Buffalo Wild Wings can absolutely work on a keto diet, but your order matters enormously. Traditional bone-in wings with the right sauce are one of the most keto-friendly restaurant options out there, often coming in at zero carbs for the wings themselves. Boneless wings, on the other hand, are breaded and will knock you out of ketosis fast. Knowing what to order and what to skip is the difference between a perfect keto meal and a 50-plus gram carb disaster.
Traditional Wings Are Your Best Bet
Traditional bone-in wings at Buffalo Wild Wings are essentially just chicken skin and meat, with no breading or flour coating. The wings themselves contain zero carbs before any sauce or rub is applied. This makes them an ideal keto base. You can order them in large quantities without worrying about the protein and fat throwing off your macros.
Boneless wings are a completely different story. They’re chunks of breast meat coated in breading and deep-fried, which adds a significant amount of carbohydrates per serving. If you’re staying under 20 to 25 grams of net carbs per day, even a small order of boneless wings could use up most of your daily allowance. Stick with traditional every time.
Best and Worst Sauces for Keto
The sauce you choose can make or break your order. As a general rule, dry rubs tend to be the safest option. According to the official Buffalo Wild Wings nutrition guide, Lemon Pepper dry rub has just 1 gram of carbs and zero sugar per teaspoon serving. Desert Heat dry rub comes in at 2 grams of carbs with 1 gram of sugar, and Chipotle BBQ dry rub sits at 1 gram of carbs with 1 gram of sugar. Since a typical wing gets a light coating, the carb impact from dry rubs stays minimal even across a large order.
Wet sauces are where things get tricky. Plain buffalo-style hot sauces (made primarily from hot peppers and butter) are generally low in carbs. But sweeter sauces like teriyaki, honey BBQ, Asian Zing, and Caribbean Jerk tend to be loaded with sugar. Any sauce with “honey,” “sweet,” or “BBQ” in the name is worth checking on the nutrition guide before ordering. The safest approach: ask for plain wings with a dry rub, or go with a traditional hot buffalo sauce.
What About Dipping Sauces?
Ranch and bleu cheese dressing are both excellent keto choices here. A standard 2-ounce serving of either contains just 2 grams of total carbohydrates, and they add satisfying fat to your meal. Southwestern ranch dressing also clocks in at 2 grams per serving.
The one to avoid is the Vidalia Onion Vinaigrette, which packs 20 grams of carbs in a single 2-ounce serving. That alone could wipe out an entire day’s carb budget. Don’t assume vinaigrettes are the “lighter” option here.
Sides That Work (and Don’t)
Your side options are limited on keto. Fries, onion rings, and anything breaded are obviously off the table. The celery and carrot sticks that come with wings contain about 6 grams of net carbs for the combo without ranch. Celery alone is nearly negligible in carbs, so you can ask for extra celery and skip the carrots if you want to keep things tighter.
A side salad can work if you’re careful with the dressing. Pair it with ranch or bleu cheese (2 grams of carbs each) and avoid croutons, tortilla strips, or candied nuts that sometimes come on top. Ask for the dressing on the side so you can control the amount.
Burgers Without the Bun
If you’re tired of wings, burgers are another option, but you need to ditch the bun entirely. The burger patty alone at Buffalo Wild Wings contains 31 grams of carbohydrates according to published nutrition data, which is surprisingly high and suggests the patty itself may contain fillers or binders. This is unusually high for a burger patty, so if you’re strict about staying under 20 grams of net carbs, you may want to ask your server about ingredients or stick with wings as your safer choice.
The Frying Oil Situation
Buffalo Wild Wings fries their traditional wings in beef tallow (listed as beef shortening in their allergen information), which is actually a plus for many keto dieters who prefer animal fats over vegetable oils. Multiple former employees have confirmed this online, and it was also the subject of a lawsuit alleging the restaurant failed to disclose the use of beef tallow. If you follow a strict keto approach that avoids seed oils, this is good news.
One caveat: some delivery-only “ghost kitchen” locations reportedly use seed oils instead of beef tallow. If you’re ordering through a delivery app rather than dining in at a standard location, the cooking fat may be different.
Drinks to Order
For zero-carb beverages, Buffalo Wild Wings carries Diet Pepsi (bottle and fountain), Pepsi Zero Sugar on fountain, and fresh brewed iced tea that you can order unsweetened. Water with lemon is always a safe bet. Regular sodas, sweet tea, and frozen cocktail mixes are all carb bombs.
For alcohol, light beer is lower in carbs than regular but still not ideal. Straight spirits like whiskey, vodka, or tequila with a zero-calorie mixer are the lowest-carb alcoholic options at any restaurant, though keep in mind that alcohol can temporarily pause fat burning regardless of carb content.
A Simple Keto Order at BWW
- Wings: Traditional bone-in (any quantity) with Lemon Pepper dry rub or plain buffalo sauce
- Dipping sauce: Ranch or bleu cheese (2g carbs per serving)
- Side: Extra celery sticks
- Drink: Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar, unsweetened iced tea, or water
This entire meal can come in under 5 grams of net carbs, leaving you plenty of room in your daily budget. Buffalo Wild Wings is genuinely one of the easier chain restaurants to navigate on keto, as long as you avoid the boneless wings, sweet sauces, and breaded sides that make up most of the rest of the menu.