If you’re one of the nearly half of Americans who have high blood pressure, you might have been told to cut back on your trips to fast-food restaurants. Fast food is high in sodium (salt) because it’s a cheap and effective flavor enhancer…aka, it makes food taste good!
If you’re headed out to Five Guys Burgers and Fries and are on a low-sodium diet, is there anything you can have to eat or drink?!
There are a few low-sodium options on the menu at Five Guys, but it can take some modifications to keep the sodium levels in check. We’ll review the complete list of low-sodium food and drink items at Five Guys Burgers and Fries next!
What is sodium/a low-sodium diet?
Sodium is the active element in sodium chloride, aka salt. Sodium is found in salt as well as many processed foods that contain salt as a flavor enhancer.
The recommended amount of sodium to consume is less than 2,300 milligrams per day, though the typical American consumes closer to 3,500 milligrams per day. Too much sodium can worsen health conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, and more.
To be considered “low-sodium” according to the Food and Drug Administration, a food needs to contain less than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving. You’ll be hard-pressed to find fast food and restaurant items that contain less than 140 milligrams of sodium, which is why fast food is generally discouraged if you’ve been told to follow a low-sodium diet.
Low-sodium food and drink options at Five Guys Burgers and Fries
Burgers
Unfortunately, none of the burgers on the Five Guys Burgers and Fries menu comes in at less than 140 milligrams of sodium as listed on the menu. Part of the reason is that the bun itself contains 330 milligrams of sodium, and a slice of cheese comes in around 310 milligrams of sodium.
You can make some modifications to make a low-sodium burger, though! (After all, each burger patty only contains 50 milligrams of sodium.)
Sorry, no bacon burgers here – bacon is high in sodium with 260 milligrams per two pieces (a serving on the Five Guys menu).
| Item | Modifications needed to make it low-sodium |
| Hamburger | Sub lettuce wrap instead of bun (also great for keto!) |
| Little hamburger | Sub lettuce wrap instead of bun |
Hot dogs
Low-sodium hot dog options: None
Hot dogs and other types of processed meats are notoriously high in sodium – 800 milligrams of sodium per hot dog, according to the Five Guys nutrition tables!
Drinks
Low-sodium drink options: likely all soft drinks, water
Five Guys serves Coca-Cola products at participating locations, and soft drinks aren’t a significant source of sodium.
Fries
Low-sodium fries: none
French fries are a big hit, but unfortunately part of the reason they taste so good is because of the hefty amount of salt added. An order of regular fries contains over 900 milligrams of sodium, so definitely not feasible for a low-sodium diet.
Milkshakes/mix-ins
You might not think of ice cream as a food that contains sodium, but it does (it impacts how the liquid ingredients freeze) – and there is too much sodium in the milkshake base (360 milligrams) to fit within a low-sodium diet.
Some of the milkshake mix-ins are low in sodium. We’re not sure what you’d do with just the mix-ins, but hey – who are we to limit your creativity?
| Item | Low-sodium |
| Milkshake base | NO |
| Bacon (mix-in) | NO |
| Banana | YES |
| Chocolate | YES |
| Cherry | YES |
| Coffee | YES |
| Dark vanilla syrup | YES |
| Malted milk | Depends on the amount used (87-268 mg sodium listed in nutrition tables) |
| Oreo Creme | YES |
| Oreo cookie pieces | Depends on the amount used (53-210 mg sodium listed in nutrition tables) |
| Peanut butter | Depends on the amount used (71-285 mg sodium listed in nutrition tables) |
| Salted caramel | YES |
| Strawberry | YES |
| Whipped cream | YES |
Sandwiches
Low-sodium sandwich options: none
Like the burgers, there aren’t any low-sodium sandwich options thanks to the sodium in the bun and some of the toppings included. You could create a lettuce wrap sandwich without cheese if you wanted, but that sounds more like a salad, so it might not be what you were hoping for in a sandwich.
Toppings
Many of the toppings and condiments at Five Guys (BBQ sauce, cheese, ketchup, etc) don’t fall below the 140 milligrams of sodium threshold, but there are several low-sodium options to choose from below.
| Item | Low-sodium |
| Green peppers | YES |
| Grilled mushrooms | YES |
| Jalapeno peppers | YES |
| Lettuce | YES |
| Mayonnaise | YES |
| Mustard | YES |
| Onions/grilled onions | YES |
| Relish | YES |
| Tomatoes | YES |
| Bulk peanuts | Sodium not listed – likely not low-sodium |
| Malt vinegar | YES (sodium not listed – but per USDA contains 0 mg sodium) |
FAQs:
The lowest-sodium burger off the regular menu is a little hamburger which contains 380 milligrams of sodium as listed on the regular menu. If you sub a lettuce wrap instead of the bun, it would only contain around 50 milligrams of sodium, making it truly low-sodium. (That amount could change with adding higher-sodium toppings, though.)
request since the fries are made in large quantities.
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