As plant-based diets across the world become ever more popular, restaurants (including fast food chains) have adapted to meet the ever changing needs of their customers. McDonald’s is no exception to this. In the past few years, McDonald’s has introduced a variety of vegan-friendly menu items especially in the UK and Scandinavia countries. They have the Vegetable Deluxe Sandwich and Spicy Veggie Wrap in the UK, the McAloo Tikki in India, Vegan Vegetable Nuggets in Norway, Falafel Nuggets in Sweden, the McVegan and the El Veggo in Finland, and the Big Vegan in Germany. But what about McDonald’s vegan options in the USA?
The one country that McDonald’s seems to have been forgotten about is the United States. There are currently no vegan sandwiches, wraps, or breakfast items available on US menus. To add insult to injury, US McDonald’s locations still include “Natural Beef Flavor [Wheat and Milk Derivatives]” in their French Fries even though the rest of world’s McDonald’s fries are vegan.
That being said, there are a few vegan-friendly options on McDonald’s menus in the US.
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Fruit & Maple Oatmeal
While McDonald’s Fruit & Maple Oatmeal contains light cream per its ingredients, it it can be cream can be removed upon ordering. This oatmeal makes for a hearty, delicious, and wholesome vegan option to McDonald’s breakfast menu.
Side Salad
While a side salad from McDonald’s is not a very exciting option, at least it is vegan! This is the only salad on McDonald’s US menu that is vegan on the menu. The rest of the salads contain chicken, cheese, and a dairy-based dressing.
One other vegan salad option would be to get a Southwest Chicken Salad, but remove the chicken and cheese and substitute the dressing for a vegan friendly option. This salad would at least give you some black beans, corn, poblano peppers, and a cilantro lime glaze instead of only lettuce and tomatoes in a side salad.
McDonald’s partners with Newman’s Own for their salad dressings. Of the dressings on their menu, Creamy French and Low Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette are the only vegan options.
Apple Slices
Another unexciting vegan option on McDonald’s US menu is Apple Slices. Even though they are typically an option for a kids Happy Meal, they are also available as a side.
One idea might to be to buy these and add them to the side salad above to make things a little more interesting.
Baked Apple Pie
Yep, you’re reading this right: McDonald’s Baked Apple Pies are vegan-friendly worldwide. This is easily the most exciting and surprising vegan-friendly option on McDonald’s USA menu! With its crispy golden crust and gooey apple and cinnamon filling, this is a item worth visiting McDonald’s for.
Drinks
McDonald’s has some vegan-friendly drinks on their menu. These include all of the the Minute Maid Slushies (Fruit Punch, Blue Raspberry, and Sweet Peach), soda, coffee, and juices (Apple and Orange). Do note that most of McDonald’s McCafe drinks contain milk as an added ingredient, but this should be able to be removed upon ordering.
Unfortunately, all of McDonald’s shakes, McFlurries, and smoothies contain milk-based products and are not vegan.
Dipping Sauces
Based on the other menu items on this list (or lack thereof) dipping sauces my not make a difference, but McDonald’s has two vegan dipping sauce options. Both McDonald’s Sweet ‘N Sour Sauce and the Tangy Barbecue Sauce are vegan! If McDonald’s chooses to get rid of the “Natural Beef Flavor” in their french fries and makes them vegan-friendly, then these will be great dipping options.
Summary
Compared to McDonald’s locations abroad, the McDonald’s vegan options in the USA are severely lacking. If it wasn’t for the Baked Apple Pie, there vegans wouldn’t have a quality reason to visit US-based McDonald’s locations.
If you liked this article, take a look at at our other “Eating Out” vegan guides here.
