El Pollo Loco Keto Menu Options to Order

Ready for another round of keto friendly menu options at fast food joints? Here we break down all the meals you can choose from at El Pollo Loco and enjoy a day (or night!) out with friends or family.

There is definitely keto friendly food to take a look at. From The World’s First Keto Taco and The World’s First Keto Burrito, to cauliflower rice and slightly modified pollo fit bowls. If you love Mexican style cuisine, you’ll be quite happy at the El Pollo Loco keto options.

Here are the meals you can order:

The World’s First Keto Burrito

Yep, El Pollo Loco decided to cater to the ketogenic diet enthusiasts and create the first fast food chain keto burrito. It’s filled with a lettuce blend, cabbage, chopped chicken breasts, cotija cheese, avocado slices, pico de gallo salsa and a low carb, creamy cilantro dressing.

This keto friendly burrito is packed with protein to hold you full for a long, long time. However, keep in mind that this meal doesn’t have the perfect keto ratio when it comes to fats, protein and carbs. If you want more fat, ask for extra dressing.

Also, if you’re counting total carbs instead of net carbs, I suggest you pick something else from the El Pollo Loco’s menu. Their tortilla is low in net carbs, but has 21g of fiber which equals out to 30g of total carbs!

Nutrition info: 510 calories; 29g fat; 52g protein; 30g total carbs; 9g net carbs

Double Chicken Avocado Salad (no corn)

Although El Pollo Loco advertises this salad as keto friendly, I’m not sure why they put corn in there. Yes, if you’re doing the IIFYM approach then that could be fine, but corn will spike up your sugar very quickly and that’s not something we want.

In this protein-packed salad you’ll get lettuce, chicken breast, cotija cheese, pico de gallo salsa and avocados. If you want to, you can add in the creamy cilantro dressing as well.

Although El Pollo Loco gives you another option here to add the Mexican Vinaigrette, I’d stay away from it since it has 4g of carbs.

Nutrition info: 330 calories; 12g fat; 50g protein; 9g total carbs; 4g net carbs

Classic Tostada Salad (no shell, no rice, no beans)

Order this salad without the fried tostada shell, and ask for no rice and no pinto beans. Even if you remove so many ingredients you’ll get a salad full of chopped chicken breast, shredded lettuce, shredded monterey jack cheese, pico de gallo salsa and sour cream.

If you want to beef it up a bit, you can add baja shrimp and the low carb, creamy cilantro dressing.

El Pollo Loco also has a Double Chicken Tostada Salad, which means you get the same salad with more chicken. Make sure to ask for no shell, rice or pinto beans.

Nutrition info: 230 calories; 11g fat; 29g protein; 5g total carbs; 4g net carbs

Original Pollo Bowl (no rice, no beans)

Get the El Pollo Loco’s Original Pollo Bowl without rice and beans. It’s a light meal, but full of protein to keep you full. In this bowl you’ll get chopped chicken breast, pico de gallo salsa, diced onion and cilantro.

The meal will end up being quite small, so you may want to order a side of broccoli to make it into a full meal.

Nutrition info: 130 calories; 3g fat; 24g protein; 2g total carbs; 1g net carbs

Grande Avocado Chicken Bowl (no rice, no beans, no corn)

In this chicken bowl you’ll get chopped chicken breast, shredded monterey jack cheese, cabbage, pico de gallo salsa, sour cream and avocado slices.

Make sure to ask for no rice, beans or corn – these will add up to your daily carb count quite quickly and probably kick you out of ketosis.

Nutrition info: 320 calories; 19g fat; 32g protein; 6g total carbs; 3g net carbs

Double Protein Mexican Caesar Bowl

While this is a limited time offer, we really hope it stays for longer! In this El Pollo Loco bowl you’ll get fire grilled chicken breast, organic super greens, red cabbage and some lettuce, sliced radishes, crumbled cotija cheese and sliced avocados. All topped with the Tapatio seasoning and a lemon wedge on the side.

Nutrition info: 300 calories; 9g fat; 47g protein; 8g total carbs; 4g net carbs

The World’s First Keto Taco

El Pollo Loco made sure to create a new menu that will accompany those who are on a low carb, keto diet. This taco even has a high fiber, low carb flour tortilla!

Here you’ll get chopped chicken breast, pico de gallo, avocado slices, shredded lettuce, jack cheese and cilantro dressing.

If you count total carbs, this meal may still be a little over what you have set out for yourself in terms of your daily carb count limit.

Nutrition info: 250 calories; 17g fat; 18g protein; 13g total carbs; 5g net carbs

Baja Shrimp Street Taco (no tortilla)

This is one of my favorite menu options at El Pollo Loco. What you get here is baja shrimp with cabbage, pico de gallo salsa and the baja sauce. I typically order a few of these and ask for a bowl to mix it all up and just make it into a salad.

Don’t forget to ask for no corn tortilla or if you get it, make sure to scrape the insides and throw out the tortilla itself. At 11g per serving, it’s definitely not low carb or approved for the keto diet.

Nutrition info: 160 calories; 15g fat; 5g protein; 3g total carbs; 2g net carbs

Chicken Avocado Street Taco (no tortilla)

Order it without the flour tortilla and enjoy chopped chicken breast, shredded lettuce, pico de gallo salsa, jack cheese and avocado slices, all with a low carb, creamy cilantro dressing.

Similarly to the Baja Shrimp Street Taco, you can order a few of these keto taco options without the tortilla and mix it up into a big salad.

Nutrition info: 240 calories; 16g fat; 22g protein; 3g total carbs; 2g net carbs

Chicken Taco Al Carbon (no tortilla)

In this meal you’ll get Mexican style grilled chicken, diced onion and cilantro. I know it’s not much when you need to skip on the actual tortilla, but the taste is there and you can always order it with different sides such as the cauliflower rice or broccoli.

Nutrition info: 90 calories; 3.5g fat; 14g protein; <1g total carbs; <1g net carbs

Fire Grilled Chicken Thigh, Breast, Wing or Leg

Probably one of my favorite options here at El Pollo Loco. Without ordering any meals, you can simply get meat to eat immediately or take it home for later. You can choose from the fire-grilled chicken breast, fire-grilled chicken thighs, fire-grilled chicken wing or leg.

If you want to eat right on the spot in the restaurant, order it with a side of broccoli or a keto friendly salad. Unless you want to go totally carnivore for the day as well.

• Chicken breast: 220 calories; 9g fat; 36g protein; 0g total carbs; 0g net carbs
• Chicken wing: 90 calories; 5g fat; 12g protein; 0g total carbs; 0g net carbs
• Chicken thigh: 210 calories; 15g fat; 21g protein; 0g total carbs; 0g net carbs
• Chicken leg: 80 calories; 4g fat; 12g protein; 0g total carbs; 0g net carbs

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Although this is a side, it’s absolutely worth mentioning along all the regular meals at El Pollo Loco. I mean, which restaurant gives you cauliflower rice as a side?

I honestly appreciate this from El Pollo Loco and I hope to see more options like this one in the future for all of us who are either low carb or on a keto diet. It’s time to eat healthier, even if we’re eating out!

In this side dish, you’ll get finely chopped cauliflower with cilantro and lime. It’s a wonderful way to substitute rice in El Pollo Loco’s bowls.

• Small (4 oz.) – 45 calories; 2g fat; 2g protein; 5g total carbs; 3g net carbs
• Large (10.5 oz) – 120 calories; 6g fat; 6g protein; 14g total carbs; 8g net carbs

Keto friendly extras

• Pico de gallo salsa – 2g net carbs
• Avocado salsa – 2g net carbs
• House salsa – 2g net carbs
• Salsa roja – 2g net carbs
• Jalapeno hot sauce – <1g net carbs
• Creamy cilantro dressing – 2g net carbs
• Sour cream – 1g net carbs
• Broccoli – 4g net carbs
• Cilantro lime cauliflower rice – 3g net carbs (small) or 8g net carbs (large)
• Guacamole – 3g net carbs
• Queso – 3g net carbs

What to Avoid at El Pollo Loco

Although there are several options at El Pollo Loco, you need to be mindful of which meals you choose. Be especially cautious when taking out ingredients, such as pinto beans or even something as simple as getting rid of a taco shell. Check out their Nutrition Guide.

• Rice
• Pinto beans
• Corn
• Macaroni and cheese
• Mashed potatoes
• Coleslaw
• Loco side salad
• Churros
• Homemade Tortilla soup
• Tortilla chips
• Tortilla strips
• Flour tortillas
• Soda

Our final opinion

There are several El Pollo Loco keto options you can choose from, so eating out at this fast food joint won’t be that difficult.

Keep in mind to skip on high carb ingredients, such as rice or pinto beans. Most importantly, stay away from any shells, tortillas and chips! While I’m sure some of you are still craving it badly, these are not keto certified.

For more keto restaurant guides, read our posts on how to eat keto at Burger King, Olive Garden, Chipotle or take a look at all of the keto restaurant guides we have.

Written by