We’ve compiled a list of popular fast-food and chain restaurants that are serving some delicious vegan options in Canada. From Tim Hortons to popular fro-yo spot Yogen Früz, so many restaurants are recognizing that more and more people are choosing to go vegan for animals, for their own health, and to combat climate change.
Vegan Options in Canada
The following Canadian restaurant chains and fast-food spots offer a ton of tasty vegan options to keep up with the demand for more compassionate cuisine:
7-Eleven
Convenience store chain 7-Eleven is partnering with vegan brand Lightlife to offer vegan chicken tenders at all of its Canadian stores.
A&W
A&W Canada offers a Beyond Burger at all its locations. It comes on a vegan bun with lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, ketchup, and mustard. Keep it vegan by asking for no burger sauce or mayo. The chain also tested crispy pea protein–based vegan chicken nuggets in British Columbia and Ontario in 2019. A&W U.S. needs to take a page from Canada’s book and offer a vegan burger as well!
Carl’s Jr.
The Beyond Burger is now available at Carl’s Jr. locations in Canada. Order the Beyond Famous Star burger topped with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onions on a sesame seed bun, and request it without cheese or mayo. The Beyond Meat patty can be substituted on any other burger option as well.
Aroma Espresso Bar
The newest vegan addition to Aroma Espresso Bar’s menu is the Power Burger, which boasts a Beyond Meat patty, sautéed portobello mushrooms, baby kale, red onion, mustard, sundried tomato pesto, and a house-made avocado spread. It also offers the Vegan Side Salad with arugula, roasted sweet potato, roasted red pepper, and garlic-toasted sunflower seeds, served with a lemon vinaigrette. You can even add tofu and avocado for some extra protein and healthy fats. Some of the other salads on the menu can also be made vegan.
Dairy Queen
Try the coconut cream–based Non-Dairy Dilly Bar at this ice cream chain.
Earls Kitchen
This popular upscale chain has added—and is continuing to add—a bunch of delicious vegan options to its menu. Try the Vegan Spring Greens + Grains, Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower, Vegan Mother Earth Bowl, Crispy Tofu Sushi Tacos, and the Crispy Tofu Zen Bowl. The chain also offers an animal-free burger. Menu options may vary by location, so check out the “Plant Based” section of the menu and ask your server for the latest options.
Freshii
The vegan options at Freshii are too numerous to list here (which is awesome), so here are a few of PETA’s faves: Umami Salad and Wrap, which boasts a whole bunch of veggies, tofu, brown rice, and miso dressing; Spicy Lemongrass and Super Food soup; and the Baha burrito. To see all Freshii’s vegan dishes, please consult its official nutrition list. The chain is also more than happy to customize any meal to make it vegan—just ask!
Harvey’s
Popular casual eatery Harvey’s has its own house-made Veggie Burger that’s free of any animal-derived ingredients. It also serves a vegan burger made with the Lightlife Plant-Based Burger. The regular and multigrain buns are vegan, and you have the option to turn your burger into a burger bowl, which you can order over rice, lettuce, or, our personal favorite, French fries. Harvey’s onion rings are also vegan, and you can choose between several vegan dressings for your side salad.
Hero Certified Burgers
Hero Certified Burgers’ Soul Burger Patty is aptly named, considering that it’s free of animal-derived ingredients. The ciabatta bun, gluten-free bun, and multigrain flatbread are all vegan. Don’t forget about sides, as the onion rings, fries, and sweet potato fries are all vegan. Customize your burger with guacamole or crispy onions. Vegan condiments at Hero Certified Burgers include pineapple mango mustard, maple chipotle BBQ, and zucchini relish.
KFC
KFC Canada serves up two Lightlife chicken sandwiches and—for a limited time—vegan popcorn chicken. While the Plant-Based Sandwich is vegan, served with egg-free mayo, the spicy mayo contains eggs, so be sure to order the Spicy Plant-Based Sandwich without it.
Red Robin
Red Robin makes it easy to build your own vegan burger. Order the veggie burger and choose from the following bun options: rustic Italian bread, ciabatta buns, spinach tortillas, or lettuce wraps. Top your burger with your choice of arugula, avocado, basil, cabbage, carrots, cilantro, cucumber, guacamole, jalapeño, lettuce, onion, parsley, red pepper, pineapple slices, sea salt, and white tortilla strips. Finally, pick your favorite vegan condiment, such as A.1. Steak Sauce, cocktail sauce, ghost chili ketchup, and many more. You can also pick between a number of vegan sides, including bottomless steak and sweet potato fries
Panera Bread
Panera offers both ready-made and customizable vegan options. From the bakery, compassionate customers can choose between Plain, Everything, Blueberry, Cranberry Walnut, and Sesame bagels. Vegan breads at Panera include Black Pepper Focaccia, Sea Salt Focaccia, Country Rustic, Farmstyle, Artisan Ciabatta, Sourdough, and French Baguette. For breakfast, you can decide between Steel Cut Oatmeal with Strawberries & Pecans, a Summer Fruit Cup, a Peach & Blueberry Smoothie with Almond Milk, or a Green Passion Smoothie. Vegan options for lunch and dinner include the Ten Vegetable Soup. According to Panera’s website, you can customize the following salads and sandwich to be vegan:
- Fuji Apple with Chicken (Order without chicken and Gorgonzola)
- Greek (Order without feta)
- Asian Sesame with Chicken (Order without chicken and wontons)
- Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich (Order without feta and switch to one of the bread choices listed above)
Pita Pit
Mediterranean chain restaurant Pita Pit makes it easy to customize your own vegan wrap. Choose from white pita bread, whole-wheat pita bread, and an Aidan’s Gluten Free wrap. The following pita fillings are free of animal-derived ingredients: baba ghanoush, falafel, garden, hummus, and spicy black bean. Complete your wrap with as many veggies as you want, and top it with your favorite vegan sauce, like Pita Pit’s signature Special Sauce. The chain also offers several smoothies that can be made vegan by removing the yogurt.
Pizza Hut
In Canada, this pizza chain offers Beyond Italian Sausage Crumbles, which you can add to your custom pizza or order as part of the Great Beyond Pizza. Unfortunately, the chain doesn’t yet offer vegan cheese, so be sure to order without cheese to make it vegan.
Pizza Nova
Toronto-based chain Pizza Nova makes it so easy to create your own vegan pizza. All its pizza-dough options are vegan, along with its pizza sauce. Top your customizable pizza with dairy-free Daiya cheese and a bunch of veggies and you’ve got yourself a tasty pie. You can also choose between six signature vegan pepperoni pies: Aloha Plant, Campo Plant, Gusto Plant, Piccante Plant, Planteroni, and Vita Plant. The chain also offers Plantollini Plant Based Chick’n Bites, which feature Gardein vegan chicken tossed in your choice of vegan sauce (Mild, Medium, Hot, or Barbecue).
Pizza Pizza
Canadian pizza powerhouse Pizza Pizza has partnered with Field Roast and Yves Veggie Cuisine to launch two new tasty vegan toppings: plant-based chorizo crumbles and plant-based pepperoni. Pizza Pizza is becoming a go-to for compassionate Canadian customers, as its classic and whole grain pizza crusts are vegan and it offers delicious dairy-free cheese from Violife, which can replace cow’s milk mozzarella on any of its pizzas. The chain also offers a regular and a spicy Plant-Based Chick’n Sandwich, which both come with a creamy vegan mayonnaise sauce.
Pizza 73
Pizza 73 has a whole bunch of vegan options on its menu. Compassionate customers can customize their animal-free pizzas to include the classic, whole wheat, or vegan cauliflower crust, along with dairy-free cheese and two plant-based protein options: Yves Veggie Cuisine pepperoni and Field Roast spicy sausage crumbles. It also offers a crispy Classic Plant-Based Chick-n Sandwich topped with vegan mayonnaise and crunchy pickles.
Quesada
This Mexican-inspired chain offers a vegan Beyond Meat Burrito and Burrito Bowl, both of which are seasoned with Quesada’s signature spices and habanero pepper for a spicy kick. You can customize your burritos and bowls with Mexican slaw, salsa, guacamole, and more tasty toppings.
South St. Burger
So many popular burger spots in Canada have added vegan patties to their menu, including South St. Burger. The fast-food chain’s veggie burger is vegan. It also offers a burger made with a Lightlife patty, which can be vegan when ordered without cheese on a brown hamburger bun or gluten-free bun. Vegan burger toppings include maple syrup infused red onions, pico de gallo, and piri-piri marinade. Its fries and onion rings are also vegan.
Starbucks
This popular coffee chain offers a few vegan food options, including an “everything” bagel and Rolled & Steel-Cut Oatmeal. It also serves a Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich, but it can’t be ordered without the eggs or cow’s-milk cheese. We hope the chain will soon have an offering with a vegan egg and nondairy cheese instead.
Subway
Subway tested its Beyond Meatball Marinara sub at several hundred locations around the U.S. and Canada in the fall of 2019, which we hope to see return to all locations soon. The popular sandwich shop also offers a delicious Veggie Delite sub, which you can make vegan by ordering it without cheese.
Triple O’s
You can order a veggie burger at all 70 quick-service Triple O’s restaurants. You can find locations, including standalone and counter-service restaurants, at college campuses, gas stations, and entertainment venues.
White Spot
White Spot, a nearly 100-year-old burger chain, is rolling out the Avocado Beyond Burger, which can be made vegan by simply holding the ranch dressing. The chain also offers the Teriyaki Chicken Donburi Bowl, which can be made vegan by ordering it without chicken.
Yogen Früz
Popular fro-yo stop Yogen Früz offers a number of dairy-free desserts as well as a ton of rotating vegan yogurt flavors, including coconut and coconut strawberry. Compassionate customers can also indulge in several sorbet flavors.
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These delicious vegan additions to popular restaurant menus prove that there’s no need for us to eat the flesh of other animals. With so many tasty vegan options available, going vegan is now easier than ever. Order PETA’s free vegan starter kit to receive tips, recipes, and insight that will help you make the transition to a compassionate lifestyle.
Your decisions can make a difference. Urge popular restaurants to add more vegan options to their menus.
