Seed Oil Free Restaurants: Chains Cooking With Beef Tallow, Butter, or Olive Oil

Eating out is the hardest part of avoiding seed oils, since most restaurant fryers run on soybean or canola oil for cost reasons. But over the past couple of years, a real, documented wave of chains has publicly announced switching to beef tallow, olive oil, or avocado oil, driven by a mix of customer demand and the broader "Make America Healthy Again" conversation around ultra-processed food.

Several national chains have made verifiable public commitments to drop seed oils: Steak 'n Shake now fries in 100% beef tallow, Sweetgreen and True Food Kitchen use only extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil, and Smashburger cooks in beef tallow. Other chains like Five Guys and Chick-fil-A have long used peanut oil for some items, though not their entire menu.

Which chains have officially confirmed a switch away from seed oils?

What did Steak 'n Shake actually announce?

In January 2025, Steak 'n Shake announced it would switch to 100% all-natural beef tallow for its fries, onion rings, and chicken tenders across all of its restaurants by the end of February 2025. Chief Supply Chain Officer Chris Ward said in the company's press release that "our fries will now be cooked in an authentic way, 100% beef tallow, in order to achieve the highest quality and best taste." The company positioned itself as the first major fast food chain to make the full switch back to tallow, and the announcement drew attention partly because U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. later visited a location to promote the change as part of his broader push against seed oils.

What did Sweetgreen and True Food Kitchen change?

Sweetgreen launched its first fully seed-oil-free menu in January 2025, after a gradual transition that started the year before. CEO Jonathan Neman said the oils were chosen because they are "minimally processed, rich in healthy fats and free from the high-heat extraction methods used for seed oils like sunflower oil."

True Food Kitchen went further, announcing in February 2025 that it had become 100% seed oil free across all 46 of its restaurants in 18 states, using only avocado and olive oil in every one of its 100-plus menu items. The transition took about three years, since the chain had to reformulate items where seed oils were hiding in less obvious places, like red pepper flakes and prepared sauces. Head of Culinary Matthew Padilla told PR Newswire, "This isn't just a trend or a tagline, this is who we are," describing the process as "reevaluating hundreds of items across our kitchens."

What about the big fast food chains, are any of them seed oil free?

Mostly no, and it's worth being clear about that rather than overstating the trend. Most large fast food chains, including McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King, still use canola, soybean, or blended vegetable oil for the majority of their fryers as of this writing. A few chains occupy a middle ground worth knowing about:

• Five Guys fries its potatoes exclusively in refined peanut oil, and has for years, though peanut oil's classification as a "seed oil" is debated since peanuts are legumes, not true seeds.
• Chick-fil-A cooks its breaded chicken in refined peanut oil, but its waffle fries and hash browns are cooked separately in a canola oil blend, so the chain is not fully seed oil free.
• In-N-Out fries its potatoes in 100% sunflower oil, but its buns and spread still contain soybean oil, so the fries alone don't make the whole meal seed oil free.

Because oil sourcing and menu formulations change, always check a chain's current published ingredient or allergen list before assuming a past announcement still applies, especially for multi-location chains where the switch sometimes rolls out market by market before going fully nationwide.

Why are so many chains making this change right now?

The shift lines up with a broader "Make America Healthy Again" conversation about ultra-processed food and industrial seed oils that gained mainstream attention through 2024 and 2025, along with growing customer demand for perceived cleaner ingredients. Whether the health case against seed oils holds up under scrutiny is genuinely contested among researchers, as we cover in our guide to what seed oils actually are, but the market response from restaurant chains has been real and measurable regardless of where the science eventually lands.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Chick-fil-A use seed oils?

Partly. Its breaded chicken is cooked in refined peanut oil, but its waffle fries and hash browns are cooked in a separate canola oil blend fryer, so the chain is not fully seed oil free across its full menu.

Is Steak 'n Shake's beef tallow switch permanent across all locations?

According to the company's own January 2025 announcement, the rollout covered fries, onion rings, and chicken tenders at all restaurants by the end of February 2025. As with any chain-wide change, confirm current practice at your specific location if it matters to you, since supplier and menu details can shift over time.

Sources

• PR Newswire: Steak 'n Shake to Use 100% Beef Tallow
• PR Newswire: True Food Kitchen Goes 100% Seed Oil-Free
• Foodbeast: Sweetgreen Switches to Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• QSR Magazine: Why Beef Tallow Is Back on the Menu in 2025
• Five Guys: Nutrition and Allergy Information