Here’s the keto-friendly options at McAlister’s Deli mentioned in the article.
| Item (Category) | Calories | Fat (g) | Protein (g) | Net Carbs (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broccoli and Cheddar Soup (Soup) | 290 | 18 | 11 | 19 |
| Chili (Soup) | 250 | 11 | 17 | 20 |
| Steamed Broccoli (Side Dish) | 80 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Tomato and Cucumber Salad (Side Dish) | 70 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Chicken and Avocado BLT Salad (Salad) | 370 | 15 | 39 | 15 |
| Savannah Chopped Salad (Salad) | 480 | 16 | 40 | 39 |
| Grilled Chicken Salad (Salad) | 500 | 25 | 50 | 18 |
| Chef Salad (Salad) | 480 | 26 | 42 | 17 |
| Caesar Salad (Salad) | 730 | 68 | 13 | 12 |
In a deli that’s known for its giant spuds and wide range of sandwich options, is there a place for someone on a keto diet?
McAlister’s Deli is known for offering the freshest and some of the healthiest fast food items, but are any of their offerings keto-friendly?
Believe it or not, they have!
However, most of the options would require a few tweaks to become keto-friendly.
The good news is we’re here to help you navigate through the McAlister’s Deli menu. That’s not all. We’ve also provided all the vital information—calorie count, protein, fat, and carbohydrate content—to help you stick to your diet goals.
Now, without further ado, here’s the keto-friendly McAlister’s Deli menu that you should know about!
What is the Keto Diet?
Before diving into McAlister’s keto options, it’s essential to understand what the keto diet entails.
The ketogenic diet, often referred to as the keto diet, is a low-carb, high-fat diet designed to shift the body’s primary source of energy from carbohydrates to fats.
By drastically reducing carb intake and increasing fat consumption, the body enters a metabolic state called ketosis.
In ketosis, the liver produces ketones, which become the main energy source for the body and the brain. This metabolic state is believed to offer several health benefits.
Benefits of the Keto Diet:
The keto diet has gained popularity for several reasons. First and foremost, many individuals have found success with weight loss on a keto diet due to its ability to control hunger and stabilize blood sugar levels.
Moreover, some studies suggest that the keto diet may improve mental focus and increase energy levels, making it an attractive option for those seeking cognitive enhancement and sustained vitality.
Why Eat Keto at McAlister’s Deli?
There are many reasons why—extensive menu ranging from salads to soups to sandwiches, unparalleled customer service and hospitality, and accessibility (they have many branches after all!).
If you’ll ask us what’s the biggest advantage of eating at McAlister’s Deli, it’s not other than their big vision. This deli was established by retired dentist Dr. Don Newcomb in 1989. to provide their patrons with fresh and healthy food. Three decades later, they’re still staying true to their vision.
That’s why it doesn’t come as a surprise that the deli has grown from a single diner to about 350 branches in 28 locations all over the US.
What Can I Eat at Mcalister’s on Keto?
If you’re on the keto diet, their menu will turn you off as it’s packed mostly with sandwiches, wraps, and their famous spuds—all of which will definitely get you kicked out of ketosis.
Here’s the surprise—there are a few McAlister’s dishes suitable for the low-carb keto diet—even without any tweaks! Here they are:
Soups:
Broccoli and Cheddar
In addition to being low carb keto-friendly, we love the Broccoli and Cheddar Soup from McAlister’s Deli as it’s nutritious, delicious, and incredibly filling.
It features lots of cheese—melted Cheddar and Monterey Jack—mixed with chunks of Broccoli which is one of the few vegetables that won’t kick you out of the keto diet. (*) Everything is complemented with the creamy chicken broth soup base.
- A cup of this soup contains 290 calories, 18g fat, 11g protein, and 19g net carbs.
Chili
Another keto-friendly McAlister’s Deli soup is their chili. When you hear about chili soup, the first thing that would come to mind is beans, a big no-no for keto diet.
The good thing is their chili is filled with beef, beef, and lots of beef which gives the soup a hearty flavor and, at the same time, provides you with the healthy fats that you need.
- A cup of chili contains 250 calories, 11g fat, 17g protein, and 20 g net carbs.
Side Dishes:
Steamed Broccoli
The perfect pairing for your meals is their steamed broccoli which is lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. This contains 80 calories, 6g fat, 3g protein, and only 3g net carbs.
Tomato and Cucumber Salad
If you want something refreshing on the side, their Tomato and Cucumber Salad is one side that you should consider. It includes a mix of cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
- Even if it comes with balsamic vinaigrette, its macros—70 calories, 4g fat, 1g protein, and 5g net carbs– will still go within your daily carbohydrate limit.
Word of Caution: you may want to hold off the balsamic vinaigrette if you’re on strict keto.
The McAlister’s Deli Dishes You Can Tweak to Be Low Carb Keto Friendly
And even if their menu is packed with sandwiches, many people on the keto diet still love eating at McAlister’s Diner. This is because you can make most of their sandwiches compatible with the keto diet in just a few tweaks!
Salads:
How to Make it Keto-friendly: Most of their salads come with croutons, so ask the server to hold off the croutons to keep the net carbs low.
Chicken and Avocado BLT Salad
This salad is packed with healthy fats from peppered bacon, marinated grilled chicken, and avocado ranch. These are added to a bed of mixed greens with fresh avocado and tomatoes.
- Nutrition Facts: 370 calories, 15g fat, 39g protein, and 15g net carbs.
Savannah Chopped Salad
For a more filling salad, the Savannah Chopped Salad is the way to go as it’s packed with food items that are rich in healthy fats—grilled chicken, Gorgonzola, and almonds.
Everything is beautifully arranged on top of mixed greens, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
- Nutrition Facts: 480 calories, 16g fat, 40g protein, and 39g net carbs.
Pro Tip: To further reduce its net carbs, we recommend holding off the vinaigrette dressing dried cranberries and honey roasted almonds.
Grilled Chicken Salad
If you want to keep your salad simple yet satisfying, you should try the McAlister’s Grilled Chicken Salad. It has everything you would wish to in your usual salad—grilled chicken, cheddar-jack, bacon, cucumber, croutons (set this aside!), tomato on top of mixed greens.
- Nutrition Facts: 500 calories, 25g fat, 50g protein, and 18g net carbs
Chef Salad
Here’s another salad that you can’t go wrong with when you’re on keto. Same with other salads, this has mixed green as its base. Its toppings are diced turkey, ham, bacon, cheddar-jack mix, cucumber, tomato, and croutons (avoid this).
- Nutrition Facts: 480 calories, 26g fat, 42g protein, and 17g net carbs
Caesar Salad/ Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
You can also get your Caesar Salad fix at McAlister’s. This is an excellent and simple dish containing only four ingredients (romaine lettuce, croutons, Parmesan, and Caesar dressing). And yet, this remains to be everyone’s favorite.
If you want something more filling, you can also go for their Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad.
- Nutrition Facts: 730 calories, 68g fat, 13g protein, and 12g net carbs (Caesar Salad)
- 880 calories, 70g fat, 43g protein, and 15g net carbs (Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad)
Garden Salad
Their Garden Salad will help you get enough fiber intake on keto to avoid indigestion, constipation, and other digestive issues. (*)
This salad’s best thing is low-calorie and only has cheddar-jack cheese, tomato, cucumber, mixed greens, and croutons.
- Nutrition Facts: 310 calories, 19g fat, 10g protein, and 16g net carbs
Sandwiches:
How to Make it Keto-friendly: Yes, you can still enjoy McAlister’s Sandwiches even on keto! The only thing that you need to do is ditch the bread or wrap or any high-calorie and carb dressing that comes with their sandwiches—mayo, vinaigrette, mustards, and the likes.
Oh, and make sure to order these with their side dishes—either steamed broccoli or tomato and cucumber salad.
McAlister’s Club
Without the bread or wrap, you’ll be left with smoked turkey, sharp cheddar, spring mix, Swiss cheese, Black Forest Ham, bacon, mayo, and honey mustard.
How many carbs are in a McAlister’s club sandwich?
- Nutrition Facts: 250 calories, 12g fat, 29g protein, and 6g net carbs (sandwich)
How many carbs are in a McAlister’s club wrap?
- Nutrition Facts: 250 calories, 12g fat, 29g protein, and 5g net carbs (wrap)
King Club
If you want to eat like a king, the King Club is the best McAlister’s sandwich for you. Its filling is the same as the ones you can find inside the McAlister Club—just twice the amount!
Nutrition Facts: 500 calories, 23g fat, 57g protein, and 9g net carbs
Grilled Chicken Club/ Grilled Chicken Sandwich
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The fillings of this sandwich are also the same as the McAlister Club. The only difference is it has grilled chicken instead of Turkey and ham.
Nutrition Facts: 270 calories, 11g fat, 38g protein, and 5g net carbs.
Black Angus Club
This is the sandwich that’s perfect for Angus lovers on the diet. It features black Angus roast beef, Swiss, Sharp cheddar, spring mix, red onion, tomato, mayo, on horseradish sauce on wheat bread.
Nutrition Facts: 450 calories, 31g fat, 33g protein, and 11g net carbs
The New Yorker
Feel every bit like a New Yorker while eating this sandwich that’s filled with the all-time favorite NY deli meats—pastrami and corned beef. It comes with Swiss cheese and brown mustard– all sandwiched in marbled rye.
Nutrition Facts: 450 calories, 22g fat, 52g protein, and 4g net carbs
The Italian
This is the sandwich that will definitely take your taste buds to Italy! It has the works—salami, Black Forest Hamp, provolone, roasted peppers, red onion, black olives, spring mix, vinaigrette, mustard, and baguette.
- Nutrition Facts: 530 calories, 35g fat, 42g protein, and 8g net carbs
Memphian
The McAlister’s Memphian sandwich is the closest thing you have to try out the best subs in Memphis. This one has Black Forest Ham, Smoked Turkey, Black Angus Roast Beef, spring mix, tomato, provolone, mayo, and mustard on a baguette.
- Nutrition Facts: 330 calories, 16g fat, 41g protein, and 5g net carbs.
French Dip
This is the simplest yet one of the tastiest sandwiches in McAlister’s Deli. Its fillings are Black Angus Roast beef and Swiss Cheese.
- Nutrition Facts: 360 calories, 20g fat, 42g protein, and 3g net carbs
BLT + Avocado
The McAlister’s BLT + Avocado is part of their Fresh Favorites lineup—the best sandwich line for your diet as it’s loaded with fresh avocadoes. (*)
In addition to avocado slices, this also has bacon, tomato, spring mix, herb mayo, and country white.
- Nutrition Facts: 360 calories, 27g fat, 18g protein, and 5g net carbs
Garden Fresh Turkey
If you want something lighter, healthier, and low-calorie, you can go for the Garden Fresh Turkey sandwich, including smoked turkey, spinach, avocado slices, balsamic vinaigrette, swiss cheese, and tomato on 9-grain bread.
- Nutrition Facts: 260 calories, 13g fat, 24g protein, and 5g net carbs
Soups:
Chicken Tortilla
Their Chicken Tortilla Soup is a lighter version of their chili soup, but it’s as tasty! This flavorful soup comes with tomato, chicken, cilantro, cheese and is made a bit spicy with a few peppers.
- Nutrition Facts: 200 calories, 8g fat, 7g protein, and 23g net carbs
The Deli Dishes That Will Ruin Your Keto Diet
Even though their food is considered healthier than most fast food dishes, their menu still contains a few items that won’t fit your keto diet, no matter how many tweaks you make. Here they are:
- All Types of Giant Spuds (100+g net carbs)
- Orange Cranberry Club (87g net carbs)
- Reuben (71g net carbs)
- Southwest Chicken and Avocado Salad (27g net carbs)
This salad doesn’t contain too many carbs, but it will be difficult to tweak this since it includes many ingredients that are not keto-friendly—corn, beans, and tortilla strips. Pro Tip: Instead of tweaking this salad, we recommend going for BLT + Avocado Salad instead and ask for a grilled chicken add-on.
- Country Potato Soup (31g net carbs)
- Veggie Chili (24g net carbs)
- Nacho Basket (83g net carbs)
- Ultimate Nachos (91g net carbs)
- Potato Salad (21g net carbs)
- Fresh Fruit Side (9g net carbs)
- Mac and Cheese (19g net carbs)
- Bag of Chips (23g net carbs)
- Cinnabon Mini Cookie Sandwiches (31g net carbs)
- Godiva Double Chocolate Cheesecake (46g net carbs)
- Cookies (43g to 53g net carbs)
- Brownie (52g net carbs)
- Brookie (53g net carbs)
In Summary
As much as you can, avoid eating out so you can control your portions and ensure that your macros fit the keto diet well. But if you don’t have the time to prepare your meal or are craving healthy, and low-carb keto sandwiches, McAlister’s Deli is indeed a great option.
Eating keto at McAlister’s Deli is not that difficult. After all, their website already provided the nutritional information of their dishes. Moreover, we’ve already provided you with all the low-carb McAlister’s dishes that you can eat on a keto diet.
FAQS
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