Vegan options at fast food restaurants have come a long way in the past few years (and have struggled…we have seen limited-time menu items and tests come in and go back out a lot lately). I remember a few years ago when we’d go through a fast food drive-thru, Jen would be lucky just to be able to order some fries.
Now, with Beyond Burgers, Sofritas, Impossible Burgers, Non-Dairy Milks and Vegan Ice Cream there are vegan-friendly options almost everywhere you look with more being introduced.
If you’re playing catch up on the vegan fast food options that are currently out there, or maybe you just want to make sure you’re not missing out on something, Jen and I put together a list of our favorite fast food orders.
So, what counts as fast food? We used to classify fast food as a chain that typically has a drive-thru, but with options like mobile ordering at places like Chipotle the idea of ‘fast food’ has changed so you’ll see a few “fast casual” options on the list.
In 2023, we now have vegan fast-food restaurants making their way across the United States… those are not included here. (different list for a different article).
Third, yes we know that cross-contamination is likely at most of these locations – if you’d like to read more on our philosophy in that regard, please look at our Disclaimers page
. To summarize, this is what it says:
*As with any restaurant that is not 100% vegan or does not offer a designated cooking space for their vegan options, cross-contamination can occur and fryers/grills may be shared with animal products. You can choose what your level of comfort is with these potential issues
So, with those ground rules in place, here we go!
The Best Fast Food Vegan Options
Bean Burrito ‘Fresco Style’ from Taco Bell
We thought it was fitting for this to go first on the list because the Bean Burrito at Taco Bell sort of feels like the OG when it comes to vegan fast food options. It’s delicious and easy to order without complicated substitutions.
It’s also easy to eat in the car which makes it a great choice for road trips.
Speaking of substitutions, lately I’ve been adding potatoes and seasoned rice to mine. It bulks up the burrito while keeping it cheap and adds more layers of flavor.
Taco Bell also has Cinnamon Twists too which is one of, if not the best fast food desserts that’s also vegan.
Impossible Whopper at Burger King
When Burger King first rolled out the Impossible Whopper* (order with no mayo), I probably got it five times that week.
Why?
Because it’s amazing!
Jen hesitates to order them because they taste too much like the original thing so it’s hard for her to tell the difference and she has more hesitation towards cross-contamination. So much so that she gets weirded out and doesn’t finish it half the time. (Don’t worry, I do)
One thing that makes the Impossible Whopper* such a great option is that it requires barely any modifications. No mayo, that’s it.
What you’re left with is an Impossible Burger with lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle on a sesame seed bun. Pair it with an order of French fries and you’re good to go.
Yes, their French Fries are vegan* as well!
Del Taco’s Epic Beyond Fresh Guacamole Burrito
While that might be a mouthful to say, it’s also a mouthful to eat! Del Taco has had Beyond Meat on their menu for a while now and they’ve had numerous iterations of burritos and tacos featuring Beyond Meat since then.
One burrito that has remained on the menu at Del Taco is the Epic Beyond Fresh Guacamole Burrito. It’s made up of Beyond Meat crumbles, slow-cooked beans, cilantro lime rice, pico de gallo and guacamole.
There’s a reason it’s called Epic. One of these burritos will be more than enough for almost anyone – it is packed to the brim with deliciousness. Finally, absolutely no modifications are needed. You can order it directly as it’s listed on the menu.
Also, while you’re at Del Taco, you might as well order some French fries. Their old-school crinkle-cut French fries are perfection.
And Jen’s favorite is typically a Crunchata Tostada with NO cheese.
Culver’s Sweet Potato Fries
These are a limited-time (once a year) item that usually shows up on Culver menus sometime in the fall.
When they do show up – they are worth going out of your way for. Culver’s Sweet Potato Fries are southern-grown sweet potatoes fried in canola oil*.
There isn’t a lot you can pair the fries up with because Culver’s “veggie” burger contains milk, but that’s okay. Just order some sweet potato fries. You’ll be glad you did.
The Chow Mein at Panda Express
Panda Express’s Chow Mein is the kind of thing I could eat every single day and never get tired of it. The noodles are always well cooked and packed full of flavor.
Pair it up with a couple spring rolls and you have one of the best vegan fast food options you could ever hope for. (From a non-vegan chain at least)
Also, we chose the Chow Mein because although we’ve heard from people that it not only exists, it’s amazing – we’ve never actually come across the Eggplant Tofu ourselves. It seems to be on a very limited amount of locations.
Panda Express tested Beyond Orange Chicken at select locations across the country then rolled it out (for a limited time). As of 2023, we are no longer seeing it on our local menu.
We were big fans of the Beyond Orange Chicken. If it was still on menus across the United States, it would be on our list!
The Beyond Famous Star Burger at Carl’s Jr
Beyond Meat is making yet another appearance on our list with Carl Jr’s Beyond Famous Star Burger. It requires a couple of modifications (no cheese and no mayo) but not much. It’s thicker than the Impossible Whopper and has a similar flame-grilled taste.
The burger, in combination with the pickles, onions and special sauce makes for a symphony of flavors that is spot on. Plus, you can add in an order of fries to round everything out perfectly.
Dairy Queen’s Dilly Bar
This vegan option is a little, ok a lot, different than the others, but that doesn’t make it any less great.
Dairy Queen doesn’t have any vegan ice cream flavors (at least not yet), but they do have a Non-Dairy Dilly Bar on their menu. This was added in 2020.
Dairy Queen‘s Dilly Bar is an exact replica of the ice cream popsicles we used to eat as kids. It’s the kind of treat that even if you had a freezer full of them, they wouldn’t last long – at least not in our house.
You can pair it up with one of Dairy Queen’s pretzels for a perfect combination of salty and sweet.
If you’re really feeling nostalgic, you can go with the Star Kiss (also featured in the image above). We’re pretty sure it’s just ice, sugar and food coloring but it’s still pretty good on a hot summer day.
Dunkin’s Iced Coffee with Oat Milk and a Mocha Swirl
Not a food option, but considering this is the fast food menu item that I order more than any other it didn’t seem fair to leave it off the list.
Dunkin‘s Iced Coffee was my favorite back when Almond Milk was the only non-dairy option, but Oat Milk has taken this drink to another level.
The Mocha Swirl is the icing on the cake. All of the other swirl options at Dunkin’ contain dairy, but the Mocha is dairy-free and perfect in an iced coffee.
Pair your drink with Avocado Toast (with Roasted Tomatoes), Hash Browns or a Bagel (NO cream cheese) and breakfast is in the bag.
The Everything Plant-Based Sandwich from Peet’s Coffee
Peet’s Coffee has done something that none of the bigger coffee chains have been able to do thus far.
They added a fully plant-based sausage breakfast sandwich to their menu. This sandwich includes a Beyond Breakfast Sausage, JUST Egg and just for good measure, vegan cheese as well.
To be honest, we don’t have a Peet’s Coffee near us, but we can’t wait to get our hands on one of these sandwiches!
Chipotle’s Sofritas Bowl
The Sofritas Bowl from Chipotle is my (Ryan) answer to the, ‘you’re on a desert island and can only eat one thing the rest of your life’ question.
We used to consider Chipotle ‘fast casual’ vs ‘fast food’, but now with the Chipotle App, I can make my order and pick it up without even waiting in line. It’s actually faster than going through a driveway 90% of the time.
I order my bowl with brown rice, sofritas, fajita veggies, red-chili salsa, corn salsa and lettuce. (sometimes guacamole, sometimes not). Finally, pro tip, get a bag of chips and use them as scoops for your bowl. Perfection.
Jen’s order is a salad (NO vinaigrette) with rice, pinto beans, sofritas, corn salsa, pico de gallo and chips to scoop.
Silk Chocolate Almondmilk Frozen Dessert from Cold Stone Creamery
Vegan ice cream isn’t really a new concept anymore so it’s hard for a ‘frozen dessert’ to surprise you with how good it is. But, that’s exactly how Jen and I both felt when we tried Cold Stone’s new vegan option.
Cold Stone added the frozen treat to their menus in January 2022 and we were blown away by how good it was. So good in fact that it didn’t even matter if we were eating ice cream when it was thirty degrees outside.
If you haven’t already, we definitely recommend giving it a try.
White Castle’s Impossible and Veggie Sliders
White Castle feels like home to us since we’re both from Ohio and had White Castle’s all around us. When we learned they began offering meat-less options, we did not have one close by anymore (we’ve moved a lot). But in 2022, we got rerouted on a drive and discovered a location.
These little ones are good but they are very different from one another. The Impossible Slider (order with NO cheese unless your location offers a vegan cheese… some do) tastes like a little meat burger while the Veggie Slider, which uses a Dr. Praegar patty, is a veggie patty. You can see and taste the veggies.
Get a couple of each and pair them with some fries.
Arby’s Curly Fries
Arby’s Curly Fries are our favorite fast food French Fry. The seasoning, flavor and crunch are the perfect combination and they’re fun, because, well… they’re curly.
If you like a little sweet & salty, pair your fries with either their Apple or Cherry Turnover!
Vegan Smoothies From Smoothie King
We’ve given you specific items thus far, but there are too many delicious vegan-friendly smoothies at Smoothie King to narrow it down to just one.
It really will come down to personal preferences, just look at how different our smoothie orders are above. I went with the Dark Chocolate Banana and Jen got the Veggie Lemon Ginger.
What really matters is that Smoothie King smoothies are cold, delicious and absolutely amazing on a hot summer day.
Final Thoughts on the Best Vegan Fast Food Options
The coolest thing we both noticed as we were finishing up this list is the fact that we were actually choosing our favorite options for this list.
Not too long ago we would have been just trying to scrape together as many as we could find just to make a list. That’s definitely progress.
For instance, we didn’t even include the following vegan options at popular fast-food restaurants:
- Jason’s Deli has a really good Spinach Veggie Wrap that you can combo with their Organic Vegetable Soup. It’s a great pair when for a hearty and healthy lunch.
- Panera Bread has a lot of great options including a Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich that exceeded my expectations. Change your bread out for a vegan bread though. I get mine with the Black Pepper Foccacia (amazing).
- Cava is a healthy fast-casual restaurant with Greek and Mediterranean food. We’re a fan of their Crispy Falafel Pita.
- Any of the dozens of vegan options at Starbucks
.
We could keep going on which is also a pretty cool thing. And with vegan options at popular fast food chains being added all the time, pretty soon it’s going to be even harder to narrow all the choices down to make a single list. We’re here for all of it.
You are welcome, Ivy!! 🙂
Thanks for this list!