It is rare when I find a restaurant that is consciously aware of the sodium content in the food they prepare. Imagine my surprise when I find a sodium guide while doing research to find out if we can eat low sodium at Sonic! Kudos to Sonic for providing this information to the low sodium community! I do have one small complaint though, the last time they did an update was in 2013. It does have relevant information, I don’t want to nitpick, but I will take this opportunity to add to the list. It looks like this guide was created before they offered breakfast at Sonic.
Let’s take a quick review of what criteria we use to discern if we can have a “meal.” The USDA recommends a healthy person maintain a diet that is at 2300 mg of sodium or less per day. The Mayo Clinic and the American Heart Association recommend 1500 mg per day for everyone age 50 and up. It is also the limit for anyone with Hypertension (High Blood Pressure), or are in a demographic at risk for heart disease. So we ideally want a meal to come in around at a third of our daily allowance. That is the ballpark of 750 mg for the meal.
We also believe that a meal should not be items strictly on the “kids” menu. It feels demeaning to an adult to resort to that. We do call out kids menu items as it is important to also keep our children healthy. All of the information we report here is taken from the Sonic Menu Nutrition Information. We will add an asterisk (*) if the item is also listed on the Sonic Sodium Guide.
Can I Eat Low Sodium at Sonic?
Breakfast:
Cinnasnacks without cream cheese frosting 3-piece – 210 mg.
Cinnasnacks without cream cheese frosting 5-piece – 350 mg.
Cream Cheese frosting – 260 mg.
French Toast Sticks (4) without syrup – 490 mg.
Syrup – 0 mg.
Lunch/Dinner:
JR Burger – 480 mg.*
JR Deluxe Burger – 500 mg.*
Chicken Strip Sandwich – 790 mg. (This is normally too high, but Sonic includes it on their low sodium at sonic guide)*
Chicken Strips (2) – Kid’s Meal – 450 mg.*
Corn Dog – 570 mg.*
Toppings – Hatch Green Chiles – 0 mg.
Toppings – Grilled Onions – 30 mg.
Toppings – Avocado – 30 mg.
Snacks & Sides:
Natural cut fries (small) – 290 mg.
Tater Tots (small) – 560 mg.*
Jumbo Popcorn Chicken (mini) – 530 mg.
Spicy Jumbo Popcorn (mini) – 430 mg.
Apple Slices – 0 mg.*
Ched ‘r’ bites (mini) – 600 mg.
Chili Cheese Natural Cut Fries (mini) – 340 mg.
Handmade Onion Rings (mini) – 220 mg.
Natural Cut Fries w/ cheese (mini) – 300 mg.
Beverages:
Coffee/Iced Coffee:
Coffee Regular (16 oz.) – 40 mg.
Iced Coffee Plain (small) – 75 mg. (Med) – 120 mg. (Lg) – 250 mg. (RT 44 oz) – 260 mg.
Iced coffees with flavors will run between 75 mg per small to 350 mg per 44 0z.
Lemonade/Limeade:
Lemonade will run 5mg for a small and up to 30 mg for a 44 oz.
Signature Flavored Lemonades and Limeades will run 5 mg for a small to 95 mg for a 44 oz depending on flavors and sizes.
Frozen Lemonade will run 25 mg for the Kid’s Wacky Pack size to 90 mg for a 44 oz.
Frozen Limeade will run 25 mg for the Kid’s Wacky Pack size to 90 mg for a 44 oz.
Soft Drinks, Juices & Iced Teas:
Soft Drinks will run 0 mg for small and up to 190 mg per 44 oz depending on flavors and sizes.
Iced Teas will run from 0 mg for a small and up to 45 mg for a 44 oz depending on flavors and sizes.
Apple Juice (box) – 0 mg*
Orange Juice (small) – 0 mg.
Orange Juice (large) – 0 mg.
Shakes, Malts, & Desserts
Sonic Blasts – If you stay with a mini or small of each flavor you will stay between 240 and 500 mg.
Master Blasts – You must stick with the minis to run between 350 to 500 mg.
Classic Shakes and Malts – Stay with mini or small size to run from 240 to 500 mg.
Master Shakes and Malts – Stay with mini size only to stay under 500 mg.
Creamery Shakes – Stay with the mini size to run under 500 mg.
Real Ice Cream Sundaes – will run from 230 to 350 mg.
Waffle Cone Sundaes – will run 220 – 270 mg.
Cones – 150 – 200 mg.
Real Fruit Slushes – from mini to 44 oz will run 20 to 100 mg.
Candy Slushes – Stay with a medium or smaller to stay under 300 mg of sodium
Famous Slushes – Stay with medium or smaller to stay under 100 mg of sodium
This is the most current list for what you can eat and stay low sodium at Sonic. I will update this post when they update their menus. There are plenty of options to choose and eat low sodium at Sonic. What are some of your favorite items? Are they on the list?