Applebee's Allergen Menu

By Applebees Menu Guide Editors · updated October 31, 2026

Researched and maintained by Muhammad Suheer, Founder & Editor · Prices last verified October 31, 2026 · How we check prices

Dietary Suitability Matrix

Every dish in one row: whether it's vegetarian, whether it's a gluten-free option, and which of the seven major allergens it carries. “Gluten-free option” means no wheat in the standard recipe — not celiac-safe, because the kitchen is shared. 6 of the 30 dishes are vegetarian, and 11 have no wheat in the recipe.

Allergen Counts at a Glance: Which Allergens Narrow the Menu Most

Counted from the same 30 published dishes as every other table on this page. If you avoid more than one allergen, start with the rarest one — that is the filter that leaves you the shortest list.

How to Order Safely at Applebee's

Filter the interactive table above to shortlist, then use this as your ordering script: what to start with for each allergen, and the one thing to confirm with your server before it hits the table.

How to Use Applebee's Official Allergen Tool (and When to Ask Instead)

The tables above cover the 30 dishes Applebee's publishes full allergen data for. For everything else — and before you order — use Applebee's official Nutrition & Allergen tool. It is the source of truth for the current menu, and it works like this:

1. Open the interactive nutrition menu from the Nutrition & Allergens link on applebees.com, then use the allergen and lifestyle filter next to the search bar.
2. Tick every allergen you avoid — the tool tracks the nine major allergens (egg, fish, milk, peanuts, sesame, shellfish, soy, tree nuts and wheat), plus sulfites and gluten-containing ingredients. The menu narrows to dishes without those allergens as ingredients.
3. Open each dish you are considering. The calculator shows the allergens for the dish as built, and it updates when you customise — removing a sauce or swapping a side can change the list.
4. Check sides, sauces and dressings separately. A safe entrée can become unsafe because of the side or sauce it comes with, and sauces are where many allergens arrive.
5. Re-check on every visit. Suppliers and recipes change by franchise, and Applebee's notes that supply constraints can cause ingredient substitutions that are not reflected online.

Know the tool's limits before you trust it. Applebee's states that, because it has multiple sources of allergens in its shared cooking and prep areas — including common fryer oil — it cannot guarantee that any menu item can be completely free of allergens, and it does not claim its items are “gluten free” under the FDA definition. Limited-time and regional items may also not be in the published data at all.

Ask for the manager, not just the server, when any of these apply: the allergy is severe or could cause anaphylaxis, the item is limited-time or regional and is not in the tool, the dish is fried (shared oil), or what the tool says does not match what the restaurant tells you. Tell them the why as well as the what, and ask what precautions the kitchen can take — fresh utensils, a clean grill surface, sauces on the side. If the kitchen cannot confirm an item, pick something it can: the printable Nutrition & Allergen Guide (PDF) below carries the same published data as this page, so you can hand it to a server and work through it together.

This Page vs Applebee's Official Allergen Tool

They answer different questions. Use both: this page to plan, the official tool to re-check on the day.

Gluten-Free Options at Applebee's

These are the 11 dishes with no wheat in the standard recipe, out of the 30 items Applebee's publishes allergen data for. No wheat is not the same as celiac-safe — the kitchen is shared, so treat this as a shortlist, not a guarantee.

Dairy-Free Options at Applebee's

Milk is one of the hardest allergens to dodge here — only 6 of the 30 dishes have none in the standard recipe. The two steaks both carry milk, so don't assume a plain steak is dairy-free.

Soy-Free Options at Applebee's

Honestly, this is a short list: only 5 of the 30 dishes have no soy. Soy shows up in fryers, breadings and sauces across the menu, so if soy is your allergen, these five plus a conversation with your server are your starting point.

Dishes With the Fewest Allergens

If you're juggling more than one allergy, start here: the 8 dishes with the lowest allergen counts, sorted from cleanest to most. Three sides carry none at all.

Highest-Risk Dishes (4+ Allergens)

These 6 dishes each carry four of the major allergens, so they're the ones to rule out first when anyone at the table has a serious allergy.

Nut and Shellfish Allergies: What's Safe

Good news for these two: they're the easiest allergens to avoid at Applebee's. In the 30 published dishes, tree nuts appear only via the almonds on the Oriental Chicken Salad, and shellfish only in the Bourbon Street Chicken & Shrimp. Everything else below is clear of both — but the shared kitchen caveat still applies, so tell your server.

Celiac Disease: Why Careful Ordering Isn't Enough

That's the unpopular answer, so here's the reasoning. A good handful of items have no wheat in the standard recipe, and both Top Sirloin steaks are flagged as gluten-free options. On paper, that looks like plenty.

It isn't. "No wheat in the recipe" and "safe for celiac disease" are two separate claims, and this data only supports the first one. In any shared kitchen a grill, a pair of tongs or a fryer basket is enough to undo a wheat-free recipe, and Applebee's kitchens are shared. For a mild intolerance, the 8 oz. Top Sirloin with Steamed Broccoli is a sound order at 930 calories combined. For a reaction that costs you two days, no amount of careful ordering fixes the kitchen.

Tell the server why, not only what.

Soy Is the Hard One

People show up worried about gluten. Soy is what actually narrows the menu. It's in almost everything, including places you wouldn't think to look, like the Classic Fries and the Blackened Cajun Salmon. Hide soy in the table above and you're left with a short list, mostly vegetables.

Dairy and Eggs

Milk is in most dishes too. Both Top Sirloin steaks carry it, which surprises anyone who assumes a plain steak is dairy-free. Eggs are much easier to avoid, since they mostly turn up in the breaded items.

Nuts and Shellfish

These are the easiest two to avoid. Tree nuts mostly come from the almonds on salads like the Oriental Chicken Salad. Shellfish means shrimp: the Bourbon Street Chicken & Shrimp, the Double Crunch Shrimp and the Tex-Mex Shrimp Bowl.

Peanuts and Sesame: The Two Allergens Nothing Here Flags

Applebee's official allergen information tracks the nine major allergens. The tables above cover seven of them — milk, eggs, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish and tree nuts — because those are the ones the published dishes actually flag. Peanuts and sesame are the other two, and neither is flagged in any of the 30 dishes Applebee's publishes allergen data for.

That is a statement about the 30 published dishes, not a guarantee about the whole menu. Limited-time and regional items aren't in the published set, and a franchise can change a sauce, a bun or a dessert topping without the published data changing. If peanut or sesame is your allergen, this page can't clear an item for you: check the official tool, which does track both, and ask the kitchen about seasonal items, sauces and desserts specifically before you order.

What This Table Covers

Only the dishes Applebee's publishes full allergen details for. If we can't check an item, it stays out, because an allergen table with guesses in it is worse than a short one.

A franchise can also swap a bun or a dressing supplier without announcing it, and that changes the columns for that one restaurant. Use this to plan the conversation with your server. If a row is wrong, tell us.

Applebee's Allergen Menu (PDF)

Prefer the whole thing on one printable page? Our Nutrition & Allergen Guide (PDF) carries the same published data as this page — calories, protein, carbs, fat, sodium, sugar and the allergens for all 30 dishes — in a single file you can save, print or hand to a server. Reference data checked October 2026. The filterable table above is the faster tool when you're avoiding one specific allergen; the PDF is the one to keep on a phone.

Related guides

Once you know what you can eat, the numbers live in the full Applebee's nutrition and calorie table. Planning a group meal around allergies? Start with Applebee's catering for guests with allergies, check which appetizers on the 2 for $25 menu fit your limits, time a dine-in visit for half-price appetizers at happy hour, and use the same shortlist for lunch or takeout — the server-confirmation step still applies off-premises, because the kitchen and its suppliers are the same.

Related: calories and nutrition facts, the full menu with prices, and the salads breakdown, where most restricted orders end up.