Passionate about pizza, pasta, and all things CPK? You’ll be glad to know that you can get on board with this popular pizza restaurant even if you’re vegan. Even without cheese or meat, you can still fill your belly with fantastic vegan food at CPK.
Ordering vegan at California Pizza Kitchen doesn’t have to be crazy or confusing—no need to decline your friend’s invitation to a delicious dinner. You can quickly design your own dishes by ditching the dairy and minus-ing the meat.
While you’ll mostly be consuming carbs (mmm…comforting carbs!), you can always add variety with veggies. Pile on the peppers, bulk it up with broccoli, or alienate your date with an overload of onions—your hunger has its own set of rules, am I right?
It’s easy to make the most out of these mouthwatering menu options. You only need to find some flexibility, channel your creativity, and power up some patience. Luckily, we’re here to help you out!
Politely pass on these non-vegan menu items:
Our list of specific vegan options below will help sort through the selections quickly and easily.
Heard the news at California Pizza Kitchen? Now, you can order their brand new “Don’t Call Me Chicken” BBQ pizza at all locations. Their plant-based chicken creation is cholesterol free and made with only 7 ingredients (including wheat and soy). You can find detailed nutritional information and ingredient list here.
Though the website states that this speciality pizza is not available as vegan at this time, you can easily order this plant-based protein on the side and add to your own cheese-free pizza with vegan-friendly sauce. Let’s team up and contact the company to state our wishes. We are dying for a fully vegan pizza with all the toppings!
California Pizza Kitchen also offers alcoholic beverages, but the options differ from one location to the next and also from state to state. Please double-check your options on Barnivore.com—the vegan beer, wine, and liquor guide.
If veggies won’t fill you up, then feel free to bring in your own plant-based protein. Beans, veggie burgers, or vegan meatballs can make any meager meal more manageable.
If these condiments don’t cut it for your side salad then just carry in your desired dressing. You could also ask for extra avocado or lemon juice.
Power up your pasta or pizza (or even salad!) with a handful of nuts, seeds, vegan bacon bits, crushed red pepper, vegan cheese, or even some dried onion flakes. If you have time to plan ahead then you can bring tasty toppings to add texture and flavor.
Sadly, CPK has no vegan options for dessert. If you’re in the baking mood, you can whip up some Maple Blondie Brownies or out-of-this-world Oatmeal Cookies ahead of time to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Let them know! Your voice matters. Request a vegan cheese or meat option for their pasta and pizza. Write them, message them on social media, talk to the manager of your local branch. Trust us, they are listening, and the more they hear it, the faster they’ll evolve.
Have you found any other options to be veganizable? Did you find something amazing that we missed? Let us know about your vegetarian and vegan CPK favorites by tagging #worldofvegan and sharing your favorite vegan at California Pizza Kitchen creations with all of us!
This California Pizza Kitchen vegan article is not sponsored and we are in no way affiliated with California Pizza Kitchen. At the time of this vegan California Kitchen menu article, the foods mentioned above are vegan. Since restaurants constantly update their menus and add or take away items, please keep this in mind when ordering vegan at CPK. There may be new items that are vegan and not listed or items listed here as vegan, which are no longer vegan. Take care to double-check.
Leave a Comment
3/10/23 I have been eating at CPK for years, ordering the California Veggie pizza without cheese and specifying “no dairy”. Today, they told me the regular crust contains dairy. I asked the server to double check and she came back saying it contains dairy. I asked the manager to check as well. He said the ingredients specify “may contain dairy.” So, technically not vegan for those strict or with allergy. I assume it may be processed on equipment that processes other products with dairy. For me, I went ahead and ordered. However, I would say this news is inconclusive, (disappointing) and requires follow up with corporate. Even the CPK website will give you vegan friendly options and pizza does not come up when you specify vegan restriction or non-dairy restriction. Kind of a bummer.
Hi Kathy, thank you for the update! It sounds like it was a misunderstanding from the staff for what “may contain dairy” means, especially if they aren’t vegan or allergic, they may not be familiar with that term. If dairy isn’t listed in the ingredient list itself, then it’s generally considered vegan (assuming no other animal products are listed). I believe the pizza doesn’t come up as vegan on their site due to the cheese, but ordering without cheese should solve that problem as you mentioned 🙂
The guacamole and chips plate is so good! I only wish they had more vegan pizza options. Hope this happens soon!