Vegan Fast Food Options
A lot of restaurant foods are vegan, but many do not know it. Here's a handy guide to use when eating out!
Last Updated: April 30 (Taco Bell, Panera Bread, McAlister's Deli)
FEBRUARY 15 - The VFFO list has been completely redone, now with about 50% more options!
The information here is to be used as guidelines only. Menu items can change between franchises, and the information here is the from the company, checking with the individual stores is advised if you are unsure. Please be sure to ask that they hold any unvegan condiments from otherwise vegan items (ie some place will add butter to a baked potato without you asking.)
5 & Diner – Bagels, Toast (all kinds), Instant Oatmeal, Hash Browns, Tortilla, Vegetarian Burger, Veggie Delight, Breaded Mushrooms, Onion Rings, Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, Salad (w/o cheeses and croutons), Italian Dressings, Baked Potato, Corn on the Cob, French Fries, Sauteed Mushrooms, Steamed Veggies, Spaghetti with Marinara
Applebee’s – Sizzling Vegetable Skillet, Steamed Vegetable Plate, Nachos (w/o cheese, sour cream, + beef)
Arby’s – Garden Salad, Side Salad, Marinara Sauce, Apple Turnover, Cherry Turnover, Italian Dressing, Baked Potato (plain!), Sourdough Bread, Potato Cakes, Raspberry Vinaigrette, Seasoned Tortilla Strips, Apple Turnover, Cherry Turnover, Chocolate Twist,
Backyard Burgers – Garden Veggie Sandwich,
Baskin Robbins – Sorbet, Ices
Bennigan's – Boca Burger, Garden Salad, Roasted Vegetable Primavera (w/o Lemon Butter Sauce)
Blimpie – Italian White Sub Roll, Wheat Sub Roll, Mediterranean Flat Bread Marbled Rye Roll, Spinach Tortilla, Flour Tortilla, Ciabatta Bread, Fat Free Italian Dressing, Light Italian Dressing, Blimpie Dressing, Blimpie Sub Dressing, Apple Strudelette, Long John, Original Potato Chips, Jalapeno Chips, Pasta Salad, Guacamole, Sweet Peppers, Hot Peppers, Jalepeno Peppers,
Boston Market - Chunky Cinnamon Apple Sauce, Fruit Salad, Steamed Vegetables, Zucchini Marinara, Apple Cobbler (not pie!), Tossed Salad (no croutons or dressing), Cranberry Walnut Relish, Cinnamon Apples, Fruit Salad
Brueger’s Bagels – Bagels (Blueberry, Chocolate Chip, Cinnamon Sugar, Cranberry Orange, Pumpernickel, and Rosemary Olive Oil), Soups (Chili Cilantro, Gazpacho, Tuscan, Minestrone, Garden Split Pea, Marcello Minestrone, Roasted Roma Tomato, Vegetable Tomato Lentil, and Ratatouille), Sandwiches can be vegan by omitting cheese and dressing
Burger King – French Fries, Strawberry Apple Sauce, Dutch Apple Pie, Plain Salad, Onion Rings, Fruit Jams, Ketchup, Mustard, Dill Pickles, Hash Browns,
Carl Jr. – French fries, Hash Brown Nuggets, Breadsticks, English Muffins, CrissCuts, Salad Bar, 3 Bean Salad, Fat Free Italian Dressing, Great Stuff™ Baked Potatoes (ask for all-vegetable margerine)
Cheeburger Cheeburger – Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich (w/o cheese), Boca Burger, Salads (minus cheese), Fries, Onion Rings,
Chi-Chi’s – Chips, Salsa, Dinner Salad (w/o cheese), Refried beans (w/o cheese), guacamole
Chili’s – Chips, Salsa, Veggie Quesadilla (w/o cheese and sour cream add extra veggies), Cadillac Fajitas (w/o meat), Bottomless Tostada Chips, Fries, Steamed Broccoli (no butter), Sauteed Mushrooms with Onions and Peppers (fried in vegetable oil),
Chipotle – Vegetarian Fajita Burrito (w/ black beans NOT pinto beans), Vegetarian Burrito (with BLACK beans, no cheese, no sour cream)
Chuck E. Cheese – Pizza Sauce, Pizza Crust
Claim Jumper - Broiled Portobello Stack (ask for UNmarinated mushrooms, w/o cheese), Nacho Platter (ONLY with Black Beans, Salsa, Guacamole), Pretzel (w/o butter), Candied Walnut & Asian Pear Salad (w/o candied walnuts, dressings, or cheese), California Citrus Salad (w/o pecans, bleu cheese, or dressing), Crunchy Spinach Salad (w/o bacon, cheese, or pecans), Produce Bar, Roasted Veggies, Roasted Vegetable Pizza (w/o pesto or cheese), Vegetable Soup
Cold Stone Creamery – Lemon Sorbet, Tangerine Sorbet, Raspberry Sorbet
Cousin’s Subs – Hot Veggie Sub
Culvers – French Fries, Seasoned Green Beans
Daily Grill – Grilled Vegetable Plate
Denny’s – Oatmeal Fixins’ (raisins, brown sugar, sliced banana), Juice, English Muffins, Grits, Applesauce, Fresh Fruit, Frozen Strawberries, Jelly (all flavors), nut and fruit topping, fruit syrups, baked potato, marinara sauce, sautéed mushrooms, grilled onions and peppers, guacamole, barbecue sauce, vegetable plates, seasoned fries, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, garden salads, dressings (light Italian, reduced French, Oriental dressing, oil and vinegar) light rye bread, bagel, boule bread
Einstein Bros. Bagels – Plain, Jalapeno, Chopped Onion, Everything Bagel, Cinnamon Raisin Swirl, Chocolate Chip, Poppy Dip Bagel, Wild Blueberry, Salt Bagel, Sesame dipd Bagel, Pumpernickel, Cranberry, Sun-Dried Tomato Bagels
Flamer's Grill – Veggie Pattie
Hard Rock Cafe – Vegetarian Burger, Veggie Sandwhich, Salads
Hard Times Cafe – Cafe Veggie Burger, Veggie Chili (ask for no dairy products)
Harvey's – Veggie Burger
Houston's – Veggie Plate, Vegetarian Burger (ask for vegan bread)
Jimmy John's – Vegetarian Sub (w/o cheese and mayo), Gourmet Veggie Club (w/o cheese and mayo), Pickle Spear, Whole Pickle,
Johnny Rocket’s – the Streamliner (vegan Boca Burger), Fries, Onion Rings (no ranch sauce), Grilled Mushrooms, Garden Salad (w/o cheese)
Krispy Kreme – Fruit Pies (not coconut)
Little Caesars – Pizza Crust, Pizza sauce, Crazy Sauce, Crazy Bread
Macaroni Grill – Pasta w/ Garlic and Oil, Capellini Pomodoro, Tomato Brushetta (w/o cheese), Penne Arrabiata (w/o cheese), House Salad (w/o cheese), Garden Salad (w/o cheese), Balsamic Vinaigrette, Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette, Italian Dressing
McDonald’s – Fruit and Walnut Salad (w/o the walnuts or yogurt), Side Salad, Low-fat Balsamic Vinaigrette, Baked Apple Pie, McVeggie (only available in NYC, Canada, and California)
McAlister's Deli - Veggie Spud (without cheese), Spud Ole (w/o cheese & w/ vegetarian chili), California Classic (w/o cheeses), The Veggie (w/o cheese or dressing), Taco Salad (w/o cheese & sour cream & w/ vegetarian chili), Garden Salad (w/o cheese), Chili In A Bread Bowl (specify vegetarian chili), Chips & Salsa, Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinaigrette, Lite Italian, and Fat-Free Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Vinaigrette
Mimi's Cafe – Veggie Stack Sandwich
Moe's – (All tacos, fajitas, salads, and burritos are vegan if you ask for tofu/beans instead of meat and ask for no cheese)
Noodles & Company – Japanese Pan Noodles, Pasta Fresca (w/o cheese), Indonesian Peanut Sautee, Penne Rosa (w/o cheese), Tomato Marinara (w/o cheese), Rustic Roll,
Panera Bread – Everything Bagel, Sesame Bagel, Plain Bagel, Blueberry Bagel, Sourdough Bread, Ciabatta Bread, Nine Grain Loaf, Rye Loaf, Artisan Three Seed Bread, Artisan Sesame Semolina Bread, Artisan Multigrain, Artisan French, Artisan Stone-Milled Rye Bread, Artisan Country, Lower-Carb Pumpkin Seed Bread, Lower Carb Italian Herb Bread, Mediterranean Veggie (without feta cheese)
Papa Johns – Pizza Dough, Pizza Sauce, Thin Crusts, Veggies
Papa Murphy’s – Pizza Crust, Sauce, Veggies
Pizza Hut – Thin n’ Crispy Crust, Hand Tossed Dough, Pizza Sauce, Sweet Sauce, Spaghetti Marinara Sauce, Pasta, Italian and French Dressings, Dessert Pizza crust, Cherry topping, Icing, Garlic Bread (make sure its oil not butter),
Pollo Tropical – Vegetarian TropiChop, Balsamic Tomatoes, Bananas Tropical, Black Beans, French Fries, White Rice, Yellow Rice, Boiled Yucca, Corn
Pyramid Brewery – Boca Burger (can be substituted for any burger, make sure its the vegan variety), Margarita Pizza
Quizno’s Subs – Garden Salad, Potato Chips
Rainforest Café – the Natural Burger (w/o Safari Sauce), Morningstar Garden Grill, Paradise House Salad
Roy Rogers – Baked Potato, Vegetables (side dishes), Salad Bar, Mashed Potatoes (w/o gravy)
Ruby Tuesday’s – Veggie Burger (w/o mayo and cheese), Veggie Burger Wrap, Salad Bar, Lettuce Wrapped Burger (substitute veggie burger for meat burger)
Sbarro – Tomato Cucumber Salad, Garden Vinaigrette Dressing
Shari's – Gardenburger
Subway – Veggie Delight Salad, Italian Roll/Bread (customize a sub), Veggie Delight (w/o cheese and mayo), Fruizle smoothies, Veggies, Vegan Breads: Italian, Hearty Italian, and Sourdough
Swenson's Drive-In – Veggie Special
Taco Bell – Bean Burrito (w/o cheese), Bean Taco (w/o cheese – specially prepared), seasoned rice, tortilla chips, Veggie Fajita Wrap (w/o cheese), pinto beans, Cinnamon Twists, 7-Layer Burrito (w/o cheese and sour cream), Mexican Pizzas (w/o cheese, meat, sour cream), Nachos (w/o cheese, meat, sour cream), Tacos (w/o meat, cheese, sour cream ADD Black Beans/Refried Beans) Taco Salad (w/o meat/cheese/sour cream, w/ refried beans)
Tubby's – Hot Veggie Stir-Fry Sandwich,
Village Inn - Boca Burger (w/o cheese, w/o mayo, ask if its the vegan variety)
Wendy’s – Plain Baked Potato, French Fries, Deluxe Garden Salad (ask for no cheese), Side Salad, Dressings (French, reduced fat/reduced calorie Italian) Applesauce, Taco Chips, Mandarin Oranges, Veggie Sandwich (everything thats on a burger, without the burger, w/o cheese and mayo)
World Wraps – Tofu and Mushroom Teriyaki, Bombay Curry Veggie


56 comments:
About Taco Bell - 7-Layer Burrito (w/o cheese and sour cream) Ask for extra guacamole.... mmmmmm
Onanite
This was a good idea to put up. There is also a greek place at Tower City (Downtown Cleveland Mall) that has a butt-kick Falafel that packs a lot of flavor.
Be sure to tell them no cheese on the salad, I get extra hummus instead.
Adam
Mmmm... Hummus
If you don't mind my asking, what are your sources for this list ?
Adam
I used both of PETA's lists for fast food and chain restaurants.
Others I got of veganporn, and other vegan websites. Some are from company websites also.
Alas, Jimmy John's bread isn't vegan. I e-mailed the company to find out.
Thats bizarre because I heard that it was... Hmmm. Possible their "not-special" bread is? (Like)
at cold stone creamery - i asked and they make some of their smoothies with soy milk! those are vegan right?
Hungry Howies is another vegan-friendly option. The thin crust, regular pizza sauce, cajun flavoring, subsauce (I don't know what good that does anyone), garden salads (it doesn't come with cheese), greek dressing, italian dressing, lo-fat italian dressing, and french. But I really don't know what "xantham gum" is. That's in all the dressings so I'm kinda iffy.
Eat up kids.
This list is great & really thorough! I'm always on the go, so I'll keep this handy. Thanks, Allie! Stay firm in your beliefs.
I'm pretty sure and PLEASE let me know if I'm wrong -
Dominoes Pizza dough is vegan, you can get a vegan pizza if you ask for it without cheese. Be careful not to get any sauce packets though as the dipping cups of marinara have milk powder in them. I do NOT think the bread sticks are vegan? as they have butter and weird sprinkles of some sort of MSG cheese combo - unless this has changed since I worked their...
In-N-Out! Veggie burger (burger minus the burger) w/o sauce (add ketchup/mustard instead), grilled onions, french fries.
This list is really great. Has anyone heard anything about options at Red Robin?
I used to work at Pizza Hut and here's the vegan options:
Thin n' crispy and hand tossed dough. NOT pan dough or breadsticks/cinnasticks.
The beans for the taco pizza are NOT vegan.
Both the sweet sauce and normal pizza sauces ARE vegan.
We didn't serve the pasta or sandwiches, so I don't know about those.
My favorite: Hand tossed dough, extra sauce with jalapenos and pineapple. Sounds weird, but it's tasty :)
Quiznos's bread all has whey in it so it's not vegan
I asked a person at quizno's about the bread, and two salespersons told me that they bread was vegan. I could be wrong, but I'm relying off the information I'm being given by the company.
Burger King's french toast sticks contain "Natural flavors from animal and plant sources" according to bk.com
fuck all this garbage. go to the grocery store or go forage and learn something with some friends
pita pit, theres on in Ithaca idk where else but supposedly a chain, falafel pitas hummus pitas and salad pitas are all vegan...assuming you don't get cheese with it or tatziki sauce or greek vinagrette, french, blue cheese or ranch dressings- my favorite is falafel with hummus and italian- lettuce tomato black olives hot peppers jalepenos red onions sprouts and cucumbers...yum
assuming you have friends you will eventually be in a situation where you are asked to dine in a fast food restaurant...instead of declining this page is a list of options, so stop being an asshole^^^
hey i found this site through a search (i'm about to go on a road trip with 3 omni's, so i figured i'd better read up on fast food options). my husband worked at pizza slut for years and he said that as far as he knows, their sauce has meat in it. pizza hut got sued by some vegetarians over it and he said they won because they have one of those tiny disclaimers at the bottom of their menu that said the veggie pizzas weren't actually vegetarian. so i would really double check. it might just be his store, but i'm not sure...
I just emailed Tumbleweed and found out that their Bean Burritos with enchilada sauce are vegan without the cheese. Just FYI if there is a Tumbleweed near you. Also the Santa Fe rice is not vegan...it contains chicken broth:(
Barros pizza dough is vegan as well as the breadsticks as long as you ask with absolutely nothing on them. :]
I worked at einstein bagels and i found that there is l cysteine in the bagels. Is it animal derived or plant derived?
Potbelly Sandwhich Works - Veggie sub w/o cheese or mayo (ask them to put the hot peppers on BEFORE it goes through the oven if you're a hawtie)
Great list, but many Boca/Veggie burgers are not vegan. Have you checked them out? If so, thanks you've done a lot of work for us.
Kim
the french toast sticks are burger king are NOT vegan, burger king lists the "natural and artifical flavors" as both plant & animal derived.
pretty much nothing at taco bell is vegan.
- the rice is cooked with chicken stock.
-the soft shells have DATEM in them. but i'm not sure about the hard shells.
-and the refried beans have pork fat in them.
but there is still tons of awesome info here! thanks!
Hi,
Cool site. There is some misinformation to clear up. According to Taco Bell's website:
Beans, tortillas, potatoes, and flatbread, have no animal ingredients, as well as a few other things, see the detailed ingredients PDF link below. Now that I have read that though, I won't eat there again, too may additives and weird stuff.
-Ami
http://www.yum.com/nutrition/documents/tb_ingredient_statement.pdf
For some reason my link cuts off and will not post. For the info, go to Taco Bell's site and click on tab that says "Nutition Guide" then it will show the ingredient statment.
-Ami
Taco Bell's rice IS vegan and their refried beans contain no lard.
It is by far the most vegetarian/vegan friendly fast food restaurant.
But Taco Bell isn't all that vegan because the soft shells contain DATEM which is most likely animal derived.
It can be plant derived though, but I'm erring on the side of caution until I hear back from Taco Bell.
Even if the food is vegan keep in mind that by buying fast food you are supporting the industry and helping fund some of the top companies that use animal products. Fast food resturants are incredibly detrimental to the planet as well considering all the land/resources they use, the high cost for low price.
I have trouble trusting anything a company tells me. I would like to see the packages start to finish myself. Oviously I am looking for easy options but it seems like quite a leap of faith. Not to mention that fast food turned me veg in the first place. I just think that there is a good chance that there will be some misunderstanding and miscommunications. Or blaten lies.
BOCA (which is a subsidary of KRAFT) published products on their website as being vegan when they were clearly not. They stated that some products had been made vegan recently so check the label to make sure. I wrote to them and let them know that almost all of the products advertised contained egg white (no brainer). I accused them of tricking people and hiding behind their "check the label" disclaimer. To my knowledge most of these products still contain egg white and are still being advertised as vegan.
Think about the people you are dealing with when you contact these companies. To believe them on a whim would be like believing them if they said their products are healthy.
P.S. BOCA seemed awfuly eager to send me free stuff concerning this matter. So, if you want some coupons then write them a letter about it. Link is on the site.
Brueggers "minestrone" soup has BACON flavoring in it. Maybe the soup varies by ingredients by market. Tricky...
The best thing is to just eat a bowl of lettuce and tomatoes, most fast food places can do this as they use lettuce and tomatoes for their burgers or tacos etc.
The list is pretty good. However, french fries at most extablishments on the list have meat by-products added to give it "flavor." There was a law suit a while back against McD's by vegetarian and Indian (from India) over eating fries that turned out not to be vegetarian.
Outside of that I was impress with the list. It looked as if a lot of thoughtful work went into it.
Phillip
Would anyone be interested in starting up a vegan fast food restaurant and convience store?
Phillip
runpacer@gmail.com
Xanthum gum is a naturally occuring fermented food product made from vegetables and sugars under a particular bacterial strain. it is vegan unless you want to sweep all your food of bacteria! Lol!
If you all are so focused on being "vegan" then why are you even eating taco bell? It's not at all a healthy place to eat. Being vegan isn't just about the animal products, it's also about health and the quality of the food we put into our bodies. Lets get our priorities straight.
Why are some people getting all uppity about this list? If you're vegan and you don't want to eat fast food, then don't. I don't see why it's necessary to tantrum over those who do eat vegan fast food. If you're so opposed to vegan fast food options, why are you even looking at this list in the first place? Also, not all vegans are vegan for their own health reasons, so criticizing people for eating fast food because it's unhealthy doesn't make a whole lot of sense. There are a lot of vegans who are vegan because they care about defending the welfare of animals who can't defend themselves. As far as I'm concerned, every little bit counts, and giving people a hard time for eating vegan fast food is counterproductive. Maybe you should spend more time trying to encourage non-vegans to cut out animal products and less time complaining about vegans who eat fast food. Anyway, you can eat fast food once in a while and still be healthy, so calm yourselves.
Here is a great reference to what different ingreadients are used in different food brands, restaurants, and fast food chains! FYI Quizno's bread DOES have whey in it, the L-Cysteine is synthetic. I read this information from the Director of Quizno's quality assurance on this site, subway bread is no good either =( honey, stearoyl-2-lactylate, mono and diglycerides are used.
This is a great great site! Hard to manuever around, but once you get the hang of it, it's wonderful!
I guess it would help if I posted the link!! ha ha.
http://www.whatisinit.com/frames/frames/whatisinit_new.htm
it didn't paste the whole thing...
http://www.whatisinit.com/frames/frames/whatisinit_new.htm
oh. and the italian bread is no good too... it contains everything the wheat does except the honey. All of the breads, wraps, rolls contain mono & di glycerides which are animal fat. The alternative would be vegetable glycerides. Hope it works this time.
This list does not take into account bleached flour. For instance, it is stated that the baked apple pie at McDonald's is vegan, however, when you check their site it states they use bleached wheat flour and a sugar that may or may not be bleached as well. There may be other discrepancies, but I will simply check the ingredients myself. Thanks for the list though, it gives somewhere to start. =)
Thanks for the list but just thinking...
Why sell yourself out and eat some junk at taco bell, for example? If you're vegan, why support a company whose practices largely are not?
If you can, just plan ahead - pull together your own meals. No question of what's in them then.
If you go to Taco Bell's website, and look under "Food Facts", read the answer to question #9--there is no lard in the refried beans.
Hey, peoples, STOP dissing this list! Some of us (not you, of course, oh high and mighty anonymous number whatever!) have no choice but to eat out sometimes, eg those of us who live in omni households! It's only a few people, but still annoying as anything.
Anyways, thanks for posting! (And, fellow commenters, thanks for confirming/ refuting the list!) I'd just like to say that McDonalds puts a small print at the bottom of their nutrition facts, saying that they can't confirm that anything that they sell is veg. Nope, not even the soda. So that should probably be everyone's LAST choice.
As for Taco Bell, I've asked in different ones and it DOES depend on the place. We have two within fifteen miles of each other, and one has a vegan bean burrito, the other's isn't even vegetarian. So it's always best to ask!
I am a vegan diabetic. Even though I usually avoid fast food like the plague, I occasionally find myself out somewhere and in desperate need of vegan food fast. This list is valuable. Those of you who are complaining about it just need to STFU. Knowledge is power.
FYI everyone-- Johnny Rockets' onion rings contain whey, and hence (and sadly) are not vegan.
You can check the ingredients to all of their menu items here:
http://www.johnnyrockets.com/themenu/ingredients.php
Hippie Vegan..
this is listed on the FAQ for Red Robins:
Do you currently have vegetarian offerings on your menu?
At most Red Robin locations, we offer meatless options as well as Boca Burgers and/or Garden Burgers, which can be substituted for any of our more than 20 gourmet burger selections. In addition, we are happy to customize other selections to meet your dietary preferences.
If your dietary preference is vegan, please note that currently Red Robin does not have any specific vegan menu items available. However, we are always happy to customize any of our salads or menu items for our Guests. Just ask your server and they will be happy to accommodate you in any way they can.
hate to break it to ya but I think taco bells beans have lard in them.
sorry guys,
but i work at noodles and company.
and the only vegan options include the japanese pan noodles and the indonesian peanut saute. both the penne rosa and pasta fresca have unfriendly products in the sauces they put in.
one interesting thing, however, is that at noodles locations where they have switched from the "rustic roll" to the new "ciabatta roll", the new ciabatta roll is vegan.
:]
enjoy.
At my local Einstein Bro. Bagels I was told that the bagels are NOT vegan and have eggs.
Also, the CheBurgerCheBurger near me said that their was dairy in the Boca Burgers they use.
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