The 11 Best Kwik Trip Menu Hacks

Kwik Trip, also known as Kwik Star in some parts of the country, is a family-owned convenience store established in 1965 and headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Most Kwik Trips also have gas stations attached to them, but some don't. Today, the chain has more than 850 stores across the Midwest. Like any good convenience store, Kwik Trip has a wide variety of foods to choose from, and it's not just your typical snacks. The chain also offers a hot menu.

Customers have even created menu hacks for some of the items as a way to take them to the next level. And we know that gas station food has had a certain stigma around it in the past, but it's left that bad reputation in the past. In fact, Kwik Trip recently dethroned Wawa as America's favorite convenience store. So, we decided to compile a list of the best Kwik Trip menu hacks, so that you can try them the next time you stop in for quick bites. These hacks were recommended by Kwik Trip enthusiasts on Reddit, Facebook, and on lists from other publications.

Shoppers can get potato wedges as a single order, or for customers sharing, there is a family-size portion. You could even get the family size for yourself when you're really hungry, we don't judge.

Shoppers across multiple platforms said that they thoroughly enjoyed Kwik Trip's potato wedges, one even argued that it should be in the top 10 best foods from the convenience store. There were multiple ways that customers on Reddit recommended upgrading Kwik Trip's potato wedges. One Redditor said to cover the appetizer with a few simple ingredients, including cheese, jalapenos, and onions. Another shopper emphasized that they enjoyed their wedges with barbecue sauce, ranch, and jalapenos. There was a different commenter who told others that adding cheese, onions, sour cream, and hot sauce to the potato wedges gave them loaded potato vibes.

Hot dogs are a gas station classic, and Kwik Trip offers something called cheddarwurst. According to Nutritionix, Kwik Trip's cheddarwurst is not the healthiest. Each sausage is 290 calories and contains 65 milligrams of cholesterol and 1080 milligrams of sodium. Based on the American Heart Association recommended daily intake of sodium, one sausage accounts for almost 50% of your daily dose.

However, it might be worth it to declare a cheat day or two and try the various ways of dressing up the cheddarwurst. One customer in a Reddit discussion about Kwik Trip food hacks said to add chicken chili and nacho cheese to the sausage. A Facebook user liked their cheddarwurst the same way but preferred Gehl's chili and added onions. Another Kwik Trip enthusiast kept it simple and advised adding nacho cheese and jalapenos to the cheddarwurst. A shopper on Facebook was a little more innovative and cut up the cheddarwurst as a topping on the family-sized macaroni and cheese.

Besides the potato wedges, another hot appetizer that Kwik Trip sells is its mini tacos, which are beefy fillings in a crispy tortilla shell.  The convenience store offers an online exclusive where customers can get a family size of mini tacos — it comes with a total of 24 mini tacos.

It seems that the mini tacos are well-liked, as they were highlighted by multiple Kwik Trip customers who said that they were one of their favorite hot food items. There was one Redditor who liked to use the mini tacos in a menu hack and shared the recipe in the thread. It included mini tacos with a scoop of chicken chili, nacho cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Kwik Trip goers could also try a spicy version of the chicken chili mini tacos, as it appears the convenience store chain launched fiery mini beef tacos in 2024.

Have you ever heard of a walking taco? It's when someone buys their choice of chips from the convenience store and tops them, for example, with chili, cheese, onions, pickled jalapenos, diced onions, tomatoes, and hot sauce. One Kwik Trip customer made their version of a Kwik Trip Walking Taco and shared it on Reddit for others to try. 

They bought Urge! Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips from the convenience store and topped them with chicken chili, cheese, onions, and jalapenos. The Redditor called it their go-to for a cheap lunch. The recipe was even picked up by a radio station in Rochester, Minnesota, as part of its article on how Kwik Trip customers are upgrading their meals. Kwik Trip isn't the only gas station where a walking taco can be created — you can also eat like royalty at 7-Eleven.

Kwik Trip bakes its fresh treats every day and produces hundreds of thousands of them at two separate bakeries in La Crosse, Wisconsin. One site makes the convenience store's donuts, cookies, and pastries. Meanwhile, the other bakes Kwik Trip's breads and buns.

One of the sweet treats that the chain has sold for more than 20 years is its Glazer, which is a donut coated in a vanilla glaze. This menu hack mixes sweet and savory by using the Glazer donuts as the buns for a burger. Now, whether you wanted to make the burger yourself or get one from Kwik Trip as well, it seemed to be the dealer's choice. For those wanting the easier option, a Redditor also recommended getting the burger from Kwik Trip and replacing its buns with two glazers. However, others on Facebook appeared to make the burgers themselves and top them with cheese, bacon, and sauce. There was even a restaurant that used the Kwik Trip pastry for the donut burger on its menu. One customer petitioned on Facebook for the Glazer burger to be added to the convenience store's menu. Other innovations include a breakfast version of the burger and another prepared with bologna, fried egg, and cheese.

Rollerbites are another hot favorite. The convenience store offers them in two flavors: Monterey Jack chicken and buffalo chicken. According to the product's website, the Monterey Jack chicken roller bites are made with all-white meat chicken and Monterey Jack cheese that is wrapped in breading and seasoning. The buffalo chicken rollerbites are made in the same way, only with zesty ranch seasoning and buffalo glaze.

There were a variety of hacks that Kwik Trip shoppers came up with using the rollerbites. One Redditor advised others to simply dip the rollerbites into marinara sauce to make an easy chicken parmesan — we guess that's one way to make a portable version of the Italian dish. Kroc 106.9 — a radio station in Rochester, Minnesota — compiled hacks from a Kwik Trip Enthusiast Page, and one of them said to cut up the buffalo chicken rollerbites and put them on top of a garden salad to create a buffalo chicken salad. 

The station also recommended putting both flavors of the rollerbites into hot dug buns and adding ranch. Another customer on Facebook also put the rollerbites in hot dog buns, but paired them with pickles. There were even Facebook users who used the buffalo rollerbite as a topping on a chicken alfredo pizza and dipped the food item in macaroni and cheese.

Customers appeared to thoroughly enjoy the Kwik Trip's grilled cheese, with reviewers who tried it for the first time describing it as delicious and wondering why more people weren't talking about it. One Kwik Trip customer added protein by ordering the two rib sandwiches, removing the barbecue pork patties, and putting them into the grilled cheese sandwich. Another shopper did the same thing with two barbecue pork patties but also added onions, jalapenos, pickles, relish, and chipotle sauce to the sandwich. 

There were some more simple hacks that Kwik Trip enthusiasts came up with. For example, a Facebook user told others to add the pickles, jalapenos, and onion from the convenience store's condiment bar into the grilled cheese. Another shopper even said they were "mind blown" after simply asking for their grilled cheese to be made with the breadstick garlic butter that Kwik Trip has.

As part of its hot food lunch and dinner options, the convenience store also sells Hot Spot Mac N Cheese, which is described as ready-to-eat macaroni in cheese sauce. According to Brown Bear's Feast, mac and cheese is America's favorite side dish. This assertion was backed up by a 2024 online poll where 38% of the 12,000 U.S. adults polled listed it as their "most loved side" and the 2023 USDA Food Consumption Survey, which reported that, on average, each person had 1.6 servings of mac and cheese per month. So, it isn't shocking that Kwik Trip customers created a plethora of hacks using the food item.

A shopper on Reddit recommended buying a family-sized mac and cheese and a three-piece chicken tender, putting them together and adding two to three cups of Smokin's sweet sauce, which is Kwik Trip distributes. This sounds like a good upgrade, considering that Kwik Trip is known for having some of the best gas station fried chicken in the U.S. That is why using the mac and cheese as a topping on a crispy fried chicken sandwich was also suggested. 

Another Redditor told others to grab the mac and cheese from the cooler, add two cups of cooked pasta, and sliced up brats. A Kwik Trip employee advised adding a scoop of barbecue chicken to the pasta dish for a "poor man's take-home meal." Multiple Facebook users said to mix the mac and cheese with chili soup, one even called it "life-changing." Some other mac and cheese hacks that require a little bit more effort would be mac and cheese on a sloppy joe, turned into a quesadilla, and mixed with cut-up hot dogs. 

We don't know about you, but when we think of gas station food, we think of hot dogs. The question is, are convenience store hot dogs actually good? There were multiple people in a Reddit discussion who said that they are and that they eat them frequently. One commenter even said that if they could eat one for every meal, they would. A writer for Food Republic attributed the deliciousness of gas station hot dogs to the shock at the level of satisfaction it provides, despite its simplicity.

As expected, Kwik Trip sells what it describes as large hot dogs served in a hot dog bun. One Kwik Trip customer on Facebook videotaped themselves preparing a deviled egg salad — made with hard boiled eggs, mustard, mayonnaise, and relish — that they then put on a hot dog with lettuce and mustard. Other Kwik Trip enthusiasts in the comments said that it was smart thinking and noted that an easier option would be to buy the premade egg salad the convenience store sells. 

Other Facebook users recommended cutting Kwik Trip's cheese-filled breadsticks or pretzel sticks and turning them into the bun for the hot dog. Another customer made their Kwik Trip version of a Chicago dog with tomato, pickles, chopped onions, and pepper sprinkled on top.

We feel like most people have heard of, or even had, a taco salad at one point in their life. However, for those who haven't, a taco salad is typically lettuce, rice, beans, and meat topped with sour cream, jalapenos, hot sauce, cilantro, and chips.

As we talked about earlier, Kwik Trip sells beefy mini tacos. Customers recommended adding the tacos to a salad, making an easy Kwik Trip version of a taco salad. A Facebook user said to mix lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos from the salad bar with the Mini Tacos and then add sour cream, taco sauce, and Tajin on top. Meanwhile, a Redditor shared a slightly easier version of the salad and told others to cut up the mini tacos and add them to a salad with jalapenos and French dressing. Both of these hacks give you the essential ingredients for taco salad: crispy tortilla, meat, salad, toppings, and some type of dressing.

The Glazer donuts from Kwik Trip were not only used to make a sweet and savory burger, they were also featured in dessert hacks. One Facebook user provided the perfect gift idea for a donut lover's birthday. They bought around a dozen donuts and stacked them into a Glazer cake with chocolate sauce and icing. They did not provide the specific chocolate sauce or icing they used, so that will be left up to the creator's choice. 

There were even customers who used two Glazers to replace the graham crackers in s'mores, whether the marshmallow was melted or not, which sounds like the perfect reason to stop by the convenience store before heaving a campfire. There were the at-home chefs who transformed the Glazers into an upgraded dessert. They shared recipes for a Glazer black raspberry sundae, a Glazer with a cream cheese and whipped topping icing topped with blueberries, a strawberry shortcake Glazer, and Glazer bites with whipped cream and blueberries.

Another adventurous Kwik Trip enthusiast put the Glazers into a hot pan and crisped the donuts on both sides, topped them with vanilla ice cream, and called it the Midwest creme brulee hack. One Facebook user loved Kwik Trip's Glazer donuts so much that they offered a Glazer buffet at their wedding.