Chick-fil-A Seed Oil Report Card
Source: Chick-fil-A Nutrition & Allergens, read October 22, 2026. Chick-fil-A cooks in 100% refined peanut oil.
Based on our menu research, Chick-fil-A cooks with: peanut oil. Across the 139 menu items we analyzed, it averages 4.8g estimated PUFA per item, earning a seed-oil grade of B (Medium Risk).
What oil does Chick-fil-A fry in? The full answer
Compare Chick-fil-A with: KFC · Popeyes · Raising Cane's · Wingstop
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Safest Orders at Chick-fil-A
Learn this once: a salad with grilled protein and the dressing left off is nearly always the lowest seed oil order anywhere. So the list below sticks to real meals, salads included, never just a water.
Cleanest full order: Egg White Grill + Fruit Cup + DASANI Bottled Water, 1.6g total
| Item | PUFA |
|---|---|
| Egg White Grill | 1.6g |
| Grilled Nuggets 8 Ct | 1.7g |
| Grilled Nuggets 12 Ct | 2.6g |
| Chick-n-Minis 4 Ct | 3.2g |
| 8pc Nuggets (fried) | 3.3g |
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Build my orderWhat to Avoid at Chick-fil-A
| Item | PUFA |
|---|---|
| Cobb Salad | 29.8g |
| Spicy Southwest Salad | 26.1g |
| Grilled Cool Wrap | 25.9g |
| Chick-fil-A Cool Wrap | 25.9g |
| Side Salad | 24.7g |
Watch: Chick-fil-A Uses Two Different Fryer Oils
What it says: Chick-fil-A uses two different fryer oils, and nobody talks about it. The chicken goes in peanut oil. It has since 1964. The founder picked it because it didn't cover up the taste of the chicken. But the waffle fries? Canola oil. In their own separate fryers. The Chicken Sandwich is 5.7 grams of polyunsaturated fat. A large waffle fries is 11.2. The fries are almost double the sandwich. Seed Oil Tracker shows what your spot fries in. It's free.
Around the world: Chick-fil-A
Side Salad has 0.2g of PUFA in the UK but 24.7g in the US. Same chain. Why not here?
We have Chick-fil-A in 2 countries. Here is what it cooks with in each one, and how the same menu items compare.
| Country | Cooks with | Side Salad | Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich | Chick-fil-A Sauce | Garden Herb Ranch Sauce | Spicy Deluxe Sandwich | Chick-fil-A Deluxe Sandwich |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. (this page) | peanut oil | 24.7g | 7.9g | 7.8g | 6.2g | 6.4g | 5.9g |
| UK | peanut oil | 0.2g | 5.0g | 7.7g | 6.5g | 5.7g | 5.6g |
Items are matched by name, so portions and recipes can differ between countries. Values are estimated grams of seed-oil PUFA per item. Oil notes are as each country's chain discloses them.
Every Chick-fil-A item, ranked
All 139 items we have for Chick-fil-A, safest first. Values are estimated grams of seed-oil PUFA per item.
| Item | PUFA |
|---|---|
| Fruit Cup | 0.0g |
| Buddy Fruits Apple Sauce | 0.0g |
| Sunjoy | 0.0g |
| Fountain Drink | 0.0g |
| Simply Orange | 0.0g |
| Sweet & Spicy Sriracha Sauce | 0.0g |
| Honey Mustard Sauce | 0.0g |
| Barbeque Sauce | 0.0g |
| Chick-fil-A Lemonade (Large) | 0.0g |
| Chick-fil-A Lemonade (Medium) | 0.0g |
| Freshly-Brewed Iced Tea Sweetened (Small) | 0.0g |
| Fruit Cup (Large) | 0.0g |
| Chick-fil-A Diet Lemonade (Medium) | 0.0g |
| Hot Coffee | 0.0g |
| Honest Kids Apple Juice | 0.0g |
| Chick-fil-A Diet Lemonade (Small) | 0.0g |
| Freshly-Brewed Iced Tea Sweetened (Large) | 0.0g |
| Freshly-Brewed Iced Tea Unsweetened (Small) | 0.0g |
| Fruit Cup (Small) | 0.0g |
| Freshly-Brewed Iced Tea Unsweetened (Medium) | 0.0g |
| Freshly-Brewed Iced Tea Unsweetened (Large) | 0.0g |
| Freshly-Brewed Iced Tea Sweetened (Medium) | 0.0g |
| Chick-fil-A Diet Lemonade (Large) | 0.0g |
| Chick-fil-A Lemonade (Small) | 0.0g |
| DASANI Bottled Water | 0.0g |
| Fat-Free Honey Mustard Dressing | 0.0g |
| Pineapple Dragonfruit Diet Lemonade | 0.0g |
| Pineapple Dragonfruit Lemonade | 0.0g |
| Pineapple Dragonfruit Sweet Tea | 0.0g |
| Pineapple Dragonfruit Unsweet Tea | 0.0g |
| Pineapple Dragonfruit & Sprite | 0.0g |
| Toasted Marshmallow Hot Coffee | 0.0g |
| 1% Chocolate Milk | 0.1g |
| 1% Milk | 0.1g |
| Icedream Cup | 0.2g |
| Icedream Cone | 0.2g |
| Toasted Marshmallow Iced Coffee | 0.2g |
| Frosted Lemonade | 0.4g |
| Peach Frosted Lemonade | 0.4g |
| Pineapple Dragonfruit Frosted Lemonade | 0.4g |
| Frosted Coffee | 0.4g |
| Frosted Sodas | 0.4g |
| Floats | 0.4g |
| S'mores Frosted Coffee | 0.4g |
| Vanilla Frosted Coffee | 0.4g |
| Mocha Frosted Coffee | 0.4g |
| Iced Coffee | 0.5g |
| Caramel Frosted Coffee | 0.5g |
| Light Italian Dressing | 0.6g |
| Mac & Cheese (Small) | 0.9g |
| Cream Cold Brew | 0.9g |
| Toasted Marshmallow Cream Cold Brew | 0.9g |
| 5 Ct Grilled Nuggets Kids Meal | 1.0g |
| Strawberry Milkshake | 1.0g |
| Peach Milkshake | 1.0g |
| S'mores Milkshake | 1.0g |
| Vanilla Milkshake | 1.2g |
| Chocolate Milkshake | 1.2g |
| Zesty Buffalo Sauce | 1.5g |
| Egg White Grill | 1.6g |
| Mac & Cheese (side) | 1.6g |
| Mac & Cheese | 1.6g |
| Mac & Cheese Kids Meal | 1.6g |
| Grilled Nuggets 8 Ct | 1.7g |
| Chicken Noodle Soup | 2.0g |
| Bacon Egg & Cheese Muffin | 2.1g |
| 5 Ct Nuggets Kids Meal | 2.1g |
| Cookies & Cream Milkshake | 2.1g |
| Light Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing | 2.4g |
| Grilled Nuggets 12 Ct | 2.6g |
| 2 Ct Chick-n-Strips Kids Meal | 2.7g |
| Chocolate Chunk Cookie | 2.7g |
| Berry Parfait | 3.0g |
| Honey Roasted BBQ Sauce | 3.0g |
| Chicken Noodle Soup (Bowl) | 3.0g |
| Chick-n-Minis 4 Ct | 3.2g |
| 8pc Nuggets (fried) | 3.3g |
| Chick-fil-A Nuggets 8 Ct | 3.3g |
| Polynesian Sauce | 3.5g |
| Chicken & Waffles Breakfast Sandwich w/ Grilled Filet | 3.9g |
| Chicken Egg & Cheese Muffin | 4.2g |
| Waffle | 4.4g |
| 3pc Chicken Strips | 4.6g |
| Chick-n-Strips 3 Ct | 4.6g |
| Grilled Chicken Sandwich | 4.7g |
| Bacon Egg & Cheese Biscuit | 4.9g |
| Kale Crunch Side | 5.5g |
| 12pc Nuggets (fried) | 5.6g |
| Chick-fil-A Nuggets 12 Ct | 5.6g |
| Original Chicken Sandwich | 5.7g |
| Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich | 5.7g |
| Hash Browns | 5.8g |
| Spicy Chicken Sandwich | 5.9g |
| Deluxe Chicken Sandwich | 5.9g |
| Chick-fil-A Deluxe Sandwich | 5.9g |
| Chocolate Fudge Brownie | 6.0g |
| Waffle Potato Fries Small | 6.1g |
| Garden Herb Ranch Sauce | 6.2g |
| Grilled Nuggets 30 Ct | 6.2g |
| Hash Brown Scramble Bowl | 6.3g |
| Chicken Strips (4 pc) | 6.3g |
| Chick-n-Strips 4 Ct | 6.3g |
| Spicy Deluxe Sandwich | 6.4g |
| Sausage Egg & Cheese Muffin | 6.4g |
| Chicken & Waffles Sandwich w/ Grilled Filet | 6.4g |
| Waffle Potato Chips Chick-fil-A Sauce Flavor | 7.0g |
| Chicken & Waffles Breakfast Sandwich w/ Spicy Filet | 7.1g |
| Honey Pepper Pimento Grilled Sandwich | 7.5g |
| Waffle Potato Chips Original | 7.5g |
| Waffle Potato Fries Medium | 7.7g |
| Chick-fil-A Sauce | 7.8g |
| Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich | 7.9g |
| Chicken & Waffles Breakfast Sandwich w/ Chick-fil-A Filet | 7.9g |
| Hash Brown Scramble Burrito | 8.4g |
| Chick-n-Minis 10 Ct | 8.7g |
| Sausage Egg & Cheese Biscuit | 8.8g |
| Hash Browns (Large) | 9.3g |
| Chicken & Waffles Sandwich w/ Spicy Filet | 10.8g |
| Spicy Chicken Biscuit | 11.0g |
| Large Waffle Fries | 11.2g |
| Waffle Potato Fries Large | 11.2g |
| Chicken & Waffles Sandwich w/ Chick-fil-A Filet | 11.4g |
| Zesty Apple Cider Vinaigrette Dressing | 11.4g |
| Chicken Biscuit | 11.5g |
| Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit | 11.5g |
| Honey Pepper Pimento Chicken Sandwich | 13.0g |
| Honey Pepper Pimento Spicy Sandwich | 13.0g |
| Chicken Egg & Cheese Biscuit | 14.0g |
| Chick-fil-A Nuggets 30 Ct | 14.2g |
| Chick-n-Strips 10 Ct | 14.5g |
| Market Salad | 17.1g |
| Garden Herb Ranch Dressing | 17.4g |
| Creamy Salsa Dressing | 18.6g |
| Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing | 19.2g |
| Side Salad | 24.7g |
| Grilled Cool Wrap | 25.9g |
| Chick-fil-A Cool Wrap | 25.9g |
| Spicy Southwest Salad | 26.1g |
| Cobb Salad | 29.8g |
Fry Oil History at Chick-fil-A
Cooking in peanut oil since 1964.
Chick-fil-A announced on October 9, 2008 that its entire menu was free of artificial trans fat, after two years of reworking the waffle fries, biscuits, desserts and sauces. The chicken itself was already pressure cooked in peanut oil, and the fries run in their own fryer. Source
Truett Cathy launched the original Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich in 1964 and pressure cooked it in peanut oil because he thought it did not overpower the taste of the chicken. The company still says it has cooked its hand breaded chicken in fully refined peanut oil ever since. Source
Every documented oil switch across the industry lives on the Oil History timeline.
Frequently asked
Does Chick-fil-A use seed oils?
Based on our menu research, Chick-fil-A cooks with: peanut oil. Across the 139 menu items we analyzed, it averages 4.8g estimated PUFA per item, earning a seed-oil grade of B (Medium Risk).
What oil does Chick-fil-A cook with?
Our research indicates: 100% refined peanut oil (fried chicken); high-oleic canola oil in dedicated fryers (waffle fries, hash browns). Preparation can vary by location, so treat PUFA numbers as estimates.
Does Chick-fil-A use beef tallow?
No. Our research indicates Chick-fil-A cooks with peanut oil, not beef tallow. For chains that fry in tallow or other real fats, see Tallow Watch.
Is Chick-fil-A seed oil free?
No. Our research indicates Chick-fil-A cooks with 100% refined peanut oil (fried chicken); high-oleic canola oil in dedicated fryers (waffle fries, hash browns), which includes seed oils. See the lower-PUFA orders above for the cleanest picks.
What is the safest thing to order at Chick-fil-A?
Grilled Nuggets 8 Ct is the lowest-PUFA item we analyzed at Chick-fil-A, at an estimated 1.7g PUFA. See the Safest Orders list on this page for more options.
What should I avoid at Chick-fil-A?
Cobb Salad is the highest-PUFA item we analyzed at Chick-fil-A, at an estimated 29.8g PUFA. Fried items and creamy, mayo-based sauces are usually the heaviest.
What are seed oils?
Seed oils — canola, soybean, sunflower, corn, and similar vegetable oils — are extracted from seeds using high heat and chemical solvents. They are very high in polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs), which are unstable at cooking temperatures and can oxidize easily. Many health-conscious eaters choose to minimize seed oils and prefer foods cooked in beef tallow, butter, coconut oil, or olive oil instead. This page shows estimated PUFA grams per menu item to help you make more informed choices. These are estimates — actual values vary by preparation and location. New to the topic? Start with what seed oils are and the complete list, or read the evidence on why people avoid them.
Compare other chains
KFC · Popeyes · Raising Cane's · Wingstop · Zaxby's · Bojangles
See where Chick-fil-A lands on the full Seed Oil Index, or check which chains cook in real fats on Tallow Watch. Wondering about a specific dish instead? The Is It Seed Oil food guide answers it for 200+ everyday foods, and the distributor oils page covers what independent restaurants fry in.