How to Order Low Carb at Long John Silver’s

Learn how to order low carb Long John Silver’s and get full for less than $10.

Get my custom 18 item Long John Silver’s low carb menu.

It’s a great resource for keto Long John Silver’s lovers or anyone who wants to eat low carb, low sugar, Atkins, keto, or diabetic friendly at Long John Silver’s.

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Howdy! Ryan here. This is stop #24 on my low carb fast food challenge. For each fast food chain I evaluate:

1. Availability of low carb entrees (less than 20 net carbs).
2. Satiety of low carb entrees.
3. Price of low carb entrees.
4. Taste of low carb entrees
5. Ordering experience.

  Download My Personal Long John Silver’s Menu

What to order

The first question to answer when you walk in to Long John’s Silvers is whether you’re going to order baked or fried seafood. There’s a tradeoff.

The fried seafood has more carbs but tastes better. The baked seafood is low carb and tasty, but the low calorie content leaves you hungry.

Let’s resolve these tradeoffs by reviewing the different low carb entrees you can order at Long John Silver’s.

1. Grilled Cod (1 piece)

I must have caught Long John Silver’s in the midst of some menu transition because some of their restaurants offer grilled cod while others offer baked cod. None offer both. The first Long John Silver’s had grilled. The info below reflect the stats for one piece of grilled cod a la carte. I paired it with tartar sauce, malt vinegar, and a side of green beans.

• Price – $3.99
• Nutrition – 180 calories and 1 net carb per piece.**
• Taste – Average.
• Notes – Good flavor. Tender. No fish smell. Clean to the touch. Good seasoning though I think they could a bit more for extra flavor.

The grilled cod at Long John Silver’s is a good low carb option, but you’ll need to order 2-4 pieces paired with tartar sauce (40 calories and 3 net carbs) or honey mustard sauce (60 calories and 2 net carbs) to make it a satisfying meal.

**I estimated the 180 calories based on stats for the baked cod and assuming some additional calories from the oil and seasoning they used on the grilled cod.

2. Baked Cod with Garlic Butter (2 pieces)

At the second Long John Silver’s I visited, I got the Long John Silver’s Baked Cod with garlic butter and was pleased to find that they melt the butter over the fish for you. Stats below do not include the green beans.

• Price – $4.38
• Nutrition – 422 calories and 3 net carbs.**
• Taste – Average.
• Notes – Tender. No fish smell. Good flavor thanks to the creamy butter garlic sauce.

You have to be firm with the cashier and explain you don’t want rice or hush puppies on this order. **Includes 101 calories and 1 net carb from the creamy garlic butter sauce.

3. Baked Shrimp (3 pieces)

When I’m hungry for seafood I’m normally wanting shrimp so I was excited to learn that Long John Silver’s offers shrimp on their menu. I started with a 3 piece order of their baked shrimp and paired it with their honey mustard sauce which is also surprisingly low carb. Stats below are only for the 3 pieces of shrimp.

• Price – $2.19
• Nutrition – 25 calories and 0 net carbs
• Taste – Above average.
• Notes – I love shrimp and this doesn’t disappoint. Good flavor, good texture. 3 pieces isn’t nearly enough.

The baked shrimp are a good option for keto Long John Silver’s eaters but you’ll need to order at least 9 pieces with one of their low carb sauces to get full.

4. Battered Shrimp (3 pieces)

We’re starting to get into the moderately low carb Long John’s Silver options now.

• Price – $2.29
• Nutrition – 100 calories and 5 net carbs.
• Taste – Well above average.
• Notes – Delicious. Paired well w/ all of the sauces I had — tartar, honey mustard, and  malt vinegar.

My cut off for low carb friendly is 20 calories per net carb and thankfully these battered shrimp just made the cut. You should plan to order additional low carb entrees with these shrimp if you want to get full.

5. Battered Cod (1 piece)

The Long John Silver’s Battered Cod looks tastier than expected. I was impressed.

• Price – $2.49
• Nutrition – 180 calories and 8 net carbs.
• Taste – Well above average.
• Notes – Perfectly crisp and delicious. I’d discounted Long John Silver’s fried fish, but left impressed. I’d prefer more seasoning, but understand why a fast food chain would opt for bland.

Plan to order some additional baked shrimp or baked cod along with the battered shrimp if you want to get full and stay under your daily carb quota.

6. Seasoned Green Beans (Individual Size)

As you may have noticed, I got a side of green beans with every seafood order. That’s because green beans were the only low carb side available at my Long John Silver’s.

• Price – $1.99
• Nutrition – 25 calories and 3 net carbs
• Taste – Above average.
• Notes – These were good, more flavorful than expected.

The green beans are little price-y and low calorie to order as a stand alone side, but they fit well as the free side(s) in the combos, platters, and meals that Long John Silver’s offers.

7. Dipping Sauces

Long John Silver’s has multiple low carb high calorie sauces that you can use to add flavor and calories to your seafood. Here’s the list:

• Tartar Sauce – 40 calories and 3 net carbs
• Honey Mustard Sauce – 60 calories and 2 net carbs
• Creamy Garlic Butter Sauce* – 101 calories and 1 net carb
• Creamy Ranch Dressing – 50 calories and 1 net carb
• Lemon Juice – 0 calories and 0 net carbs
• Louisiana Hot Sauce – 0 calories and 0 net carbs.
• Malt Vinegar – 0 calories and 0 net carbs.

All the above can be requested for free.

How to Get Full for Less than $10

Turns out that getting full at Long John’s Silvers is quite difficult. In fact, it’s impossible if you go to a location that serves grilled cod ($3.99 a piece) instead of the traditional baked cod ($2.19 a piece).

If you do find a Long John’s Silver location that serves baked cod, here’s what to order get full for less than $10:

Baked Cod Meal w/ Double Green Beans, Extra Garlic Butter (No Rice, No Hush Puppies) and a Side of Battered Shrimp

I went back to Long John Silver’s to try this order. It took me a bit of explaining at the counter so I wanted to share how to order it more succinctly that I did: “Baked Cod Meal with Creamy Garlic Butter Sauce, Double Green Beans, no rice and no hush puppies please. And can I get 3 battered shrimp on the side.” Once they bring you a to-go bag, ask for an extra side of creamy garlic butter and use that to flavor your green beans.

• Price – $9.20 ($6.99 for the meal and $2.29 for the extra shrimp)
• Nutrition – 672 calories and 15 net carbs
• Taste – Above average.
• Notes – Delicious and indulgent tasting. Extra side of green beans and creamy garlic butter not show.

This meal offers a great balance of keeping your carbs in check while letting you have some indulgent food with the fried shrimp and garlic butter.

What else to order

I’ve covered all the possible Long John Silver’s low carb options at my nearest location, but your location might have these additional low carb options:

• Beer Battered Cod
• Broccoli Cheese Soup

  Download My Personal Long John Silver’s Menu

My personal low carb menu is derived from the official Long John Silver’s nutrition menu PDF.

What you should avoid

In case you’re new to low carb eating, I’ll point out that you can’t eat any of the Long John Silver’s fries, rice, or corn.

There are 60 calories and 19 carbs in Long John Silver’s hush puppies so those are off limits as well.

There are some less obvious entrees and sides to avoid that I’ve listed below. They seem like they might be low carb, but aren’t.

Tempting seafood entrees to avoid:

• Fish Taco – 37 net carbs
• Breaded Clam Strips – 32 net carbs
• Crab Cake – 25 net carbs
• Popcorn Shrimp – 23 net carbs
• Battered Alaskan Pollock – 15 net carbs

Tempting sauces to avoid:

• Sweet Thai Chili Sauce – 14 net carbs
• Sweet & Sour Sauce – 12 net carbs
• Sweet & Zesty Asian Sauce – 11 net carbs
• BBQ – 10 net carbs
• Ketchup – 8 net carbs

Tempting sides to avoid:

• Cole Slaw – 16 net carbs
• Broccoli Cheese Bites – 15 net carbs

Overall Ratings

Long John Silver’s is low carb friendly because they have several seafood entrees that fit the macros for a low carb diet.

• Low carb entrees on menu – Yes, all the baked seafood is low carb.
• Satiety of low carb entrees – Below Average. You need to mix & match fried and baked seafood and add copious amounts of dipping sauces to get full.
• Taste of low carb entrees – Above Average. I was impressed by the flavor of the Long John Silver’s seafood. I’d always assumed it’s terrible, but it’s not.
• Value of low carb entrees  –  Average. There aren’t many other fast food seafood places to compare to.
• Ordering experience – Average. The cashiers accommodated me and were patient but there were a few mistakes that required me to throw away some carb heavy foods when I got home.

What’s next

My next low carb fast food guide is for Quizno’s which is the third sandwich shop on the fast food challenge!

Subway was #1 and Jimmy John’s was #2

I’m excited!

If you want to get my Quizno’s low carb guide via email, sign up here:

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I’ll also report back with final results for how this fast food experiment affects my health, well-being, and bank account. And you’ll get some simple low carb recipes and other tips from me for all the times you’re not eating in a fast food joint.

Cheers,
Ryan
aka “Mr. SkinnyPants”