Keto McDonalds Breakfast Ordering Guide: The How To!

While some of the worst foods for keto are on the breakfast menu (sorry, pancakes!) some of the best ones are, too– eggs, bacon, sausage are all keto staples.

So, when McDonalds moved to an all-day breakfast menu, that opened up a lot of convenient options for the keto crowd.

To help you navigate the menu, below is our guide to a ketogenic McDonalds breakfast!

Keto McDonalds Breakfast Ordering Guide

The main thing to note is that muffins, biscuits, and bagels are big no-nos. So, what’s a breakfast sandwich without the bun? Well, basically meat, eggs, and cheese. With that in mind, here are the various ways you can order a combination of those three items.

• Big Breakfast Plate: No Biscuit, No Hash Browns
  • What you get: Scrambled eggs, Sausage Patty.
  • 2g net carbs

• Sausage Burrito: No Tortilla
  • What you get: Scrambled eggs mixed with Sausage, Veggies, and Cheese.
  • 4g net carbs
• Egg McMuffin: No English Muffin
  • What you get: Eggs, American cheese, Canadian bacon
  • 2g net carbs
• Egg White Delight McMuffin: No English Muffin
  • What you get: Egg whites, Cheddar cheese, Canadian bacon
  • 2g net carbs

• Sausage McMuffin No Egg: No Muffin
  • What you get: Sausage Patty and Cheese
  • 2g net carbs

• Sausage McMuffin/McGriddle with Egg: No Muffin or McGriddle
  • What you get: Sausage Patty, Egg, Cheese
  • 3g net carbs

• Bacon Egg & Cheese Biscuit/Bagel/McGriddle: No Biscuit/Bagel/McGriddle
  • What you get: Bacon, Egg, Cheese
  • 3g net carbs

• Steak Egg & Cheese Biscuit/Bagel: No Biscuit/Bagel/McGriddle
  • What you get: Steak Patty, Egg, Cheese, Onions
  • 3g net carbs

Note: It might be the easiest to order A-La-Carte. Meaning if you know you want an egg with sausage you can order it without having to order a sausage and egg biscuit without the biscuit.

A-La-Carte Ordering Nutrition Stats

• Sausage Patty: 1g net carb
• Steak Patty: 0g net carb
• Eggs: 1g net carb
• Canadian Bacon: 1g net carb
• Bacon: 1g net carb
• Cheese Slice: 1g net carb

Keto Friendly McDonald’s Dipping Sauces:

• Creamy Ranch – 1g net carb
• Spicy Buffalo – 1g net carb
• Butter – 0g net carb
• Mustard – 0g net carb
• Mayonnaise – 0g net carb

McCafe Options

Because McDonalds offers Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup, you can actually order a few keto friendly coffee drinks!

Low Carb McDonalds Breakfast Drink Guide

• Iced French Vanilla Coffee (medium): Sub-Sugar-free Vanilla
  • 4g net carbs
  • Save 4g net carbs by leaving out the cream, getting you to 0g net carbs
• Medium Coffee
  • 2g net carbs
  • Remember that cream has 4g net carbs in a medium
  • You can use Equal or Splenda as sweeteners (but learn more about keto-friendly sweeteners here)
• Americano
  • Very similar to coffee but 0g net carbs. If you can switch to Americanos from black coffee, you can save a couple net carbs.
  • No milk or cream option is safe!

Calculating Net Carbs: While the syrup is sugar-free, it still contains 2g of carbs per pump. Those carbs are actually sugar alcohols in the form of erythritol. As we normally subtract sugar alcohols from total carbs and fiber, that leaves the McDonalds syrup at 0g of net carbs.

It is interesting to note that not all sugar alcohols are created equal. Some have a glycemic index of zero (stevia, erythritol, monk fruit, etc.) meaning there is no measurable impact on blood glucose levels.

However, others are “low glycemic”, at or around a glycemic index of 30 (maltitol, sorbitol, etc.). What that means is that there is some blood glucose increase, albeit less than that of table sugar (Glycemic Index of 100). As a result, many advise moderation with these low GI sugar alcohols. Maltitol has also been known to cause GI upset in some people.

Check out more details about the top low carb and keto sugar substitutes sugar alcohols and their blood sugar impact here!

Another note: The cream that McDonalds uses are a “light cream” that is 2g-4g net carbs, depending on the size of the drink. If you must use cream, it probably won’t derail your keto efforts. But keep those numbers in mind.

How can I spruce up the keto McDonalds breakfast options?

For almost everything that you can’t eat at McDonalds for breakfast, there’s a ketogenic McDonalds alternative that you can buy for home.

• Does an Egg McMuffin without a muffin seem sad to you? Mikey’s sells some great keto and Paleo muffins that you can swap in for their high carb counterparts.
• McDonalds doesn’t have any keto-friendly syrups on the menu. But there are some that you can buy and drizzle on your sausage (we know who you are!).
• Can’t live without hotcakes? There are also some great keto friendly pancakes and waffles that you can add to your order.

• Hash browns aren’t very keto-friendly. But, if you absolutely need some of that texture in your life, Outer Aisle Gourmet’s Cauliflower Sandwich Thins, fried up on a pan with some butter are a great-tasting alternative.
• Not down with the McCafe coffee options? Check out our favorite on-the-go butter coffee options to bring with you through the drive-thru.
• Do you like ketchup with breakfast? It’s normally out of bounds for keto but Heinz makes Reduced Sugar ketchup that will do the trick.