I have put together the ultimate guide of vegan options as of 2023 at 20 of the top fast food chains in the US.

By Jasmine Lowe

Vkind Communication Specialist

Vegan options at fast-food places around the world are being added all of the time. With plant-based diets becoming mainstream, large fast-food chains are rushing to add vegan options to their menus. KFC even joined in temporarily in 2022 before it stopped serving its Beyond Fried Chicken in the US. 

Although the UK has the most vegans and the most vegan fast-food options compared to all the countries in the world, US restaurant chains are still adding plant-based options to their menus. Whether you’re unable to stop at a fully vegan restaurant on a road trip and have to make a last-minute stop, or you have a hankering for some familiar large chain fast food joint, we got you covered. Here’s the ultimate vegan fast-food guide for your future reference.

Vegan Options At Popular Fast Food Chains

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle is an American chain of fast-casual restaurants specializing in bowls, tacos, and Mission-style burritos made to order in front of the customer. You can find Chipotle restaurants in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and France. Everything except for the meats, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, queso, sour cream, and chipotle-honey vinaigrette is vegan. This leaves their spicy, meaty tofu-based Sofritas, tortillas, both rice options, both types of beans, their guacamole, and their salsas, and hot sauces. 

My go-to order at Chipotle is a burrito bowl with black beans, brown rice, Sofritas, fajita vegetables (grilled peppers), mild and medium salsas, corn, and guacamole. I’ll always get the bowl to go and have half of it for lunch or dinner at a later time.

Taco Bell

The majority of the ingredients at Taco Bell are actually vegan.  This was one of my go-to fast-food restaurants when I first went vegan years ago because of this. Just avoid the Doritos Locos shells since they are not vegan. You can also substitute any meat item for black or refried beans and tell them you want an item fresco style, and they’ll leave off the cheese and sour cream and replace it with their chunky vegan salsa. 

Their Breakfast Salsa, Red Sauce, all their sauce packets, Premium Guacamole, both beans, their veggies, taco, chalupa, and tostada shells, tortillas, Gordita Flatbread, Nacho Chips, Potato Bites, Red Strips, Seasoned Rice, Cinnamon Twists, and Hash Brown, are all certified vegan. 

Del Taco

Del Taco now offers Beyond Meat and has always had a host of other vegan ingredients like Taco Bell. Their Epic Beyond Fresh Guacamole Burrito, Beyond Guacamole Taco, Crinkle Cut Fries, and Hash Brown Sticks are fully vegan. 

You can also order the Beyond 8 Layer Burrito without cheese or sour cream, Beyond Taco without cheese, Bean & Cheese Burrito without cheese, Crunchtada® Tostada without cheese, and the 8 Layer Veggie Burrito without cheese or sour cream. 

Qdoba

Qdoba added Impossible Meat for vegans and plant-based foodies to add and substitute in their favorite menu items. All the beans, tortillas, rice varieties, guacamole, and salsas are also vegan. 

Vegans can order the Impossible Fajita Bowl or Fajita Vegan Bowl as is and the Impossible Taco Salad without the cheese. My favorite is the Fajita Vegan Bowl which comes with sauteed fajita veggies, guacamole, pico de gallo, chile corn salsa, salsa verde, black beans, and brown rice.

Burger King

Burger King now offers The Impossible Burger patty, which is vegan. If you don’t want it grilled on the same surface that cooks meat, they will microwave it upon request. Burger King has also begun testing Impossible chicken nuggets in the US in some locations and may soon be adding it to the menu nationwide.

Vegans can order French Toast Sticks, Hash Browns, Single Impossible King with no cheese, Impossible Whopper with no mayo, the Impossible Southwest Bacon Whopper with no bacon, cheese, or sauce, French Fries, Garden Side Salad with Ken’s Golden Italian Dressing and no cheese or croutons, and Applesauce. Just keep in mind that nearly everything here shares the same grill or fryer as the meat products.

Carl’s Jr.

You can order any chicken or burger menu item with the Beyond Burger at Carl’s Jr. Just ask for no cheese or mayo. Everything here is prepared in a shared kitchen, and nothing here is certified vegan, so order at your own risk. However, their Hash Rounds, Carls Jr Fries, French Fries, CrissCut Fries, Vegan Dressing/Sauce, Low Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette, Sweet & Bold BBQ Dipping Sauce, Spicy Buffalo Dipping Sauce, Ketchup, and Mustard are vegan.

White Castle

White Castle is famous for mini-hamburgers or “Sliders.” The restaurant has been around since 1921. All White Castle restaurants feature Veggie Sliders. Just order it without the ranch or honey mustard dressing. They used to have a Black Bean Slider that was taken off the menu in 2018, but they’ve replaced it with an Impossible Slider that you can order without the cheese.

Everything is prepared together, so there is cross-contamination, but vegans can order French Fries, Hash Brown Nibblers, Mott’s Applesauce, and Sweet Potato Fries or Fried Pickles if you are in certain locations. 

McDonald’s

McDonald’s is so limited in its vegan options that when I have to stop here, I’ll just use the restaurant as a bathroom. Other countries outside of the US have all kinds of plant-based options that are unavailable here. 

McDonald’s French fries and hash browns aren’t vegan because they are fried in beef fat and contain a “natural beef flavor” that also has dairy. However, the apple pie at McDonald’s contains no dairy. You can also order a salad without dressing or cheese or the Fruit & Maple oatmeal (made with water rather than cream) for breakfast.

Denny’s

When I first went vegan, Denny’s had a very mediocre vegan bean burger. In January 2020, Denny’s replaced it with vegan Beyond Burgers at all USA and Canadian restaurants.

Vegans can order hash browns, red-skinned potatoes (but not the red-skinned ‘mashed’ potatoes), the regular English muffin without butter (but not the gluten-free English muffin, which contains dairy), wavy-cut french fries, seasoned fries, chips & salsa, seasonal fruit, and the house salad, or side salad with no cheese or croutons. You can also order broccoli, sweet petite corn, and whole-grain rice all without butter. Denny’s coffee, juices, and oatmeal are also vegan. 

Dunkin’ Donuts

In 2019, Dunkin; Donuts introduced Beyond Meat Sausage at all USA locations but no longer has it on their menu. Dunkin’ does have avocado toast and non-dairy milk choices that include oat milk, almond milk, and coconut milk to add to your coffee. 

Aside from the avocado toast, vegans can also order avocado & roasted tomato toast, bacon avocado tomato sandwich with no bacon, plain, cinnamon raisin, everything & sesame bagels with no cream cheese, an English muffin, and hash browns. 

Dunkin’ Refreshers, fruit drinks, and teas are also vegan. However, all of the swirl syrups (minus the mocha swirl, peppermint mocha swirl, and brownie batter swirl) and the vanilla bean flavored syrup contain dairy. When ordering, make sure you say you want the syrup and not the swirl when ordering the vanilla or caramel-flavored syrups.

Starbucks

I’m not a fan of Starbucks at all. While they do offer an Impossible Breakfast Sandwich, it still contains both dairy cheese and eggs. They do have plant-based milk options, but unfortunately, they impose a surcharge when choosing oat, soy, almond, or coconut milk instead of cow’s milk. Vegan drinks can be flavored with brown sugar, caramel, cinnamon dolce, hazelnut, peppermint, raspberry, sugar cookie, toasted vanilla, toffee nut, vanilla, and sugar-free vanilla syrup. The only sauce that is vegan is the mocha sauce.

Vegans can purchase Chickpea Bites & Avocado Protein Box, Plain, Cinnamon Raisin, and Everything Bagel (be aware there is also an Everything & Cheddar Bagel that is not vegan) with packaged Organic Avocado Spread as spread instead of butter. Depending on your location, you can also use Justin’s Hazelnut Butter or Classic Almond Butter. Vegans can also order rolled & Steel-Cut Oatmeal With Blueberries with all of the toppings and Strawberry Overnight Grains.

Peet’s Coffee

Peet’s Coffee has the Everything Plant-Based Sandwich, which can be ordered ‘as-is’ straight off the menu as a plant-based option. However, it’s technically not vegan because it uses Just Egg product which was tested on animals prior to being approved by the FDA. The sandwich comes with seasoned Beyond Breakfast Sausage® and is layered with JUST Egg and cheddar Violife Cheese on a toasted everything bagel thin.

All of their drinks can be ordered with plant-based milk except for the Javivas, Havana Cappuccinos, and Black Ties, which cannot be made vegan. The Hibiscus and Matcha Teas also contain honey and are not vegan.

Subway

You can’t blink in the US without running into a Subway. That said, you would think there would have been more vegan-friendly options available at the fast food chain by now. In 2019, the chain made headlines when it launched Beyond Meatball subs across the US and Canada, only to take it away again without replacing it with another option.

Vegans can order the Veggie Delite salad or create their own salad with available veggies. They can also create their own sandwich with Artisan Italian (white), Spinach Wrap, and Tomato Basil Wrap, or Plain Wrap, Artisan Flatbread, Hearty Multigrain, and Sourdough, depending on your location. The BBQ, buffalo, ketchup, mustard, oil blend, red wine vinegar, spicy brown mustard, and sweet onion teriyaki sauces are also vegan. Depending on your location, you can also get Creamy Italian, Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce, Giardiniera, Golden Italian, Hot Pepper Relish, or Sweet Chili Sauce.

Keep in mind that the Subway Veggie Patty is not vegan because it contains egg, and it is also only offered at certain locations. My go-to order at a gas station while on the road is a six-inch veggie on Artisan Italian with all the veggies (except for yellow peppers and jalapenos), no cheese, add avocado, and salt and pepper. 

Blaze Pizza

When I think of fast food pizza that’s vegan-friendly, I think of Blaze Pizza. Both Blaze’s regular dough and gluten-free dough are vegan, and they have plenty of veggies, sauces, and even vegan Daiya shreds cheese and vegan spicy chorizo. They also just added vegan Cheesy Bread to their menu. I do wish all locations would put the veggies before the meat to avoid cross-contamination, but vegans on the go can still build their own vegan-friendly pizza the way they like it.

Domino’s

You can actually build your own pizza that’s vegan-friendly at Domino’s. Start with their Crunchy Thin Crust, then top it with their Pizza Sauce (not the Hearty Marinara Sauce), and add on veggies of your choice. You can also build your own pasta, which begins with their Penne Pasta, adding in whatever veggies you’d like. They do not have vegan cheese in the US.

Pizza Hut

Vegans can create their own pizza at Pizza Hut by choosing their Hand-Tossed Crust, Original Pan Crust, or Thin ‘N Crispy Crust, with Classic Marinara or Buffalo for the sauce, and top it off with veggies of their choosing. Pizza Hut did launch a Beyond Meat Pizza but is no longer offering it. Their sides of breadsticks (request no seasoning) and fries are also vegan. They additionally have Cinnamon Sticks sans the icing dip that you can order. They do not have vegan cheese in the US.

El Pollo Loco

Once upon a time, El Pollo Loco had some vegan options that you could order straight off of the menu. However, The Vegan Chickenless Pollo and Vegan Chickenless Pollo Burrito are no longer available.

Vegans can now order Beans, Rice, and Cheese Burrito without the Cheese, known in the community as the “BRC Burrito.” You can also order the Fajita Burrito with avocado instead of chicken, no cheese, and no sour cream, the Double Chicken Burrito with avocado instead of chicken and no cheese, the Chicken Black Bean Bowl with avocado instead of chicken, and the Pollo Bowl with avocado instead of chicken.

Fatburger

Vegans can order an Impossible Burger with Daiya cheese and fries. Just ask for no mayo. They also have vegan milkshakes, including Strawberry, Vanilla, Chocolate, and Maui Banana made with Craig’s Vegan Ice Cream. Sides like Fat Fries, Skinny Fries, and Sweet Potato Fries are vegan as well.

Wendy’s

Wendy’s vegan options are pretty disappointing. You’re just left with ordering most menu items without meat, cheese, butter, or sour cream. Their only accidentally vegan dressing listed is the Pomegranate Vinaigrette or salsa. 

If you order the side salad, then get it with no cheese or croutons. However, vegans can order Breakfast Seasoned Potatoes, Apple Bites, Wendy’s Fries and Baked Potato with no butter, cheese, or sour cream, Pick your Potato, Natural-Cut Fries, and Baked Potato (plain) with chives and no butter, cheese, or sour cream. Their only other sauces are ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, or hot chili (spicy) sauce to pour on top.

Panda Express

Panda Express now offers Beyond The Original Orange Chicken nationwide. People are absolutely loving it, because every time I go in to try some, they’re all sold out. Vegans can also order chow mein, eggplant tofu, super greens, veggie spring rolls, steamed brown rice, and steamed white rice

Fast food restaurants are always testing and changing their menus with plant-based and vegan options. Go into each restaurant knowing that one item you may have assumed was vegan and available one day may not be available the next. It’s always best to double-check if these vegan options are  still available, as menu items are always changing. However, you can always plan ahead and find fully vegan restaurants on Vkind’s trustworthy website and app.