Fast Food Vegan Options

You know that when it comes to fast food, they often aren’t all that friendly to fellow vegans, however, they do have many choices that you can choose from. Just like being able to make a “cheaper Big Mac” by getting a McDouble with Mac Sauce and Lettuce instead of ketchup and mustard, you can also make custom orders when you’re having a serious fast food craving that can be just as vegan-friendly. In this guide, we’ll go through 15 vegan hacks for your favorite fast food joints so you don’t have to miss out on convenience and flavor once in a while.

Going to Arby’s

Arby’s is centralized around their beef true, but you can actually get some vegan choices to satisfy your craving. If you’re just wanting a veggie sandwich, go for it. You can also be confident in knowing that if you don’t mind a shared fryer with other items, their curly fries are completely vegan, and one thing they’re famous for (same with Hardee’s).

Auntie Anne’s Pretzels

You can easily veganize most of their foods quickly and easily by skipping the butter. Instead of butter, you can always choose to dip it in a vegan margin of your own, or even a dairy-free cheese dip or queso dip.

Burger King

You can literally skip the veggie burger, because it actually includes both eggs and dairy, however you can get other things like vegetables and toppings, as well as salads you can get without meat or cheese. Burger King isn’t the greatest when it comes to choices, but you can always order French fries, which are vegan.

Carl’s Jr. (and Hardee’s)

Of course, the French fries, hash rounds, hash brown nuggets, and criss-cut fries are all vegan. Not only that, but inside their restaurants, many Hardee’s have a salad bar that even has three bean salad as a choice, and if you do allow dairy in your diet, you can get an order of grits too.

Chick-fil-A

When it comes to chicken-eating vegetarians and vegans, they’ve got you covered. But if you’re a totally pure vegan, you can opt for their hash browns and waffle potato fries. You can also get a fresh fruit cup and cinnamon applesauce from their kid’s menu, or you can always get a salad without the chicken.

Chipotle Mexican Grill

Literally just about everything on their menu, from burritos, bowls, tacos, and salads can be ordered with tofu instead of meat. You can also get the tortillas, fajita vegetables, rice, beans, their numerous salsas, chips, and guacamole too, because Chipotle has jumped on the vegan bandwagon so you can order just about anything from their menu. If you want, just skip the dairy and meats and you’re kosher!

Five Guys

This restaurant is mainly a burger place, so the main thing they offer is French fries. They’ll literally give you a whole greasy bag full of their hand cut fries, so they’re perfect when you’re craving some fast food. The downside to even their veggie burger is that their bun contains milk and eggs, so it’s not vegan, but you can always order it wrapped in lettuce.

In-N-Out Burger

In-N-Out Burger has French fries (some of the best rated in the nation mind you), and you can easily get a true vegetable sandwich that is on a vegan-friendly bun. All you have to do is order the sandwich without no patty, spread, or cheese, and add grilled onions, and you have a totally delicious secret “veggie” sandwiches complete with lettuce, tomato, and onion (you can add the pickles too if you like), and it’s a refreshing and filling sandwich that is the same price as meat alternatives on the dollar menu of other joints.

Jack In The Box

You need to really get creative because they have a few vegan items, but you need to ask for them. You can get their curly fries, as well as black beans, potato wedges, and breakfast blueberry muffins as well.

Kentucky Fried Chicken

The lifesaver of KFC is that they often have other sides like green beans, corn on the cob without butter, and the KFC House Salad (get the Italian Dressing), and oh yeah. The French fries of course. Other than that, there aren’t always very many options to choose from that are completely vegan.

McDonald’s

This fast food giant does have buns that are completely vegan. However, the fries contain milk and dairy, so don’t opt for those! You can, however, get just about any sandwich minus the meat and cheese if you wish. Some locations do still serve their salads, which without meat can be vegan as well (you may have to pick out the cheese).

Sonic Drive-In

Made famous in the ’50s, this restaurant has French fries, tater tots, sweet potato tots (varies per location), and onion rings. You can use something like JUST Mayo in order to dip them in, or ketchup if you wish.

Taco Bell

Taco Bell has jumped on the bandwagon too, by allowing you to order just about anything on the menu (other than the Dorito’s taco of course) by getting it “Fresco”. You might need to say no cheese or sour cream with vegan rice though. Try the tostada fresco, Mexican pizza, or the bean burrito fresco when you’re in a bind.

Wendy’s

Wendy’s has a garden side salad that is vegan, and you can skip the croutons (or pick them out). Other than that, you, of course, can get a plain baked potato. That’s literally about all though, so Wendy’s isn’t a great option.

White Castle

White Castle has a complete little vegan slider which actually can be eaten plain, or with their Thai sauce. Other than that, just about everything on their menu has ingredients that are derived from milk or dairy as well. The sliders, however, are delicious, and you should definitely try one.

Conclusion – Fast Food Vegan Hacks

Finding the right way to hack your fast food joint can be a lot easier if you don’t mind having some products that may contain milk or eggs in mild amounts (some vegans and vegetarians are more liberal and okay with this), and you can have a lot more options. However, there are many ways that if you use the science behind it correctly, you can come up with your own concoctions as well at just about any fast food joint.