6 Fast Food Chains That Use Fresh, Never Frozen Vegetables

When you order from a fast food restaurant, you probably aren't thinking about who's chopping the vegetables for your meal. After all, with food coming out of the kitchen in minutes, it's easy to assume most ingredients arrive ready to serve. But at some popular chains, employees separate whole lettuce leaves, slice bell peppers, and cut potatoes into fries right inside the restaurant.

Fresh vegetables show up in more places than on top of a burger. They can make up the base of a salad, be tucked into a quesadilla, or served alongside a sandwich. You don't have to order from the vegan options at major fast food restaurants to find them, either.

These six fast food and fast-casual chains describe using fresh produce in everything from sandwich toppings to hand-cut fries. While this doesn't automatically mean that every vegetable on their menus is fresh or never frozen, there are plenty of ingredients that receive some attention in the kitchen. Here's a closer look at which vegetables are prepared fresh and how they make their way onto your order.

For a burger with some bite, choose the fresh jalapeños at Five Guys. Employees slice them in the restaurant each morning, along with green peppers, while onions are diced and lettuce is torn by hand. On the Five Guys website, the chain explicitly states that its toppings are never frozen and lists 15 free topping choices (so you know that adding hand-chopped peppers and onions won't come with a separate charge). The fries get hands-on treatment, too: The potatoes are cut in-store, soaked in water, and fried twice in peanut oil.

At In-N-Out Burger, lettuce does more than sit underneath a bun. Ordering a burger Protein Style — one of the options on In-N-Out's secret menu — means lettuce leaves replace the bun. The chain's ingredients arrive fresh at its restaurants, where they're prepared without ever going into a freezer. Employees separate iceberg lettuce by hand, with fresh tomatoes and onions also available for burgers. The same approach extends to the fries: Whole potatoes arrive from farms and are cut in-store using a wall-mounted, hand-operated cutter before cooking.

Wendy's isn't just focused on keeping its beef fresh, as its U.S. restaurants receive fresh tomatoes from greenhouse farms. Employees then slice or chop tomatoes for sandwiches and salads, so the whole vegetable can become a burger topping or a salad ingredient. Wendy's also prepares its salads daily, using romaine and spring mix that is washed, cut, and dried before assembly. For anyone browsing fast food salad options, the chain offers another way to order fresh produce beyond the lettuce and tomato on a burger.

The vegetables at Chipotle aren't just kept on the cold end of the serving line. Fajita vegetables bring peppers and onions to your order, including in the chain's fajita quesadilla. Chipotle prepares fresh food daily without restaurant freezers, and its fresh produce also includes whole avocados mashed for guacamole throughout the day. For a quesadilla with fajita veggies, order through the app or website; the chain currently reserves quesadilla orders for these digital channels.

At Jersey Mike's, vegetables are part of what makes a sandwich Mike's Way. Employees hand-slice fresh lettuce, onions, and tomatoes every morning before using them to top subs. Ordering a sandwich Mike's Way means your sub comes with those vegetables, along with olive oil, red wine vinegar, and spices. You can also skip the bread altogether by ordering a Sub in a Tub, which serves the sandwich fillings and sliced vegetables in a bowl instead. Fresh vegetables aren't limited to cold subs: Jersey Mike's also grills onions and peppers for its hot cheesesteaks.

The Original Chicken Sandwich might be the best-selling item at Chick-fil-A, but its salads get their fair share of kitchen prep, too. Fresh vegetables and fruits arrive at its restaurants up to six times a week, and employees prepare salads throughout the day rather than making them all ahead and storing them. Fresh produce isn't limited to entrée salads, either: The Side Salad includes mixed greens and grape tomatoes, while the Kale Crunch Side combines curly kale and green cabbage.