She has also had 16 wellness books published by major publishers including the bestselling Easy GI Diet, The Macro Method, Quit Alcohol (For a Month) and Eat 5. Her books have sold over one million copies.
- Great Low Sodium Choices at Chick-fil-A – For Every Diet - November 16, 2023
- The 11 Lowest Sodium Choices in Taco Bell – For Every Diet - November 15, 2023
- How to Eat Low Sodium at KFC - November 14, 2023
If you love eating at Chick-fil-A, but you’re also trying to stick to a low-sodium diet, you might be left wondering what you can – or shouldn’t – eat. We’ve found out – and we haven’t just looked at general low-sodium eating; we’ve found the best low-sodium Chick-fil-A choices if you’re also watching your calories, fat, sugar, or gluten – or don’t eat meat (yep, that’s doable).
- The Absolute Lowest Sodium Menu Item At Chick-fil-A
- 10 Other Low Sodium Choices At Chick-fil-A
- Lowest Sodium Chick-fil-A Sides
- The Lowest Sodium, Lowest Saturated Fat Option
- The Lowest Calorie, Low Sodium Chick-fil-A Choice
- The Lowest Sodium, Lowest Sugar Choice
- The Lowest Sodium Vegetarian Option
- The Lowest Sodium, Gluten-Free Option
- What to Read Next
The Absolute Lowest Sodium Menu Item At Chick-fil-A
Order the Grilled Nuggets. The 5-piece Grilled Nuggets at Chick-fil-A contain just 270mg of sodium. You do have to consider their size, though. The nuggets contain the lowest amount of sodium because they’re one of the smallest items on the menu. But add a small Chick-fil-A Waffle Potato Fries, and you’ll only add another 190mg of sodium.
That’s well under the 737mg of sodium we class as ‘low sodium’ in these posts. That’s a third of the amount the American Heart Association suggests the general population eat in a day – but remember to check with your own doctors for your suggested intake. The AHA says that even cutting sodium by 1000mg a day can help heart health.
10 Other Low Sodium Choices At Chick-fil-A
If you don’t want to order the Chick-fil-A Grilled Nuggets and are looking for, say, a low-sodium chicken sandwich, here are the next best lowest-sodium items you can order at Chick-fil-A.
Some of these menu items are over our 767mg cut-off, so you will need to balance your intake for the day elsewhere.
| Dish | Sodium Level |
| 8-piece Grilled Nuggets | 440mg |
| 2-piece Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strip | 580mg |
| Market Salad with No Chicken | 640mg |
| 12-piece Grilled Nuggets | 660mg |
| 5 piece Chick-fil-A Nuggets (Fried) | 760mg |
| Grilled Chicken Sandwich | 770mg |
| Spicy Southwest Salad with No Chicken | 840mg |
| 3-piece Chick n Strip | 870mg |
| Honey Pepper Pimento Sandwich w/ Grilled Filet | 910mg |
| Grilled Chicken Club with No Cheese | 980mg |
Lowest Sodium Chick-fil-A Sides
It might surprise you to hear that the fries are the lowest sodium side at Chick-fil-A – but it’s true. A small portion of Waffle Potato Fries has just 190mg of sodium – but what happens if you want to upsize or, fancy something other than fries?
Here are a few other lower sodium side options you might want to add.
| Item | Sodium |
| Fruit Cup (any size) | 0mg |
| Small Waffle Fries | 190mg |
| Medium Waffle Fries | 240mg |
| Kale Crunch | 250mg |
| Waffle Chips | 250mg |
| Large Waffle Fries | 340mg |
5 Other Ways to Reduce Sodium at Chick-fil-A
Breakfast on the Parfait: The breakfasts at Chick-fil-A are generally not a low-sodium way to start your day – most of them contain over 800mg, but grab the Greek Yogurt Parfait with Granola, and you’ll take in just 80mg of sodium.
Dip in Honey Roasted BBQ: Dipping sauces can add a lot to your meal (I’m looking at you 570mg Buffalo Sauce), but the Honey Roasted BBQ has just 75mg of sodium. You might also want to use this to top your salad because the actual salad dressings all add over 300mg of sodium to your meal.
Take off the Blue Cheese: If you want chicken on your Market Salad, pick the Grilled Fillet version and take off the blue cheese. This reduces the sodium from 1010mg to 900mg.
Stick with the White Bun: Multigrain brioche might sound healthier, but it has 70mg more sodium than the white bun.
Pick Colby or Pepperjack: Swapping out American Cheese for one of these will save 90mg of sodium – admittedly, the sandwiches that add cheese are not your lowest sodium options in the first place.
So, that’s all you need to do if you’re just reducing sodium at Chick-fil-A, but what if you’re making other changes to your diet as well? Read on…
The Lowest Sodium, Lowest Saturated Fat Option
The lowest sodium and saturated fat main menu item at Chick-fil-A is the five-piece Grilled Nuggets. They contain 0 grams of saturated fat and, as we mentioned earlier, 270mg of sodium.
However, these alone aren’t a substantial meal. If you’re looking for a heartier meal, one of the best menu items is the Grilled Chicken Sandwich, which contains 770mg of sodium and just two grams of saturated fat.
This is lower in saturated fat than adding the fries to the Nuggets. If you want to add a side, pick the Fruit Cup, which has zero sodium and fat.
The Lowest Calorie, Low Sodium Chick-fil-A Choice
If you’re keeping an eye on your calories, the Grilled Nuggets are the best food item you can order at Chick-fil-A (yes, those pesky nuggets again). The 5-piece Grilled Nuggets only contain 160 calories. Even the 8-piece Grilled Nuggets only contain 250 calories.
Unfortunately, that’s lower than the recommended 400-600 calories we need for a healthy meal, so you need to add a side. Good choices to raise calories without excessive sodium would be the Kale Crunch Side, which adds 170 calories, or pick the Waffle Potato Chips for 220 calories.
The Market Salad with No Chicken and the Spicy Southwest Salad with No Chicken are also good options that won’t cost you too many calories.
The Market Salad only contains 440 calories and 640mg of sodium, while the Spicy Southwest Salad contains 590 calories and 840mg of sodium.
The Lowest Sodium, Lowest Sugar Choice
Chick-fil-A has a variety of excellent low-sodium, low-sugar menu items to choose from. Some menu items don’t contain sugar, while others contain as little as 1 gram.
The menu item that contains 0 grams of sugar is the Grilled Nuggets – seriously, this piece should just say, ‘Order the Grilled Nuggets – The End.’ If you order the Grilled Nuggets with a side of Chick-fil-A Waffle Potato Fries, your meal will contain 1 gram of sugar and 460mg of sodium.
Other Chick-fil-A main menu items that don’t contain too much sodium and sugar include the Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Strips (1 gram of sugar and 580mg of sodium) and the Spicy Southwest Salad with No Chicken (7 grams of sugar and 840mg of sodium).
The Lowest Sodium Vegetarian Option
It might surprise you that there are vegetarian options at Chick-fil-A – and pretty tasty they are, too.
Chick-fil-A’s lowest sodium vegetarian option is the Market Salad with No Chicken, which contains 640mg of sodium. This contains protein from blue cheese and almonds – but you might want to add another source of protein, like yogurt, for dessert – the Greek Yogurt Parfait with Cookie Crumbs has just 85g of sodium.
The Lowest Sodium, Gluten-Free Option
Chick-fil-A doesn’t have a dedicated Gluten-Free menu, but you can order a few things.
The three main menu items you can order are the Grilled Nuggets, the Spicy Southwest Salad, and the Market Salad. The Grilled Nuggets are the lowest sodium gluten-free menu item with 270mg of sodium.
However, the Market Salad with No Chicken is a more filling option, and it only contains 640mg of sodium.
The sandwiches can come with a Gluten-Free Bun, but this has 160mg more sodium than the white bun, which adds a fair bit. Plus, all of the chicken in the sandwiches has wheat, and therefore gluten, as an ingredient anyway.
Obviously, as with most fast food places, Chick-fil-A can’t promise there won’t be cross-contamination, so, even these dishes might not be suitable for those with coeliac disease.
That concludes this article, which looks at the best menu items to order in Chick-fil-A if you’re watching your sodium intake. Hopefully, I have made things a lot easier for you. If your favorite isn’t listed, you might want to check out the full Chick-fil-A nutritional information for the numbers.
If you have any questions, please drop them in the comments!
What to Read Next
If you’re a chicken fan, you might want to look at our piece on eating while watching your sodium at Popeyes.
Or, if you’re in the mood for Mexican, we’ve also covered the best choices at Taco Bell – and there’s quite a lot of them.
Who is The Wellness Nerd?
My name is Helen Foster, and I’m a health journalist and wellness author. Publications I’ve written for include Women’s Health, Reader’s Digest, Body and Soul, Good Health at the Daily Mail, and more. I have also written 16 books on health and nutrition.