Is Starbucks Pistachio Latte Vegan? (2024)

Starbucks has released their 2024 winter menu with a fan favorite returning, their Pistachio Latte and Pistachio Cream Cold Brew. We’re big fans of pistachio so it’s always a hope that it will be vegan-friendly so let’s see if it is for 2024.

Starbucks’ Pistachio Latte is described as being a sweet pistachio flavor, espresso and steamed milk with a brown buttery topping.

Let’s answer the questions…

Is Starbucks Pistachio Latte Vegan?

Starbucks Pistachio Latte is NOT vegan due to its main component of flavor being the pistachio sauce. The pistachio sauce Starbucks uses contains dairy. See the complete ingredient list here:

PISTACHIO SAUCE [INVERT SUGAR, CONDENSED NONFAT MILK, PISTACHIO BUTTER (GROUND PISTACHIOS), NATURAL FLAVORS, COCOA BUTTER, SALT, PRESERVATIVE: POTASSIUM SORBATE, XANTHAN GUM, TOCOPHEROLS, MONOGLYCERIDES]

What you can use from the list of ingredients in the pistachio latte is the Salted Brown Butter Cookie Flavored Topping. Its ingredients are:

[SUGARS (SUGAR, POWDERED SUGAR), CORN STARCH, SEA SALT, FRUIT AND VEGETABLE COLOR (PUMPKIN, SUGAR BEETS, APPLE, CARROT, HIBISCUS), NATURAL FLAVORS, SALT]

We consider this topping to be “accidentally vegan” due to the unknown source of sugar and what the natural flavors are made with.

Our Alternate Suggestion–> Order a Latte with Toffeenut Syrup and your choice of non-dairy milk (oat, soy, almond, coconut) with the Salted Brown Butter Cookie Topping. Of course, it’s not going to taste the same but since you do not know what the pistachio sauce tastes like then maybe it could be a fun surprise.

Is Starbucks Pistachio Cream Cold Brew Vegan?

It doesn’t take a scientist to figure that if the pistachio latte is NOT vegan-friendly then the Pistachio Cream Cold Brew probably isn’t either but let’s take a look just in case.

The Pistachio Cream Cold Brew contains ice, brewed coffee, a pistachio cream cold foam, vanilla syrup and the salted brown butter cookie flavored topping already mentioned.

In the Pistachio Cream Cold Foam, Starbucks is again using the dairy-based pistachio sauce which makes the Pistachio Cream Cold Brew NOT vegan either. 

In Conclusion…

If you are looking for vegan-friendly/non-dairy drink options at Starbucks, we have a completely updated Starbucks Vegan Guide, where we break down their drinks into categories (hot, cold, caffeinated, not caffeinated) plus food. And if you would like to know if any 2024 winter options they are offering are vegan-friendly, click here!