What to Eat at Chipotle With Food Allergies and Intolerances

Chipotle Mexican Grill, which is known for its fresh ingredients and made-to-order food items, can work very well as a fast food option for people with food allergies or intolerances. A glance at a list of allergens in Chipotle menu items easily shows you what options contain some common food allergens—and there aren't many.

The fast casual restaurant chain does not use peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, or fish as ingredients in any of its food, eliminating the possibility of contact with four of the eight major food allergens. Eggs are also not used except at locations where breakfast is served.

Chipotle, which boasts more than 2,000 locations mainly in the United States, also does not include mustard or sesame in any of its food items.

The restaurant chain does, however, use milk, soy, and wheat/gluten, the remaining three major food allergens. Some Chipotle menu items also include corn, a less common food allergy.

Read on to learn more about allergen-free menu items at Chipotle and ordering strategies that can keep you safe from any unwanted food reactions.

Milk Allergy-Friendly Foods

If you have a milk allergy or lactose intolerance, the good news is that there are only three menu items that contain dairy products at Chipotle:

• Monterey Jack cheese
• Queso fresco cheese
• Sour cream

The bad news is that they're in almost everything ordered "as is."

Chipotle uses either cheese or sour cream—or often, both—in almost all of its menu items, including burritos, bowls, crispy corn tacos, soft corn tacos, soft flour tacos, and salads.

Chips with salsa or chips with guacamole are two menu items where no dairy is involved.

If you don't want sour cream or cheese, ask your server to omit them. You may also want to ask your server to change into fresh gloves before preparing your food to prevent cross-contamination.

In terms of individual food items, there are no milk-based ingredients in any of their meats, beans, taco shells, chips, or tortillas.

Soy Allergy-Friendly Foods 

Chipotle caters to the vegetarian and vegan community and offers a vegan meat substitute in the form of sofritas. Sofritas are a popular protein option at Chipotle that are made of tofu that has been braised in spices, chipotle chilies, tomatoes, onions, and peppers.

Clearly, people with a soy allergy need to avoid tofu.

In its place, you can choose fajita vegetables and/or pinto beans if you are vegetarian or vegan or any of its meats (barbacoa, carnitas, chicken) if you are not.

Wheat Allergy/Gluten-Free-Friendly Foods

The fast-casual food chain has only one wheat-containing item on its menu: its soft flour tortilla used to make burritos and tacos. Nothing else on its menu contains wheat or gluten.

If you need to avoid wheat or are gluten-free because you have a wheat allergy, celiac disease, or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, you can choose a corn tortilla taco, a bowl, or a salad instead. The bowls and salad don't contain any grain items.

People with celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity should avoid ordering beer which contains barley (a gluten grain).

Sulfite Allergy-Friendly Foods

For people with a sulfite allergy or intolerance, Chipotle lists only four food items that contain sulfite in their ingredients:

• Soft flour tortilla
• Sofritas
• Queso fresco
• Honey vinaigrette dressing

Steer clear of those four items (substituting a corn tortilla for the flour tortilla) and you should be fine. In place of the vinaigrette dressing, you can try dressing your salad with the tomatillo green-chili salsa.

Summary

Chipotle does not use peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, or fish in any of its food, making it safe for people with those food allergies.

It does, however, have menu items that contain dairy, soy, and wheat/gluten. There are ways to work around these foods—substituting flour tortillas for corn tortillas, for example, or asking your server to skip the cheese or sour cream.

A Word From Verywell

When it comes to eating at fast-casual restaurants, Chipotle is a great option for people living with certain food allergies or intolerances.

With that said, Chipotle warns that it does not operate allergen-free kitchens so cross-contamination is always a possibility. In addition, the restaurant chain cannot guarantee the complete absence of allergens from its foods, since it gets ingredients from outside suppliers.

If you have a history of a severe allergic reaction to dairy, wheat, or soy or have extreme gluten sensitivity, it is still possible to eat at Chipotle. But, you need to take extra effort to choose the right food items and advise your server (or location manager) of your issues.

While Chipotle employees are trained in safe food handling, it is in your interest to watch over the preparation of your food and to intervene when necessary.