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Unfortunately, Jack In The Box tacos are NOT vegetarian or vegan. Jack In The Box’s Allergen Reference Guide as of July 2019 lists the “Taco, Regular” as having soy, milk, and wheat allergens. Therefore, Jack In The Box tacos include non-vegan milk but what about the meat?
Luckily we got an updated answer from Vishnu Tej in the Quora forum “What are Jack in the Box tacos made from?” With the help of a friend, he was able to take the photo below of the Jack In The Box taco box which clearly states that the tacos are “Made with Beef and Chicken” in addition to the Textured Vegetable Protein. Therefore, Jack In The Box Tacos contain real meat and are not vegetarian and vegan friendly.
With the information from the Jack In The Box Taco box, the full ingredients for Jack In The Box Regular Tacos are:
Filling Ingredients: Beef, Water, Ground Dark Chicken, Textured Vegetable Protein (Soy Flour, Caramel Color), Defatted Soy Grits, Seasoning (Chili Pepper, Corn Maltodextrin, Spices, Bleached Enriched Wheat Flour [Contains Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, and Folic Acid], Salt, Garlic Powder, Hydrolyzed Corn [Corn, Soy, Wheat], Proteins*, Monosodium Glutamate, Onion Powder, Natural Flavors, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Succinic Acid), Salt, Tomato Paste, Worcestershire Sauce (Distilled Vinegar, Molasses, Corn Syrup, Water, Salt, Caramel Color, Garlic Powder, Sugar, Spices, Tamarind, Natural Flavor, Sulfiting Agent).
Tortilla Ingredients: Ground Corn, Water, Lime.
Contains Soy, Wheat
*Editors Note: “Proteins” listed in the ingredients is likely wheat based from the other Jack In The Box Taco ingredient sources.
To verify that Vishnu Tej’s ingredients are accurate, we compared this to Jack In The Box’s published ingredients from their website which was updated in July 2019. Overall, the ingredients were very similar with only minor discrepancies which validates Vishnu Tej’s photo is of an actual Jack In The Box Taco box. The full ingredients for Jack In The Box Regular Tacos via their website are the following:
Filling Ingredients: Beef, Chicken, Water, Textured Vegetable Protein (Soy Flour, Caramel Color), Defatted Soy Grits, Seasoning (Chili Pepper, Corn Maltodextrin, Spices, Bleached Enriched Wheat Flour [Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, and Folic Acid], Salt, Garlic Powder, Hydrolyzed Corn, Soy, and Wheat Proteins, Monosodium Glutamate, Onion Powder, Natural Flavors, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Succinic Acid), Salt, Tomato Paste, Worcestershire Sauce (Distilled Vinegar, Molasses, Corn Syrup, Water, Salt, Caramel Color, Garlic Powder, Sugar, Spices, Tamarind, Natural Flavor, Sulfiting Agent)..
Tortilla Ingredients: Ground Corn, Water, Lime. Cooked in Canola Blend Frying Oil.
Contains Soy, Wheat
Summary
Based on the information provided in this article it is safe to say that Jack In The Box Tacos contain real beef and chicken products and are not vegetarian or vegan friendly. If you are a vegan at Jack In The Box then you aren’t completely out of luck as Jack In The Box’s French Fries, Hashbrowns, Potato Wedges, and Seasoned Curly Fries are all vegan!
If you liked this article, take a look at at our other “Eating Out” vegan guides here.
