10 Delicious gluten-free Food Items From Sonic

Much like most eateries, Sonic aims to please a wide range of customers, and in recent years, that has meant addressing gluten-related issues.

To be clear, the majority of Sonic’s gluten-free menu items aren’t actually gluten-free. Even if they don’t use wheat in their products, they are exposed to gluten in the kitchen.

So if you are actually sensitive to or allergic to this ingredient, Sonic is not a good restaurant.

However, Sonic has a lot of delicious options for your diet if you’re attempting to avoid gluten yet are able to stomach it.

It is important to remember that establishments regularly change their menus.

Thus, they may change or remove any of the items we are about to discuss.

With that being said, here are the top 10 dishes on their menu that are typically gluten-free.

Gluten Free Items At Sonic

As mentioned above, even though all the items we are about to discuss are void of gluten, that doesn’t mean they weren’t prepared in an area that doesn’t have gluten. 

As a result, if you have a serious allergy to gluten, it would be wise to speak to a member of staff at Sonic about cross contamination.

This way, they can try their best to prepare your gluten-free food in an area that doesn’t have any gluten in it.

Hamburger (No Bun)

While they will gladly omit the cheese if requested, Sonic actually prefers cheeseburgers.

A standard burger will have the meat, some sliced onions, tomato, mayo, pickles, ketchup and lettuce. Yet you can still obtain all of this without a bun.

If you order this in a tiny bowl or other such container, it almost resembles a salad that is heavy on the meat.

We suggest breaking up the burger into tiny pieces and eating it together with everything else using a fork and knife for the best results. 

Even though the ingredients are the same, the taste of the food changes depending on how you consume it.

Additionally, request that they strive to keep the remaining components chilled. For instance, crisper lettuce makes a huge, significant difference to the flavor and textures while eating this dish. 

Hot Dog (No Bun) 

Another simple approach to stay away from gluten is to get a hot dog. Without the bun, Sonic’s hot dogs generally come with mustard, relish, onions and ketchup.

Additionally, the hot dog itself is made entirely of beef. Moreover, hot dogs are completely customizable, so if you’d rather, you may omit any toppings. 

By itself, a plain hot dog doesn’t taste the most interesting. Thus, you may want to think about which toppings you remove.

As you still want the bunless hot dog to taste good. Why not change the sauce so instead of mustard you have BBQ sauce, which we know is gluten-free. 

You can create a complete meal out of a basic hot dog chopped into chunks and some tater tots.

Philly Steak (No Bun) 

Don’t anticipate seeing this throughout the warmer months. This is because Sonic typically only provides Philly Steaks as a temporary choice during the colder seasons of the year.

The Philly steaks come without the baguette and are made out of thin beef pieces, cheddar cheese, grilled onions, and cheese sauce.

Additionally, they occasionally mix in tots and jalapeños. Even if you don’t purchase anything else, you could find these to be pretty tasty without the bun. 

However, we advise obtaining an additional side of tots to use as a base for the other ingredients.

In this manner, a cheese and onion flavor can drop onto the tots. This then improves the tater tots when you finally get to them.

French Fries

The most well-known American dish is probably fries. French fries are typically cooked with russet potatoes, then fried in oil, and seasoned.

Compared to some of its rivals, Sonic is a little more accommodating, providing a variety of sauces in addition to toppings like cheese, chili, and onions.

When trying to avoid gluten, be conscious of checking the labels of sauces for wheat. Fries are just one of the bigger menu items you may get, which makes them stand out as a gluten-free order.

That makes a significant difference when attempting to obtain a high-quality lunch. Hence, these fries will always end up becoming part of your order, the next time you visit Sonic.

Tots

One of the best foods at Sonic and a perfect substitute for french fries are tots. They are more intriguing to eat because they have more texture.

At Sonic, you may order tots with a variety of toppings, including chili, onions, two types of cheese, or some jalapeños, much like regular french fries. 

Tots and their toppings pair particularly nicely with their BBQ sauce. When you’re watching what you eat, this sauce should be a safe option because it isn’t known to contain gluten.

Although it’s more a matter of taste than anything else. A little spice and smoky flavor is much more preferable to plain ketchup.

Egg

Eggs are typically sold by Sonic as a component of breakfast meals, such as their Bacon Breakfast Burrito. However, they can also be ordered independently.

Even while freshly cooked eggs are generally free of gluten, it’s nevertheless possible for small amounts to exist due to equipment interaction with other foods. 

Add eggs, hot dog bits, and sliced onions to the meal along with their barbecue sauce for added flavor. That borders on being a genuinely good dish, especially in the morning.

Bacon

Similar to eggs at Sonic, bacon is typically served as a component of other dishes rather than as a stand-alone item.

Otherwise, they operate on a similar concept as hot dogs in that they are naturally gluten-free and don’t have much exposure to gluten either. 

Providing you a crisp and meaty addition to your meals. It can be a little challenging to include bacon into a unique dinner. Although if you order eggs and bacon, you’ll have an amazing breakfast bowl!

Additionally, the bacon’s crispiness can be a little too much for other, softer ingredients. On the other hand, eating the bacon separately is simple, so this isn’t a major flaw or anything.

Apple Slices

If you’re allergic to gluten and would like to reduce your risk of ingesting it, one of the greatest things to order at Sonic is frequently available apple slices.

Sonic sources their apples and packaging from other places, like the majority of businesses. Therefore, even though they may not be listed as gluten-free, there is very little risk associated with purchasing these.

Prepackaged food is usually the safest choice while trying to avoid gluten. Sonic uses shared kitchen equipment like other eateries, making it simple to pick up small levels of contamination. Foods neatly packaged eliminate that risk.

Fritos Corn Chips

Another item you’ll frequently see in-store at Sonic outlets are Fritos corn chips. They are fairly straightforward items that are only produced with corn, salt and corn oil.

Like the apple slices, Fritos chips are prepared and clearly state that they don’t contain any gluten. They are therefore a dependable and secure option.

If you need to get out of Sonic fast and want to dine somewhere else. A bag of Fritos can be a wonderful option. As long as your car isn’t too warm, they’ll remain fresh for a long time.

Vanilla Ice Cream 

Both a dish and a cone of vanilla ice cream are available at Sonic. With that being said, the cone contains gluten. 

The ice cream is as straightforward as you might assume, made from a combination of milk, sugar, and a few additional components to give it flavor and smoothness.

This is a fantastic option on a warm day because there isn’t any gluten to be found.  

The biggest drawback of purchasing vanilla ice cream at Sonic is that, barring special circumstances, it’s difficult to purchase it for takeout without a cone. 

In contrast, their larger shakes, which come in larger glasses, are largely made of ice cream.  

If your sensitivity is severe, ask Sonic to wash the milkshake machine before preparing it in case there are any traces of gluten from other flavors.

Yet overall, vanilla ice cream and their shakes should be gluten-free. Although, it is best to avoid their cones. 

Visiting Sonic And Being gluten-free

We mentioned this at the start and through our article, but we wanted to reiterate it here.

When you go to Sonic, it is important to be mindful that they don’t have a particular designated gluten-free preparation or cooking area.

As a result, cross contamination is very likely. Even if the staff are careful and wipe down the areas, cross contamination could still occur.

In addition to that, the same ovens and fryers that they cook all their food on is shared. For example, we know that their french fries are gluten-free.

Yet they could still be fried in the same oil in which onion rings are fired. Onion rings have better coating on them, which contains gluten.

Hence, the oil will contain small traces of gluten, which will be transferred onto your fries while they are being cooked in that same oil.

Therefore, it is important that you make the staff at Sonic aware of your gluten intolerance. They will do their best to keep cross contamination down to a minimum.

Yet, it is important to be aware that your food will be prepared and cooked in areas that contain gluten. 

Creating A gluten-free Meal At Sonic

You have to get a little inventive when making a meal because this fast food restaurant doesn’t actually feature a gluten-free menu. Throughout this post, we have provided you with a variety of examples.

For instance, you might make a delicious sandwich with an onion and avocado topping and a burger patty with cheese and sauces.

You can also have some Fritos with ketchup on the side and a blue coconut slush as your drink.

You can even have vanilla ice cream and the sauce of your choosing for dessert. At Sonic, you can make a gluten-free meal, but it will take more work.

Does Sonic Have Gluten-Free Buns?

There are a lot of burgers and toppings to be enjoyed at Sonic. You have seen we have offered a lot of food items to be enjoyed at Sonic without the bun.

Yet, you may have wondered whether there is a gluten-free bun alternative at Sonic. So you can enjoy their burgers and hot dogs as you normally would.

Unfortunately, the answer isn’t good. There is no gluten-free bread alternative at Sonic.

As a result, if you want to enjoy one of their sandwiches, burgers or hot dogs. Then you will have to enjoy it without the bun. 

Which Sauces, And Condiments Are gluten-free?

BBQ sauce is widely known to be gluten-free. Yet, there are other sauces available at Sonic’s that are gluten-free as well. The majority of sauces offered at Sonic are gluten-free. 

However, there is one sauce you should avoid, which is believed to contain traces of gluten. This includes the Asian sweet chili sauce.

Although, every other sauce should be gluten-free. Yet, there is always a chance that it could contain small hints of gluten.

When it comes to condiments from Sonic, all condiment packets are labeled as gluten-free.

With that being said, if you are sensitive to gluten, then it will be wise for you to avoid the chili and gravy condiments. As they are both labeled as containing traces of gluten. 

Although, most condiments, gravies or sauces are relatively gluten-free.

However, there is always a chance that they could contain a small trace of gluten. This will depend on where the sauce was created and if any cross contamination occurred. 

Are The Drinks From Sonic gluten-free?

Sonic is a really popular place for their drinks, including shakes and slushies. In addition to that, Sonic offers a wide variety of drinks for you to choose from.

Most of these drinks consist of a base of sprite or lemonade. Then they have a syrup topping of your flavor of choice.

As a result, there are a lot of flavors for you to choose from. You’ll be pleased to read that the majority of drinks from Sonic are gluten-free.

All the flavor add in and syrups are gluten-free. Thus, you aren’t limited on what drink you can purchase from Sonic’s.

Moreover, their slushies are also gluten-free, and their shakes as they use gluten-free vanilla ice cream. Therefore, it is up to you what kind of drink you purchase from Sonic. 

It is important to be mindful, that you should still ask about the syrup and any flavor add in you incorporate into your drink.

Just, so that you are fully aware of what is being added into your drink so that you are certain no gluten is being added by mistake. 

Final Thoughts

As you can see, if you know where to search, Sonic offers a wide variety of gluten-free options.  Again, due to the way Sonic’s kitchen operates, the majority of menu items cannot be guaranteed to be gluten-free. 

For instance, the ice cream ought to be gluten-free but could contain a trace amount from the environment. The most dependable and secure solutions for allergy sufferers are Fritos chips and apple slices.

However, that shouldn’t stop you from trying the other items that we have mentioned in this article, such as the burger without a bun. 

We hope this article has given you an insight to some of the 10 most delicious gluten-free menu items that you can order from Sonic.