As awareness of celiac disease (and sensitivity to gluten in general) grows, more and more folks find themselves looking for totally gluten-free options at their favorite fast food joints – and that includes Qdoba.
One of the most popular “Tex-Mex” fast food restaurants in the country, Qdoba has built up an almost legendary reputation for the food and flavors they consistently put out for their customers.
And while we would love to tell you that Qdoba has their very own “gluten-free” menu that’s not (yet) the situation at this restaurant – but they do have a ton of gluten-free meals and the almost effortless ability to combine together your own gluten-free dishes with very little headache or hassle.
We dig a little deeper into that below!
Qdoba Lacks a Gluten-Free Menu, But You Can Order (A Lot of) Gluten-Free Meals
As mentioned above, Qdoba does not yet have their very own separate or distinct gluten-free menu alongside their “standard menu”.
A lot of restaurants (particularly fast food places like this one) are starting to put together gluten-free menu choices that live permanently alongside their regular offerings. That just hasn’t happened at Qdoba quite yet – though it wouldn’t surprise anybody if it happened in the near future.
This is, after all, a restaurant that enjoys a great reputation for listening to their customers, adjusting on-the-fly, and making sure that they remain a little more flexible and a little more agile than most of the other fast food chains out there.
Even still, nobody does not yet have a dedicated gluten-free menu that you can walk in and order from.
This does not mean, though, that they do not have delicious gluten-free options.
Nothing could be further from the truth!
What’s Gluten-Free at Qdoba?
The backbone ingredients for the overwhelming majority of dishes at Qdoba are their incredible Rice options, and every single one of the rice choices that Qdoba offers are 100%, top to bottom gluten-free.
Odds are pretty good that if you build your Qdoba meal with rice as a core ingredient you’re going to be happy with the amount of gluten (zero) in the dish!
Here are some of the other core ingredients that are gluten-free at every Qdoba, ingredients you’ll want to mix and match to come up with your own tasty zero gluten options.
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Meats
All of the beef available from Qdoba (including the grilled steak, seasoned ground beef as well as the seasoned shredded beef, and even the smoke brisket) is certified to have no gluten whatsoever. This will come as a surprise, as all beef – everywhere – is totally gluten-free.
The pork that Qdoba offers (the always perfectly seasoned, slightly spicy, juicy pulled pork) is absolutely gluten-free as well. You don’t ever have to worry about choosing this as your core protein.
Folks that are looking for a vegan option for their protein are going to be delighted to learn that the “impossible” protein options from Qdoba also have zero gluten in them.
Not bad, right?
Beans and Rice
As highlighted earlier, the delicious rice that so frequently makes up the core of a Qdoba meal will always be free of gluten.
That goes for the regular rice, the brown rice, and the cilantro lime rice that people just can’t seem to get enough of these days. Any of these specialty spiced prices that Qdoba offer will be free of gluten, too.
You don’t have anything to worry about if you choose black beans or pinto beans as a substitute (or supplement) to the rice in your Qdoba meal. They both don’t have any gluten in them.
Toppings
The overwhelming majority of the toppings you can mix and match into your Qdoba meal aren’t going to add any gluten into the mix, either.
Bacon is free of gluten (both the smoked and the jalapeno queso options). Most of the cheeses, the chipotle cream sauce, the chorizo and the cilantro lime dressing (when available), and the sour cream are all going to have zero gluten in them.
Eggs, the delicious feed of vegetables, the 100% fat-free picante ranch and fiery habanero toppings are all 100% gluten-free, too.
Salsa and Sauces
No Qdoba meal is complete without a little salsa or a bit of sauce, and luckily most of these are not going to trigger any gluten reactions in your body, either.
The black bean corn salsa, the guacamole mango salsa, the everyday pico de gallo, as well as the red chili sauce, the salsa roja, and the salsa verde are all gluten safe options to top your favorite dish.
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Closing Thoughts
So there you have it, (almost) everything you need to know about the totally gluten-free options you’ll find at Qdoba today.
Hopefully in the not too far away future they have a dedicated, every day gluten-free menu to pick and choose from alongside their “normal” menu. But until then rest easy knowing that you’ll be able to get a gluten-free fix for your favorite Tex-Mex meals when you step into any Qdoba.