Ultimate Applebee’s Gluten-Free Menu Guide For 2025
Your go-to guide for Applebee’s gluten-free dining: delicious dishes and important info for those with gluten restrictions.
Dining out with celiac disease could often feel like you’re trying to navigate a minefield… One wrong step, and you’re in the hospital! This is especially so when you’re heading out to a truly classic casual dining spot like Applebee’s!
After over 20+ years of being gluten-free myself, I’m versed in what to do, even if your celiac-safe choices can be limited, like at Applebee’s. 🔥🥩
Plus, even those dishes without any obvious wheat or gluten-containing ingredients could still pick up hidden gluten in shared kitchens, and using common, shared utensils, as well as shared kitchen equipment.
So, without further ado, let me be your guide to see which of these delectable dishes and meals make it into our Applebee’s gluten-free shortlist! 🍔🍗🥗
I will be breaking down every part of their huge menu, from their awesome starters to sizzling entrées, burgers, salads, sides, and more!
It isn’t just about understanding what is and isn’t safe to eat for celiacs like us, but it’s also about knowing how to spot and be wary of any cross-contamination, making sure you leave Applebee’s with a hearty appetite, and no harm! 🍖
Table of Contents
Disclaimer
As much as you’re quite limited in options at Applebee’s as a celiac and gluten-free diner, you should still be careful, even with those supposedly safe meals.
In fact, even Applebee’s – like a lot of other restaurants, to be fair – does not guarantee that any menu item is completely free of gluten.
At best, rather than the Applebee’s gluten-free menu, it should be ‘gluten-friendly’.
For example, Applebee’s can’t verify that menu items meet the FDA’s ≤20 ppm gluten limit, so none of their menu items carry the official ‘gluten-free’ label.
On top of that, all of Applebee’s dishes are prepared in common areas (fryers, grills, ovens, and prep surfaces), so trace gluten exposure could be found, even in those dishes made without wheat ingredients. 😱🌾
On the bright side, given that menu formulations, suppliers, prep methods, and ingredients do change very regularly, Applebee’s does have an extensive webpage filled with tons of nutrition and allergen data.
If you’re planning a visit to your local Applebee’s, I’d recommend that you check and keep yourself up-to-date on Applebee’s allergen policies and menus. ✍📝
Also, since cross-contact risks are a huge concern among every celiac, particularly if you are a sensitive one like me, here are my personal top tips on how to reduce your exposure to traces of gluten:
- Let your server know about your celiac disease or a severe gluten allergy, and see if you could ask them to repeat this to the kitchen staff. They might take extra precautions when prepping your meals to make sure that your celiac disease isn’t flaring up!
- While you’re there, see if you could request the server and the kitchen staff to use fresh gloves, clean utensils, and a sanitized workspace when cooking up and prepping your meal. This ought to massively reduce the risks of cross-contact with gluten-containing items.
- On that subject, I’d 100% suggest checking out the Applebee’s Nutrition & Allergen Information webpage. This will give you tons of data on what you need to look out for, including their really cool interactive nutrition menu, where you could filter out specific allergens.
Applebee’s Allergen Policy (Gluten-Free)
Speaking of, I do love me some interactive charts and tools, as it makes figuring out what dishes and menu items contain specific allergens super easily.
Applebee’s has its neat Interactive Nutrition Menu, where you could either search for specific menu items to see what kind of allergens they contain, as well as shockingly detailed nutrition data for every single menu item. 📃
Aside from that, using the Applebee’s Interactive Nutrition Menu, you could filter out allergens. All you’d need to do is flick the ‘Lifestyle & Allergen Filter’ button to ‘On’, and on the search bar, make sure to select ‘Avoid Gluten’ and ‘Avoid Wheat’ if you’re a celiac.
More to that, if you are keen to avoid any other specific allergens like meat or nuts, you could add that to the list, too!
I’d totally recommend bookmarking this interactive menu tool on your phone and checking it each time you’re visiting Applebee’s, just to make sure that what you’re ordering would or wouldn’t contain any traces of gluten or wheat.
And since you’re already on the Applebee’s website, you could find loads of other awesomely insightful titbits when it comes to allergens, too: 🌾
- The Applebee’s ‘Ingredient Statement Search’ page is basically just a massive repository where each menu item has its entire ingredients list and recipes listed out in detail. This is another great way to figure out if a specific dish has any wheat, gluten, or other allergens that you are allergic to.
- Oh, and for all you vegetarians and vegans out there, Applebee’s has a PDF menu guide there, too! Here, they list out each and every single dish that meets both vegetarian and vegan diets, giving you a clear look at what you can or can’t safely order. They even mention tips and tricks on how to order safely if you’re a vegan or vegetarian.
- And if you’re not sure about where to get started or how to even use Applebee’s vast resources to read about nutritional information and allergens, they do have a simple Nutrition FAQs PDF file, where you can quickly understand what the Applebee’s menu contains, how it meets your specific dietary needs, and more.
Naturally, you could read up all of these yourself through the Applebee’s Nutrition & Allergen Information page, and with that out of the way, let us see just how many of their menu items make it into my Applebee’s gluten-free list. 🤚🛑🌾
Skillets
Let’s start with the first section of the Applebee’s gluten-free menu: their skillets! With the hearty layering of proteins, veggies, and sauces over crispy potatoes in one pan, it is a shame that most of their skillets contain wheat-based components (breading, roux-thickened sauces, or seasoned coatings).
As such, most of these should be avoided if you’re a celiac. 🥓🥩🍤
❌ Hot Honey Glazed Chicken & Bacon Skillet
⚠️ 6 oz. Garlic Sirloin Skillet
⚠️ 8 oz. Garlic Sirloin Skillet
⚠️ Bourbon Street Steak
⚠️ Bourbon Street Chicken & Shrimp
❌ Sizzlin’ Caramel Apple Pie
❌ Sizzlin’ Butter Pecan Blondie
So, let’s break these down one by one to see why these delectable skillets didn’t make it into the Applebee’s gluten-free menu:
Hot Honey Glazed Chicken & Bacon Skillet: Crispy chicken tenders tossed in hot-honey glaze, bacon, sautéed onions & peppers over potatoes. The chicken tenders are breaded with wheat flour, and the glaze and skillet seasoning contain wheat thickeners.
Carlic Sirloin Skillet (6 oz. and 8 oz.): Simple grilled USDA Select sirloin steak in a buttery garlic-parsley sauce with mashed potatoes and broccoli, with no wheat ingredients listed. You could find this under the ‘safe’ section of Applebee’s interactive nutrition tool.
Bourbon Street Steak: An 8 oz. Cajun-seasoned sirloin with garlic butter, mushrooms, onions, and potatoes. The spice rub and sauces are made without wheat thickeners, though, like each skillet here, there’s a strong risk of cross-contamination, so proceed with caution!
Bourbon Street Chicken & Shrimp: Blackened chicken and shrimp in a garlic-parsley butter over veggies and mashed potatoes. The shrimp is grilled, not breaded, and no wheat-based coatings appear in the ingredient list, either. Still, watch out for cross-contact risks.
Sizzlin’ Caramel Apple Pie: Warm apple pie filling with caramel and cinnamon atop crispy tortilla strips. However, the pie filling uses wheat-flour thickeners, and tortilla ‘chips’ and caramel include wheat derivatives.
Sizzlin’ Butter Pecan Blondie: Warm blondie brownie topped with some pecans and vanilla ice cream, served sizzling hot. Sadly, the blondie base is made from wheat flour and sugar, so it’s off-limits for celiacs and anyone who’s sensitive to gluten.
Now, even though four of these technically don’t contain any wheat or gluten, you should still approach them with caution. I’d personally grade them as ‘gluten-sensitive’, as you won’t find wheat or gluten-based ingredients here, but the use of shared prep areas and utensils still gives them pretty high cross-contamination risks, so you need to be careful! 🥩🍤🔥🍽
Appetizers
Unfortunately, most of Applebee’s classic starters, except for a select few, use a wheat-based batter, breading, and there’s flour tortillas, making them unsafe for celiacs.
Looking at the Applebee’s gluten-free menu, you’ll also find that some of them might be gluten-free as far as their ingredients and recipe are concerned, but then cooked in shared prep areas. 🍗🧀🧅
❌ The Classic Combo
❌ Boneless Wings
⚠️ Classic Bone-In Wings
❌ Brew Pub Pretzels & Beer Cheese Dip
❌ Mozzarella Sticks
❌ Spinach & Artichoke Dip
❌ Brew Pub Loaded Waffle Fries
❌ Crispy Cheese Bites
❌ Chicken Quesadilla
❌ Chicken Wonton Tacos
⚠️ White Queso Dip & Chips
⚠️ Neighborhood Nachos with Beef
⚠️ Neighborhood Nachos with Chipotle Lime Chicken
❌ Crunchy Onion Rings
❌ Breadsticks with Alfredo Sauce
Not, let’s break these appetizers down bit by bit to see why most of them aren’t included in the Applebee’s gluten-free menu:
The Classic Combo: Three onion rings, three mozzarella sticks, and seven boneless wings with your choice of sauce. All these items and ingredients are coated or breaded with wheat flour.
Boneless Wings: Bite-size chicken pieces breaded in wheat flour, fried, and tossed in sauce. It does contain gluten, so that makes it a no-go for celiacs.
Classic Bone-In Wings: Traditional chicken wings are dusted and dipped in a variety of sauces and flavors, but be warned that some flavor options do contain traces of wheat and gluten.
Brew Pub Pretzels & Beer Cheese Dip: Soft pretzel twists made with enriched wheat flour, served with beer-cheese dip (though it contains roux).
Mozzarella Sticks: Breaded mozzarella fried in shared oil. The bread itself contains wheat flour, and is not safe for celiacs like you and me.
Spinach & Artichoke Dip: Creamy dip (with some traces of wheat ingredients and gluten) served with corn tortilla chips. Chips are made from corn, but that creamy dip is not safe.
Brew Pub Loaded Waffle Fries: Waffle fries (mostly potato, but there are traces of gluten) loaded with melted cheddar, bacon, and sour cream. Plus, it’s fried in shared oil, too.
Crispy Cheese Bites: Breaded cheese curds in wheat-flour batter, and it contains gluten, so celiacs be warned.
Chicken Quesadilla: Flour tortilla (wheat) filled with chicken and cheese, and once again, it contains gluten.
Chicken Wonton Tacos: Fried wonton shells (wheat) filled with chicken, slaw, and sauces, with traces of gluten everywhere.
White Queso Dip & Chips: White queso dip (no wheat ingredients) served with corn tortilla chips. Ingredients-wise, this should be safe, but the chips are fried in shared fryer oil.
Neighborhood Nachos with Beef: Tortilla chips topped with cheddar, pico, jalapeños, and seasoned beef. No wheat in the toppings, though the chips pose a cross-contact risk.
Neighborhood Nachos with Chipotle Lime Chicken: Same as the above, with grilled chicken seasoned without wheat. Once again, the chips are the only potential risk here.
Crunchy Onion Rings: Beer-battered onion rings using wheat flour, which contains gluten.
Breadsticks with Alfredo Sauce: Breadsticks made from wheat dough, served with Alfredo (roux-thickened) sauce.
Overall, your options here, with Applebee’s appetizers, are just as limited as their skillet dishes. You do at least get some choices here that don’t feature any wheat or gluten in the ingredients, but with pretty high risks of cross-contamination due to Applebee’s using shared prep areas, as well as kitchen equipment.
If you’re sensitive, you might want to avoid these to be safe. 🍟
Irresist-A-Bowls
There’s at least a bit of good news and a ray of hope for me in this part of the Applebee’s gluten-free menu – their Irresist-A-Bowls.
They each feature grilled proteins over cilantro rice, fresh greens, and salsas, and each one comes topped with some crispy tortilla strips made out of corn flour.
This makes them a relatively safe choice for celiacs. 🌮🍚
✅ Southwest Chicken Bowl
✅ Tex-Mex Shrimp Bowl
Now, let’s break these down a bit further to see what makes them a solid choice in Applebee’s gluten-free menu:
Southwest Chicken Bowl: Grilled chipotle-lime chicken over mixed greens and cilantro rice with house-made pico de gallo, black bean-corn salsa, guacamole, chimichurri, and tortilla chips. It looks like Applebee’s uses corn flour for their tortillas, which makes them safe for celiacs.
Tex-Mex Shrimp Bowl: Grilled chipotle-lime shrimp on fresh greens and cilantro rice with pico de gallo, black bean-corn salsa, guacamole, chimichurri, and crispy tortilla strips. Once again, those tortilla strips/chips are made from corn flour, which contains no wheat or gluten.
Now, to be clear, while there’s no wheat or gluten in these Applebee’s gluten-free menu items (make sure you double check the tortilla strips and chips, though!), there’s still a huge risk that stems from Applebee’s using shared fryers, grills, and prep stations.
That said, be sure that you let the server and kitchen staff know about your celiac disease and severe gluten allergy. ❗
Steaks & Ribs
Finally, we get to one of the best parts of Applebee’s gluten-free menu – the steaks & ribs! It’s a bit of a bittersweet victory here for we celiacs, though. Most of their steaks and ribs don’t come with wheat or gluten, technically.
However, with shared kitchens, there is a large cross-contact risk that comes with each meal, so proceed with caution when you’re ordering these. 🔥🥩🍤
⚠️ 8 oz. Top Sirloin
⚠️ 6 oz. Top Sirloin
⚠️ Bourbon Street Steak
❌ Shrimp ‘N Parmesan Sirloin
⚠️ Applebee’s Riblets Platter
⚠️ Applebee’s Riblets Plate
⚠️ Double-Glazed Baby Back Ribs
⚠️ Half Rack Double-Glazed Baby Back Ribs
Let’s now break down each of these steaks and ribs to see why they’re a decently safe, though with loads of caution recommended, inclusion in the Applebee’s gluten-free menu:
Top Sirloin (6 oz. and 8 oz.): Lightly seasoned and grilled to order, served with garlic mashed potatoes & broccoli, with no wheat or gluten-containing ingredients listed.
Bourbon Street Steak: Blackened Cajun-seasoned sirloin topped with garlic-parsley butter, mushrooms & onions, spice rub and butter sauce, which uses no wheat thickeners.
Shrimp ‘N Parmesan Sirloin: Grilled top sirloin topped with blackened shrimp and a creamy lemon-butter Parmesan sauce, though Applebee’s mentions that it contains traces of wheat and gluten, making it unsafe for celiacs.
Applebee’s Riblets Platter: Full-size portion of plain riblets (no glaze) with two classic sides, which is also wheat-free by specific ingredients when unsauced, just like the Riblets Plate.
Applebee’s Riblets Plate: Slow-cooked riblets served plain (no glaze) with fries & coleslaw. When you specify that you don’t want the wheat-containing sauce, the meat itself doesn’t contain any wheat or gluten ingredients.
Double-Glazed Baby Back Ribs (incl. Half-Rack): Baby back ribs without the wheat-based glaze, served with two sides, and the meat alone has no wheat or gluten ingredients.
Now, I should point out that even though most of these steaks and ribs have been noted in the Applebee’s gluten-free menu, Applebee’s does sometimes feature riblets and rib dishes that use sauces or coatings containing wheat-based thickeners or glazes.
While you could customize or order them gluten-free and celiac-safe, it’s worth being extra, doubly careful! 🔥🥩🐄
Chicken
Ah, but poultry is more your kind of thing rather than beef, you can also check out the chicken dishes and meals in the Applebee’s gluten-free menu.
Aside from their chicken tenders, as you can find huge traces of wheat and gluten in the core ingredients, the rest of the chicken menu can be relatively safe for celiacs, so long as you are mindful of cross-contact. 🐔🍗
⚠️ Bourbon Street Chicken & Shrimp
❌ Chicken Tenders Platter
❌ Chicken Tenders Plate
⚠️ Fiesta Lime Chicken
⚠️ Grilled Chicken Breast
With that out of the way, let’s see how these poultry dishes stack up in the Applebee’s gluten-free menu:
Bourbon Street Chicken & Shrimp: Cajun-seasoned grilled chicken and blackened shrimp in a garlic-parsley butter, served with sautéed mushrooms, onions, and garlic mashed potatoes. There are no wheat-based breading or flour-thickened sauces, but be warned of the cross-contamination risks during the prep and cooking.
Chicken Tenders Platter & Plate: Hand-breaded chicken strips fried and tossed in your choice of sauce, served with fries and coleslaw. Both their platter and plate options have tender coatings that use enriched wheat flour, making them unsafe for celiacs.
Fiesta Lime Chicken: Grilled chicken breast glazed with a zesty lime-seasoning, served over rice with pico de gallo and cilantro slaw. Best of all, there are no wheat-based ingredients used in the chicken or seasoning blend.
Grilled Chicken Breast: Simply seasoned and char-grilled chicken breast served with a choice of side, and it contains no wheat ingredients. This makes it safe for celiacs like you and me, but you should also be careful when it comes to cross-contact.
While most of these chicken-based dishes don’t contain wheat or gluten in the ingredients, I’d still mark and classify them as ‘gluten-sensitive’, rather than completely ‘gluten-free’.
They do make it clear that Applebee’s uses shared kitchens with common fryers, grills, and prep zones, so trace gluten exposure can still occur, especially if you’re super sensitive. 🔥🍗🍤
Handcrafted Burgers
As much as I’ve loved to sample some of their burgers, there’s not a single one here that makes it into the Applebee’s gluten-free menu! All of them come on classic wheat brioche buns.
Since the buns contain enriched wheat flour, and as there are no gluten-free alternatives or substitutes over at Applebee’s, all of these burgers should be avoided if you’re a celiac. 🍞🍔🌾
❌ Whole Lotta Bacon Burger
❌ Bourbon Street Mushroom Swiss Burger
❌ Neighborhood Burger
❌ Quesadilla Burger
❌ Whisky Bacon Burger
❌ Impossible Cheeseburger
❌ Classic Bacon Cheeseburger
❌ Classic Cheeseburger
❌ Classic Burger
Now, besides the buns themselves, let’s see what else about these burgers makes them a bad fit for the Applebee’s gluten-free menu:
Whole Lotta Bacon Burger: Applewood-smoked bacon is seared into an all-beef patty, topped with bacon slices, bacon sauce, and American cheese on a brioche bun. That aforementioned brioche bun contains enriched wheat flour.
Bourbon Street Mushroom Swiss Burger: Blackened sirloin burger with Swiss cheese, some of their caramelized onions, and mushrooms on a toasted wheat bun, of which the latter would contain huge traces of gluten.
Neighborhood Burger: All-beef patty with lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, and special sauce on a wheat bun. Once again, that bun contains wheat and is not safe for celiacs.
Quesadilla Burger: Melted cheese folded into a wheat flour tortilla, on top of a beef patty on a brioche bun, and both the tortilla and bun contain gluten.
Whisky Bacon Burger: Topped with a whisky-peppercorn sauce, bacon, and cheddar on that familiar wheat bun. The sauce contains wheat thickeners, and the bun has gluten.
Impossible Cheeseburger: Plant-based patty with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and pickles on a wheat bun. While the patty might be gluten-free by ingredient, the bun contains wheat.
Classic Bacon Cheeseburger: Cheddar, bacon, and classic burger toppings on a wheat bun. As with the other burgers here, the bun contains gluten.
Classic Cheeseburger: American cheese with standard burger toppings on a wheat bun. Once again, that burger bun isn’t gluten-free, nor is it celiac-safe.
Classic Burger: Plain beef patty with lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, and special sauce on a wheat bun, which, of course, contains gluten and wheat.
Suffice it to say, as there are no gluten-free and celiac-safe bun alternatives or substitutes that you could swap out the default wheat buns for, Applebee’s burgers are a no-go for celiacs.
You should definitely avoid these and move on to the other parts of Applebee’s extensive menu, as there’s still hope that you might be able to find something truly gluten-free. 🍔❌🌾
Pasta
Just like those burgers, Applebee’s pasta menu isn’t gluten-free, either! For non-celiacs, they’re hearty, comforting pasta dishes built on wheat-based pasta and served with a signature garlic breadstick.
Basically, then, all of Applebee’s pastas contain wheat ingredients and are not safe for celiacs, regardless of how sensitive you are.🍝🌾
❌ Bourbon Street Chicken & Andouille Sausage Penne
❌ Blackened Shrimp & Andouille Sausage Penne
❌ Classic Broccoli Chicken Alfredo
❌ Classic Blackened Shrimp Alfredo
❌ Four-Cheese Mac & Cheese with Honey Pepper Chicken Tenders
❌ Three-Cheese Chicken Penne
❌ Breadsticks with Alfredo Sauce
So, let’s dive even deeper into each pasta dish to see why they’re not making it into Applebee’s gluten-free menu:
Bourbon Street Chicken & Andouille Sausage Penne: Penne pasta tossed with Cajun-seasoned chicken, andouille sausage, peppers & onions in a creamy sauce. Penne is made from enriched wheat flour, and the cream sauce also contains wheat-based thickeners.
Blackened Shrimp & Andouille Sausage Penne: Penne pasta in a spicy cream sauce with some blackened shrimp, andouille sausage, and peppers. The pasta base is wheat, and the sauce uses roux, which contains wheat flour.
Classic Broccoli Chicken Alfredo: Fettuccine noodles smothered in Alfredo sauce with broccoli and grilled chicken, served with a garlic breadstick. Fettuccine contains wheat, Alfredo sauce has wheat-containing roux, and on top of that, the breadsticks are wheat-based.
Classic Blackened Shrimp Alfredo: Broccoli-tossed fettuccine in Alfredo sauce topped with a bit of blackened shrimp, plus a breadstick. Again, the fettuccine and Alfredo sauce contain wheat, while the breadstick adds even more gluten to the dish!
Four-Cheese Mac & Cheese with Honey Pepper Chicken Tenders: Elbow macaroni with a four-cheese sauce topped with breaded chicken tenders. Elbow macaroni is wheat-based, and that cheese sauce includes wheat starch, while the chicken tenders are then breaded with wheat.
Three-Cheese Chicken Penne: Penne tossed in a Parmesan cream sauce with Asiago, Parmesan & white Cheddar, topped with grilled chicken. Penne is made from wheat flour, and that sauce uses wheat-thickened cream.
Breadsticks with Alfredo Sauce: Four golden breadsticks brushed with garlic butter and served with Alfredo dipping sauce. However, the breadsticks are baked from wheat dough, while the Alfredo sauce contains wheat-based roux.
All in all, between the wheat-based pasta and the wheat-based breadsticks, not to mention the other ingredients that it’s mixed with, such as the breaded chicken, not a single pasta here is celiac-safe.
If you’re seeking a totally gluten-free diet at Applebee’s, you should avoid its pasta menu and look elsewhere, like the steaks menu, with a hint of caution on cross-contact. 🍅🍝
Seafood
You’re not going to get much luck out of the seafood aisle here either, as most of them won’t be making it into the Applebee’s gluten-free menu, except for one.
Seafood naturally doesn’t have any gluten, but with wheat-based batters (among other ingredients in here, too), these should be avoided at all costs if you’re a celiac. 🐟🍤🍟
⚠️ Blackened Cajun Salmon
❌ Double Crunch Shrimp
❌ Hand Battered Fish & Chips
Now, let’s take a closer look at each dish to see what makes them a bad pick for our Applebee’s gluten-free list:
Blackened Cajun Salmon: A 6 oz. blackened salmon fillet, seasoned with a Cajun spice blend and grilled to perfection, served with garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli. Thankfully, there is no wheat flour or breading used in the salmon or Cajun seasoning, making it celiac-safe!
Double Crunch Shrimp: Crispy battered shrimp fried golden brown, served with cocktail sauce, coleslaw, and fries. The shrimp are coated in a wheat-flour breading and fried alongside other battered items, so it’s a no-go if you’re a celiac.
Hand Battered Fish & Chips: Golden, crispy battered fish fillets served with coleslaw, fries, as well as tartar sauce, and a lemon wedge. The fish fillets are dipped in a wheat-based batter before frying.
With that in mind, remember that even the Blackened Cajun Salmon, which is technically free of gluten as far as its recipe and ingredients are concerned, any celiac ought to be concerned when it comes to cross-contamination.
So, make sure you let the server and the kitchen staff know of your celiac disease, and they may take extra precautions when prepping your meal!
Sandwiches & More
On a disappointingly familiar note, as with the pastas and burgers, you won’t be finding their sandwiches making it into my celiac-safe, Applebee’s gluten-free shortlist anytime soon!
With no option to swap out the default toasted wheat‐based breads or tortillas, not a single one of their sandwiches is safe for celiacs. If you’re like me, then it’s time to move on. 🥪🙁
❌ Bacon Ranch Chicken Sandwich
❌ Spicy Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwich
❌ Bacon Ranch Grilled Chicken Sandwich
❌ Sweet & Spicy Chicken Sandwich
❌ The Prime Rib Dipper
❌ Clubhouse Grille
❌ Chicken Fajita Rollup
It might be pretty obvious already, but it’s worth diving deeper into each one to see why these sandwiches aren’t a part of the Applebee’s gluten-free menu:
Bacon Ranch Chicken Sandwich: Crispy, hand-breaded chicken breast topped with Applewood-smoked bacon, & house-made ranch drizzle on a brioche bun. Sadly, that brioche bun is made from enriched wheat flour.
Spicy Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwich: Breaded chicken breast, bacon, lettuce, tomato, some pickles & spicy honey mustard on a brioche bun. Again, it uses that same wheat-based bun.
Bacon Ranch Grilled Chicken Sandwich: Grilled chicken breast with bacon, ranch drizzle, lettuce & tomato on a brioche bun. As with the other sandwiches here, the brioche bun contains loads of wheat.
Sweet & Spicy Chicken Sandwich: Grilled chicken glazed with sweet & spicy sauce, topped with slaw on a wheat bun. It’s not just the wheat-based bun this time, as the sauce may also include wheat-derived thickeners.
The Prime Rib Dipper: Thinly sliced prime rib with grilled onions & some American cheese on a toasted Cheddar roll, served with au jus. The cheddar roll is made from wheat flour.
Clubhouse Grille: Turkey, ham, bacon, Swiss & American cheese, lettuce, tomato & some mayo on Texas toast. Unfortunately for celiacs, that Texas toast is wheat-based.
Chicken Fajita Rollup: Grilled chicken, cheese, lettuce & pico wrapped inside a flour tortilla with Southwest ranch. Instead of using corn tortillas, the flour tortillas here are made with enriched wheat flour.
Someday, I’d love to see more restaurants use, or at least offer the option of swapping over to, gluten-free breads, buns, and tortillas.
For the time being, however, Applebee’s will not be one of them, as you won’t be able to find any celiac-safe and gluten-free sandwiches here.
Perhaps it’ll be a reality someday, but for now, let’s move on to the next menu. 🌮🥪🌾
Salads
And just when you thought you could find a bit of solace in some salads, the Applebee’s gluten-free menu doesn’t include them, too!
The veggies might be naturally gluten-free and friendly to a celiac’s diet, but the other ingredients and items added into Applebee’s salads make these a danger to any celiac living inside the same postcode, with some exceptions! 🥗🥖🐔
❌ Quesadilla Chicken Salad
❌ Strawberry Balsamic Chicken Salad
❌ Crispy Chicken Tender Salad
❌ Grilled Chicken Tender Salad
❌ Oriental Chicken Salad
❌ Grilled Oriental Chicken Salad
❌ Blackened Shrimp Caesar Salad
❌ Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
To be clear, many of these salads contain wheat-based toppings or dressings, and while you’re able to possibly custom order and omit specific ingredients, such as the croutons, seeing that a total of none of these salads made it into the Applebee’s gluten-free menu, it is probably safer to just avoid them:
Quesadilla Chicken Salad: Mixed greens topped with crispy tortilla strips, cheddar & Monterey Jack cheeses, pico de gallo, and crispy chicken—served with a flour tortilla shell. This contains wheat-based tortilla strips and tortilla shells, making it unsafe for celiacs.
Strawberry Balsamic Chicken Salad: Grilled chicken over mixed greens with fresh strawberries, spiced pecans, pickled red onions, tomatoes, and balsamic vinaigrette. The pecans and berries are naturally wheat-free, but the candied nut toppings pose cross-contact risks.
Crispy Chicken Tender Salad: Mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded cheese, and crispy breaded chicken tenders, served with your choice of dressing. Sadly, those chicken tenders are breaded with wheat flour.
Grilled Chicken Tender Salad: Same as the above, but this time, with grilled chicken tenders; no wheat breading in the chicken itself. However, Applebee’s does mention that somewhere here, there are traces of gluten or wheat, making it unsafe if you’re a celiac.
Oriental Chicken Salad: Crisp greens with mandarin oranges, honey-sesame chicken strips, a bit of sliced almonds, crispy wonton strips, and oriental vinaigrette. Wonton strips are made from wheat flour, so they’re another no-go for celiacs.
Grilled Oriental Chicken Salad: Similar to above, but with grilled chicken. Still includes wonton strips and dressing that contains soy and wheat-based soy sauce. With that much wheat, it’s pretty unsafe for any celiac.
Blackened Shrimp Caesar Salad: Romaine with shredded Parmesan, croutons, and blackened shrimp, and then tossed in Caesar dressing. The croutons contain wheat flour, and the Caesar dressing may include wheat-derived thickeners.
Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad: Romaine with Parmesan, croutons, and grilled chicken breast in Caesar dressing. Once again, the croutons contain wheat, and the salad dressing poses a vast cross-contamination risk.
Again, you might be able to specifically request that some of these borderline gluten-sensitive salads be prepared without the offending items, such as the croutons and gluten-based salad dressing.
Nevertheless, I doubt many Applebee’s chains are keen to go that far, and with huge cross-contact risks with using shared prep areas, cutting boards, and pans, it’s not worth it.
Kid’s Menu
Reflecting much of their adult-sized menu, the Applebee’s gluten-free menu isn’t going to have any child-sized options as their Kid’s Menu has pizza, tenders, quesadillas, and more, and all of them are made with wheat-based crusts, batters, tortillas, and pastas.
As such, if your child has celiac disease, you should absolutely avoid Applebee’s Kids Menu. 🍕🌽🌮🧀🍔
❌ Kids Cheesy Pizza
❌ Kids Chicken Tenders
❌ Kids Chicken Quesadilla
❌ Kids Corn Dog
❌ Kids Grilled Chicken Alfredo
❌ Kids Chicken Taco
❌ Kids Macaroni & Cheese
❌ Kids Classic Cheeseburger
❌ Kids Classic Hamburger
❌ Kids Grilled Cheese
So, let’s take a closer look at why these child-sized dishes didn’t make it into the Applebee’s gluten-free menu:
Kids Cheesy Pizza: Mini pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese on a wheat flour crust, which contains gluten.
Kids Chicken Tenders: Breaded chicken strips fried in shared fryer oil. Alas, the chicken tender uses breading that uses enriched wheat flour.
Kids Chicken Quesadilla: Grilled flour tortilla filled with cheese and chicken, and the tortilla will contain traces of wheat.
Kids’ Corn Dog: Hot dog coated in a cornmeal-wheat batter and fried, but the batter contains wheat flour.
Kids Grilled Chicken Alfredo: Penne pasta tossed in Alfredo sauce with grilled chicken, though the penne and sauce are wheat-based.
Kids Chicken Taco: Flour tortilla with shredded chicken and cheese. However, the tortilla uses wheat.
Kids Macaroni & Cheese: Elbow macaroni in cheese sauce, but the macaroni is made from enriched wheat flour.
Kids Classic Cheeseburger: Beef patty and cheese on a wheat bun, though the bun contains gluten.
Kids Classic Hamburger: Beef patty on a wheat bun, but just like their other burgers, the bun contains gluten.
Kids Grilled Cheese: American cheese melted between wheat bread, though the bread uses enriched wheat flour.
If that’s not bad enough, just like most other menu items here, Applebee’s will prepare all your meals in shared kitchen environments, with shared fryers, grills, and prep stations that handle both wheat and non-wheat items.
So, even if there is anything here in the Kid’s Menu that isn’t unsafe for celiacs or those with severe gluten allergies, the cross-contact risks are insane! 🌾
Sides
Moving on, Applebee’s sides are a bit more complex to dive through, offering everything from crispy fries and creamy mash to fresh veggies and comforting soups. Sure, some are naturally free of gluten, but others use wheat-based ingredients and items.
Aside from cross-contact, it is definitely worth being cautious when ordering Applebee’s sides. 🍟🥔🍠🥦🥗
⚠️ Basket Fries
⚠️ Loaded Garlic Mashed Potatoes
❌ 4-Cheese Mac & Cheese
⚠️ Garlicky Green Beans
⚠️ Steamed Broccoli
⚠️ Homestyle Cheezy Broccoli
⚠️ Caesar Side Salad
⚠️ House Side Salad
⚠️ Chicken Tortilla Soup
❌ French Onion Soup
❌ Tomato Basil Soup
So, let’s take a closer look at these sides to see what did and didn’t make it into Applebee’s gluten-free menu:
Basket Fries: Crisp, golden fries made from potatoes with some seasoned salt. And, there are no wheat ingredients in the fries themselves, though they share fryer oil with battered items.
Loaded Garlic Mashed Potatoes: Creamy mash blended with roasted garlic and topped with melted cheese and scallions. All potatoes, dairy, and seasonings contain no wheat, but cross-contact risk remains.
4-Cheese Mac & Cheese: Elbow macaroni in a four-cheese sauce. The macaroni is made from enriched wheat flour, and the cheese sauce may contain wheat starch, so either way, they’re not safe for celiacs.
Garlicky Green Beans: Fresh green beans sautéed with garlic and olive oil, and with no wheat ingredients, though they are prepared on shared surfaces, so caution is advised.
Steamed Broccoli: Simply steamed broccoli florets, and while these are naturally wheat-free, there’s a risk of cross-contact in shared kitchens.
Homestyle Cheezy Broccoli: Broccoli tossed in a creamy cheese sauce. The official dairy-free guides note the sauce uses cheese and cream without wheat-thickening agents, but shared prep applies, so celiacs ought to take note.
Caesar Side Salad: Romaine lettuce, Parmesan cheese, and Caesar dressing. Just make sure that you omit croutons to avoid gluten, but dressing may include wheat-derived stabilizers.
House Side Salad: Mixed greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and your choice of gluten-free dressings. Again, remember to omit any croutons to keep it wheat-free and gluten-free.
Chicken Tortilla Soup: Soup base with shredded chicken, tortilla strips, and cheese. Oddly, the Applebee’s interactive nutrition menu specifies that this doesn’t contain any gluten or wheat, so they might’ve used corn tortillas. Either way, you should consider double-checking.
French Onion Soup: Caramelized onions in a beef broth with a crouton and melted cheese topper. Sadly, there is wheat in the crouton and possibly in the broth base.
Tomato Basil Soup: Creamy tomato soup with basil, with no wheat in primary ingredients, but thickened with a wheat-based roux in some kitchens, making it unsafe for celiacs.
As a reminder from yours truly, you should bear in mind that even those side dishes that don’t contain wheat and gluten naturally, either in the recipe or the ingredients, are subject to cross-contamination.
I’d suggest letting Applebee’s staff know that you have celiac disease or have a severe gluten allergy, and request fresh gloves, clean utensils, and separate plating. 👩🍳
Desserts
Now, if you were thinking about ending your trip over at Applebee’s with a nice sweet dessert, here’s some bad news for you… They’re not gluten-free! Every single dish here contains wheat-based ingredients, be it the cookie pieces, cake batters, or breadstick dough.
It looks like you’re going to have to literally skip dessert if you’re a fellow celiac like me. 🍪🍫🍰
❌ Oreo Cookie Shake
❌ Cinnabon Mini Swirls
❌ Triple Chocolate Meltdown
❌ Sizzlin’ Butter Pecan Blondie
❌ Brownie Bite
That said, let’s take a closer peek at each one to see why these desserts didn’t make it into the Applebee’s gluten-free menu:
Oreo Cookie Shake: Vanilla soft-serve blended with OREO cookie pieces (which does contain enriched wheat flour), making the shake inherently glutenous.
Cinnabon Mini Swirls: Bite-sized cinnamon roll swirls made from enriched wheat-flour dough rolled in cinnamon-sugar and drizzled with icing.
Triple Chocolate Meltdown: Warm triple-chocolate cake with molten fudge center, baked from a wheat-based cake batter and topped with ice cream.
Sizzlin’ Butter Pecan Blondie: Warm blondie bar made with wheat flour and sugar, topped with pecans and vanilla ice cream, served sizzling.
Brownie Bite: Small chocolate brownie squares baked from wheat-flour batter, and then served with vanilla ice cream and fudge sauce.
To Sum Up
As we can see, the Applebee’s gluten-free menu is beyond sparse, with only a handful of items that I could confidently say are gluten-free, or at the very least, gluten-friendly.
Meanwhile, the majority of those menu items that don’t contain any wheat and gluten ingredients are, at best, gluten-sensitive, with pretty severe cross-contamination risks during the prep and cooking.
Even if you’re planning to venture into what is otherwise a celiac landmine, make sure you let the Applebee’s servers and kitchen staff know about your celiac disease and severe allergy to gluten.
With luck, they might actually prepare your food more carefully to prevent any gluten exposure and cross-contamination. Either way, it’s not a good look for Applebee’s. 🥩🍝🍔
Then again, with the limited Applebee’s gluten-free menu and such high risk of cross-contact, I’d argue that you’re better off dining elsewhere if you’re a celiac!
In the meantime, be sure to stay tuned to us here at Great Without Gluten for even more celiac-friendly eating out guides! Some of these restaurant chains at least feature even more gluten-free options. 🥗🥪
And, while you’re here, you might also want to check out my other eating out guides and some tasty gluten‑free recipes!
If you’re craving other fast-food or casual dining chains and gourmet meals, do check out my celiacs-friendly, gluten-free guides to Jimmy John’s, Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King, Firehouse Subs, Waffle House, Outback Steakhouse, Red Robin, The Cheesecake Factory, Chick-fil-A, IHOP, Panda Express, Krispy Kreme, Taco Bell, Buffalo Wild Wings, Olive Garden, Panera Bread, Denny’s, Sonic, Popeyes, Five Guys, Chipotle, Starbucks and more! 🍔🍟
Stay safe and gluten‑aware, my celiac friends! 💖🥗
Frequently Asked Questions
While researching the Applebee’s gluten-free menu, I came across a few burning questions on Applebee’s offerings, so here’s my attempt at answering some of them:
Does Applebee’s offer a certified gluten-free menu?
No. Applebee’s provides ‘gluten-sensitive’ options made without wheat ingredients, but does not test to the FDA’s <20 ppm standard and cannot guarantee any item is completely free of gluten. As such, sensitive celiacs should be cautious.
Which Applebee’s menu items are naturally wheat-free?
They do have a handful of naturally wheat-free steaks and ribs, as well as their neat selection of protein and sides. Just remember that even if these dishes don’t technically contain gluten and wheat, cross-contamination is another thing you have to be wary of.
How can I minimize cross-contact at Applebee’s?
The best thing you can do as a celiac is to let the staff know about your celiac disease or severe gluten allergies. While you’re there, you could even ask them to use fresh gloves, clean utensils, and have clean prep areas. This ought to massively reduce cross-contamination.
Are Applebee’s salads gluten-free if I omit certain toppings?
Some of Applebee’s salads could be made gluten-sensitive by omitting wheat-based toppings (croutons, wonton strips) and using a gluten-free dressing. But shared prep areas still pose a risk, especially if you’re pretty sensitive to gluten.
Is Applebee’s interactive Nutrition & Allergen menu tool reliable?
Yes. Applebee’s updates ingredient and allergen data in real time via their online tool, which tracks different major allergens (such as wheat and gluten) and then flags items with gluten-containing ingredients.
Of course, if you ever think something is off, or if you believe that the data is out-of-date, you could always confirm on-site with the Applebee’s staff.
Image attribution
Applebees Restaurant LLC, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Becky Terrell ✍️
Hi, I am Becky. I am a passionate recipe maker and having been a coeliac (celiac) for 30+ years I focus on gluten-free recipes. My blog is my online cookbook of gluten-free tasty recipes. You can follow me on X: @beckygwg
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