Jersey Mike’s knows how to do gluten-free right! In this post, I’ll share how you can safely eat at Jersey Mike’s when you’re following a strict gluten-free diet. Please see my disclosures.
Jersey Mike’s gluten-free menu is plentiful and totally safe for those with celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and gluten intolerance.
In fact, gluten-free customers can order just about any sub on Jersey Mike’s gluten-free menu without worry of getting glutened.
While Subway struggles to serve the gluten-free community, Jersey Mike’s does it with flying colors and puts it at ease with its commitment to getting gluten-free right.
In this article, I’ll discuss what’s gluten-free on Jersey’s Mike’s menu, as well as reveal how Jersey Mike’s performed when I tested one of its gluten-free sandwiches for hidden gluten with my Nima Sensor, a portable gluten-detecting device.
Does Jersey Mike’s Have Gluten-Free Bread?
Yes, Jersey Mike’s offers gluten-free bread safe for customers with celiac disease and other disorders that require a person to follow a gluten-free diet.
It all started in December 2017 when Jersey Mike’s announced it would use pre-packaged gluten-free sub rolls by Udi’s at all of its 1,300 locations nationwide.
The company said, “Udi’s gluten-free sub rolls arrive at the restaurant individually wrapped and fully baked. The packaging is not opened until the sub is ordered and, as a result, there is little risk of cross-contamination with other subs.”
The bread roll ingredients included water, tapioca starch, brown rice flour (rice flour, rice bran), canola oil, egg whites, resistant corn starch, tapioca maltodextrin, cane sugar, sugar cane syrup, rice bran, yeast, sugarcane fiber, salt, gum (xanthan gum, sodium alginate, guar gum), cultured corn syrup solids, citric acid (mold inhibitor), locust bean gum, enzymes, and white rice flour.
Before its nationwide gluten-free launch, Jersey Mike’s had begun testing Udi’s bread in 111 Los Angeles and 19 West Palm Beach locations in December 2016.
Why Did Jersey Mike’s Add Gluten-Free Options?
The idea of offering gluten-free bread rolls came from a franchisee whose daughter had celiac disease. Given the severity of celiac disease and the difficulties of feeding someone a safe gluten-free meal without exposing them to even a crumb of gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and sometimes oats is a challenge.
The potential for gluten cross-contamination inside a sandwich restaurant is a real threat to the health of someone with celiac disease.
That’s why Jersey Mike’s enlisted the help of the Gluten Intolerance Group to help train its team members on how to carefully prepare a sub sandwich for someone with celiac disease or gluten intolerance.
Jersey Mike’s team members have been trained to change their gloves when handling the gluten-free bread rolls.
They also know to use clean knives and other utensils that haven’t touched other bread products when slicing the gluten-free rolls.
And they prepare each sub on parchment paper to avoid having the bread come in contact with gluten crumbs.
Jersey Mike’s Gluten-Free Menu
With the addition of gluten-free bread, almost every hot and cold sub on the Jersey Mike’s menu can be made gluten-free. Any hot or cold sub can also be served in a bowl as a salad.
The only exceptions include the #15 Meatball and Cheese and the #18 Chicken Parm. Both hot subs contain gluten and should be avoided by anyone on a gluten-free diet.
Jersey Mike’s offers a database on its site where you plug a sandwich name into the database, and it’ll list the exact ingredients contained in that sub.
Cold Subs That Can Be Made Gluten-Free
- #1 BLT
- #2 Jersey Shore’s Favorite
- #3 Ham Provolone
- #4 The Number Four
- #5 The Super Sub
- #6 Roast Beef and Provolone
- #7 Turkey and Provolone
- #8 Club Sub
- #9 Club Supreme
- #10 Tuna Fish
- #11 Stickball Special
- #12 Cancro Special
- #13 The Original Italian
- #14 The Veggie
- Salami and Cheese
- California Club Sub
- California Dreamin’
- Chipotle Turkey Sub
- Natural Turkey Sub
- Turkey Club Sub
Hot Subs That Can Be Made Gluten-Free
- #16 Mike’s Chicken Philly
- #17 Mike’s Famous Philly
- #19 BBQ Beef
- #20 Grilled Pastrami Reuben
- #31 California Chicken Cheese Steak
- #42 Chipotle Chicken Cheese Steak
- #43 Chipotle Cheese Steak
- #44 Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steak
- #55 Big Kahuna Chicken Cheese Steak
- #56 Big Kahuna Cheese Steak
- #79 Grilled Italian
Breakfast Options
The following breakfast sandwiches can be made gluten-free:
- #2 Bacon, Egg, and Cheese
- #3 Sausage, Egg and Cheese
- #4 Ham, Egg, and Cheese
- #5 Steak, Egg and Cheese
- Egg and Cheese Sandwich
Chips and Cookies That Are Gluten-Free
Jersey Mike’s also offers other gluten-free options at select locations:
Chips: You can find Lay’s potato chips, Doritos, and Cheetos at many Jersey Mike’s locations. Please note that some Miss Vickies chips contain barley malt and are therefore not gluten-free. Read ingredient labels carefully.
Cookies: As for dessert options, Jersey Mike’s carries pre-packaged gluten-free cookies by Udi’s.
How Jersey Mike’s Handles Gluten-Free Orders
Jersey Mike’s has put into place the following protocols to handle gluten allergy orders:
Pre-Baked and Wrapped Bread: Fully baked and wrapped Udi’s gluten-free sub rolls are delivered to the restaurants. The packaging is opened only once a customer orders a gluten-free sub.
Change of Gloves: Jersey Mike’s team members will use new gloves when handling gluten-free ingredients.
Use of Parchment Paper: All gluten-free subs are prepared on a piece of parchment paper.
Clean Knives: Employees use clean knives and separate utensils when preparing and slicing the gluten-free rolls.
Griddle Wipe Down: For hot sandwiches, team members wipe down the griddle.
Fresh, Untouched Ingredients: Jersey Mike’s employees can pull fresh ingredients from untouched, clean containers at the customer’s request.
Dedicated Prep Area: In Jersey Mike’s in Greenwood Village, CO, the gluten-free sub is prepared on a different surface than the prep area used for making other sandwiches.
Did Nima Sensor Find Gluten at Jersey Mike’s?
I used my Nima Sensor to check if the sandwich I ordered at Jersey Mike’s was really gluten-free.
To test it for hidden gluten, I put a pea-sized amount of the sandwich inside a single-use Nima test capsule and allowed Nima to do its thing for 1-2 minutes.
A smiley face means no gluten found. A “Gluten Found” message means the device found gluten. (Read: Is the Nima Sensor Accurate?)
I tested both the bread and the meat inside my sandwich (two separate tests). You can watch me test my food for hidden gluten in the following video.
If you don’t have time to watch the full video, you can rest assured that my sandwich tested okay – no gluten found!
My Overall Thoughts on Jersey Mike’s
While I was pleased with the process and happy that Nima didn’t find any gluten, I wasn’t over the moon in love with my sandwich.
It looked sad and wasn’t all that delicious. But none-the-less, I appreciated the opportunity to eat a sub sandwich without worrying about gluten. For people with gluten allergies, this is a game-changer.
Additional Information
Read how other restaurants fared when put to the Nima Sensor test:
- What’s Gluten-Free at the Cheesecake Factory?
- What’s Gluten Free at the Olive Garden
- Is the Panera Gluten-Free Menu Really Gluten-Free?
- How to Eat Gluten-Free at Bonefish Grill
- Does Subway Have Gluten-Free Bread or Gluten-Free Menu?
Eat out often? Download my Ultimate Guide to Eating Out Gluten Free or read my book, Dear Gluten, It’s Not Me, It’s You.
Thinking of eating at Subway instead? Think again after reading my article about the non-existent gluten-free protocols at Subway.
Jersey Mike’s truly have terrible fall apart rolls that are throw backs to what was available 20 years ago, before GF manufacturers figured out how to make rolls and breads that are chewy and moist. Even JM manufacturer makes much better rolls for other restaurants.
However, the real problem with their subs was the lack of meat and cheese…jeeezzz guys, not even an 1/8″ of protein and the ham was just a pressed square block of pseudo ham/SPAM with no taste.
Also, their seems to be a lot of false health claims from self proclaimed GF experts. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that has slow developing intestional systems when gluten is consumed over time that deteriorated the intestional cilia. It is not a an alerrgy. That is a very rare different disease with different symptoms.
So may other restaurants that have better rolls and meat in their subs, I would never go back to JM’s.
Yes I verified the GF sub options and they’re listed in this post.
How have you confirmed that ALL of their cold cuts options are gluten free? From your article, I think you verified that the meats on your sandwich are gluten free, but I doubt that’s the whole menu. Most cold cuts contain gluten. If a manufacturer offers a gluten free meat, it will be clearly marked. Only Boars Head guarantees that their entire line is gluten-free, but I did not see a “serving Boars Head…” sign (most restaurants would want to brag about that because they’re $$).
I’m just saying, we ate at Jersey Mikes last night, the manager guaranteed clean gloves, clean knives, clean, designated surface for my tuna witb cheese on a gluten free sub, but I still got hit with symptoms.
If you look at Jersey Mike’s website they have ingredients in the meats such as smoke flavoring, and other ingredients that make them unsafe for people with Celiac Disease. 🙁
I was at Jersey Mike’s at the Monroe commons in NY at the food court. They told me the bread was gluten free. When I asked them about meats and cheeses they told me they were not gluten-free! I was very disappointed!
I asked them what did they put in their tuna. After hearing the ingredients I told them that the tuna must be gluten-free!
I would have loved the Philly sandwich! I just saw a video on Facebook where she tested the meat inside that sandwich and it was gluten-free! Please instruct your people about this!!
Oh no! Thanks for the heads up.
My store in Vadnais Heights Minnesota makes my sub in a separate location ,but won’t use separate toppings from a clean area. I get the same toppings as every one else. The cross contamination worries me!
I’m so glad it worked out for you. Yay!!
I had a Jersey Mike’s Gluten Free sun for the first time today in Glenmont, NY. You have NO IDEA how awesome it was to be able to have a REGULAR sub. I haven’t had on in over 13 years until today and it was fantastic. I have Celiac Disease and had absolutely no issues and believe me, I would’ve been sicker than a dog if there was any gluten or cross contamination. Thank you Jersey Mike’s !!!!