TGI Fridays Vegans Options 2024: What Can You Eat?

We all love Fridays, don’t we? The day has a different vibe altogether. And I often wonder how amazing life would be if we could experience that Friday feeling every day.

Well, you can’t make every day a Friday, but you can experience that vibe whenever you want at one of America’s most iconic bar and grill where (they claim) it’s always Friday.

Opened as a singles bar in 1965, TGI Fridays is now known as a great casual dining space to hang out with friends and enjoy classic American comfort food with family.

Whether you’re craving pasta or burgers, looking for some great appetizers or cocktails, want some healthy salads and soups, or decadent desserts, TGI Fridays have it all. But is there anything vegan at TGI Fridays?

This is exactly what we’re going to explore today. Let’s dig into the restaurant’s menu and find out all about TGI Fridays vegan options.

TGI Fridays Have Vegan Options? Let’s Find Out

American comfort foods aren’t known to be very vegan-friendly. And TGI Fridays is known just for that, so you can’t expect it to be much vegan-friendly either.

However, you can put together a decent vegan meal for yourself if you know what to look for and how to maneuver through the restaurant’s menu. This article aims to help you with just that. Keep reading to learn how to eat vegan at TGI Fridays.

What is Vegan at TGI Fridays?

There aren’t very many vegan options at TGI Fridays. Therefore, eating vegan at TGI Fridays requires giving a custom order. Below I am going to list all the TGI Fridays’ menu items that can be ordered vegan. The following section will discuss how you should go about ordering them vegan.

Here’s everything vegans can eat at TGI Fridays:

  • Potato Skins- requires modification
  • Chips and Salsa
  • The Beyond Meat Cheeseburger – requires modification
  • Pasta with Marinara Sauce – from the kids menu
  • Seasoned Fries
  • House Side Salad – requires modification
  • Million Dollar Cobb Salad – requires modification
  • Lemon Butter Broccoli – requires modification
  • Slaw – requires modification
  • Jasmine Rice
  • Vegan Dressings
  • Beverages

These are all the vegan options available at TGI Fridays. As you can see, most of them require giving specific instructions to fit your vegan diet. Keep reading to learn about them and get a clear understanding of how to order vegan at TGI Fridays.

Note

It’s important to note that none of the fried items appear vegan-friendly on TGI Fridays’ allergen menu. The reason being they are cooked in shared fryers. If this is something you strictly avoid, you may prefer to avoid eating fried items at TGI Fridays. However, if you don’t mind cross-contamination due to shared equipment or oil, you can have the fried items listed in this article (with required modifications).

The risk of cross-contamination due to shared areas, surfaces, and equipment is exactly the reason why TGI Fridays doesn’t guarantee that any of its menu items is completely free of allergens.

Please note that this TGI Fridays’ vegan menu is prepared using the restaurant’s website, allergen menu, and a few other reliable online sources. The exact offerings may vary slightly across different TGI Fridays’ locations, so some of these items may not be available everywhere. Check out your local TGI Fridays’ menu to find out what all you can eat at there.

TGI Fridays Vegan Options – A Detailed Breakdown  

Let’s discuss each of the TGI Fridays menu items that can ordered vegan, separately, to clear all your confusions and give you a clear idea of how you should go about ordering vegan at TGI Fridays.

TGI Fridays Vegan Appetizers

Appetizer options for vegans at TGI Fridays include:

▪ Potato Skins

TGI Fridays vegan potato skins

Marked as Fridays Favorite, these appear on the menu as Loaded Potato Skins and come topped with cheddar cheese and bacon bits, both of which are clearly non-vegan.

To make TGI Fridays’ potato skins vegan, you’ll have to skip both the toppings. It will still make a good appetizer or snack option.

Do not forget to replace the ranch sour cream it is served with, with a vegan-friendly alternative.

▪ Chips and Salsa

TGI Friday’s vegan appetizers

Looking to start your meal with some Mexican flavors? What could be better than Chips & salsa?

TGI Fridays offer freshly fried corn tortilla chips with house-made fire-roasted salsa to satisfy your Mexican food cravings. The salsa is delicious, and the chips are crisp and warm. The only potential bummer that can make some people avoid this plant-based appetizer at TGI Fridays is that the tortilla chips are cooked in shared fryers (as discussed earlier).

TGI Fridays Vegan Entrées

TGI Fridays offer a wide range of entrée options. Sadly, none of them are vegan-friendly. You can, however, get a couple of items made vegan by placing a customized order.

TGI Fridays entrée options that you can get made vegan include:

▪ The Beyond Meat Cheeseburger

TGI Fridays vegan burger

In January 2018, TGI Fridays launched The Beyond Burger nationwide after a successful testing campaign at selected locations during the latter half of the preceding year.

The news, as expected, was highly appreciated by plant-eaters. But, later, it      turned out that TGI Fridays’ Beyond Burger isn’t vegan-friendly. Luckily, it can be made vegan by skipping the cheese and sauce.

Make sure to tell your dietary commitments to the server, so they can cook your patty in a separate pan.

With these modifications, you’ll get a vegan burger with a thick 6-oz grilled plant-based patty with lettuce, red onion, tomato, and pickles inside the challah bun. You can get some ketchup on the side to make up for that missed sauce. It won’t likely be as good, but it will do.

If you are health-conscious or just watch your calories these days, you can also get this TGI Fridays vegan burger made healthier by ordering it Green Style. The burger components will be wrapped in fresh, crisp green lettuce leaves instead of the challah bun.

▪ Pasta with Marinara Sauce

TGI Fridays vegan pasta

This items appear on TGI Fridays’ kids menu with the name of Kid’s Pasta. The dish comes standard with fettuccine pasta tossed with your choice of sauce from Butter Parmesan-Romano sauce or Tomato Marinara sauce. The first option is evidently non-vegan. The second one is, however, vegan-friendly, so go with that.

The pasta is served with a choice of kid’s side. Options for the side include fries and broccoli.

Since this is a kid’s menu item, the quantity is going to be less than standard entrée items. If you have a big appetite or are feeling very hungry, you may want to order two servings of this TGI Fridays’ vegan pasta.

TGI Fridays Vegan Sides and Salads

What’s a meal without sides? When eating vegan at TGI Fridays, you have a few side options to pair up your main dish with. Choose your favorite to enjoy a full vegan meal at TGI Fridays.

There are also a couple of vegan salad options at TGI Fridays for the health-conscious plant-eaters out there.

Here are all your TGI Fridays’ vegan salad and side options:

▪ Seasoned Fries

TGI Fridays vegan fries

You’ll find two varieties of potato fries on TGI Fridays’ menu – Amazing Blazing Pound of Cheese Fries and Seasoned Fries.

As evident from the name, the Amazing Blazing fries are not vegan (they have cheese, queso, and bacon). Seasoned fries appear to be vegan-friendly, even though the allergen menu highlights that they contain milk, egg, fish, and shellfish. Wondering how these fries can be suitable for vegans, then? Here’s the deal…

TGI Fridays doesn’t explain or specify how these non-vegan ingredients make their way into the fries. But, according to other online sources, these allergens are not actually present in the fries. They are listed on the allergen menu because the fries are cooked in shared fryers.

If cross-contamination isn’t a deal-breaker for you, you can eat TGI Fridays’ seasoned fries. But, if you prefer to avoid cross-contaminated foods, you may prefer to order some other plant-based side at TGI Fridays.

Note 

TGI Fridays’ menu or allergen guide doesn’t list the ingredients used in the seasoning of fries. I would recommend confirming its vegan status with your serverwhen ordering or getting the fries plain; without seasoning.

▪ House Side Salad

TGI Fridays vegan salad

House salad is one of the few food items that you can find at the vast majority of restaurants, in some form. At TGI Fridays, it is made with mixed salad greens, red cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots. The vegetables are topped with a cheese mix and come with a side of your choice of dressing and a garlic breadstick.

To make this salad vegan, all you have to do is to skip the cheese and breadstick and choose a vegan-friendly dressing (options listed below).

▪ Million Dollar Cobb Salad

Vegan salad at TGI Fridays

TGI Fridays Million Dollar Cobb Salad comes standard with a few non-vegan ingredients. These include grilled chicken, egg, bacon, and three types of cheese. The ranch dressing it is served with is also non-vegan.

Skip all these ingredients to make this TGI Fridays’ salad vegan. The Million Dollar Cobb salad will become quite similar to the house salad with these alterations. The only difference is that it has avocadoes, whereas the house salad doesn’t. So, unless you really like avocadoes, getting a house-side salad is a better option, as it requires fewer modifications to be made vegan.

▪ Lemon Butter Broccoli

TGI Fridays vegan sides

The name of this dish tells what the non-vegan culprit here is. To order it vegan, simply ask them to hold the Parmesan butter. You’ll get steamed broccoli florets with lemon.

▪ Coleslaw

TGI Fridays vegan slaw

Contrary to what some people may think, coleslaw doesn’t come standard as vegan-friendly at TGI Fridays. It can easily be made vegan, though. All you have to do is ask them to hold the standard dressing or replace it with a vegan salad dressing.

The vegetables in the slaw are green and red cabbage, spinach, and carrots.

TGI Fridays Vegan Dressings

TGI Fridays vegan dressing

TGI Fridays offer seven different salad dressing options. However, sadly, only one of them is vegan-friendly, as per the restaurant’s allergen menu, and that is:

  • Sesame Citrus Dressing

TGI Fridays Vegan Beverages

TGI Fridays vegan drinks

TGI Fridays have a good beverages menu, which also happens to include quite a few vegan-friendly options. The exact menu may vary a bit across different locations, but here I am listing the vegan drinks options available at most (if not all) TGI Fridays.

Here are all the vegan drinks options at TGI Fridays, including both non-alcoholic and alcoholic varieties:

  • Coca-Cola
  • Diet Coke
  • Dr. Pepper
  • Sprite
  • Minute Maid Lemonade
  • Strawberry Lemonade
  • Red Bull
  • Red Bull Passion Slush
  • Freshly Brewed Gold Peak Sweet Black Iced Tea
  • Freshly Brewed Gold Peak Unsweetened Black Iced Tea
  • Strawberry Passion Tea
  • Tropical Raspberry Tea
  • Perrier
  • Cherry Limeade Slush
  • Mango Peach Lemonade Slush
  • Strawberry Lemonade Slush
  • Blue Raspberry Slush
  • Domestic Beer
  • Craft/Imported Beer & Seltzer
  • Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Cupcake Rosé
  • Dark Horse Chardonnay
  • Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay
  • Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio
  • Seven Daughters Moscato
  • 14 Hands Merlot
  • Canyon Road Cabernet

TGI Fridays Menu Items That May Look Vegan, But Are Not

Following are some of the items on TGI Fridays’ menu that may appear to be vegan-friendly, but they actually contain non-vegan ingredients:

  • Balsamic Vinaigrette – contains milk
  • Jasmine Rice – According to the restaurant’s allergen menu, they contain milk.
  • Green Bean Fries
  • Onion Rings
  • Breadsticks
  • Balsamic Vinaigrette
  • Fridays sauce

TGI Fridays Vegan FAQs

▪ Are TGI Fridays’ buns vegan?

TGI Fridays offer two bun options at most locations – the Challah Bun and the Gluten-Free Bun. However, only the Challah Bun is vegan-friendly.

▪ Does TGI Fridays offer vegan desserts?

TGI Fridays doesn’t offer any vegan-friendly dessert options like most other chain restaurants. You may, perhaps, get a fresh fruit cup; it’s listed in the allergen guide, but not on the restaurant’s menu given on the website. Alternatively, you may choose a cocktail to get your sugar fix.

▪ Does TGI Fridays have vegan sauces?

TGI Fridays offer a few different types of sauces. A few of them are clearly non-vegan, such as the ranch and blue cheese sauce, but there must be some vegan-friendly options too. Sadly, I cannot provide you a list of vegan sauce options at TGI Fridays because the restaurant neither lists them on its menu given on the website nor on the allergen guide.

When eating vegan at TGI Fridays, ask your server for vegan-friendly sauce options.

Conclusion – Is TGI Fridays Vegan-Friendly?

Even though TGI Fridays has a few plant-based options that can be made vegan, the chain restaurant cannot be termed as “vegan-friendly”. However, you won’t be starving or just munching on just salad greens if you end up here with your friends or family. You can get yourself some vegan foods, using this guide as a reference.

Having said that, ordering vegan at TGI Fridays is quite complicated. Not only the restaurant doesn’t have any certified vegan food options, but it also doesn’t provide the lists of ingredients for each menu item. Moreover, the restaurant’s allergen menu doesn’t distinguish between allergens that may come from cross-contamination and the ones that are actually present in a food item.

This makes it extremely difficult to figure out the vegan status of various TGI Fridays menu items.

I have tried my best to come up with an accurate list of vegan options at TGI Fridays, using both official and reliable non-official sources. But, I would still recommend confirming the vegan status of every item that you order at TGI Fridays with your server, to be on the safe side.

Did you find this article helpful? Interested to learn about other popular American restaurants’ vegan options too? Check out my article Denny’s Vegan Options to find out if the renowned restaurant chain known for its breakfast options has anything for plant-eaters.

Photo of author
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!

Check Out These Posts:

Are Glazed Donuts Vegan
Are Mission Flour Tortillas Vegan
Are Fruit Snacks Vegan