Updated 2021! Zaxby’s is a chicken fast food chain with hundreds of restaurants in the Southern United States. You will need to do some sleuthing if craving a salad, but they do offer some sandwiches and baskets of wings that are made without dairy. In fact, Zaxby’s has nine flavors of both boneless and bone-in wings that are made without dairy. And sometimes they offer limited edition sauces. Plus, there are some bonus dairy-free dipping sauce options!
No Dairy (Milk-Based) Ingredients (see disclaimer below)
- Sandwiches – BLT Sandwich, BLT Sandwich Meal, Grilled Chicken Sandwich, Grilled Chicken Sandwich Meal
- Boneless & Traditional Wings (see Allergen Note) – No Sauce, BBQ, HHM (Hot Honey Mustard), Insane, Nuclear, Sweet & Spicy, Teriyaki, Tongue Torch, Wimpy
- Sides – Crinkle Fries, Tater Chips, Texas Toast, Celery, Cole Slaw, Side Salad
- Dipping Sauces – Honey Mustard, Zak Sauce
- Signature Sauces – BBQ, Hot Honey Mustard, Insane, Nuclear, Sweet & Spicy, Teriyaki, Tongue Torch, Wimpy
- Salad Dressings – Citrus Vinaigrette, Honey Mustard, Lite Vinaigrette, Thousand Island
Other Allergen Notes
- Beyond the top 8 allergens, Zaxby’s allergen chart also cross-references menu items for MSG, gluten, and sulfiting agents. Their allergen chart does not break down menu items, so you might be able to order some of their “Zalads” or other Sandwiches with special order requests (i.e. hold the cheese, use a specific bread, swap in a dairy-free salad dressing). We’re working on obtaining more detailed information.
- As with any chain, management at individual locations can take liberties. It has been reported that at least one location chooses to use butter to cook the grilled chicken sandwich. This is not a corporate recipe. But be sure to always check at the location you visit to ensure they are preparing your food without dairy.
- On the Zaxby’s menu, all wings are listed with Ranch, but you can order your dairy-free Dipping Sauce of choice. See our list above.
- Oddly enough, the “Original” was the only flavor of wings that contained dairy when we did our update. Just a heads up since that might be unexpected!
- Surprisingly, the Marinara Sauce at Zaxby’s contains milk.
More Details from Zaxby’s
Allergen Disclaimer from Zaxby’s: All ingredient and allergen information was obtained from product vendors. Zaxby’s cannot guarantee our foods are 100% allergen free. We use shared equipment during food preparation which could result in the cross-contact of allergens. Additionally, Zaxby’s suppliers may use ingredients in their manufacturing facilities where trace amounts of allergens could come in contact with Zaxby’s ingredients, or any product formula could be changed without prior notice to Zaxby’s.
Restaurant Website: www.zaxbys.com
Allergen Information: www.zaxbys.com/menu/ (bottom of page in both Nutrition Info and Allergen Info)
*The above information was supplied by the corresponding restaurant via their website, customer service, or other published nutritional information. Ingredients and menu offerings are constantly changing in the food service industry, and can be subject to interpretation. For this reason, Go Dairy Free does not guarantee nor take responsibility for the accuracy of this information. If severe allergies or intolerances are a concern, contact the restaurant directly before purchasing or consuming one of their products. Cross-contamination of potential food allergens should always be considered a possibility in a fast food restaurant.
Last Updated: February 20, 2021
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Need to ask no butter on grilled chicken sandwich
I’m an experienced Zaxby-er being from the state it originated in, and as I visited the godairyfree site tonight. Noticed the grilled chicken sandwich was listed as dairy free. I just asked at the counter if it has butter on it and she said “yes, do you want it without butter?”
I said yes, and she repeated that to me in the order at the end. Overall great experience!…but youneed to add that here on Godairyfree. Thanks!!
Response from Go Dairy Free
The grilled chicken sandwich is supposed to be dairy free, and it is not corporate policy to use butter to cook it. Unfortunately, depending on the management, some locations might take liberties on many things, including using butter to cook certain items. I’m glad that you checked, and we’ll add a note that someone has encountered this issue with at least one location. Thank you!
Very informative
This new dairy free diet I have to follow can be difficult at times and zaxbys made this experience very easy for me to find something df and delicious. Thank you!
10 Comments
I recently experienced an allergic reaction to dairy after eating a grilled chicken sandwich at Zaxby’s. I quite clearly told the server I was allergic to milk products, and I watched as she told the cook not to butter the bread. However, cross contamination must have occured during preparation ( possibly butter was on the grill) because within a few minutes, I was having a fully-blown attack. The pain, nausea, sweating, and chillls lasted several hours even though I took Lactaid within minutes of ingesting the sandwich. Be forewarned ; just because you order your food a certain way doesn’t mean you’re safe. I have now crossed Zaxby’s off my list. Even two days later, I still am not feeling well.
That’s a real bummer Carolyn. Have you been checked for conditions like EoE (milk allergy trigger perhaps?) by a GI doctor? That sounds like a much bigger reaction than lactose intolerance.
There is a big difference between lactose intolerance and a milk allergy. A milk allergy can have a fatal reaction. I am surprised you used the terms lactose intolerance in reply to Carolyn’s comment about a dairy allergy.
She mentioned taking Lactaid, which one takes for lactose intolerance, no? So, unless I’m missing something, would it not be reasonable to infer lactose intolerance versus an actual dairy allergy?
I assumed since she took Lactaid that she is actually dealing with lactose intolerance. If diagnosed with a milk allergy, a physician would not recommend Lactaid.
I am very sensitive to lactose and I don’t have an issue when I eat the breaded chicken fingers….
Thankyou for doing this! I visit your website often to find out information.
Thanks Stephen, I’m happy that I can help!
if dairy is in the chicken fingers then its in the zensation salad
See the link right to their allergen info in this post Janna. They have the Zensation salad listed as containing no dairy.