20 Restaurant Chains That Cook in Peanut Oil (2026)
Peanut oil sits in the middle of the seed oil debate. It is not technically a seed oil (peanuts are legumes) and it runs about 33% PUFA, well under soybean oil at roughly 58%. These tracked chains mention peanut oil in their cooking oil information.
| Handel's Homemade Ice Cream No cooking/frying oil — fat source is exclusively milk fat (butterfat ~14-16%) from heavy cream and whole milk base; nut mix-ins (pecans, walnuts, almonds, peanut butter) contribut | A (1.6g avg) |
| Jamba smoothies are near-zero PUFA unless peanut butter or almond butter added; bowls topped with granola (soybean/sunflower oil); açaí base has minimal PUFA | A (1.6g avg) |
| Planet Smoothie no frying oil; PUFA from peanut butter (0.22), granola/oats, flaxseed add-in; fruit-only smoothies near zero | A (1.7g avg) |
| Cold Stone Creamery dairy fat (ice cream base, ~0.04 PUFA fraction); mix-ins vary: nuts use peanut/tree-nut oils (~0.55), cookie dough/brownie use soybean/canola blend (~0.50), waffle cone uses palm-c | A (1.8g avg) |
| Smoothie King none (whole-food fats: peanut butter, almond butter, coconut, flax) | A (1.9g avg) |
| Kilwins Butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil, and palm oil are the primary fats in fudge, chocolates, and caramels (all low-PUFA); ice cream base is dairy-only; peanuts and pecans are the mai | A (2.1g avg) |
| The Original Pancake House clarified/rendered butter on the griddle for Apple Pancake, Dutch Baby, potato pancakes, French toast, crepes and GF pancakes (no peanut oil); standard buttermilk pancake and waffl | A (2.6g avg) |
| Zankou Chicken Canola oil (garlic sauce/toum); peanut oil (falafel frying); tahini/sesame (hummus, mutabbal, tahini sauce); chicken fat (rotisserie) | A (3.1g avg) |
| Sheridan's Frozen Custard No frying oil — custard base is dairy fat (cream, milk, egg yolks); waffle cones likely use soybean/cottonseed shortening (standard industry formulation); peanut butter mix-ins con | A (3.2g avg) |
| Tokyo Joe's Soybean oil for sautéing and most sauces; sesame oil in dressings and poke; peanut sauce contains peanuts; sushi rice plain | B (4.4g avg) |
| Five Guys 100% refined peanut oil (all fried items; dedicated fry-only fryers) | B (4.8g avg) |
| Chick-fil-A 100% refined peanut oil (fried chicken); canola oil in dedicated fryers (waffle fries, hash browns) | B (5.2g avg) |
| Penn Station East Coast Subs Peanut oil blend (soy) for fries; butter/griddle for cheesesteak meat; soybean oil (mayo) | B (5.7g avg) |
| Dirty Dough Butter and vegetable shortening blend in cookie/bar/roll dough base (ratio undisclosed); waffle bites likely fried in vegetable oil (soybean or canola — unconfirmed); peanut butter | C (6.1g avg) |
| Just Salad canola oil (primary, confirmed in Caesar dressing and house dressings); peanut oil component in Thai Peanut dressing; miso-ginger vinaigrette likely soybean/sesame blend | C (6.5g avg) |
| The Habit Burger Grill soybean oil (confirmed via allergen disclosures; no peanut oil used) | C (7.0g avg) |
| Super Chix 100% refined peanut oil (frying); soybean oil base in mayo-based sauces and coleslaw | C (7.1g avg) |
| Cheeburger Cheeburger peanut oil (frying — confirmed for hand-cut fries, onion rings, and all fried items; multiple sources including Houston Press review and menupages listing; current file incorrectly | C (7.7g avg) |
| Hooters Fries in a peanut oil blend, with employee/allergen reports of soybean oil mixed in at many locations; buffalo-style sauces are soybean-oil margarine based. | D (11.0g avg) |
| Angry Chickz Peanut oil (confirmed by Angry Chickz staff on Yelp Q&A, Eric S., restaurant-affiliated respondent) | F (16.9g avg) |
See also
Other oils: Canola Oil · Soybean Oil · Butter or Olive Oil · Chains frying in beef tallow live on Tallow Watch · Why undisclosed means soybean: the distributor oils page · Full grades: the Seed Oil Index.