Good food doesn’t always come expensive. Tacos are proof of it. These stuffed corn tortillas are light on the pocket yet incredibly delicious. And filling too.
No wonder they are one of the most popular fast foods and are available literally everywhere, from the tiny food stalls in your neighborhood to leading food chains to specialized taco restaurants. But, not every taco place has vegan options.
Does Taco Time have any? We’re going to find out just that today. Read on as we uncover all the information about Taco Time vegan options to know if it’s a place worth going for non-meat eaters.
Does Taco Time Have Vegan Options?
Taco Time may be a popular food chain setting it apart from competitors with its fresh, home-style Mexican food, but it’s no different than most other restaurants in terms of vegan food. There is no vegan menu or specialized food items for plant-eaters.
While that’s a bummer, you can get yourself some vegan food at Taco Time as the menu primarily includes tacos and burritos, which are easier to get customized.
What are the Vegan Options at Taco Time?
Taco Time vegan items include:
- Mexi Fries
- Chips and Dips
- Build-Your-Own Taco or Burrito
- Beverages
It’s a sad list, I know. But, as a vegan, it’s worth knowing your options at all food outlets because you never know when you will end up at any of them with someone else if not on your own. So, read on to learn more about these Taco Time vegan foods and how to go about ordering them.
This Taco Time vegan menu is prepared primarily with the help of the Taco Time allergen menu provided on the restaurant’s official website.
However, I also found some useful information on a reliable third-party source, so I included that in the article. Keep reading to get a detailed insight into Taco Time foods.
Taco Time Vegan Options – A Detailed Overview
When eating vegan at Taco Time, you have the following food choices to build your meal with:
Mexi Fries
If you have never been to Taco Time, you may be surprised to know that their “Mexi Fries” are not French fries – they are tater tots.
I’m not sure what the thought behind calling tater tots fries was (it’s like calling a burrito taco because both are tortilla roll-ups), but this is a food option for you when ordering vegan at Taco Time.
Fried to golden perfection, these crispy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth soft on the inside potato tots come seasoned with the restaurant’s special spice blend, whose ingredients they do not reveal.
But, it seems fit for the vegan diet as the restaurant’s allergen guide doesn’t highlight the presence of any usual non-vegan allergens in their Mexi Fries.
Note:
Taco Time doesn’t say anything on their website about the fryer(s) they use for tater tots, aka Mexi Fries. They might have a designated fryer for them.
But most likely, these potato snacks are cooked in the same fryers as animal-ingredients-containing products because that’s the standard practice in the restaurant industry.
If this is something you’re concerned about, make sure to ask the server at your local Taco Time (the practices may vary across various locations).
Chips and Dips
You won’t see this item listed on the Taco Time menu with the exact same name. The restaurant offers Nachos, which, as we all know, come topped with meat, cheese, and sour cream. You can, however, get them customized according to your dietary limitations.
When doing so, get chips with salsa and/or guacamole. Taco Time has three different salsa varieties – Salsa Verde, Salsa Nuevo, and Salsa Fresca. Get the one you like the best, or get all three if you like salsa a little too much.
Chips and dips is a simple starter or side dish yet always a winner. It’s hard to beat freshly-fried crispy corn chips, refreshing homemade salsa, and rich, creamy, and delicious fresh guac.
Note:
While it’s clear that Taco Time doesn’t use animal fat for its fried foods (they are cooked in vegetable oil), the concern about shared fryers is also present with nacho chips. If it is of your concern, confirm before ordering.
Build-Your-Own Taco or Burrito
Taco Time offers three different varieties of tacos, about ten different kinds of burritos, and three choices of crisp burritos. But, sadly, none of them are suitable for vegans. So, you have to take the long route and build your own taco or burrito from scratch to fill up your stomach.
Ordering a Vegan Taco/Burrito at Taco Time
Since this requires giving detailed instructions to the server, here’s a quick overview of the whole process for your convenience. Take a look to learn how to order a vegan taco or burrito at Taco Time.
Step 1 – Choose Your Base
You have three options here to choose from. Vegan tortilla varieties at Taco Time include:
- Crunchy Taco Shells
- Flour Tortilla – 10 inch
- Wheat Tortilla – 11 inch
Step 2 – Choose Your Fillings
Taco Time doesn’t offer vegan meat, so when it comes to choosing fillings for your vegan taco or burrito, your options are limited to just vegetables. And sadly, there aren’t very many choices in that category either.
Your options for vegan taco/burrito filling at Taco Time are limited to just the following vegetables:
- Onions
- Black Olives
- Pickled Jalapenos
- Banana Peppers
- Cherry Peppers
- Pepperoncini
- Cilantro
Bonus Tip
Order a side of Mexi Fries and add them to your custom vegan taco or burrito to make it more filling and enjoyable. You may also get tortilla chips to add some crunch to your Taco Time vegan burrito or soft taco.
Step 3 – Choose You Sauces and Condiments
The list of vegetables is disappointing. But, it’s not the same with sauces. There are quite a few vegan-friendly sauces at Taco Time. You have a couple of other topping choices too.
While these don’t make up for the lack of options for filling, you can at least make your Taco Time vegan tacos and burritos flavorful with them.
Taco Time vegan sauces and toppings include:
- Ketchup
- Hot Sauce
- Honey Mustard
- BBQ Sauce
- Picante Sauce
- Fry Sauce
- Enchilada Sauce
- 5 Alarm Hot Sauce
- Guacamole
- Salsa Verde
- Salsa Fresca
- Salsa Nuevo
- Sunflower Seeds
What About Rice and Beans? Aren’t They Vegan at Taco Time?
As per the information given in Taco Time’s allergen menu, their Rice & Beans aren’t vegan-friendly – the items contain milk. Hence, most online sources do not include them in their Taco Time vegan food list.
However, I came across one Taco Time vegan menu guide that said you might get them made vegan upon request (this is the piece of information I hinted at the beginning of the article).
The source was credible, and they also posted email communication they had with the Taco Time customer services team to back their claims, so I couldn’t ignore it.
As per the Taco Time response they received, the only source of dairy in Taco Time beans is the cheese that’s topped on it only before serving. No dairy is added to the beans while they are cooked. So, you can request your server to get you beans without cheese, and it will be vegan-friendly.
As for the rice, the restaurant says that they have the option to cook them in either butter or shortening. It doesn’t tell if the shortening they use is vegan-friendly or not.
This leaves you with two options – probe your server for more details (ask them to find out what their shortening is made of and if it’s suitable for vegans) or simply let go of this option. The choice is yours.
You may also try requesting if they can make rice in vegetable oil for you. Some restaurants are highly accommodating to customers’ requests. You may be lucky to be dining at one such place. There is no harm in trying.
All in all, you may request for beans to be customized according to your vegan diet. If they are willing to do it at your local Taco Time, you can add them to your vegan taco or burrito or even on top of your nachos.
If not, you will have to rely on a sad-looking and boring veggies-filled tortilla wrap. The same goes for rice.
Important:
Considering this information to be correct and presuming that you will be able to get dairy-free beans at your local Taco Time, your vegan food options increase. You can order a Bean Soft Burrito without cheese or a Crispy Bean Burrito without the cheese.
If they agree to customize rice for your vegan diet, too, you can even get the Veggie Burrito. Make sure to order it without cheese and sour cream. You will get a wheat tortilla stuffed with seasoned rice, beans, lettuce, housemade salsa Fresca, and sunflower seeds.
Taco Time Vegan Beverages
This is the only category on the Taco Time menu with a good number of options for vegans. The exact options may vary across various locations, but here’s what your choices of vegan drinks at Taco Time will likely include:
- Coca-Cola
- Coca-Cola Zero
- Diet Coke
- Caffeine-Free Diet Coke
- Diet Coke with Lime
- Cherry Coca-Cola
- Vanilla Coke
- Sprite
- Sprite Zero
- Fanta Orange
- Fanta Apple
- Fanta Cherry
- Fanta Blue Raspberry
- Fanta Fruit Punch
- Fanta Grape
- Fanta Red
- Fanta Strawberry
- Fanta Kiwi-Strawberry
- Fanta Birch Beer
- Dr. Pepper
- Diet Dr. Pepper
- Barq’s Root Beer
- Barq’s Caffeine-Free Root Beer
- Barq’s Red Crème Soda
- Mello Yello
- Minute Maid Lemonade
- Minute Maid Limeade
- Minute Maid Light – Lemonade
- Minute Maid Light – Pomegranate Lemonade
- Pibb Xtra
- POWERade Mountain Blast
- POWERade Fruit Punch
- POWERade Lemon-Lime
- Fresca
- Red Flash
- Fruitopia Strawberry Passion Fruit Awareness
- Full Throttle Twisted
- Hi-C Orange Lavaburst
- Hi-C Flashin’ Fruit Punch
- Hi-C Poppin’ Pink Lemonade
- Seagram’s Ginger Ale
- Seagram’s Ginger Ale – Reduced Calorie
- Seagram’s Tonic Water
- Glaceau Fruit Water – Black Raspberry
- Glaceau Fruit Water – Watermelon Punch
- Glaceau Vitamin Water – Essential
- Glaceau Vitamin Water – Revive
- Glaceau Vitamin Water – XXX
- Glaceau Vitamin Water – XXX Zero
- Glaceau Vitamin Water Squeezed Zero
- Fuze Sweet Tea
- Fuze Unsweetened Tea
- Fuze Lemon Black Tea
- Fuze Raspberry Tea
- Fuze Peach Tea
- Gold Peak Citrus White Tea
- Gold Peak Peach Tea
- Gold Peak Raspberry Tea
- Gold Peak Southern Style Tea
- Gold Peak Sweetened Black Tea
- Gold Peak Premium Unsweetened Tea
- Gold Peak Diet Black Tea
- Gold Peak Sweetened Green Tea
- Gold Peak Diet Green Tea
Taco Time Items That May Look Vegan But Are Not
Now that we have talked about what’s vegan at Taco Time (or can be made vegan) let’s take a quick look at some of the menu items that may appear vegan-friendly, but they actually are not. These include:
- Stuffed Mexi Fries – They have cheese.
- Fruit Empanadas – All of them contain milk, as per Taco Time’s allergen guide.
- Cinnamon Crustos – According to the restaurant’s allergen guide, these sweet tortilla chips contain milk.
- Tortilla Salad Bowl – It contains milk.
- Casa Sauce – It has milk and eggs.
Taco Time Vegan Items FAQs
- Is Taco Time rice vegan?
Taco Time rice does not come standard as vegan-friendly. According to the restaurant’s allergen guide, they have dairy. However, you may be able to get them made vegan upon request. Read the article to know how; I have discussed it in detail above.
- Are Taco Time beans vegan?
Taco Time beans come with cheese. However, as per the information given online, the cheese is only added on the top before serving, so you can likely order them vegan.
- Are Taco Time crisp bean burritos vegan?
None of the Taco Time Crisp Burritos come standard as vegan-friendly. Even the Crisp Bean Burrito has cheese.
Having said that, if we presume that the refried pinto beans used in it can be ordered vegan, you can get this burrito made vegan too. Just get it without the cheese.
- Are Taco Time Crustos vegan?
Sadly, no. According to the restaurant’s allergen menu, the Crustos contain milk.
- What is in a Taco Time veggie burrito?
Taco Time Veggie Burrito contains seasoned rice, refried pinto beans, sunflower seeds, lettuce, homemade salsa Fresca, sour cream, and cheddar cheese.
Conclusion – Is Taco Time Vegan-Friendly?
Taco Time is clearly not vegan-friendly. Those of you who do not have any better Mexican food places around (which is very unlikely) might still go there sometimes, but with options like Taco Bell and Del Taco around, I don’t see myself going there anytime.
However, if you end up here with someone else, you know how to get some vegan-friendly food on the table.
Did you find this article helpful? Interested to learn about other Mexican eateries and what vegan food options they offer? How does a 100% vegan Mexican restaurant sound?
Check out my article Pancho’s Vegan Tacos Menu to find out what Mexican foods this one-of-a-kind eatery makes for you the vegan way.
