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12. vegan starbucks (and other fast food)
11 years ago
General
So you want caffeine. Or maybe you're craving sweets. Or maybe you just see a Starbucks and think sure, why not? Because we all know they're everywhere...
Then the problem becomes figuring out what can be made without dairy! Well, your friendly badger barista is here to help with some quick, rule-of-thumb things to remember.
What things ARE vegan-friendly?
-All the hot and iced coffees are vegan-friendly from the base, but if you get milk, make sure to ask for soy or coconut!
-All coffee based lattes - hot or iced - can be made vegan-friendly by substituting soy or coconut milk for the normally used 2%. It's important to note some lattes (cinnamon dolce comes to mind) come with whipped cream and there are NO nondairy whipped cream substitutes available at this time! When in doubt, just say "no whipped cream," just in case.
-All syrup flavors (that is, the liquid flavorings like caramel, vanilla, raspberry, cinnamon dolce, toffee nut, etc.) are vegan friendly and can be added to any drink. If you like the taste of coffee and just want it sweetened, "classic" is your friend!
-Mocha is vegan! Bear in mind, however, that if you're getting a mocha (hot or iced), you'll want to get it with either soy or coconut milk and no whipped cream!.
-Almost all frappuccinos can be made vegan-friendly. Substitute soy or coconut for the whole milk normally used... and make sure to specify no whipped cream (only coffee and espresso frappuccinos don't get this). Caramel drizzle is not vegan-friendly, so if you get a caramel frapp, make sure to ask them to leave this off as well! Vanilla bean is vegan-friendly, as is the green tea/matcha, strawberry, and other non-coffee flavors. Some of the seasonal frappuccinos cannot be made vegan (I'm lookin' at you, S'mores), so be careful! When in doubt, ask what's in the drink.
-All iced refreshers, teas, and tea-lemonades are vegan-friendly.
-Hot cocoa made with soy and no whipped cream is vegan-friendly.
-Green tea lattes can be easily made vegan by substituting soy or coconut milk. Same rules apply to earl grey tea lattes and any tea or tea latte made with a tea bag.
What things are NOT vegan-friendly?
-White mocha contains dairy.
-Chai and Oprah chai from concentrate both contain honey. If you would like chai, the tea bags that Starbucks offers are vegan-friendly! Just make sure you specify you'd like your latte made with the tea bags instead of the liquid concentrate. And note that the bags are the Oprah (cinnamon) chai, but not sweetened. As always, soy or coconut milk is the rule.
-Caramel drizzle contains dairy. Caramel syrup does not. This rules out caramel macchiatos, but not caramel lattes.
-Light frappuccino base contains dairy. Coffee and creme bases are vegan-friendly.
-Caramel apple spices can kind of be made vegan, but they get the "caramel" from drizzle, which contains dairy... so if you got it without whipped cream, without drizzle, and add a little caramel syrup, you could get something similar... but it would not be the same. Same goes for macchiatos.
-Smoothies get special mention here, because making them vegan is possible... but you have to remember some specific things. Soy or coconut milk, of course, but all smoothies contain whey protein as well, so be sure to ask them to leave that out... otherwise, smoothies are not vegan-friendly!
This doesn't cover food, but there's not much to be said there. No pastries are vegan-friendly except the plain and multigrain bagels... but the oatmeal can be made with steamed soy milk, and it's pretty tasty!
A few special tips: get vanilla syrup in your soy green tea lattes and iced green teas instead of classic. Graham cracker frappuccinos are pretty amazing (and if you get mocha in it, it's like a dark chocolate covered graham cracker). And cinnamon dolce+toffee nut is weirdly delicious, but extremely rich/sugary.
I think that about covers it, but if you have any specific questions or requests, feel free to ask!
So what fast food places do you visit when you're on the road/in a hurry? What adjustments do you have to make? Or do you have questions for others? Comment away.
Taco Bell - my usual order is a bean burrito, no cheese, add rice and potatoes. Lately I've started putting guacamole on it too. Lots of things can be made vegan if you just sub beans for meat, and take off the cheese. The cinnamon twists are also vegan!
Subway - the Veggie Delight is vegan, just be sure to get it on the right type of bread. I can't think of the full list off the top of my head, but I get it on white/Italian bread. Their sweet onion sauce is vegan, which is great because it's always been my favorite.
Panera Bread - the Mediterranean Veggie with no feta is vegan and it's incredibly good. Apparently the tomato basil bread has milk in it, though, which I just found out today after looking into it. I'll have to start getting it on ciabatta D:
taco bell has great salsa, and since their beans are vegan-friendly, it's really easy to eat plant based there... not the healthiest but HEY, fast food. and i like taking some tofurkey with me to subway and getting a veggie delight with the same sauce (mmm sweet onion) and loading it up with faux lunch meat.
also, the rye bread at panera is delicious with that sandwich! i also really like their everything bagels with a side of their cilantro hummus. i just wish they'd make ONE sweet pastry that isn't a bagel that doesn't have dairy or honey in it. until then, i'm stuck with the cupcake place that only serves vegan cupcakes (and only one flavor) on tues. ah well. i'll take what i can get!
i usually don't eat fast food as it makes my stomach hurt so bad, but i'm a sucker for fries and tater tots and hashbrowns, i think 'cause of the sodium.... i know some places don't use vegetable oil however which is a major bummer (mcdonalds? but then i heard they changed it?? who knows)
Sheetz is usually my go-to place for that, mostly bc i can get a ton of fried potatoes for cheap + you can order with a computer and not have someone judge you while you are ordering a 'bucket of totz'
back when i was a vegetarian (aka when i was a weak ass fool) i liked the burger king veggie burger but it contains egg because god is cruel and that is just plain dumb
I am really happy starbutts lol carries coconut milk now, a little of that to any iced coffee is amazing.
(i'm slightly allergic to soy, makes my stomach hurt sometimes/itches/break out -- and coconut milk tastes a bit funky to me someimes..)
I'm glad DD has it too !
1. Salted peanuts
They sometimes contain gelatine, Yes, gelatine, the most hideous of non-vegetarian ingredients.
2. Orange juice
Often enriched with omega-3, which comes from fish. Also often contains gelatine as a carrier for the orange colour. Sometimes, it will contain an extract from fish bladder, called isinglass, as a de-clouding agent. Worse yet, because the gelatine is sometimes used as a carrier, there is no need for it to be listed on the ingredients list! It is possible to find vegan orange juice, but never assume it is by default.
3. Beer and wine
Again, often contains the dreaded isinglass fish bladder extract as a de-clouding agent. Also, sometimes the various containers are washed out using gelatine during production, some of which may end up in the finished product. Some manufacturers do produce vegan-friendly alcoholic beverages, but it's probably less than 50% of the available products on the market. I believe Guinness are working to remove the isinglass, but they haven't accomplished it yet.
4. Sugar
Some sugar, especially white sugar, is filtered using bone charcoal. Some of it even ends up in the product - you may notice it as small black granules. Brown sugar isn't always safe either, since it's sometimes made from white sugar. There do exist some vegan sugars however.
5. Soy cheese
Crazily, some soy cheese actually contains dairy. Always check carefully before you buy.
6. Quorn meat substitute
Contains egg whites.