If you’ve been eating gluten-free for any length of time, you may feel your restaurant options are limited, especially when it comes to fast food and fast casual dining.
Many people choose to forgo eating gluten — a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley that causes many people to have digestive issues (1).
Some people who avoid gluten may live with Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder where eating gluten sets off an immune response that damages your small intestine (2).
If you decide to go gluten-free, don’t fear. Although they’re known for their burritos and bowls, Chipotle is a great restaurant choice for people who eat gluten-free.
Here are some tips for choosing meals and sides at Chipotle, along with several examples of gluten-free meals you can order.
Share on PinterestBloomberg/Contributor/Getty ImagesGluten-free ordering tips at Chipotle
With build-your-own burritos and bowls made from fresh ingredients, Chipotle offers you flexibility with your order. This makes it extremely easy to eat gluten-free at Chipotle.
The only menu items that need to be avoided are the burritos and the quesadilla, because they’re made with flour tortillas, which contain gluten.
Additionally, gluten-free eaters should avoid the flour tortilla tacos (made with smaller flour tortillas) and opt instead for the corn tortillas.
All other menu items and ingredients at Chipotle are gluten-free, so you can choose from burrito bowls, salads, and corn tortilla tacos.
You can also make selections from the full menu of meats, beans, rice, vegetables, and other toppings and condiments.
Finally, all side items at Chipotle are gluten-free as well — including the chips and queso dip.
Gluten cross-contamination
Because there are gluten-containing flour tortillas present in Chipotle kitchens, cross-contamination may occur.
If you have a severe gluten intolerance (like Celiac disease), you may not be able to eat at Chipotle without asking them to make some modifications to their process (3).
To minimize cross-contamination, follow these steps:
Gluten-free options at Chipotle
You have endless combinations of gluten-free meals available at Chipotle. If you’re avoiding gluten, you can order anything off the menu, except burritos, quesadillas, or tacos made with flour tortillas.
We’ve included at least one option from all the remaining menu categories on Chipotle’s menu (burrito bowls, salads, tacos, sides, kids’ meals, and Lifestyle Bowls), but know that you can customize these any way you’d like with rice, beans, meat, veggies, and condiments.
1. Burrito bowl
Chipotle’s burrito bowls are essentially unwrapped burritos. All the hearty ingredients are layered into a bowl, rather than wrapped in a tortilla.
You can choose from any of Chipotle’s meats or vegetarian options. Then, add white or brown rice, black beans or pinto beans, and the veggies, salsas, and cheeses or condiments of your choice.
A carnitas bowl with white rice, black beans, fajita veggies, cheese, and corn salsa provides (4):
- Calories: 760
- Fat: 27 grams
- Protein: 45 grams
- Carbs: 84 grams
- Fiber: 12 grams
- Sodium: 1,680 mg
2. Salad
A greener and low-carb option, Chipotle’s salads replace the bed of rice with a healthy base of romaine lettuce.
These salads provide you an excellent option if you’re trying to limit your carb or calorie intake — all while staying gluten-free. However, you can still add some rice or beans if you’d like.
A salad with chicken, corn salsa, and Chipotle-Honey Vinaigrette dressing provides (4):
- Calories: 495
- Fat: 25 grams
- Protein: 37 grams
- Carbs: 37 grams
- Fiber: 6 grams
- Sodium: 1,505 mg
3. Tacos with corn tortillas
If you have a taste for tacos, but you want to stay gluten-free, corn tortillas could satisfy your spicy cravings while saving you painful indigestion.
Chipotle’s taco entrée includes three tacos on a soft flour tortilla or a hard-shell corn tortilla. Choose the corn tortillas, as they’re the gluten-free alternative to flour tortillas. Many prefer the taste, too. Chipotle includes a gluten cross-contamination disclaimer for items containing corn, “You should be aware items containing corn, including corn tortillas (chips and crispy corn tortillas) and corn salsa, may have trace amounts of gluten from potentially co-mingling with gluten-containing grains in the field.”
The tacos come standard with a meat or vegetarian protein of your choice, guacamole, salsa, queso, sour cream or cheese, and lettuce.
The barbacoa tacos on corn tortillas with guacamole, queso, red salsa, cheese, and lettuce provide (4):
- Calories: 865
- Fat: 55 grams
- Protein: 40 grams
- Carbs: 49 grams
- Fiber: 12 grams
- Sodium: 1,840 mg
4. Chips and dip
Chips and dip satisfy your snacking urge while staying gluten-free at Chipotle.
If you enjoy Chipotle’s chips and want to make them your meal, you can have them with any of the dips and salsas Chipotle offers: guacamole, queso blanco, fresh tomato salsa, corn salsa, green chili salsa, and red chili salsa.
A regular order of tortilla chips with queso blanco contains (4):
- Calories: 780
- Fat: 43 grams
- Protein: 17 grams
- Carbs: 80 grams
- Fiber: 7 grams
- Sodium: 880 mg
5. Kid’s Build Your Own with corn tortillas
If your child eats gluten-free, Chipotle has an option for them. Choose a Kid’s Build-Your-Own with corn tortillas and the fillings of their choice. They can also add a side of chips or fruit.
The Kid’s Build-Your-Own with corn tortillas, chicken, pinto beans, and fresh tomato salsa contains (4):
- Calories: 335
- Fat: 10 grams
- Protein: 23 grams
- Carbs: 35 grams
- Fiber: 8 grams
- Sodium: 620 mg
6. Whole30 Salad Lifestyle Bowl
To keep ordering simple, you can choose a Lifestyle Bowl. All of Chipotle’s Lifestyle Bowls are gluten-free, and they’re targeted toward specific dietary needs, including keto, paleo, Whole30, vegan, and vegetarian.
The Whole30 Salad Bowl with carnitas, lettuce, fajita veggies, fresh tomato salsa, and guacamole provides (4):
- Calories: 500
- Fat: 34 grams
- Protein: 27 grams
- Carbs: 20 grams
- Fiber: 10 grams
- Sodium: 1,535 mg
7. Vegan Lifestyle Bowl
Plant-based diets can still be gluten-free, especially at Chipotle.
If you eat a plant-based diet, you can choose from the Vegetarian Lifestyle Bowl or the Vegan Lifestyle Bowl if you’d like to simply order a meal without choosing individual ingredients and toppings.
The Vegan Bowl with sofritas, black beans, fresh tomato salsa, corn salsa, and lettuce contains (4):
- Calories: 420
- Fat: 24 grams
- Protein: 12 grams
- Carbs: 42 grams
- Fiber: 17 grams
- Sodium: 1,295 mg
The bottom line
Chipotle is a great restaurant for gluten-free options. As long as you steer clear of the flour tortillas in the burrito, quesadilla, and tacos, you can choose any item on the menu.
However, if you have Celiac disease or are extremely gluten-sensitive, cross-contamination at the restaurant may be an issue.
To minimize the risk of cross-contamination, ask for a server with freshly-washed hands and clean gloves to prepare your meal — preferably from new tubs of ingredients with clean utensils.
Just one thing
Try this today: We love Chipotle at my house. But one of our favorite things to do is to recreate Chipotle dishes at home. We get to save money, serve a crowd, and make our meals a bit healthier and gluten-free.
I usually make carnitas using a large pork shoulder and set out an array of ingredients to build our own meals, including rice, tortillas, cauliflower rice, black beans, low carb black soy beans, tortilla chips, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, lime wedges, cilantro, and lettuce.
This setup is great for entertaining, and you can choose your favorite protein option to keep it simple, or cook several options to make it more like a Chipotle experience.