Applebee’s is a family-friendly casual restaurant and offers lots of tasty keto-friendly dishes such as chicken, seafood, fajitas, salads, steak, ribs, and pasta.
You can easily eat low-carb at Applebee’s and for a lot of their dishes, you will only need to make minor adjustments.
You could order the steak with steamed veggies, or a salad and low-carb dressing. You could also order a burger but hold the sauce and the bun and you could order the fajitas without any tortilla shells.
However, you need to remember, never order their famous mashed potatoes!
In this article, we are going to help you out when it comes to ordering keto at Applebee’s and provide you with 10 low-carb and keto-friendly options.
We are placing these in order from lowest to highest carbs and all dishes will be based on the website’s national calculator. Let’s jump in.
1. Bacon Cheddar Chicken Sandwich
This is a sandwich that is served with bacon, loaded with BBQ ranch dressing, lettuce, onions, pickles, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and of course grilled chicken breast in a bun, served with fries.
To make this keto-friendly, you will need to hold the fries and the bun, but you will also need to hold the BBQ ranch sauce.
If you do this, the dish will have 460 calories, 24 grams of fat, 4 grams of carbs and less than 3 grams of net carbs, less than one gram of fiber, but a whopping 58 grams of protein.
To replace the fries, you could ask for a side salad and top it with ranch dressing instead. But remember to hold the croutons.
2. Brunch Burger
The brunch burger is loaded with plenty of bacon, hash browns, a fried egg, lettuce, onion, pickles, tomatoes and tomato sauce, and American cheese with a beef patty in a bun. This is served with fries.
If you hold the fries, bun, ketchup, and the hash browns, you will be left with a low-carb meal that only has 730 calories, 7 grams of carbs, 5 grams of net carbs, 56 grams of fat, 2 grams of fiber, and 53 grams of protein.
You can have this burger served with a hearty side salad and a low-carb dressing such as their famous ranch but this will add up the carb count.
Remember to hold the croutons on the salad.
3. Grilled Chicken Salad
The grilled chicken salad is served with a hardboiled egg, tomatoes, salad mix, seasoning, cheese, honey mustard dijon, and of course, grilled chicken. It is also served with a breadstick.
If you order this dish but hold the breadstick and the honey mustard, it will contain only 520 calories, 12 grams of carbs with 7 grams of net carbs, 26 grams of fat, 5 grams of fiber, and 62 grams of protein.
You can add a low-carb dressing too such as ranch, Caesar, or Bleu cheese, but this will add a couple of grams of carbs. So bear this in mind if you are on a strict keto diet.
4. Turkey Lover’s Sandwich
This sandwich is a sliced turkey breast sandwich and comes with tomatoes, swiss cheese, onions, and herb mayo in a bun. It is also served with fries.
To lower the carbs, you need to ask for it without the bun and the fries and this will contain around 530 calories, 37 grams of fat, 45 grams of protein, and 7 grams of carbs (less than 6 grams of net carbs).
As with similar dishes, you can ask for a side salad with Caesar, Bleu cheese, or ranch dressing to replace the fries. This will bulk the meal out without adding too many carbs or calories.
5. Grilled Chicken
You can get a grilled chicken breast at the restaurant and like the steak, it comes with two sides.
When it comes to choosing these sides, we suggest you go for the broccoli and the side house salad. Instead of the ranch, this salad comes with a tasty lemon olive oil vinaigrette instead.
If you order the chicken with these sides, the meal will be around 550 calories, have 19 grams of carbs with 14 grams of net carbs, 33 grams of fat, 5 grams of fiber, and 49 grams of protein.
6. 12 Ounce Ribeye
We all know what a staple steak is on the keto diet and this 12-ounce ribeye from Applebee’s never disappoints. It comes with a choice of two sides.
You can get it either with steamed broccoli or a side Caesar salad and having both of these sides will provide you with a meal at 1120 calories, 87 grams of fat, 5 grams of fiber, 19 grams of carbs with 14 grams of net carbs, and 68 grams of protein.
You can reduce the carbs by holding the croutons on the salad.
7. Top Sirloin Steak
This is one of their most popular steak meals and the top sirloin steak gives you the option to choose between two sizes.
Choose between either the 6 or 8 ounces, and this comes with a choice of two sides like many of their other meals.
You can reduce the carb count by holding the house salad and doubling up on the steamed broccoli. However, if you want to go for the salad, just be sure to order it without croutons.
If you order the bigger steak, with steamed broccoli and a house salad with a little ranch, your meal will be 650 calories.
It will also have 55 grams of protein and 40 grams of fat, but only 20 grams of carbs (15 being net carbs) and 5 grams of fiber.
8. Double-Glazed Ribs
You can enjoy a delicious portion of ribs at the restaurant too. You can either get a full-slab or a half-slab or ribs, however, to keep it low-carb, you should always hold the glaze. This dish comes with two sides to choose from.
When ordering, go for the half order of the double-glazed baby back ribs without any sauce, along with steamed broccoli and a Caesar salad on the side.
This means the meal will only come to 950 calories, 19 grams of carbs (14 grams of net carbs), 5 grams of fiber, 79 grams of fat, and 44 grams of protein.
Remember to hold the croutons on the side Caesar salad, especially if you are on a strict keto diet!
9. Fajitas (Chicken Or Steak)
The bourbon street steak or chicken fajitas have always been a popular option at Applebee’s and although you traditionally associate fajitas with tortilla wraps, you can still make them low-carb and keto-friendly.
If you want to do this, you can adjust your dish so that it only contains only your choice of meat, fajita grilled vegetables, and low-carb fajita toppings such as guacamole, and sour cream, and cheese.
If you order the steak fajitas without the sauce it comes with, and hold back the tortillas, queso dip, and Spanish rice, it will only contain around 1000 calories, 33 grams of carbs and 22 grams of net carbs, 70 grams of fat, 10 grams of fiber and 63 grams of protein.
Although you might at first think you are holding back so much food, it will still provide you with a dish loaded with Chipotle lime seasoning, vegetables, cilantro, lettuce, guacamole, a juicy lime wedge, shredded cheese, Pico de Gallo, sirloin steak, sour cream and topped with bacon.
It’s a high-protein, tasty, and super-filling low-carb meal!
10. Blackened Cajun Salmon
The blackened cajun salmon is a delicious fish choice at Applebee’s and comes with a choice of two sides.
You can go with steamed broccoli and a side house salad with lemon olive oil vinaigrette.
If you choose the keto-friendly sides, the dish will only come to 610 calories, 22 grams of carbs with 16 grams of net carbs, 41 grams of fat, 6 grams of fiber, and 44 grams of protein.
Remember, as always with the salad, you should hold the croutons. This should save you a couple of grams of carbs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Applebee’s?
Applebee’s is an American company that franchises and develops and operates the Applebee’s Neighbourhood Grill and Bar restaurant chain.
There are 2033 restaurants in the US, Guam, and 15 other countries owned by franchises.
Does Applebee’s Serve Alcohol?
Yes, they serve, wine, beer, sangria, and mixed and specialty drinks. They also serve plenty of soda, juices, and milk for those who do not drink.
What Is The Best Low-Carb Dish At Applebee’s?
Most dishes can be modified, but we recommend the fajitas with the adjustments we have provided in this article!
Final Thoughts
We hope you have enjoyed this article on low-carb food at Applebee’s and you realize how it only takes a little modification to make your food keto-friendly when you are at the restaurant.
We suggest you go for a burger or a sandwich and hold the bun and sauce, and remember you can always swap the fries for a delicious house salad with dressing such as ranch, Caesar, Bleu cheese, or lemon olive oil vinaigrette or even some steamed broccoli.
If you want to play it super safe and keep carbs as low as possible, why not try the grilled shrimp skewers.
Overall, Applebee’s is an excellent choice of restaurant to go to whilst on the keto diet and if you follow our recommendations and stick with water, unsweetened tea, or coffee to drink on the side, you should be good to go!
Hi, my name is Anna Kadance and I have been following a keto diet, on and off, for just over two years now. When I first started, I was in a deep depression due to my weight and the fact that I just couldn’t seem to get rid of it.
My body had given me two beautiful children, but now that our family was complete, I wanted to take it back as my own and get my pre-baby body back. I tried diet after diet, exercise program after program - nothing worked!
