The Complete Bojangles Gluten-Free Menu Guide For 2025
Seeing that its menu is famous for Southern-style fried chicken and scratch-made buttermilk biscuits, our Bojangles gluten-free guide exposes its biggest risks.
I can’t express just how much I love Southern comfort food, but as a celiac, it’s pretty hard for me to indulge in things that I want to eat, and I have to come to terms with the reality that there’s a lot that I can’t eat, at least not safely. 🍔🍟🥤
Sure, we’re seeing a growing–and frankly, welcomed–trend of trying to make everything gluten-free where possible, but it’s a lot harder when it comes to Southern food, given that a lot of its signature staples are built around wheat. 👉🚫🌾
It’s even more challenging if you’re asking major restaurant chains to commit to that, and Bojangles is proof that going gluten-free is easier said than done for these big brands, with a menu jampacked with delectable Southern cuisine. 🥣🍪🍗
Look around Bojangles’ menu, and you’ll find a vast selection of scratch-made buttermilk biscuits, seasoned chicken, and bold Southern sides, though the wheat-based biscuits and breaded and battered fried chicken ought to give any celiac pause. ✋
This leaves only a sliver of Bojangles’ menu that’s relatively safe for celiacs, and even then, you still have to contend with cross-contamination, but at least you have our Bojangles gluten-free guide here to walk you through their menu. 🔎👀
Table of Contents
Disclaimer
With that said, it’s important to bear in mind that Bojangles’ doesn’t operate a dedicated gluten-free kitchen, meaning that cross-contamination is a very real hazard that you have to look out for, even with “wheat-free” menu items. ✍
In fact, even if you are ordering a particular menu item that’s technically naturally free of wheat, there’s no guarantee that it won’t be cross-contaminated with wheat and gluten from Bojangles’ heavy reliance on a shared kitchen space.
The use of shared equipment, cookware, utensils, and prep stations ensures that practically anything on their menu could come into contact with wheat, as well as other glutenous components such as malt, barley, rye, and/or oats. 👉🚫🌾
Therefore, just to be extra safe, you should ideally treat even the safest, most wheat-free menu items at Bojangles more like “gluten-sensitive” instead of being 100% certified “gluten-free”, as there’s no guarantee of that. 🍔👉❌💯
Moreover, as with most restaurants, Bojangles doesn’t test its menu items to meet the FDA’s rather strict <20 ppm gluten threshold for any food and drink items to be officially labeled and classified as “gluten-free”, either. 😷🧪
With the water sufficiently muddied, the best thing you can do while ordering is to inform the staff that you have celiac disease, ask if they could take extra precautions, and bear in mind what Bojangles itself has to disclose about cross-contamination:
Some products may contain allergens, including but not limited to milk, eggs, wheat, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, and sesame. As a result, we are unable to guarantee that any menu item can be completely free of allergens.
Bojangles Allergen Policy (Gluten-Free)
On the bright side, at least Bojangles makes it super easy for you to filter through their vast menu and figure out what you can safely eat and what you’d have to avoid with a 10-foot pole, and it starts by heading over to the Bojangles website.
Once you’re on the main homepage, scroll all the way down to find the website’s footer section, and here, see if you can spot that tiny text that reads “Nutrition”. Now, click or tap on that, which opens a new webpage in a separate tab.
This is where you’ll find Bojangles’ nutrition information page, where there’s only a single button: a big red button that says “Download Nutrition Info”. Clicking this opens up a PDF file in a separate tab, which is what we’re looking for.
Specifically, this PDF contains quite a lot of useful data that you could make good use of to determine what you should eat, and what you’d have to avoid (you could also download this PDF for easier offline reference), including:
- Nutrition Facts – This column or section of that aforementioned PDF file ought to give you a detailed breakdown of the nutritional values and data for every single item on Bojangles menu, such as calories, cholesterol, saturated fat, carbs, sodium, sugar, fiber, protein, and more, and it might come in handy if you’re really conscious about your daily dietary intake.
- Allergen – Now this is what we’re looking for where you get another column or section that crosses out the allergens that might be included in every single item on Bojangles’ menu, such as eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, soy, shellfish, sesame, and more. Of course, as a celiac, make sure you pay close attention and avoid every menu item that has “Wheat” allergens.
Biscuits & Sandwiches
Bojangles’ biscuits are the heart of the brand, but with so much of their menu dominated by bakery items and wheat-based wraps, none of these biscuits, sandwiches, as well as the brand’s new breakfast burritos are safe for celiacs. 🥙🥪🍔🌯
❌ Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit
❌ Cajun Filet Biscuit
❌ Bo’s Chicken Biscuit
❌ Cheddar Bo Biscuit
❌ Country Ham & Egg Biscuit
❌ Country Ham Biscuit
❌ Egg & Cheese Biscuit
❌ Gravy Biscuit
❌ Old Fashioned Gravy Biscuit
❌ Plain Biscuit
❌ Sausage & Egg Biscuit
❌ Sausage Biscuit
❌ Southern Filet Biscuit
❌ Steak Biscuit
❌ Bo’s Chicken Sandwich
❌ Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich
❌ Grilled Chicken Sandwich
❌ Breakfast Bo-Rito
Just to make sure we didn’t miss anything, let’s break these biscuits down one by one:
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit: Classic breakfast sandwich built on Bojangles’ biscuit with bacon, egg, and cheese. The biscuit contains wheat by recipe and ingredient, and it’s then handled on shared bakery and prep surfaces, creating both ingredient-level gluten and cross-contact risks for celiac diners.
Cajun Filet Biscuit: Spiced chicken filet served on a biscuit or in a biscuit sandwich format. Between the biscuit and any seasoned coatings or breading, this item contains wheat and is prepared near other wheat products, so it is not safe for strict gluten avoidance.
Bo’s Chicken Biscuit: Signature chicken on a biscuit. The biscuit ingredient and likely any breading or assembly on shared prep counters introduce wheat and cross-contact hazards, making this unsuitable for celiac diners.
Cheddar Bo Biscuit: Biscuit filled with cheese and other savory additions served on a wheat biscuit. The biscuit is made from wheat flour, and the product is assembled on shared prep equipment, producing both ingredient and contamination concerns.
Country Ham & Egg Biscuit: Ham and egg served on a traditional biscuit. The biscuit contains wheat, and shared toasters, grills, and prep surfaces increase the risk of trace gluten exposure, so avoid this if you require strict gluten-free handling.
Country Ham Biscuit: A simple slice of ham on a biscuit. The wheat-based biscuit and shared bakery/assembly equipment mean this item carries ingredient-level gluten and cross-contact risk for celiac diners.
Egg & Cheese Biscuit: Egg and melted cheese on a Bojangles biscuit. Once again, the biscuit is wheat-based, and shared prep equipment creates cross-contact hazards, so this is not safe for people with celiac disease.
Gravy Biscuit: Biscuit smothered in gravy. The biscuit contains wheat, and many gravies use wheat thickeners or are prepared on shared lines, introducing ingredient and cross-contact risks for gluten-sensitive diners.
Old Fashioned Gravy Biscuit: Traditional biscuit with old-fashioned gravy. Between the wheat biscuit and the gravy’s possible thickeners, this item contains gluten ingredients and should be avoided by strict gluten-free diners.
Plain Biscuit: Bojangles’ plain biscuit is made with wheat flour. Even without any toppings, bakery handling, shared trays, and nearby breaded items create a high cross-contact risk, so it is unsafe for strict gluten avoidance.
Sausage & Egg Biscuit: Sausage patty and egg on a biscuit. The biscuit contains wheat, and the sandwich is assembled on shared surfaces, producing both ingredient-level gluten and contamination concerns for celiac diners.
Sausage Biscuit: Sausage served on a wheat biscuit. The product contains wheat by ingredient and is subject to shared-prep cross-contamination, so avoid this if you must follow a strict gluten-free diet.
Southern Filet Biscuit: Chicken filet on a biscuit in a Southern-style preparation. The biscuit and any breading or coatings introduce wheat, and shared fryers or prep stations increase cross-contact risk, making this unsafe.
Steak Biscuit: Steak served on or inside a biscuit sandwich. The biscuit contains wheat, and shared griddles or prep surfaces may introduce trace contamination, so this is not safe for celiac diners.
Bo’s Chicken Sandwich: Chicken sandwich served on a bun or biscuit. The bread component contains wheat, and the sandwich is assembled on shared equipment, creating both ingredient-level gluten and cross-contact hazards.
Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich: Grilled chicken club served on a wheat bun with bacon and toppings. The bun and shared toasters and grills present wheat exposure and cross-contact risk, so this item is unsafe for strict gluten avoidance.
Grilled Chicken Sandwich: Grilled chicken served on a bun. Although the protein is grilled, the bun and shared assembly surfaces create ingredient and contamination risks, so treat this item as unsafe for celiacs.
Breakfast Bo-Rito: Breakfast burrito wrapped in a flour tortilla. The tortilla contains wheat, and shared prep surfaces or warmers risk cross-contact. Therefore, this menu item is unsafe for strict gluten-free diners.
For celiac diners, there’s a lot here that you have to avoid like the plague, such as the buns, biscuits, flour tortillas, and any sandwich, and that’s before we account for cross-contact through shared bakery, grilled, and fryer equipment. 🥓🍳🧀🍖
Chicken & Dipping Sauces
Aside from biscuits and sandwiches, Bojangles is also well-known for its Southern-style chicken dishes, which are delicious if you aren’t a celiac. However, pretty much all of them are breaded and battered with wheat, so it’s a no-go. 🍗🔥🐔
❌ Breast
❌ Leg
❌ Thigh
❌ Wing
❌ Supremes
❌ Bo’s Chicken Tenders
❌ Bo Bites
✅ BBQ Sauce
✅ Peach Honey Pepper Sauce
✅ Creamy Buffalo Sauce
✅ Honey Mustard Sauce
✅ Housemade Ranch Sauce
✅ Jalapeño Ranch Sauce
For comparison, let’s take a closer look at each of these to see how they’re actually made:
Breast: Bone-in or boneless chicken pieces offered as part of meals and combos. The breaded or prepared chicken entrees contain wheat or are handled with wheat-containing coatings, so these are ingredient-level gluten risks and are prepared on shared fryers/lines.
Leg: Dark-meat leg portion. Like the other core chicken pieces here, this item is prepared where wheat-containing batters and breadings are used and shares fryers and prep stations with breaded items, creating both ingredient and cross-contact hazards.
Thigh: Dark-meat thigh portion. Thigh pieces are treated the same in the kitchen workflow as other chicken pieces and can be coated, seasoned, or fried on shared equipment, so treat them as unsafe for strict gluten avoidance.
Wing: Bone-in wings. Whether plain or sauced, Bojangles’ wing preparations are handled in the same shared fryers and saucing stations as breaded items, with ingredient-level wheat and cross-contact risks, meaning that this is not a safe choice for celiac diners.
Supremes: Bojangles’ Supremes (breaded strips) that use wheat-based flour/coating in their batter and are fried in shared oil. The coating is an explicit ingredient-level gluten source, thus making it unsafe for celiacs.
Bo’s Chicken Tenders: Breaded chicken tenders coated in a wheat-containing batter and fried. These are ingredient-level gluten sources and are cooked on shared fry lines, so they are unsafe for anyone requiring strict gluten-free handling.
Bo Bites: Bite-sized breaded chicken pieces (snack-style). Like other breaded items, Bo Bites contain wheat in the coating and are prepared in shared fryers and with shared utensils, so avoid this if you need strict gluten avoidance.
BBQ Sauce: Standard BBQ dipping sauce offered by Bojangles. Sauces are typically wheat-free by recipe but may contain other allergens depending on formulation. Request sealed packets or fresh ramekins to reduce cross-contact risk.
Peach Honey Pepper Sauce: Sweet-spicy dipping sauce (Peach Honey Pepper). Generally not wheat-based by ingredient, but it’s dispensed/handled near fried items, so request sealed portions or a fresh ramekin to avoid trace contamination.
Creamy Buffalo Sauce: Creamy buffalo-style sauce used for wings and tenders. Ingredient-wise, it’s typically free of wheat, but shared ladles, pumps, and double-dipping increase cross-contact risk, so ask staff to provide a sealed packet or fresh ramekin.
Honey Mustard Sauce: Honey mustard dipping sauce. By recipe, it’s usually wheat-free, but shared pumps and prep areas can carry crumbs, so request sealed or freshly poured portions, just to be extra safe.
Housemade Ranch Sauce: Bojangles’ house-made ranch. Ranch dressings are normally wheat-free by ingredient, yet shared containers and ladles create severe cross-contact possibilities, so ask for a sealed packet or confirm single-use portions.
Jalapeño Ranch Sauce: Jalapeño-flavored ranch. The ingredient lists generally don’t show wheat, but the same cross-contact cautions apply, so consider using sealed packets or request separate prep to reduce contamination risk.
On the bright side, while the chicken dishes themselves are off-limits to celiacs, at least the vast selection of spicy and tangy Bojangles dipping sauces is wheat-free, though be wary of cross-contamination via shared pumps and ladles. 🍲🥣🌶️
Salads & Salad Dressings
For something a bit lighter and healthier, Bojangles also offers a handful of salad options, though a couple of them are dangerous if you’re a celiac, while others are assembled near breaded proteins, as well as bakery items. 🥗🍅🥬🍗
❌ Garden Salad
⚠️ Grilled Chicken Salad
⚠️ Chicken Supremes Salad
⚠️ Bo Bites Salad
❌ Bo’s House Salad
✅ Housemade Ranch Dressing
✅ Ken’s Blue Cheese Dressing
✅ Ken’s Fat Free Italian Dressing
✅ Ken’s Honey Dijon Dressing
✅ Ken’s Thousand Island Dressing
✅ Ken’s Fat Free Ranch Dressing
❌ Homestyle Cheese Garlic Croutons Dressing
Just to make sure that we got this right, let’s check out what each of these is made of:
Garden Salad: Mixed greens, tomatoes, and other raw vegetables. According to Bojangles’ allergen guide, this is marked unsafe, likely due to wheat exposure via add-in croutons or shared-prep handling, so avoid it if you require strict gluten-free handling.
Grilled Chicken Salad: Mixed greens topped with grilled chicken. The ingredients are commonly wheat-free by recipe, but shared cutting boards, tongs, and nearby breaded items create cross-contact risk, so ask for isolated prep and no croutons.
Chicken Supremes Salad: Salad topped with Supremes (breaded strips). Because the Supremes are breaded, this carries ingredient-level wheat and high cross-contact risk, so see if you could request the salad without Supremes if you need to avoid gluten.
Bo Bites Salad: Salad finished with Bo Bites (bite-sized breaded chicken). The Bo Bites are coated in wheat-containing batter, and they’re then fried in shared oil, so this salad is at elevated risk unless the breaded pieces are removed and separate prep is used.
Bo’s House Salad: House-style salad that includes crunchy toppings or croutons. According to Bojangles’ allergen guide, this is unsafe, likely because it contains wheat components or is prepared in a way that exposes it to gluten, so avoid for strict gluten-free needs.
Housemade Ranch Dressing: Bojangles’ ranch dressing is typically wheat-free by ingredient. However, shared ladles, refillable containers, or double-dipping can cause cross-contact, so request a sealed packet or a freshly poured ramekin for safer handling.
Ken’s Blue Cheese Dressing: Blue cheese dressing is normally wheat-free by recipe. Still, you should ask staff to provide a sealed portion or confirm single-use containers to reduce trace contamination from shared dispensers or ladles.
Ken’s Fat Free Italian Dressing: Oil-and-vinegar style dressing that is typically wheat-free. Confirm the ingredients once again with the staff if you have doubts, and request a sealed packet or fresh pour to avoid cross-contact from shared pumps.
Ken’s Honey Dijon Dressing: Flavorful honey-dijon dressing that’s usually free of any wheat ingredients. To lower cross-contact risk, ask for a sealed packet or fresh pour and ensure utensils/pumps are cleaned between uses.
Ken’s Thousand Island Dressing: Creamy dressing typically free of wheat by ingredient. Still, avoid shared ladles and request sealed portions if you’re highly sensitive to trace gluten exposure.
Ken’s Fat Free Ranch Dressing: Low-fat ranch usually made without wheat. As with other dressings, prefer sealed packets or a fresh ramekin to reduce contamination from shared containers.
Homestyle Cheese Garlic Croutons Dressing: Dressing served with homestyle croutons or containing crouton bits. This item is marked unsafe, likely as it contains wheat via the croutons and should be avoided by strict gluten-free diners.
Remember that even if a salad looks wheat-free by ingredient, make sure to watch out for croutons, breaded toppings, and shared prep stations, so generally speaking, it’s safer to approach all of Bojangles’ salads with caution. 🍞👉🌾
Fixin’s, Bowls & Kids Meals
Meanwhile, Bojangles’ sides, rice bowls, and kids’ meals can be a lifesaver or a minefield, and it all depends on what you’re ordering, though sadly, most of these should be off-limits to celiacs, either due to the ingredients or cross-contact. 🥗🍟🧀🍚
⚠️ Bo-Tato Rounds
✅ Bojangles Cajun Pintos
❌ Bojangles’ Dirty Rice
✅ Cole Slaw
❌ Green Beans
❌ Macaroni ‘N Cheese
❌ Baked Macaroni ‘N Cheese
❌ Mashed Potatoes ‘N Gravy
❌ Mashed Potatoes ‘N Old Fashioned Gravy
❌ Mashed Potatoes ‘N Brown Gravy
✅ Grits
⚠️ Seasoned Fries
❌ Chicken Rice Bowl
❌ Kid’s 2 Piece Supremes
❌ Kid’s Bo’s Chicken Tenders
❌ Kid’s Chicken Leg
❌ Kid’s Mac ‘N Cheese
⚠️ Kid’s Bo Bites
For context, let’s take a closer peek at these side dishes one by one to see if they’re safe:
Bo-Tato Rounds: Crispy potato rounds similar to tater tots. Ingredient-wise, they’re usually wheat-free, but they’re fried in the same oil and handled near breaded items, so ask about fryer practices and request fresh tongs to lower cross-contact risk.
Bojangles Cajun Pintos: Seasoned pinto beans served as a side. By recipe, this is typically wheat-free, making it a solid lower-risk option, though you should still verify seasonings and request clean scoops and separate serving utensils.
Bojangles’ Dirty Rice: Rice mixed with meat, seasonings, and often a roux or spice blend. As per Bojangles’ allergen guide, this menu item contains wheat or is otherwise exposed to wheat-containing ingredients and should be avoided by celiac diners.
Cole Slaw: Classic shredded cabbage slaw in a creamy dressing. The dressing is usually wheat-free by ingredient, and sealed or freshly scooped portions reduce cross-contact, so this is typically a safer side when staff take precautions.
Green Beans: Cooked green beans side. Bojangles’ allergen guide marks this as unsafe, as it may be prepared with a gravy, seasoning, or batch process that introduces wheat, so avoid unless the location confirms a wheat-free prep method.
Macaroni ‘N Cheese: Traditional wheat-pasta macaroni in cheese sauce. This contains wheat by ingredient, and it’s not safe for celiac diners unless a certified gluten-free pasta alternative is explicitly provided.
Baked Macaroni ‘N Cheese: Oven-baked pasta casserole with breadcrumb or crust topping. The pasta and likely breadcrumb topping contain wheat, so this is an ingredient-level gluten risk and should be avoided.
Mashed Potatoes ‘N Gravy: Mashed potatoes served with gravy. Because the gravy often uses wheat thickeners, this item is marked as unsafe, and it’s not suitable for strict gluten-free diets unless the gravy is confirmed wheat-free.
Mashed Potatoes ‘N Old Fashioned Gravy: Mashed potatoes with old-fashioned-style gravy. Given the gravy’s likely wheat-thickening agents or shared-prep exposure, this dish contains gluten or cross-contact and is unsafe for celiac diners.
Mashed Potatoes ‘N Brown Gravy: Mashed potatoes served with brown gravy. Brown gravies commonly include wheat thickeners or are made on shared lines, so this is an ingredient or cross-contact risk and should be avoided if you’re a celiac.
Grits: Smooth corn grits are typically prepared with water or milk. By ingredient, this is naturally wheat-free, making it one of the lower-risk sides, but you should still request separate utensils and confirm no breadcrumb toppings are added.
Seasoned Fries: Seasoned cut fries. Potatoes themselves are gluten-free by ingredient, but many locations use shared fryers with breaded items, so treat them as a cautionary item, and ask whether fryer oil is dedicated or shared before ordering.
Chicken Rice Bowl: Rice bowl topped with chicken and sauces. As per Bojangles’ allergen guide, this menu item contains wheat or uses wheat-containing sauces/thickeners and is unsafe for strict gluten avoidance.
Kid’s 2 Piece Supremes: Child’s portion of breaded Supremes. These are breaded and fried with wheat-containing coatings and are an ingredient-level gluten risk, so avoid this kids’ meal if you have celiac disease.
Kid’s Bo’s Chicken Tenders: Kid-sized breaded tenders coated in wheat-based batter. These are ingredient-level gluten sources and are cooked on shared fry lines, making them unsafe for strict gluten-free diners.
Kid’s Chicken Leg: Child-sized dark-meat leg. This is also marked unsafe in Bojangles’ allergen guide, so treat this as an item that’s prepared with wheat-containing processes or on shared equipment and avoid unless the location explicitly confirms otherwise.
Kid’s Mac ‘N Cheese: Kid-sized macaroni and cheese made with wheat pasta. This contains wheat by ingredient and is unsafe for celiac diners unless a certified gluten-free pasta swap is documented.
Kid’s Bo Bites: Small bite-style pieces, and ingredient-level formulation may vary. These are frequently breaded/snack items and, while not listed as officially unsafe, they carry a high cross-contact risk, so request confirmation from staff and treat them as a cautionary item.
While a few of these side dishes and add-ons are naturally wheat-free, bear in mind that they could still be exposed to cross-contamination from shared fryers, ladles, in addition to prep stations, so approach them with an abundance of caution. 🍠🥔
Sweets & Sweet Treats
To cap off your visit to Bonjangles with a sweet finisher, their dessert lineup is chock full of bakery items, pies, and shakes, which is exactly the sort of menu that either contains wheat or they’re prepared near wheat-containing items. 🥛🍪🍫
❌ Bo-Berry Biscuit
❌ Bo-Berry Cookie
❌ Peach Cobbler
❌ Cinnamon Biscuit
❌ Cinnamon Twist
❌ Sweet Potato Pie
❌ Vanilla Milkshake
❌ Chocolate Milkshake
❌ Bo-Berry Milkshake
Just to be extra sure, let’s take a closer look at each of these desserts and sweet treats:
Bo-Berry Biscuit: A sweet biscuit studded with berries and sugar. The biscuit dough is made with wheat flour and is handled on shared bakery trays and prep surfaces, creating both ingredient-level gluten and high cross-contact risk.
Bo-Berry Cookie: Large cookie with berry or jam elements. Cookies are baked with wheat flour and are produced on shared bakery lines, so this is an ingredient-level gluten source and unsafe for anyone with celiac disease.
Peach Cobbler: Fruit filling topped with a baked wheat-based crust or dumplings. The crust contains wheat by recipe and ingredient, and the dessert is assembled in bakery/dessert areas that further increase cross-contact hazards.
Cinnamon Biscuit: Sweet, cinnamon-spiced biscuit. Made from wheat flour and baked alongside other wheat-based goods, this item is an ingredient-level gluten risk and is not suitable for strict gluten-free diets.
Cinnamon Twist: Twisted pastry or baked cinnamon dough. The pastry is produced from wheat flour and handled in shared bakery equipment, so it contains gluten and carries cross-contact concerns.
Sweet Potato Pie: Pie with a baked crust and sweet potato filling. The crust is typically wheat-based, and the dessert is prepared in the bakery section, making it unsafe for celiac diners due to ingredient and cross-contact risks.
Vanilla Milkshake: Ice cream blended to order. Although the base ingredients are dairy, shakes are blended in shared blenders that may contain cookie or bakery residues, so treat this as unsafe unless the location confirms that no wheat mix-ins are added.
Chocolate Milkshake: Chocolate ice cream and mix-ins blended together. Like the other shakes, it’s prepared with shared equipment and often near baked goods, so it carries a high cross-contact risk and should be avoided by strict gluten-free diners.
Bo-Berry Milkshake: Berry-flavored shake that may include biscuit or cookie mix-ins. The shake is made in shared blenders and topping stations, and it often includes bakery-derived components, which creates both ingredient and cross-contact gluten hazards.
Sadly, all of Bojangles’ sweets and dessert-style treats contain wheat in abundance, either in the ingredients themselves or because they’re prepped near the bakery/dessert stations that can introduce a high level of cross-contact. 🎂🍰🍥
Drinks
Like most restaurants, you aren’t going to find much wheat or gluten in Bojangles’ drinks menu, though if possible, you might prefer sealed bottles and cans where possible to help minimize cross-contamination risks even further. ☕🍵🍺
✅ Bottled Water
✅ Cheerwine
✅ Coffee
✅ Diet Mountain Dew
✅ Diet Pepsi
✅ Dr Pepper
✅ Milk 1% Lowfat
✅ Mirinda Strawberry
✅ Mountain Dew
✅ Mug Root Beer
✅ Pepsi
✅ Pepsi Zero
✅ Simply Orange
✅ Starry
✅ Tropicana Fruit Punch
✅ Tropicana Lemonade
✅ Tropicana Pink Lemonade
✅ Tropicana Twister Soda
✅ Cold Brew
✅ Sweet Cream Cold Brew
✅ Vanilla Cream Cold Brew
✅ Half Gallon Sweet Tea
✅ Half Gallon Unsweetened Tea
✅ Sweet Iced Tea
✅ Unsweetened Iced Tea
Just to make sure that these beverages are truly safe for celiacs, let’s take a closer look:
Bottled Water: Factory-sealed water is naturally gluten-free and the lowest-risk drink option for celiac diners. Remember to pick sealed bottles over fountain pours if you want the safest, no-contact choice.
Cheerwine: Cherry-flavored soda, which is sold bottled or by the fountain dispenser. By ingredient, it contains no wheat, but you might prefer a sealed bottle or ask staff to wipe the fountain nozzle before pouring to minimize remote cross-contact.
Coffee: Hot-brewed coffee is gluten-free by ingredient. Avoid any bakery-flavored add-ins or cookie crumbles, though if you’re getting flavored syrups, confirm that they’re gluten-free and request clean steam wands or pumps.
Diet Mountain Dew: Diet soda free from wheat ingredients. Bottled or canned service is ideal for celiacs, and while fountain pours are usually low risk, make sure to ask staff to clean the nozzle for extra caution.
Diet Pepsi: Diet cola with no wheat-derived ingredients. Sealed cans or bottles are safest, though fountain service is acceptable when staff confirm that they’ve cleaned the dispenser nozzles and separate handling from bakery stations.
Dr Pepper: Cola-style soda without wheat in the formulation. Choose sealed bottles/cans for minimal risk, though fountain pours are generally fine when dispensed from a cleaned nozzle.
Milk 1% Lowfat: Pasteurized milk is naturally gluten-free. If it’s served from a shared dispenser or in coffee drinks, confirm clean handling, though factory-sealed cartons are the lowest risk for very sensitive diners.
Mirinda Strawberry: Fruit-flavored soda made without wheat ingredients. Bottled service is safest, as per usual, though fountain pours are low risk if staff wipe the nozzle before dispensing.
Mountain Dew: Regular Mountain Dew contains no wheat. You might prefer sealed containers when possible, but a simple fountain service is acceptable with a clean nozzle and standard hygiene precautions.
Mug Root Beer: Root beer syrup and carbonation typically contain no wheat ingredients. Sealed bottles/cans remove nearly all cross-contact concerns, though the fountain service should be from a cleaned nozzle.
Pepsi: Classic cola free of wheat. Bottled or canned Pepsi is the safest option, though the fountain service is fine when staff confirm nozzle cleanliness.
Pepsi Zero: Sugar-free cola formulation with no wheat. Sealed cans/bottles are the lowest risk, but as usual, request a wiped fountain nozzle for added safety if ordering poured.
Simply Orange: 100% orange juice in bottles, which is also naturally gluten-free. Factory-sealed bottles are ideal, but freshly poured options are also safe since juice contains no wheat.
Starry: Lemon-lime soda that does not contain wheat ingredients. Choose sealed packaging for the lowest risk, but the fountain service is acceptable when staff clean the nozzle.
Tropicana Fruit Punch: Bottled fruit punch without wheat. Sealed cartons or bottles are very safe, and if it’s fountain-dispensed, ask staff to clean the nozzle before pouring.
Tropicana Lemonade: Bottled lemonade contains no wheat ingredients. You might prefer sealed containers or freshly poured servings from a clean pitcher for minimal cross-contact risk.
Tropicana Pink Lemonade: Pink lemonade syrup/juice with no wheat ingredients. Sealed bottles or cleaned dispensers are safe choices for celiac diners.
Tropicana Twister Soda: Flavored soda without wheat. Use sealed packaging when available, but the regular fountain service is relatively low risk if the nozzle is wiped and staff follow good hygiene.
Cold Brew: Cold-brewed coffee is gluten-free by ingredient. The main risk is shared pitchers, tap handles, or blenders, but remember to ask the staff to use a clean container and avoid cookie/cake mix-ins.
Sweet Cream Cold Brew: Cold brew finished with a sweet cream topper. The components are typically wheat-free, but confirm there are no cookie crumbles or flavored inclusions, and request clean equipment.
Vanilla Cream Cold Brew: Cold brew with vanilla cream. It’s generally gluten-free by ingredient, though ensure flavored syrups or creamers are wheat-free and ask for a freshly cleaned pitcher or blender.
Half Gallon Sweet Tea: Bulk sweet tea is gluten-free by ingredient. For added safety, request a sealed container or confirm the pitcher is freshly made and not used near bakery items.
Half Gallon Unsweetened Tea: Unsweetened brewed tea contains no wheat. Sealed jugs or freshly brewed pitchers are low risk, and confirm that they’re using separate storage from bakery or dessert stations.
Sweet Iced Tea: Single-serve sweet tea is gluten-free by ingredient. You might prefer a sealed bottle or ask staff to pour from a cleaned dispenser to minimize any remote cross-contact.
Unsweetened Iced Tea: Plain iced tea made from brewed leaves is gluten-free. Sealed bottles are safest, but freshly poured servings from a clean dispenser are also acceptable.
As usual, caution is recommended because while all of these drinks might be naturally free of wheat components, cross-contact could still occur via the use of shared dispensers, fountains, blenders, or topping stations, too. 🥤🧃🍋🍓
To Sum Up
Unfortunately, as expected, Bojangles isn’t the haven for celiacs that I hoped it’d be, as a massive chunk of their menu, which also includes their entrees and signature items, is built around wheat and gluten in abundance. 🍔🥪🍗🔥
This basically counts you out of Bojangles’ staple dishes, including their buttermilk biscuits, chicken sandwiches, crispy fried chicken, as well as Southern-style sides, too, leaving you just a sliver of their menu that’s relatively safe. 🥗🍟
Heck, even most of their salads are either unsafe or come with a high risk of contamination, so your “safe” choices have been whittled down to a handful of plain sides, their dipping sauces, as well as drinks, but that’s not a lot, is it? 🙁
With that in mind, I do wish more restaurants that focus on Southern comfort foods could break the mold and start offering proper gluten-free alternatives and substitutes, but for the time being, I’d recommend skipping Bojangles. 👎
In the meantime, if you want recommendations on other restaurants with plenty of gluten-free items, make sure to stay tuned to us here at Great Without Gluten for even more celiac-friendly and gluten-free eating out guides! ✍📝
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 other celiacs-friendly, gluten-free dining out guides to Carrabba’s, MOD Pizza, Little Caesars, Qdoba, Whataburger, Tim Hortons, Arby’s, In-N-Out, Del Taco, Noodles and Company, California Pizza Kitchen, Raising Cane’s, Baskin-Robbins, El Pollo Loco, Zaxby’s, Rainforest Cafe, Smashburger, and more! 🍔🍟🍗
Stay safe and gluten‑aware, my celiac friends! 💖🥗
Frequently Asked Questions
While working on this Bojangles gluten-free guide, I came across some rather interesting questions floating around social media, so I thought I’d try answering them right here:
Is Bojangles gluten-free?
No. Bojangles is not a gluten-free restaurant, and as such, they don’t operate a dedicated gluten-free kitchen. Their signature biscuits, breaded chicken, and sides contain wheat, and shared prep means there’s a very real cross-contamination risk for folks with celiac disease or severe gluten sensitivity or intolerance.
What are the safest choices at Bojangles for someone avoiding gluten?
Safer picks tend to be factory-sealed drinks, a few of their plain sides–for example, Cajun pintos, grits, and cole slaw when prepared plainly–and some dipping sauces in sealed portions. Always avoid the biscuits, breaded items, and anything fried in shared oil, and if you’re ever unsure, always confirm with the staff.
Can I make my Bojangles order gluten-free by modifying it?
It only works sometimes. Some helpful modifications include skipping biscuits and buns, as well as asking for grilled (not breaded) proteins, asking for no gravy or wheat-thickened sauces, and ordering their dipping sauces in sealed packets. Still, these modifications cannot fully eliminate cross-contact risk in a shared kitchen.
How should I order at Bojangles to minimize cross-contact?
Inform the server that you have celiac disease, and ask them for extra precautions, such as requesting fresh gloves, clean utensils, and separate plating. Ask whether the fryer oil and prep stations are shared, request sealed condiments or fresh ramekins, and double-check any sauce or gravy ingredients before you eat.
Where can I find Bojangles’ official allergen information for gluten?
You could find Bojangles’ official nutrition and allergen information guide on their official website, right in the website footer. This opens up or downloads a PDF file where you could find a detailed breakdown of the nutritional data for each menu item, as well as a list of all the allergens that might be included in every dish, including wheat.
Photo Credit
Mr. Blue MauMau from USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Becky ✍️
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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