Five Guys Vegan Options 2024: Are There Any?

If you’ve been a vegan for a length of time, you would know that most burger places in the U.S. aren’t the best for plant-based eaters. Unfortunately, Five Guys isn’t an exception either.

The fast-food restaurant chain offers a small menu, to begin with, and their vegan options are limited to just a few items. Aside from that—and I hate it to break it to you—but Five Guys doesn’t offer a vegan burger, even though people have been requesting for it for quite some time.

Hopefully, Five Guys will listen to our requests and add vegan burgers to their menu soon. However, at present, there aren’t enough Five Guys vegan options to build a decent meal with.

What Is Vegan at Five Guys?

There aren’t many vegan options at Five Guys. Here’s what you can eat at the fast-food restaurant:

  • Five Guys style fries
  • Cajun fries
  • Veggie toppings
  • Sauces
  • Peanuts
  • Beverages

This is all that there is on the Five Guys vegan menu (sorry, if you had your hopes up high).

To settle the debate over the Five Guys vegan options once and for all, let’s break down what each of these items includes and make sure there aren’t any animal-derived ingredients sneaked into any of them.

I will also answer some of the most commonly asked questions to clear all confusion about the vegan status of any item on the Five Guys menu.

Five Guys Vegan Options

§ Five Guys Style Fries

Five Guys vegan fries

These are the standard French fries; nothing special going on here. But, hey, they are 100% vegan-friendly.

Five Guys doesn’t cook French fries in animal fat, unlike many other restaurants – they’re fried in peanut oil.

Simple and classic, French fries are a vegan’s best friend at most fast-food places in the U.S. (these eateries need to catch up quickly with the changing food culture).

§ Cajun Style Fries

Five Guys Cajun fries

Do you like the smoky, spicy, and slightly earthy flavor of Cajun seasoning?

If yes, then you’ll love Five Guys’ Cajun-style fries. They taste delicious, and just like their regular fries, are cooked in peanut oil.

In case you’re wondering what the Cajun seasoning is comprised of, here’s the ingredient list of Cajun-style fries, as given in Five Guys’ allergen guide:

Go ahead, all you vegans, and grab a bag (or two, because why not?) of Cajun fries from Five Guys if you want some good French fries.

§ Veggie Toppings

Five Guys vegan toppings

Five Guys offer the following vegan-friendly toppings:

  • Green peppers
  • Jalapeno peppers
  • Grilled mushrooms
  • Raw or grilled onions
  • Lettuce
  • Tomatoes
  • Pickles

Wondering if these veggie toppings are of any use for vegans? Not really, if you ask me, unless you’re such a big fan of salads that you don’t even mind eating a boring one.

However, this unexciting salad can come to your rescue if you find yourself in a situation where you’re too hungry, and the only option available is Five Guys (you gotta do what you gotta do!)

§ Vegan Sauces at Five Guys

Five Guys vegan sauces

Five Guys doesn’t offer a great deal of options in the category of either vegan or non-vegan sauces. However, if you want an extra kick of flavor with your French fries or want to add some taste to the DIY salad, you can choose from the following Five Guys’ vegan sauces:

  • Ketchup
  • Mustard
  • A.1. Original Steak Sauce
  • Hot Sauce
  • BBQ Sauce
  • Relish
  • Malt Vinegar

§ Peanuts

Free peanuts at Five Guys

You must have heard about restaurants giving free sauces or bread, bottomless fries, or free drink refills. But I bet you haven’t heard of any restaurant offering free peanuts. They only do it at Five Guys.

Every customer gets in-shell peanuts for free at this fast-food restaurant chain.

In case you’re wondering why they give free peanuts at Five Guys, here’s the extra bit of information…

I feel that there must be some interesting story behind why they chose to offer peanuts and not something else, but I may just be overthinking.

Whatever the reason is, you get something healthy to munch on (and curb your hunger a bit) while you wait for your fries or veggies.

§ Beverages

Vegan drinks at Five Guys

The only vegan-friendly beverages at Five Guys are Coca-Cola products. So, you can get classic sodas to pair with your fries or vegetables.

At some Five Guys locations, they have Coca-Cola Freestyle machines, which means there is a greater variety of drinks and room for experimentation and fun.

For those who do not know yet, Coca-Cola Freestyle machines are touchscreen soda machines with over 100 options. These machines also allow you to concoct custom beverages by mixing different drinks and flavors.  

Does Five Guys Have a Vegan Burger?

Five Guys veggie burger

As much as we all wish for it, there’s no vegan burger on Five Guys’ menu yet.

Are There Any Other Vegan Food Options Available at Five Guys?

Well, it’s not really a food option, but some of the mix-ins that Five Guys offer for their milkshakes are vegan-friendly.

If you really want something sweet to munch on (can you believe they don’t offer any dessert at Five Guys?), you may try asking if they can give you any of them separately.

Here are your options for mix-ins (read: fruits):

  • Bananas
  • Cherries
  • Strawberries

It’s important to mention here that milkshakes aren’t available in all Five Guys locations.

Food Items on Five Guys Menu That May Appear Vegan but Are Not

Five Guys’ veggie sandwich can easily be mistaken as vegan-friendly, but it’s actually not!

What’s in the Five Guys Veggie Burger?

If your curious vegan soul is wondering what’s in the Five Guys’ veggie sandwich that makes it non-vegan, you will be surprised to know that it’s not the filling—rather, it’s the bun itself.

As highlighted in the restaurant’s allergen guide, their bun contains milk and eggs.

Technically, you can switch the bun with a lettuce wrap. But who would want to eat veggies wrapped in lettuce? 

In case you’ve been presuming that Five Guys’ veggie sandwich includes a veggie patty, let me clarify that it only contains the veggie toppings listed above.

Disappointed? I was too! (I expected better from such a popular burger joint.)

Frequently Asked Questions About Five Guys Vegan Options

Let’s answer some of the common questions my fellow vegans often ask about Five Guys so that they don’t get confused about anything on their menu ever again.

§ Does Five Guys have the Impossible Burger?

Sadly, no. Five Guys doesn’t offer the Impossible Burger.

§ Does Five Guys offer a veggie burger?

Yes, the fast-food restaurant does offer a veggie burger. However, as discussed above, it’s not vegan-friendly.

§ Is Five Guys veggie burger vegan?

Unfortunately, the veggie burger that they offer at Five Guys isn’t vegan-friendly. The bun that the veggies come in contains eggs and milk.

In fact, Five Guys has not added even a single vegan burger to its menu yet. (I hope they do that soon.)

§ Does Five Guys offer a vegan milkshake?

At Five Guys, they use the same shake base for all their milkshakes, which contains dairy. The restaurant doesn’t offer any non-dairy milk option for shakes.

§ Are Five Guys milkshake vegetarian?

Five Guys’ milkshakes are vegetarian, as long as you don’t add bacon in them.

§ Are Five Guys fries vegetarian?

Five Guys’ fries are not cooked in animal fat. Their Cajun seasoning is also free from animal-derived ingredients. This means that both the varieties of Five Guys’ French fries are fit for vegetarians.  

§ Are Five Guys fries vegan?

Yes, Five Guys fries are vegan-friendly.

§ Is Five Guys veggie sandwich good?

I never tried their veggie sandwich, so I can’t give you a first-hand review. However, you can check out the following video for a quick review of Five Guys’ veggie sandwich.

A Final Word – Is Five Guys a Good Place for Vegans?

Five Guys isn’t a place vegans would want to find themselves in because the only real vegan option on Five Guys’ menu is French fries. And you don’t want to specially go to the burger place to eat fries only, unless you are specifically craving for their Cajun-style fries.

Having said that, things may change for us vegans soon.  In February 2020, Five Guys’ CEO John Eckbert, while addressing a conference in London, said they were “actively looking at” adding a vegan option on their menu. Although it’s been over a year, and we haven’t seen any progress yet, we all know how uncertain things had been in 2020. So, don’t lose hope. We may get a vegan burger at Five Guys soon.

Is Five Guys Vegetarian-Friendly?

It’s clear that, like most other fast-food chains in the U.S., Five Guys isn’t a good place for vegans. But, do they offer any better options for vegetarians?

Well, you can’t call Five Guys a highly vegetarian-friendly restaurant. However, they do offer a few vegetarian options, enough for you to have a decent meal at the fast-food place.

Five Guys vegetarian options include:

  • Five Guys Style Fries
  • Cajun Style Fries
  • Veggie Sandwich
  • Cheese Veggie Sandwich
  • Grilled Cheese Sandwich
  • Peanuts
  • Veggie Toppings – Onions, grilled onions, tomatoes, lettuce, grilled mushrooms, jalapenos, and green peppers
  • Sauces – Ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, BBQ sauce, A-1 steak sauce, hot sauce, and relish
  • Sodas
  • Milkshakes

Does Five Guys Serve Halal Meat?

There was some news in 2019 on social media that Five Guys use halal meat for their burgers in the U.S.

However, it turned out to be false news. When asked on Twitter, Five Guys’ official representative confirmed that they do not use halal meat in the west. They only do so in the Middle East.

They do, however, offer a Kosher Style Hot Dog.

It’s important to note here that while it uses kosher meat, the hot dog is cooked on the same grills used for non-kosher hot dogs and patties.

Did you find this article useful and now want to learn about vegan options at other restaurants as well? Check out my article on Jimmy John’s Vegan Options to find out what this popular chain restaurant known for its sandwiches and sub has to offer to its vegan customers.

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Author Bio
Im Emma and I’m the creator of Vegan Calm. When I became a vegan seven years ago, I mainly did it for health and ethical reasons. To my surprise, it had another amazing benefit; I became a much calmer and peaceful person. This change inspired me to create Vegan Calm. Whether you’ve been a vegan for a long time or just want to learn more, this website will have something for you!

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