Chuy’s Gluten Free Menu: 26 Items Ranked by Mexican Chef (Secret Menu)

Chuy’s gluten free menu is not obvious at first glance because much of the menu is comprised of tacos, quesadillas, and fajitas.¹

However, with a firm understanding of what’s GF and what’s not, a Mexican chef ranks all 14 gluten free items and lists them on the secret menu to take the guesswork out of ordering GF at Chuy’s.

Does Chuy’s Serve Gluten Free Food? Where Can I Find The GF Secret Menu?

Luckily, at Chuy’s, gluten free food is not necessarily that difficult to find, with various items on the menu being gluten free. While this may be the case, they do not actually offer a separate menu for gluten-intolerant people.

Source: oleksandranaumenko via Canva.com²

With that being said, to order gluten free food at Chuy’s all someone has to do is check out the secret gluten free menu found below that explains all the GF options Chuy’s offers.

Of course, when it comes to eating Gluten free at Chuy’s, it’s important to note that some people have gluten intolerance while other people with celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten protein at all so it’s always best to double check the menu items for yourself as well as mention it to the waitress and manager.³

Eating Gluten Free: Chuy’s Gluten Free Menu

Since Chuy’s doesn’t have a dedicated GF menu, their seven food sections must be analyzed with a fine tooth comb. And through understanding what they offer, the gluten free aspects of their menu can be seen much more easily.

Gluten Free Appetizers at Chuy’s

There are five total appetizers that Chuy’s offers and all of them can be made gluten in some way. Here’s the list:

1. Queso

2. Guacamole

3. Nachos

4. Panchos

5. Quesadillas

For all of the items excluding the Quesadillas, chips of some sort are included as a way to eat the appetizer. Ensuring that the waiter is aware of any gluten intolerance, like celiac disease, will allow them to make your appetizer with corn chips instead of wheat chips.

At most Chuy’s restaurants, only corn chips are available anyways, so they are going to be safe for someone who has gluten intolerance.

The quesadillas’ only issue is their flour tortilla. Since flour is primarily made up of gluten, with bread flour being made with up to 15% gluten, it is best to avoid consuming flour of any form.⁴

Luckily, a corn tortilla can be ordered in its place, meaning at Chuy’s, gluten free appetizers are extremely accessible.

The Quesadillas were ranked as the best appetizer at Chuy’s for a few reasons; one, the filling is extremely decadent: cheese, green chiles, onions, even coming with guacamole, sour cream, and tomatoes on the side.

Chuy’s Gluten Free Salads & Soups

Similarly to Chuy’s appetizers, all of the soups & salads on Chuy’s menu can be made gluten-free with a few modifications.

To begin, the Mexi-Cobb Salad comes with fajita chicken, green chiles, cheese, avocado, and tomato on a bed of mixed greens. By default, none of these ingredients contain gluten, which is a huge plus.

The Taco Salad and Tortilla Soup, on the other hand, both contain tortilla strips in some form. It is simple to remove individual ingredients through their web app, and for the Tortilla Soup, it is even possible to substitute a corn tortilla.

The other main thing to note here is the available dressings:

• Creamy Jalapeño
• Honey Mustard
• Cilantro Vinaigrette
• Salsa Fresca
• Queso
• Boom Boom Sauce

The Boom Boom Sauce is made of roasted New Mexican green chiles, tomatillos, green onions, cilantro, and cheese, meaning this sauce is a part of Chuy’s gluten free menu. The Salsa Fresca and Queso can also be safely assumed that they do not contain gluten due to what the recipes typically consist of.

However, the other dressings recipes are not available online so tread with caution.

While most salad dressings do not contain ingredients containing gluten – meaning it is extremely unlikely that they do – it is worth speaking with the manager or chef to confirm if one of these sauces has an ingredient with gluten in it.⁵

To sum things up, there are three gluten free salads and soups and three gluten free dressings:

6. Mexi-Cobb Salad

7. Taco Salad

8. Tortilla Soup

9. Boom Boom Sauce

10. Queso

11. Salsa Fresca

Based on the overall range of ingredients and levels of satiety, the Mexi-Cobb Salad is the winner in this category. It comes with quality protein in the form of chicken, healthy fats like avocado and a bit of cheese, and with the ability to choose the desired salad dressing, it is customizable.

Best of all, it is gluten free by default, so there should be little concern here.

Gluten Free Tacos, Burritos, Fajitas, Enchiladas, & Specialties

As aforementioned in the intro paragraph, there are ways to make most of their tacos, burritos, fajitas, and enchiladas gluten free.

Source: Nataly Hanin via Canva.com⁶

Tacos

Unfortunately, at least through the website, only two of the taco items on Chuy’s menu can be made gluten free with corn tortillas: the Crispy Tacos and the Soft Tacos.

12. Crispy Tacos

13. Soft Tacos

The Tacos Al Carbon and Baja Shrimp Tacos are made with flour tortillas without the option to adjust to corn tortillas on the website, but in all likelihood, it should be possible to make these items gluten free by ordering in the restaurant.

The Tacos Al Carbon have to be the winner between these two gluten free tacos for a few reasons. The addition of guacamole, tomatoes, and lettuce enhances the freshness of the dish, and the choice between chicken and steak for the meat allows some variation in what is picked. It also lends to a very dense, nutrient-rich meal.

Specialties

The Chicken Flautas are the only specialty item on the menu that can be made gluten free. Surprisingly, all of the other items are either a burrito or an enchilada which are made with large flour tortillas.

14. Chicken Flautas

Like with enchiladas and burritos, there is technically the ability to order corn tortillas in the restaurant, but it would probably not be optimal.

It should go without being said, but the Chicken Flautas are the best gluten free item in the specialties section because it is the only gluten free dish there.

Burritos

Burritos are one of the only sections on Chuy’s menu that is not gluten free. Based on online ordering, only flour tortillas are available for these burritos, and it is very unlikely that an order will be able to be made gluten free with a corn tortilla because they probably don’t have one that fits the right size.

The only potential way to make a burrito at Chuy’s gluten free would be to ask for it without a tortilla. At that point, though, it probably makes more sense to just get a specialty dish.

Fajitas

Similar to the burritos, the fajitas at Chuy’s seemingly cannot be made with corn tortillas instead of flour, at least according to the website. Luckily, the three items under this category all come with a side of flour tortillas. This means that, at least in the restaurant, swapping flour for corn should be pretty simple, but for the sake of this list, they will not be included in the gluten free items.

Enchiladas

Sadly, the enchiladas mimic the issue the burritos had exactly: they can only be made with flour tortillas due to the size of the item.

While this doesn’t technically negate the ability to ask for corn tortillas in the restaurant, it is not an option available on the website, and it would probably completely change the dish to have a corn tortilla instead of flour as intended.

But asking couldn’t hurt; there could be an actual secret menu that is unknown to the public.

Chuy’s Nutrition Chart for GF Menu Items

For the sake of clarity, items that can have ingredients like flour tortillas substituted on the website are included below.

But, due to a lack of nutritional information on Chuy’s menu, the calories listed are estimates and items that require a modification to be gluten free are denoted with an asterisk.^7/a>

1. Queso*: 930 calories
2. Guacamole*: 840 calories
3. Nachos*: 980 calories
4. Panchos*: 1850-1890 calories
5. Quesadillas*: 1280-1300 calories
6. Mexi-Cobb Salad: 1080 calories
7. Taco Salad*: 920 calories
8. Tortilla Soup*: 280 calories
9. Boom Boom Sauce: 100 calories
10. Queso Sauce: Unknown
11. Salsa Fresca: 25 calories
12. Crispy Tacos*: 940-1000 calories
13. Soft Tacos*: 830-890 calories
14. Chicken Flautas*: 1650-1710 calories

For gluten-intolerant fitness enthusiasts aiming to boost their strength, try out the Chicken Flautas. Their high calorie and protein content can help increase your deadlifts and strength effectively.

Chuy’s Gluten Free Food Sample Order

Luckily, with the above list of items, it is extremely easy to order gluten free food at Chuy’s online. A sample order may look like this:

Appetizer: Quesadilla, sub corn tortilla

Salad: Mexi-Cobb Salad with Boom Boom Sauce

Tacos: Crispy Tacos, sub corn tortillas

The process would significantly differ in the store, so before going to a restaurant, knowing what a person’s allergens is important to make sure that they can eat there.

As mentioned far above, it is technically possible to ask a server when ordering if they can substitute a flour tortilla from a burrito for a corn tortilla. It may be possible, which will unlock lots of the menu.

Meaning, if a burrito can be made without a flour tortilla, then the burritos, fajitas, enchiladas, and specialty items all become potential gluten free foods to eat at Chuy’s.

How To Make Sure Chuy’s Order Is Gluten Free

To start with, determine what to order. If the menu item selected is on the above list of being gluten free, it should be simple, even though there is not actually a secret menu.

Source: doble-d via Canva.com⁸

If it is an appetizer, make sure that the chips are corn chips, not flour chips. Or if it is the Quesadilla, make sure that the flour tortilla is subbed out for a corn one; the same can be said for the Taco Salad and Tortilla Soup.

For the Crispy Tacos and Soft Tacos, making sure to ask for corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas is crucial to stay gluten free, and the same can also be said for the Chicken Flautas.

All other items on the menu seem to be restricted to coming with flour tortillas; as already mentioned multiple times, asking for a burrito to be made with a corn tortilla instead of a flour one is likely possible, but is probably quite uncommon for the chefs to prepare.

With these ideas in mind, make sure to mention to the waiter that a person has gluten intolerance or celiac disease. This will make sure that proper cross-contamination procedures are followed.⁹

As long as the wait staff knows that it is crucial to someone’s well-being that food be prepared a certain way, it should be possible to accommodate a gluten free diet at Chuy’s.

Gluten Free Restaurant Alternatives Instead of Chuy’s

As seen through exploring Chuy’s online ordering platform and discussing the different items that they offer, it is clear to see that they do not have a separate menu specifically created for gluten free foods.

While this is not necessarily a huge deal, it is quite difficult to see what kinds of foods are gluten free without a detailed analysis of their menu. Chuy’s does have a few competitors that offer similar foods but also make it obvious what foods on their menu are gluten free.

Maudie’s is a Tex-Mex chain based in Austin, Texas who make it quite obvious on their website which items are gluten free and which are not.¹⁰

By including colored stars on their menu with a key in the bottom left, it is clear to see which food items are gluten free by default, which ones can be made gluten free, and which ones cannot.

They also note that they use all-natural beef, chicken, pork, and pasture-raised eggs, so if the quality of your meal is a standard you try to uphold, Maudie’s could be worth a try.

Taco Cabana is also a Tex-Mex chain based in central and southern Texas. Their nutritional guide makes it quite clear which items have gluten and other allergens like milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, soy, fish, shellfish, or tree nuts and even mentions if an item is vegetarian or not.¹¹

The food items sold at Taco Cabana are quite similar in scope and size to Chuy’s, but the additional transparency of food items’ macronutrients and allergens is much appreciated.

Regardless of what other restaurants have to offer, it is very possible to get gluten free food at Chuy’s.

Frequently Asked Questions