Most of the food can be made vegan, and unlike McD's or BK, they make it when you order so you can almost always customize it.
Unlike McDonalds, when you order a salad TB doesnt put in the meat. I've seen a McD's person take the chicken out of the preboxed salad. Ew.
Anyway, here's just a small list of veganized TB items. Note that not all are on the Fast Food List because these are customizations, not actual items.
- Bean Burrito (minus cheese)
- Chalupa (minus cheese, ask for beans instead of meat)
- Taco Salad (minus meat and cheese)
- Taco (replace meat with beans and no cheese)
- Crunchwrap (minus all dairy products and meat)
Oh yeah, you wouldnt believe this! After I ordered two vegan chalupas, the guy asked me if I was a vegan and turns out so is he!
He was the only person working there who had a healthy body weight.
34 comments:
I definetly wish I had taken my heath a little more serious when I was a teenager, but hey, better late than never. This is an excellent website, great ideas for Taco Bell as well, I look forward to visiting this site often.
Ryan
Thanks!
No way am I saying Taco Bell is healthy, but its one of the best for fast food. You can actually get vegetables and without beef and cheese, some items are low in fat and calories.
Great post!
I agree with you that Taco Bell is not exactly a healthy or and environment friendly option, but many people has to consider money as well, and as much those wraps from the organic cafe' are great, they usually cost a lot as well!
I suggest more investigation into veganizable food in food chains!
haya,
just wanted to say that my brother worked at Taco Bell for two years and he claims that their beans have lard and often had pieces of meat mixed in (which was kept close and spilled). anyway, not sure about this but wanted to post just in case. also, please consider whether or not you would like to support companies who condone the abuse and slaughter of animals.. reguardless of what you buy the money still goes toward the same thing.
xxoo,
compassionatevegan
(sorry 'bout being so 'real' but had to say something..)
Last time I asked if I could order a gordita or chalupa with beans instead of meat, I was told flat out, "No." Maybe I should try again.
I think I read somewhere what the chalupa shells contain dairy products! Uhoh, better check that.
The chalupa shells contain dry milk powder. Not vegan in the slightest.
They have many choices which can be found on my site along with thousands of vegan options from other fast food chains and restaurants.
I support the idea to frame of mind when being vegan that we need to stop crying about little nearly-irrelevant things like contamination. I mean, it is kind of gross when you choose to eliminate it all for a reason... But overall, I believe it hurts the movement. I'm not vegan for me, I'm vegan for the planet. I can deal with a little contamination if it helps move things in a overall forward motion.
I believe that, while we are supporting a fast food restaurant, & we are supporting a place that will buy meat... That we are not consuming the meat. They are only going to buy as much meat/etc. that they need for their customers. They check stock before ordering more food. I'm not lowering their stock of meat so they are not ordering more meat just because I gave them money.
Also, omnivores are not going to eat any less meat rather or not a new fast food restaurant opens... They eat it everyday, practically every meal. Satisfying their hunger is the same no matter what place it is. The general public does not care if it comes from inhumane conditions.
The most beneficial thing to the vegan movement would be to have more & more acceptance & options. I went vegetarian & wasn't sure about going vegan because of how difficult it might be. I eventually just went with it but a lot of people don't. If it was made easy, I think a lot more people would.
This is why I support vegan fast food & fake vegan products. Just because you don't eat that crap (which is what it is), doesn't mean others won't enjoy it... It's probably a small improvement on their meat-eating diet anyway.
"Friday, August 31, 2007 8:08:00 PM
Anonymous said...
Last time I asked if I could order a gordita or chalupa with beans instead of meat, I was told flat out, "No." Maybe I should try again."
If this happens again - report the Taco Bell. I went to one Taco Bell & they told me they couldn't do it because the item was a new, sponsored item & it was suppose to be made how it is designed.
I told the manager that I will never eat there again & will be calling the headquarters.
Then I called another Taco Bell, who told me that the situation should of never happened, & I was more than welcome to go to their location & substitute ingredients in their promotional item, or any item.
i want a longer list! make this comprehensive and watch the google traffic come in! :)
I am a vegan and I had a craving for a chalupa shell today. I found this website and saw you guys were debating it so I looked at the taco bell ingredient statement and it appears the Chalupa Shell is vegan (most likely depending on some of the weird additives). No milk though. check it out
taco bell ingredient statement.
Yes! The chalupa shell is vegan! To clear out any confusion, when the chalupa first came out, the shell had milk in it and was clearly not vegan. It seems as if they've reformulated it, as evidenced by the ingredient statement linked above. Now all Taco Bell shells/tortillas are vegan, including the gordita flatbread! I browsed through the full ingredient list and didn't notice any vegan gotchas... if it's not vegan, it should be obviously not vegan just by the name.
Taco Bell has also introduced their "Fresco Style" menu, where items are topped with pico de gallo salsa instead of sour cream and cheese. But you aren't restricted to those particular items... just say Fresco Style for any item, and the dairy-containing condiments will be replaced by salsa. Almost everything on the Taco Bell menu can be made vegan just by ordering it "sub bean, Fresco style."
Hey there!
I am currently an employee working at Taco Bell and I thought that I could add my two cents here. I'm also a vegan, too, ;D
The flatbread is in fact vegan. No dairy or anything in there.
The beans do not contain lard. They come pre-packaged (dry) and we add SUPER hot water to cook them. That's all.
If you get something Fresco style, be aware that pieces of cheese almost always gets into the pico salsa since those two items are next to each other on the line. So, if you get a fresco bean burrito, I would check to see if a piece of cheese accidentally got in there.
No meat products or anything is fried in the same oil as the chalupa shells. So you don't have to worry about cross-contamination there.
The only things fried in the oil (which is canola at the store I work at ... not sure if it's the same for each Taco Bell) is chalupa shells, potato bites, nacho chips, cinnamon twists (which are actually pasta noodles, believe it or not!), taco salad shells, and mexican pizza shells.
And for any vegetarians who stumble across this website, there is gelatin in the sour cream, so take that off anything if you choose to omit gelatin from your diet.
Hopefully this will help some of you.
A little fun piece of info: I've met more vegans who work at Taco Bell than I have ever met before! :D
just a heads up the chalupa is not vegan. it contains nonfat dry milk powder.
here is a website where you can find a pdf of all the taco bell ingredients.
http://www.almostvegan.com/archives/2004/08/vegan_taco_bell.html
This was very helpful! I been wondering If I should order from here many times! but with this info I will order there next time I happen to be at a food court and don't know what to get. Thanks!
Taco Bell refried beans are not vegan at all. All refried beans unless stated so are made with animal lard. This is a fact and if you don't believe me you can easily go look it up.
Taco Bell is in no way vegan friendly.
To the Anon about the Chalupa Shell or the beans not being vegan
CHALUPA SHELL
Enriched Wheat Flour (Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic acid), Water, Vegetable Oil (Contains One or More of the Following: Corn Oil and Soybean Oil) With TBHQ and Citric Acid (Used as Preservatives), Contains 2% or Less of: Wheat Flour, Sugar, Vital Wheat Gluten, Yeast, Fermented Wheat, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Mono and Di-Glycerides, Guar Gum, Calcium Propionate (Used as Preservative), Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Corn Starch, Monocalcium Phosphate), and Enzymes. Oil: High-Oleic Low-Linolenic Canola Oil, TBHQ (to Protect Flavor), Dimethylpolysiloxane (an Antifoaming Agent). CONTAINS: WHEAT
BEANS
Pinto Beans, Soy Oil (Trans Fat Free Shorteneing with TBHQ and Citric Acid to Protect Flavor), Salt
http://www.tacobell.com/nutrition/ingredient-statement/
I got a bean burrito at Taco Bell the other day and it was supposed to be vegan (no sour cream or cheese). I couldn't finish the meal because it tasted so much like meat (which I haven't had for 13 years). Maybe it was just the seasoning on the burrito, but it definitely was my last burrito at TB.
anything with white flour in it is not vegan. White flour often contains bone char. Plus i thought the whole point of becoming vegan was to live a life free of supporting the death of animals. If you are giving money to taco bell arent you supporting the death of animals?
This just saved my diet! I just turned to a vegan diet, but Taco Bell is my favorite place to eat! I wasn't sure how I was going to survive. But, this just saved me. Thank you!!
Not everyone becomes Vegan because of Animal Cruelty. I know a lot of Vegetarians and Vegans that purely do it for their health benefit. Maybe it's selfish to feel that way but not everyone has the same cause as you. So thanks for the Taco Bell entry. It is beneficial to some :)
Hey I just found this site while looking for a help with my precontest vegan/vegi diet. I am a cycling vegi/carni bodybuilder.
Most of the time if I wan't to eat fast food like Taco Bell, I make smart substitutions like ordering sides from the add on menue and tortillas, then adding quorn scrables with taco seasoning (I don't do a lot of soy right now) or adding my own seitan "chicken" to salads. Just recently I began playing around with pea protein (Burmese tofu) "burgers".
It's all generally relative to your life style. I find that if I want to save money and make eating out a lot easier, you better be prepared.
Don't eat their taco salads. The red tortilla strips are colored with cochineal beetles. (Same for the volcano taco shells.)
This won't actually have effect, I suppose like this.
Excellent post. I've been vegan for years and I am excited by the amount of choices coming on-line. Boycotting a business because a portion of it sales contains animal products is a specious argument. I wonder where those people shop. Last time I checked, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s all sell meat products in their stores. I guess you could grow everything yourself and make all your own soy products, but most of us don't have the time for that. The most effective way to change a business is to purchase products you want, that contain the ingredients you are looking for, and then encourage everyone to do the same. Companies will expand those offerings that sell and remove those that don't. As the vegan movement grows, companies that don't change will ultimately fail. That's how we change the world.
This is silly. I buy canned refried beans from the grocery store on a regular basis. And there are a few brands to choose from. On top of that the dried refried beans in the Mylar bags are vegan too.
In my opinion its great you guys believe in all this and your aiming to better yourselfs but don't boycott businesses to only sell vegan stuff or force people to go vegan. Some people want to eat things that are bad for them.
As a member of PETA (People eating tasty animals) I can say that if the world changes the fast food restaurants and makes them only vegan, then I will change over to cannibalism and eat you!!
Ok, joking aside -- why would anyone suggest that vegan should be forced on anyone? Why shouldn't I force a meat diet on the vegans? I have a better idea: how about if we all act like adults and not only allow each person to decide for themselves what they want to eat, but also support each other in our decisions.
Unfortunately people are kind of getting bullied to eat meat.
When it's socially acceptable to call people names or question their sexuality because they decide to stop eating meat or go vegan then it's a form of bullying.
I think it's hilarious how people say "if you buy something from Taco Bell you're supporting cruelty and blah blah blah blah because they sell meat there!!" Oh dear lord just stop it you sound brainwashed. I am a vegan yup a vegan and I don't get my panties in a bunch because people buy vegan options at fast food places. If you can't buy vegan friendly things from places because they sell meat you can not shop ANYWHERE. No where. There is no vegan grocery stores by me or any that I have ever heard of. You can't go to grocery stores because they sell meat. No Whole Foods, no Trader Joes, my farmers market has people who sell meat so I guess I can't go there either!! Come on and get real. No one cares how hard core vegan you pretend to be. Also you can only go to restaurants fancy or not that are only 100% vegan if you truly believe you can't buy anything from a place that sells meat and dairy. Where does it stop? When you buy your dog or cat vegan food (if you do) can you not go to a pet store that sells dog food with meat in it either? Vegans need to stop judging vegans. It's about the cause not whose more fake hard core than the other.
Oh my gosh! I love you so much! You are like the person who steps in and is like "would you guys shut up??!! You are acting ridiculous!" You made me laugh so hard at all the arguing people. Thank you! You made my day!
You mean white granulated sugar. Some brands are vegan.
Do you know if the doritos firey taco shells are vegan?
I'm not really sure why you had to include his body weight in this post. Honestly, being vegan isn't about achieving a healthy body weight. What if the vegan serving you had been overweight in your eyes? I just don't understand why it's relevant.
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