Late fall into winter is a busy time of year. School and work are in full swing, the holidays come knocking, and of course, it’s football season. Unfortunately, appetizers for watching the big game are often filled with dairy. Even chicken wings are frequently battered with dairy or buffalo-sauced with a buttery mixture. We usually just make our own, but lately I’ve been hearing a lot about Wingstop. Apparently they have quite a few options for dairy-free diners, and several people have reported them as milk allergy-friendly, so I decided to look into it.
Photos from Wingstop
Wingstop Tenders and Wings for a Big Dairy-Free Win
Wingstop is an aviation-themed restaurant franchise with a menu that’s almost exclusively chicken. They make plain classic wings, boneless wings, and crispy tenders and then toss them in your choice of sauce or seasoning.
Wingstop Menu Items that Contain Dairy
These are the only items on the Wingstop menu that reportedly contain dairy:
Garlic parmesan, blue cheese dip, honey mustard dip, hot cheddar cheese sauce, potato salad, ranch dip, and baked rolls contain milk as an ingredient.
Wingstop Menu Items that are Reportedly Dairy-free
I contacted the company to confirm that all three of their chicken products are dairy-free and made in a fryer that is dairy-free, but they just sent me back to the Allergen Info page. By exclusion, it looks like all chicken items cooked in the fryer are dairy-free, but always verify at the restaurant before ordering.
At last check, this meant that you could order dairy-free Original Hot, Atomic, Mild, Spicy Korean Q, Cajun, Mango Habanero, Lemon Pepper, Hawaiian, Louisiana Rub, and Hickory Smoked Barbecue classic wings, boneless wings, or tenders with fries. And yes, they can season the fries too! I’ve heard their Lemon Pepper French fries are delicious.
According to their Allergen Information (noted above), garlic parmesan is the only wing sauce/seasoning that contains dairy.
The dipping sauces all appear to contain dairy, but you can always ask for more barbecue or hot sauce on the side. Or order to go and serve with your own bottle of dairy-free ranch!
How Allergy-Friendly is Wingstop?
Several milk allergy moms have mentioned that they were able to “safely” take their milk allergic little one to Wingstop. But locations can vary in how well they follow procedure, and what is safe for one person isn’t necessarily safe for another. I was also concerned that their customer service couldn’t directly answer my allergy questions. And like most restaurants, they do have an allergen disclaimer on their website:
Wingstop is committed to providing its consumers with meaningful information about food allergens. Though we avoid allergen cross-contamination in preparing our food, we cannot guarantee that it does not occur. For those with food allergies, we recommend caution and provide the following information.
As always, speak with the manager before ordering if dealing with a severe food allergy to ensure that the staff can safely meet your needs.
For celiac diners, Wingstop doesn’t appear to be a great options. Their fryers most definitely contain gluten. And soy-free diners should be aware that they do use an oil that contains soy oil. However, peanut oil is not used.
Where to Find Wingstop
Wingstop is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, but it has locations across the United States. They now have more than 1000 restaurants. To find one near you, see the website beloow.
Website: www.wingstop.com
