UPDATE: Looking for the 2021 Starbucks Holiday Drink Guide?
Tis the season for holiday cheer and tis the season for Starbucks Holiday Drinks! Starbucks does a tremendous job of adding seasonal menu items, especially with their drink options. All this change though can lead to a very overwhelming and confusing drink order for vegans that want to get in on the holiday action.
No need to worry though, that’s why VeggL exists. We’re going to walk you through the 2020 holiday drink options from Starbucks and tell you what’s vegan and what’s not so you can make your next Starbucks order with confidence! We’ll also let you know how to order any modifications you may need.
A couple notes before we get into each drink. We’re going to refer to non-dairy milks quite a bit. Most Starbucks locations offer Soy, Coconut and Oat milk as dairy alternatives. Keep in mind this substitution will come with a $0.70 upcharge which we don’t feel is right, but that’s a topic for another article.
Finally, each of these drinks can be ordered hot, iced or blended as a frappuccino. (Not sure why you’d order a hot chocolate iced, but you do you!)
Starbucks Vegan Holiday Drink Guide
Chestnut Praline Latte
Order with NO whip and request a non-dairy milk.
Hot Chocolate
Order with NO whip or mocha drizzle and request a non-dairy milk
Peppermint Hot Chocolate
Order with NO whip and request a non-dairy milk. The Chocolate Curls topping is vegan!
Peppermint Mocha
Order with NO whip and request a non-dairy milk.
Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
Order with NO whip or caramel sauce and request a non-dairy milk. Essentially what you’ll be left with is no caramel flavor, but you’ll still get the toffee and chocolate.
Salted Caramel Mocha
Order with NO whip or caramel sauce. Request a non-dairy milk. Like with the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate, you’re removing the caramel flavor. You’ll get the toffee and chocolate though.
Vegan Food at Starbucks
Want to grab a bite to eat with your holiday drink order? Here are a few vegan food options at Starbucks that we recommend:
Bagels
Starbucks has three different varieties of bagel that are vegan. The Plain, Sprouted Grain and Multigrain bagels are all vegan-friendly. Look for packaged Organic Avocado Spread, Justin’s Hazelnut Butter or Classic Almond Butter & spread on.
Oatmeal
Hearty Blueberry or Classic Oatmeal (not labelled vegan but no animal derived ingredients) are both good options. You can order either with steamed soy, almond, coconut milk OR hot water in place of dairy milk.
Lentils for Lunch
If you’d like something a bit hearty for lunch try the Lentils & Vegetable Protein Bowl with Brown Rice.
Snacks
There are also numerous snack options if you just need something to hold you over till your next meal. Things like fruit bars, mixed nuts, sea salt potato chips, Hippeas chickpea puffs and Emmy’s Organic Coconut Cookies are just a few of the grab and go options that you can pick up with your coffee.
There are your Starbucks Vegan Holiday Drink options! If you’d like to see even more Starbucks Drinks options, we highly recommend checking out our Starbucks Vegan Cheat Sheet. It contains every vegan options that Starbucks offers and even walks you through how to order modifications when needed.
