For Fresh, Not Frozen Fast Food, Try These 12 Popular Chains

You've probably seen the tagline for many restaurants that says, "Fresh, never frozen." Many people love to see that, as it can signify that a spot is a bit more trustworthy — especially when it comes to fast food, which is a true gamble when it comes to quality. 

Most restaurants are referring to meat when sharing that something is fresh, not frozen. Usually, fresh meat tastes yards better than meat that's been frozen — and that's because, when meat gets frozen, its cell walls go through a change due to the ice crystals that generally form during the freezing process. This causes the natural juices and texture of the meat to become altered, and it simply just doesn't taste as good. This could also go for many other types of food, like vegetables, bread dough, french fries, and more.

We did a deep dive to find out which popular fast food chains offer fresh, never frozen food. We found that there are some restaurants that share certain products (say, hamburger meat, for example) are never frozen — but don't make it clear about the other food on the menu. Others, however, proudly share that they don't even have a freezer on-site, so we know that all of the food is fresh. For each fast food chain, we will be very clear to let you know which menu items are fresh.

Wendy's is famous for its delicious french fries, iconic Frostys, and signature square-cut hamburgers, and it's often ranked among the top fast food restaurants in the United States. One thing that Wendy's has always done is never freeze its beef. The founder of Wendy's, David Thomas, wanted to provide quality, fresh hamburgers to his customers — so he decided that the burgers should never be frozen and should be made from 100% real beef. From the opening in 1969 to present day, this chain has been able to keep that standard going strong.

The chain's beef is sourced from Beef Quality Assurance certified farmers, who use sustainable efforts to produce the beef and ensure that the cattle are treated humanely. Plus, Wendy's goal is to phase out the use of antibiotics in its beef supply by 2030. The beef is then transported in refrigerated trucks to all of Wendy's locations throughout the week. The meat is kept refrigerated, and then it's fired up on the grill for each customer. The juicy, square meat patties are then placed on the diner's desired burger — and satisfaction is guaranteed. 

One thing to note about Wendy's is that other items on the menu do start out frozen — like the french fries. However, if you specifically just want a fresh burger, Wendy's can provide that for you.

Chipotle has been a place for Tex-Mex lovers to soar since 1993 — with its customizable tacos, bowls, burritos, and other delicious meals. The folks behind this fast food restaurant appear to hold strong values when it comes to the quality of its food — which is clearly displayed on Chipotle's website. 

The company sources and prepares the food in a way that's good for both the environment and its customers by never adding any artificial ingredients, preservatives, or hormones. Every single item on the menu at Chipotle never touches a freezer, as there aren't even any freezers on-site. Chipotle is able to keep all of its food fresh and healthy because it only has 53 ingredients in total on the menu. This allows the employees to be able to easily manage the temperatures of each type of food, monitor the food safety, and make each batch of chicken, beef, or pork fresh throughout the day. 

"[The chicken is] literally melt-in-your-mouth tender," an employee shares in a video on Chipotle's YouTube channel, while cooking up a fresh batch of chicken, ready for the next burrito. "We don't have a freezer, you know? It's almost like a farmers market. When you walk into the restaurant, you should hear the sizzle that you're hearing right now."

What started as a hot dog cart in 2001, Shake Shack has now become a popular spot to grab a good burger. It's a bit pricier compared to other fast food burger chains — but in our eyes, this spot can be totally worth it. Shake Shack offers a large variety of burgers and chicken options, from a black truffle burger or avocado bacon burger to the mouthwateringly crispy chicken stack sandwich and chicken bites.

One thing that Shake Shack is immediately transparent about on its menu is the status of the beef and chicken meat. When browsing the burgers section, the menu states, "Our custom 100% Angus beef blend, never frozen, no hormones or antibiotics ever, humanely raised and grazed in the USA." As for the chicken section, it's fairly similar, with the menu noting, "Whole white meat, never frozen, no antibiotics, hand breaded and crisp-fried to order in cholesterol-free vegetable oil." This makes Shake Shack stand out a bit from the fast food crowd, because it's one of the few burger chains that offers both fresh, never frozen hamburger and chicken meat. 

Domino's is one of the most popular fast food pizza chains in the world. It opened in 1960, and since then, there are now over 20,000 locations. So, it must be doing something right in order to bring in enough customers for that many locations. Domino's itself even claims that is has "the most delicious food" — so we were very curious to learn more about the quality of that food.

While we can all agree that there's something extra to love about fast food pizza, one thing that many diners enjoy about Domino's, in particular, is the crust. Maybe it's because of the crispy yet fluffy texture, or the garlic oil that's slathered on (in the case of its hand-tossed pizza crust), or the fact that this dough has never been frozen. Yup, you heard us right. Domino's makes its pizza dough completely fresh every single day. The reason for this is because, when the dough gets frozen, it doesn't rise properly.

The dough is made off-site and rolled into specially measured balls. Then, it's shipped to each Domino's location. The company has large, state of the art facilities that help make huge amounts of dough — one location in Indiana makes enough dough for 88,000 pizzas per day. The facilities have giant chilling machines that keep the dough at the right refrigeration temperature. The dough stays there for a maximum of two days but is usually shipped out immediately.

One fast food burger chain with the biggest cult following is In-N-Out Burger. Perhaps it's because it's mainly located on the West coast, and the West always strives to be the best (those notorious East vs. West Coast competitions never end, do they?), or it could be because the food really is that good. When we went to find out for ourselves, we were pleased to see that In-N-Out is very transparent about its food quality.

There's an entire tab on In-N-Out's website dedicated to providing its customers with clear information about where its food comes from. With a commitment to stick to its 1940s roots, the chain boasts, "We make things the old-fashioned way." Not a single food item from In-N-Out is ever frozen — it doesn't even have a freezer (or microwave, for that matter) on any of the premises, whereas most other fast food places today have freezers to at least hold french fries or frozen toppings.

In-N-Out's burgers are made from premium cattle, individually inspected, and ground on-site. There are no fillers, preservatives, or additives. As for the other ingredients — they are just as fresh. The cheese, lettuce, pickles, onions, tomatoes, and buns are all delivered daily, completely fresh and never frozen. The french fries are actually cut and fried in each individual location. It appears that this large burger chain has indeed been able to honor its original intention by upholding the standards of serving real, fresh food to its loyal customers.

Five Guys is similar to Shake Shack in its more gourmet-style burgers. It's been making handcrafted burgers since the year 1986 and remains incredibly popular today. There are about 1,800 current locations internationally, and almost 1,500 are planned to be added to that number, as of this writing. 

The main and most popular menu items at Five Guys are the burgers and fries. There are eight different variations of burgers, and they are all very classic. Five Guys doesn't offer a super large variety, because it wants to keep its focus on the quality of the food. The company even received recognition for its excellence in food safety in 2023. Five Guys has a retro vibe to its decor, and it keeps its retro feel in the kitchen, too. Most menu items are made in-house. For the burgers, only fresh ground beef is used, and it's never frozen — presumably, because of the aforementioned effect that freezing can have on the taste and texture of the meat. 

Five Guys boasts on its website that there are no freezers on-site at any of its locations, only refrigerators. This means that none of the hot dogs, fries, or toppings have been frozen, either. Ultimately, your entire meal — not just the meat patty — will be fresh, not frozen at Five Guys.

We all know those moments when you're craving crispy and juicy fried chicken, and need it immediately. For a fairly affordable and quick option, KFC could be the cure for that craving. What started in 1930 is now a global success, with more than 24,000 locations worldwide. Customers tend to go back again and again to KFC, keeping the doors open on the large number of locations.

One thing you'll be glad to know about the famous chicken at KFC is that it is indeed fresh, never frozen — and it comes from local poultry farms, which ensure the well-being of the animals. KFC has even shared exactly how it prepares the chicken each day: Each individual piece is inspected by the cooks. From there, the chicken gets rolled in the restaurant's secret blend of 11 herbs and spices. Lastly, the chicken is cooked at a low temperature in a pressure cooker at a low temperature.

From burritos to quesadillas to its deliciously mouthwatering queso, Moe's Southwest Grill's customized Mexican-inspired food offers options for pretty much whatever your taste buds are in the mood for. As you may have guessed, Moe's shares that its food is fresh, never frozen. Indeed, the restaurant states that every single ingredient that you can get at Moe's is prepared fresh every day. There aren't even any freezers or microwaves on-site.

Not only is the food never frozen, but it comes from great sources, as well. The chicken is cage- and steroid-free. In 2017, the restaurant even committed to implement practices that look out for the welfare of the chickens, treating them more humanely. The pork is grain-fed, and the beef is grass-fed. All of these aspects help bring the quality of the meat up, and it remains that way by being shipped to the restaurants daily and then prepared fresh. Moe's even has YouTube ads that advertise its fresh, high-quality ingredients — everything from the guac, queso, and vegetables to, of course, the meat.

Bringing in another fried chicken chain, we have Chester's Chicken. The very first Chester's location opened in 1952, and it now has 1,300 locations throughout the United States and Canada. On the menu, you can find various versions of super crispy boneless and bone-in chicken, chicken sandwiches, and mouthwatering sides.

The fast food chain aims to provide its customers with the best quality chicken around, and it's even shared the cooking process. First and foremost, Chester's sets the record straight that the chicken is made fresh throughout the day — and it's also never frozen. In each location, the chicken is marinated before it gets breaded. The marinade ensures tenderness and boosts the flavors of the chicken. Then, the chicken gets double-breaded in Chester's family recipe. Lastly, it's fried to create the signature crunchy chicken that the customers know and love. 

Now, it's not quite clear on the website if the sides and other menu items at Chester's are fresh and never frozen, as well, so we aren't able to speak on that. However, if you have a deep hankering for crispy fried chicken, you can be confident in knowing that the chicken at Chester's is made fresh.

Papa John's, another incredibly popular pizza chain, has been at the forefront of many people's Friday night pizza for about 40 years. You may know the restaurant from its slogan, "Better ingredients. Better pizza. Papa John's." Now, any restaurant can claim that is has "better" ingredients, but what does it actually mean?

For Papa John's, it means a few things. First and foremost, the dough is an original recipe that is never frozen. To make the signature crust, the machinery in Papa John's regional facilities pops out tons of dough per hour. Once the dough goes through the entire process, it's kept on a giant cooling tray. The dough, which is only kept slightly chilled, is then delivered to each Papa John's location, and it's cooked right on-site, per order. The pizza is also topped with real mozzarella cheese and a vine-ripened tomato pizza sauce.  

Papa John's believes in the quality of its pizza so much that it actually offers to deliver a second pizza free of charge if you're not satisfied with the first. Most of the vegetables and meat are kept frozen, so keep that in mind. However, in our opinion, the crust is the most important part of the pizza, so we like knowing that Papa John's dough is made fresh every day.

Culver's is a Wisconsin-born fast food restaurant that's famous for its ButterBurger. With over 900 locations now scattered throughout the United States since launching in 1984, it's a popular place to stop for a burger and frozen custard combo. After seeing that owner Craig Culver himself has been quoted as saying, "We never compromise on quality," we really wanted to see how far this company takes that sentiment.

This fast food chain states it only sources the best ingredients — including making its frozen custard daily with fresh dairy from family-owned farms — and specifically never freezes the beef used for its ButterBurgers. The burgers are then made to order, fresh for each person. According to its website, Culver's believes that that's what makes its burgers stand out from the rest, and even urges the customers to customize their meals exactly how they want. There's also a specific role in the kitchen titled the grill master, who is responsible for cooking each and every ButterBurger to a set standard. With special searing and pressing techniques, the grill masters are highly trained on how to make the burgers consistently juicy and delicious.

Back in 1972, the very first Popeyes opened in New Orleans, Louisiana. It quickly grew to become an incredibly large chain, and with over 3,000 locations around the world today, it's often visited by customers who are craving some classic Southern food. One of the biggest menu highlights is, of course, Popeyes' chicken, which is characteristically crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.

The great news is that Popeyes' chicken is fresh and never frozen. It isn't delivered to each restaurant breaded and cooked, either, as each location receives the raw chicken, which is then marinated, battered, and fried right on-site. The chicken actually gets marinated for about 12 hours, which gives the meat a bold, spicy flavor — that way, the flavor isn't just in the breading. After that, the chicken is battered and breaded with Popeyes' special breading and then fried. Sometimes, the chicken even gets double fried — giving you that extra crunch in each bite.