McDonald’s Vegan Options

McDonald's

McDonald’s Vegan Options

Eating at this fast-food chain probably isn’t the healthiest choice, but sometimes the choices are limited. For the plant-based eaters out there who need a quick bite while on a road trip, here are all of the current McDonald’s Vegan Options!

Jump To Vegan McDonald’s Guide

At first, it seemed promising that McDonald’s had an official list of vegetarian and vegan menu items, but after checking out this page on their website, there wasn’t a whole lot of information.

Because the fast-food chain doesn’t have an official list of vegan items, you have to use their allergen menu to find all of the vegan options at McDonald’s.

This resource should provide enough information to figure out what is plant-based, but sometimes there are some sneaky non-vegan ingredients — like honey — that won’t be mentioned in this resource.

When this happens, there are two more things you can do to tell if a McDonald’s menu item is vegan.

  1. Find the menu item on the McDonald’s website and click on “view ingredients & allergens.” Here you can see a complete list of ingredients so you can determine if it’s vegan.
  2. Contact McDonald’s directly. If you can’t find the answer, you can always reach out to customer service with questions about ingredients or cross-contamination.

McDonald’s Allergen Menu

McDonald’s has two different allergen menus you can explore: the interactive allergen menu and the PDF version.

The interactive allergen menu is great for quickly finding the menu item you’re looking for. All you have to do is start typing a product and then click on it when you see it in the drop-down. The allergens will be listed after you select the product.

With the PDF version of the allergen menu, you can see all of the products at once, but you have to search around to find the product you’re looking for.

The McDonald’s allergen guides are helpful in eliminating non-vegan options from the menu, but you can’t be sure that any products are vegan with these resources alone.

Non-Vegan McDonald’s menu items will contain these allergens:

  • egg
  • fish
  • milk

However, we all know that these aren’t the only non-vegan ingredients. You still have to do some research to make sure a product doesn’t contain honey, animal fat, or other tricky non-vegan ingredients.

Vegan Options

Clearly, it can take a lot of time to narrow down all of the vegan food at McDonald’s, and you won’t’ have time to do all the research once you’re in the drive-thru line!

That’s why I’ve put together an easy guide to eating plant-based at McDonald’s. Check it out below! I’ve gone through all the ingredients, but feel free to ask when you order or double-check for yourself!


 

McDonald’s Vegan Menu

Table of Contents (click to jump)

 

Breakfast

  • Fruit and Maple Oatmeal (ask for: no cream)

 

Lunch/Dinner

  • Southwest Salad (ask for: no cheese, no ranch, no chicken, and no tortilla strips*)
    • What you’re left with: a salad blend with a southwest vegetable blend (corn, black beans, tomato, poblano peppers, lime juice, and cilantro), and cilantro lime glaze. If you need some dressing, ask for the balsamic vinaigrette, which is vegan-friendly.
    • * The tortilla strips are vegan besides disodium insonate and Disodium Guanylate, which are sometimes derived from fish. The ingredients also contain “natural flavor,” which means that it could be flavored with natural animal flavor. That’s why it’s best for vegans to avoid this.

 

Sides

  • Apple slices 

 

McCafé Drinks

  • Black coffee (hot or iced)
  • expresso shot 
  • Americano 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Are McDonald’s fries vegan?

  • No, the fries are not vegan because they are made with natural beef flavor and milk derivatives. Find all ingredients here. This is true for the US, but if you live in a different country, this may have changed.

Are McDonald’s apple pies vegan?

  • No, the apple pie is not vegan. Many sources claim that the apple pie is vegan, but looking closely at all of the ingredients, we can’t be sure. L-Cysteine is listed as an ingredient, and because they don’t list it as “vegetarian” L-Cyteine, we have to assume that it was derived from an animal source, such as duck feathers.

Are McDonald’s hash browns vegan?

  • No, the hashbrowns are not vegan! They contain both natural beef flavor and milk derivatives. Find all ingredients here. This is true for the US, but if you live in a different country, this may have changed.

Are Mcdonald’s smoothies vegan?

  • No, the smoothies are not vegan because they contain yogurt.

Does McDonald’s have a vegan burger?

  • McDonald’s does not have a vegan burger in the US, but they are starting to serve veggie burgers in other countries, such as Canada.

If you liked this guide, check out more of my Vegan Restaurant Guides!

Menu items are always subject to change — if you see any new vegan options or any menu items that are no longer available, please contact me or leave a comment below!

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