Taco Bell Vegan Menu: Best Vegetarian and Plant-Based Options
If you’re on the road and considering a fling with some fast food, do you switch into autopilot and picture the Taco Bell Vegan Menu? It’s been a haven for vegans for years when you’re on the go with no where else to turn to. You can never go wrong with a fine flour tortilla, a bunch of beans, and a whole lot of guac.
When Taco Bell announced that they were the first-ever quick-service restaurant to offer a certified vegetarian menu, vegans rejoiced! They still maintain that they have “millions of vegetarian options” that have been certified by the American Vegetarian Association. It’s really just a handful of ingredients (like rice, beans, guacamole, tomatoes, lettuce, and potatoes) done millions of ways, but that’s still more progress on the fast food front than many other restaurants have made.
With more than 7,000 restaurant locations, Taco Bell serves more than 2 billion people every year. They deserve big props for taking this initiative, and hopefully other fast food chains will quickly follow suit. We encourage our readers to write to other fast food chains, encouraging them to introduce more vegan meals and to have them certified by the American Vegetarian Association.
New Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce Launch in 2023
The vegan community went wild with the limited-time release of Taco Bell’s new vegan nacho sauce served with spicy fries in October 2023. During the launch, the front page of the Taco Bell website was marked with a celebration of this new vegan option, and the vegan menu item was highlighted across all restaurant locations throughout the United States.
How to Navigate the Taco Bell Vegan Menu
Ordering vegan at Taco Bell is super simple if you remember to leave out the meat and dairy. Though, sometimes, the dairy is lurking in unknown and unfamiliar places, so we still have to be careful. Let’s cross our fingers that they start offering vegan cheese at least one of their locations soon. Until then, here are some quick suggestions on how to make ordering your tempting tacos and bursting burritos a little easier:
- Ask for your dish to be made “vegetarian” (meaning made with beans instead of meat)
- Ask for your dish to be made “fresco style” (meaning made without cheese, sour cream, or any dairy)
- Add veggie items like guacamole and potatoes (they’re back!) to any entrée.
Vegan Menu Options at Taco Bell
Vegan Entrée Options
Ask for “fresco style” (meaning vegan) and reiterate no cheese, sour cream, nacho cheese sauce, or creamy jalapeño sauce for all items below. Also, feel free to sub beans instead of meat, add potatoes, and add guacamole to any item.
- Bean (or Bean & Rice) Burrito (fresco style)
- Black Bean Crunchwrap Supreme (fresco style, add guacamole and potatoes)
- Black Bean Chalupa (fresco style)
- Black Bean and Rice Bowl (fresco style)
- Power Menu Bowl – Veggie (fresco style)
- Spicy Potato Soft Taco (fresco style)
- Veggie Nachos Party Pack (add lettuce, rice, black beans, onions, and/or potatoes)
- Veggie Mexican Pizza (fresco style with no cheese)
- Veggie Build Your Own Cravings Box – Choose a drink, either a Black Bean Chalupa or Black Bean Crunchwrap made fresco style, a burrito or spicy potato soft taco made fresco style, and the cinnamon twists or cheesy fiesta potatoes made fresco (essentially just the potatoes once you remove the cheese and sour cream). This is by far the best deal, with four items starting at $5.99.
Vegan Breakfast Items
- Breakfast Salsa
- Hash Browns
Vegan Dessert
- Cinnamon Twists (crispy crunchy cinnamon and sugar coated crisps)
Plant-Based Sides
- Seasoned Fries
- Seasoned Rice
- Nacho Chips
- Guacamole
- Refried Beans
- Black Beans
Taco Bell’s Vegan Taco Shells & Tortillas
- Chalupa (yes, Taco Bell’s Chalupa shell is vegan!)
- Corn Taco Shell
- Flour Tortilla
- Gordita Flatbread
- Red Strips
- Tostada Shell
Vegan Ingredients and Sauces
- Black Beans
- Green Sauce
- Guacamole
- Hot Sauces (all 4)
- Jalapeño Peppers
- Lettuce
- Nacho Chips
- Onions
- Potato Bites
- Red Sauce
- Refried Beans
- Seasoned Fries
- Seasoned Rice
- Tomatoes
Vegan-Friendly Beverages
- Black Coffee
- Fountain Drinks
- Freezes (Only the Mango Freeze and Mtn Dew Baja Blast Freeze are vegan-friendly.)
- Gatorade Fruit Punch
- IZZE Drinks
- Orange Juice
- Pink Lemonade
- Unsweetened Iced Tea
NOTE: The “whip” versions of the Freeze drinks are NOT vegan and contain milk products, specifically the Mango Whip and Island Strawberry. The Wild Strawberry and Wild Cherry flavors contain confectioner’s glaze, which is made from insects, so it’s also not vegan.
What’s NOT Vegan at Taco Bell?
The following items contain animal products and cannot be ordered vegan.
- Cinnabon Delights (contains egg and milk)
- Doritos Locos Tacos (contains milk and cheese)
- Sauces (contain milk and some also egg, except for the green, red, and hot sauces)
Frequently Asked Questions
To order a burrito loaded with all the vegan extras in the least expensive way possible, ask for the following: Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito, make it fresco (removes dairy and adds pico de gallo), add purple cabbage, fiesta strips, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, jalapenos, potatoes, black beans, red sauce, and guacamole. This fully loaded burrito should total around $5.44. You can also skip the add-ons and it will drop down to around $1.49, but will still be filling, with rice, refried beans, and pico de gallo. This is the least expensive way to order the best vegan burrito at Taco Bell.
Taco Bell was testing an exclusively vegan Crunchwrap in 2023 but it has not rolled out nationwide yet. However, you can easily customize the Black Bean Crunchwrap Supreme to be vegan. Order it fresco style which removes the dairy items and add guacamole and potatoes to make it more filling.
In 2023, Taco Bell tested a vegan Crunchwrap made with its own proprietary vegan meat in Los Angeles, Orlando, and New York.
Creating a Kinder and More Accessible Taco Bell
It’s only a matter of time before more vegan options land on the menu. That’s the direction all the big fast food chains are heading, and Taco Bell knows that the heat is on and they can add a few more items that are vegan-friendly, such as vegan cheese. But meanwhile, we can always write to, call, or contact the managers of any location to make our requests.
What are your favorite items on the new vegan menu at Taco Bell? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
Helpful Hints When Ordering Vegan at Taco Bell
- Browse the Taco Bell menu before ordering.
- If ordering Taco Bell through a delivery service, make sure you clearly specify any substitutions you would like. Especially concerning cheese and meats. If you’re worried that your request may not be honored (or seen by the server at Taco Bell), it might be a better idea to go there directly to order.
- Check out the Full Nutrition Info page and Ingredients Statement section to make sure that you are purchasing a vegan-friendly item. The menu items offered at Taco Bell do change and the informational charts seem to be updated regularly.
- From past experience, it seems that most (if not all) seasonal drinks or foods are not vegan because of added dairy milk or milk derivatives. Be careful when new and exciting seasonal products are offered at Taco Bell. Double check the allergens and ingredients page to make sure the item is vegan before purchasing.
How to Order Vegan at Other Fast Chains
Be sure to check out our full Vegan Fast Food Guide where you can see the best vegan options at all the major chains in the U.S.
For more Mexican-inspired fast-food restaurants, here are vegan menu guides for the following locations:
Have you found any other options to be veganizable? Did you find something amazing that we missed? Share your finds in the comments belo.
World of Vegan is not affiliated with Taco Bell. At the time of this article, the foods mentioned above are vegan, to the best of our knowledge. Restaurants frequently update their menus, so please keep this in mind when ordering your food. There may be new items that are vegan at Taco Bell and not listed or items listed here as vegan, which are no longer vegan. Take care to double-check.
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Taco Bell is my go-to fast food place these days. They make it very easy to order as a vegetarian, and pretty easy as a vegan. Great selection of different flavors for such affordable food.