s

If you can avoid coming here, I would! There are literally 2 options, and your portion size will be topped off at a single slice!

• 1 Slice Classic Cheese Pizza (467 mg)
• 1 Slice Thin Crust Cheese Pizza (533 mg)

A slice of pizza here would feel more like a snack, than a real meal.

If you are at a social gathering (birthday party, graduation etc) and know that the host is ordering little Caesars, this is where you can add those fruits or vegetables on the side to bulk up your meal.

You don’t need to choose eating low sodium over socializing. 

One thing I do is to ask the host if I can bring anything. Most of the time they are so appreciative and will ask you to “bring a side, or anything!” I then will bring a healthy side like a fruit salad, cucumber salad, or veggie platter so it can round out what the host is serving.

Salads like cucumber salad, regular lettuce salads, edamame salad, or coleslaw all make great veggies to share. You can even find low sodium dressings to serve with them from the list inside Low Sodium Salad Dressings | Top Brands From a Dietitian.

McDonald’s

Breakfast

• Fruit Maple Oatmeal (140mg)
• Strawberry Banana or Mango smoothie (40mg)
• Egg McMuffin with no bacon or butter + orange juice or coffee (530mg)

Lunch/Dinner

• 6 piece Chicken Nuggets + Apple slices + small fry no salt (500mg)
• Filet-O-Fish without cheese or tartar sauce + ketchup packet + mango smoothie (690mg)
• McChicken sandwich + Apple slices + small fry no salt (560mg)
• Classic hamburger + Apple slices + small fry without salt (700mg)

Sweets + Coffee

• Low Fat Chocolate Milk Jug (85mg)
• Vanilla Cone (80mg)
• Small McCafe Latte (90mg)

Olive Garden

Their online menu was not interactive, meaning I could not see which parts of the meal had the most sodium. The information below is based off the menu and how it is served (versus if sauce is on the side, croutons removed etc)

However, I am pretty sure with items like “build your own pasta” you could ask for sauce on the side, and add a few spoonfuls!

Plain Breadstick (280 mg)

Build Your own Pasta

-Bucatini Pasta (0 mg)
-Grilled Chicken (540 mg)
-Broccoli (220 mg)

Lunch:

Fettuccini Alfredo with Broccoli- eat half, box the rest (555 mg)
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Italian Sausage (680 mg)

Dinner

Creamy Mushroom Ravioli- eat half, box the rest (630 mg)
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce- eat half, box the rest (525 mg)
Herb Grilled Salmon Coho (510 mg) steamed broccoli no butter

Dessert 

Tiramisu (125 mg)

Panera 

If you use the Panera app or in store ordering kiosk, you can see the ingredients in each item and how the sodium can be decreased by customizing your order. I was surprised to see how many menu items have a “salt” option that can be deselected.

Panera will frequently changed their menu based on seasons and trends, so these are what is current at the time of me writing this post.

Be sure to check the app or website to see which items are offered at the location nearest you.

Breakfast

1. Garden Avo & Egg White Sandwich, no white cheddar no added salt (520 mg)
2. Croissant Bacon, Egg, and Cheese
– keep cheese, no bacon, no added salt (560 mg)
-keep bacon, no cheese, no added salt (570 mg)
-this is an example of you don’t have to take off ALL the fun toppings- you just need to pick bacon OR cheese. Not both.
3. Green Goddess Avo (420 mg)
-no added salt
-no added salt/pepper blend

4. Classic Avo (300 mg)
-no added salt
-yes, keep the everything bagel seasoning

5. Fruit Cup (15 mg) 
– a great add on to ANY breakfast ordered

6. Greek Yogurt Berry Parfait (80 mg)
7. Steel Cut Oatmeal with Strawberries and Pecans (170 mg)

8. Regular Hot Coffee (0 mg)
-Panera regularly carries a varieties of brewed coffee roasts like hazelnut, decaf, and dark roast.

9. Rocky Road Iced Coffee (105 mg)
– This drink has 34g of added sugar, so I wouldn’t make this an every day order. However, if you are wanting a special drink or treat, then this can still fit into your sodium limits.
-You can ask for 2 pumps of syrup instead of 4, and go light on the rocky road fudge topping to bring the sugar to less than 20g

10. Multigrain Bagel Flat (420 mg)
– This is the bagel with the least amount of sodium and the most amount of fiber and protein.

LUNCH/DINNER

Sadly there are not many hot sandwiches that are low sodium. Even half sized sandwiches without cheese are often over 900 mg of sodium. The salad bowls are not any better even when ordered without dressing are 800 mg or more. 

Below are options that are lower sodium.

• Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad- Half Sandwich (470 mg)
• -side of an apple
  
• Grilled Chicken & Avo BLT- Half Sandwich (510 mg)
• – no cheese, bacon or garlic aioli 

• Mediterannean Veggie- Half Sandwich (510 mg)
• -no added salt, no feta
  
• Tuna Salad- Half Sandwich (580 mg)
• -no added salt

• Farmhouse crunch Salad- Whole Portion (397 mg)
• no parmesan
• dressing on the side
• use 1/4 of the dressing packet

Dessert

• 1. Chocolate coconut Macaroon (90 mg)
• 2. Lemon Bundt Cake (150 mg)
• 3. Brownie (230 mg)

Panda Express

Panda Express is a great fast food option because it has plenty of veggies and protein options, but we need to be careful of all those sauces!

Looking at the menu in advance is SO helpful because the same food (i.e rice) can be very different depending on how its made. White rice has 0mg of sodium (wooohoo!!) but if you order it fried, it will put you at 1000mg.

Whew, that is JUST rice, it would not include a protein or vegetable. 

As a Dietitian I would order the “small plate” with 1/2 white rice + 1/2 super greens as side (185 mg) and then add one of these entrees below:

1. Grilled Teriyaki Chicken (470 mg), (655 mg total)
2. Sweet and Sour Chicken Breast (270 mg), (455 mg total)
3. Sweet Fire Chicken Breast (370 mg), (555 mg total)

Appetizers:

1. 3 pieces Chicken potsticker (250mg)
2. 3 Piece Cheese Rangoon (180 mg)
3. Fortune cookie (0 mg)

Pizza Hut

Portion size is key when eating pizza on a low sodium diet. The pizzas that will fit most into your salt budget are ones that are small or medium.

As the portion size goes up (large pizza) so does the salt. The exception to this are the “Tavern Style” pizzas which are thin crust.

Below are sizes and flavors that are under 500 mg of salt. You could easily get in 2 slices of pizza and still keep your sodium to its limit.

1 Slice of Small Original Pan (1/8th of pizza)
– BBQ chicken (250 mg)
-Pesto Margherita (260 mg)
-Veggie Lovers (270 mg)
-Ultimate cheese Lovers (250 mg)
-Chicken BaconParmesan (250 mg)
-Cheese (250 mg)
-Double Pepperoni (250 mg)

Gluten Free-  1 slice/ 1/8th of pizza
-Veggie Lovers (230 mg)
-cheese (240 mg)
-Pepperoni (270 mg)

Small Thin N Cripsy
-any 1 slice of any flavor. They are all under 400 mg of sodium per slice.
– 1 slice of the small Pesto Margaherita has the least amount of sodium of all menu items at Pizza hut with just 240 mg of sodium.

Starbucks

If using their website, keep in mind the amount of sodium showing is in grams, NOT mg. At a glance it would appear that everything is super low in sodium! However, on the app it shows up in mg and does not require any math conversions.

Unfortunately in the app when I made changes to meals like reducing pumps of sugary syrups or taking cheese off a sandwich, the nutrition numbers did not reflect my menu changes at all. When that happens there is no way to know how much the new sodium amount would be.

With that being said, I am just providing low sodium food and drink choices without modifications as I cannot 100% verify what the sodium would be with menu modifications.

Drinks

My rule of thumb for any flavored starbucks drink is to ask for how many pumps of syrup is in the drink, and then ask for half of the amount of syrup pumps.While sugar is different than sodium, we know added sugar is not a superfood. Trust me, your drink will still be flavorful and has plenty of sweetness.

• Tall Vanilla protein Latte (100 mg) half syrup
• Iced vanilla Protein Cream Shaken Espresso (125 mg)

Food

• Turkey Bacon Cheddar and Egg white Sandwich (600 mg)
• -if you ask for no cheddar, im sure this would save at least 100-150mg of salt.
• Egg White and Roasted Red Pepper Egg Bites (470 mg)
• MUSH Chocolate PB protein overnight oats (280 mg)
• Rolled and Steel Cut Oats (125 mg)
• Ellenos No Added Sugar Muesli Yogurt (140 mg)
• Egg and Cheddar Protein Box (450 mg)
• Spicy Falafel Pocket (430 mg)
• Khloud White cheddar Protein Popcorn (160 mg)
• KIND bar (15mg)
• ThatsIt! Mango Apple or Blueberry Bar (25 mg)
• Country Archer Hickory Smoke Turkey Jerky (330 mg)
• Skinny Dip Almond cocounut bite (0 mg)
• Organic Valley String Cheese (200 mg)

Subway

Mini Hearty Multigrain (total of 440 mg sodium)

• Grilled chicken (210mg)
• Fresh avocado
• Cucumber
• Lettuce
• Onions
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Oil and Vinegar (0mg)
• If you really can’t live without cheese or can’t stand avocado, you can add shredded Monterey cheddar for an additional 170mg.

Even if you add the cheese and your sandwich has 610mg sodium, that can still fit into a low sodium meal for ordering fast food.

Taco Bell

Burritos and Tacos fall under the Salty 6, so again the options are going to be fewer, and the portion sizes will be smaller. 

Most of the menu recommendations are going to be more snack-like than a full meal. The burritos, bowls and full meals will easily set you over 1,000mg of sodium. 

Their website does not have editing abilities-so there are some menu categories we are going to have to steer lear of. Yes, we are looking at you burritos!

Cantina Chicken Soft Taco (530 mg)
– Count this as a hearty snack instead of a full meal as it only has 210 calories and 12g of protein. 
– the crispy version of this taco has 2x the saturated fat, so keep it soft on this one! 

Chalupa Surpremes
1. Black Bean (450 mg)
– it also has 7 grams of fiber 
2. Chicken (580 mg)
3. Steak (590 mg)

Mini Taco Salad (490 mg)
Black Beans and Rice (370 mg)
cheesy Roll Up (420 mg)

Texas Roadhouse 

• USDA Sirloin Choice 6oz (560 mg)
  -this is a leaner cut of meat, so it is also lower in saturated fat
• Grilled BBQ chicken (450 mg)
• Texas Red Chili with Beans (640 mg)

Can we talk about how the Fire Blossom is reported to have 8730 mg of sodium? That is like a whole work week worth of salt

Even the steamed broccoli and fresh vegetables are listed as 490 mg of sodium and ~16g of fat- this is from the butter. Im sure if you asked no butter no salt it would be a better for you side.

Dont forget that fresh baked bread! A single roll will add 200mg of sodium.

Wendy’s

The menu is NOT interactive, so I can’t make suggestions based on any menu changes like removing cheese, sauces, or bread. So here are some “as is” lower sodium options that do not include any modifications.

I am all for eating vegetables, but the Salads at Wendy’s are going to pack in 800 mg or more of sodium, and that is without adding dressing! So before you say that “Salad is the healthiest choice” it sometimes is not our best option.

• 6 piece french toast stick (520 mg) + apple bites
• 6 piece nugget (540 mg) + apple bites
• Junior Hamburger (470 mg) + apple bites
• Crispy Chicken Sandwich (650 mg) + apple bites

As you can see, those apple bites are sodium free and the one source of fiber on their menu! Make sure you add them to your meal : )

High Protein Low Sodium Fast Food Options

Conclusion

Some fast food restaurants have more options than others. Just because a menu item is listed as “healthy” or is a salad doesn’t guarantee it to be low in salt. With some preplanning and making some simple swaps you can find a few meals to fall back on when you do not have the time or energy to make or bring something prepared from home. The best way to lower your daily sodium intake is to make more meals at home so you can control what is going into the food and can include plenty of heart healthy high fiber foods like legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds and vegetables.

Laurie Thenedy, RD

Laurie is a Registered Dietitian passionate about helping healthcare professionals lower their weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol so that they can regain confidence and energy to live a more full life.