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Are Most Nachos Gluten Free Or Have Gluten?

gonnagoGfree

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gonnagoGfree Newbie
gonnagoGfree
Posted

I'm wondering if most nachos, have gluten in them. I'm afraid there is gluten in cheese sauce. Does anyone know safe fast food gluten-free Nachos?

can people list some convenient places to get gluten-free Nachos?

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lpellegr Collaborator
lpellegr
Posted

I think most of us would just never assume that anything is safe without reading the label or asking a lot of questions. Here's what you want to ask your server if you're contemplating nachos at a restaurant:

Do the corn chips have wheat in them? Are they fried in the same oil as flour tortillas or breaded foods? Do they sit on the same counter as flour tortillas during preparation?

Can I see the ingredients in the cheese sauce? Is there any flour used to make the cheese sauce?

Are all of the toppings safe? Is there any flour or unidentified starch in the sour cream? If there are meats, do their sauces have flour in them? Is there flour in any of the seasoning mixes? Are there bread crumbs in any of the toppings/seasonings?

If the answer to any of this is "yes", then you don't eat the nachos. If you crave nachos, then find a chain that's known to have some safe gluten-free food (you can search this site), go there and still ask them questions to make sure, or get bags of tortilla chips (again, check on this site for safe ones because some have cross-contamination issues) and jars of sauce with labels you can read. Then you're likely to have a safe nacho feast.

NorthernElf Enthusiast
NorthernElf
Posted

I agree - never assume. I was in a Moxie's once and the server told me the nachos weren't safe - that they were fried in gluten containing oil. I make my own at home now.

Man, did it ever suck sitting there hungry watching/smelling other folks eat nachos. :(

T.H. Community Regular
T.H.
Posted

Does anyone know safe fast food gluten-free Nachos?

can people list some convenient places to get gluten-free Nachos?

I haven't found one yet - looking for my kida.

The easiest way to find out for a particular restaurant is to look up any fast food restaurants in question on the web and see if the website has an allergens area. Usually, if they have gluten free information up, it will be there. Sometimes it's a challenge to find it, so if you google 'restaurant name' + 'allergens' that'll pop up the right page, often.

Taco Bell is nice in having both allergens and gluten in its list (Open Original Shared Link) And they make a distinction between shared equipment and added ingredient for each menu item, which is pretty helpful. But they don't really have much at all for us to eat there, sadly. A few drinks and sauces seem to be all that are both wheat and cc free.

GlutenFreeManna Rising Star
GlutenFreeManna
Posted

Nachos are really easy and quick to make at home. I have not found a safe mexican place yet but we make a lot of Mexican and Tex-mex style food because it's easy to make gluten-free and it's my husband's favorite. Even now that I can't have cheese I still make things like tacos, burittos, fajitas, taco salads, chili, etc.

Juliebove Rising Star
Juliebove
Posted

We have a restaurant here called Boston's. They list all of the allergens if you look on their online menu. Oddly the nachos were not gluten free and I wondered why. Then I ordered them for myself and found out why! They used flour tortillas to make the chips from. Pppppyuck! I had these same sort of chips at a Mexican restaurant some years ago. I don't know why they switched to those but we would always ask for the corn ones. And they served us that kind.

As for the cheese sauce, although it could contain gluten it probably does not. If you are talking about the type of nachos you'd get at a movie theater, zoo, theme park, snack bar, etc., they are most likely safe.

We frequently get the nachos at Target. The cheese sauce is fine and the chips come in a portion pack, all sealed. Yes there is a chance of cross contamination but I feel it is less there than it might be at other places. They do sell sandwiches but they are made in the back and pre-packaged. Yes, they do sell hot dogs and pizza.

Juliebove Rising Star
Juliebove
Posted

Nachos are really easy and quick to make at home. I have not found a safe mexican place yet but we make a lot of Mexican and Tex-mex style food because it's easy to make gluten-free and it's my husband's favorite. Even now that I can't have cheese I still make things like tacos, burittos, fajitas, taco salads, chili, etc.

When I couldn't have real cheese I used rice cheese for my nachos. First I loaded the chips with refried beans. Then I used a little bit of the rice cheese, mostly for visual effect. Heated through in the microwave then topped with plenty of things like hot peppers, black olives, green onions, tomatoes and salsa.

The other Mexican foods are all fine without cheese, IMO.

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Menic Apprentice
Menic
Posted

I'd worry about 1) the ingredients and 2) the reheating method. A lot of places will toss them in the deep frier for 30 seconds to get them hot and then plate them. You might be able to get around that by asking that they not reheat yours in the frier. And be careful if they made them in house or not as they may have been CCed the first time they were made. I imagine if they buy theirs from somewhere else they might be okay.

Overall, probably not worth the risk.

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