Jack in the Box is an American fast-food restaurant chain with over 2,200 locations that serve primarily the Western region of the United States. Their food items revolve around a variety of chicken tenders, French fries, hamburgers, cheeseburger sandwiches, and internationally-themed foods like tacos and egg rolls.
In other words, Jack in the Box is not a particularly vegan-friendly restaurant, even though you can find some vegan options, including the following:
- Side Salad (Without Croutons)
- Fries
- Hash Browns
- Potato Wedges
- Jack’s Teriyaki Bowl (Remove Chicken)
- Sauces (Kikkoman Soy Sauce, Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce, Sweet ‘N Sour Dipping Sauce, Taco Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce, Ketchup, Hot Taco Sauce Packet, French’s Mustard Packet, Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Dipping Sauce, Barbecue Dipping Sauce)
- Drinks (Barq’s Root Beer, Coke, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, Fanta, Gold Peak Classic Blend Tea, Jumpin’ Jack’s Splash, Mello Yello, Minute Maid, Powerade, and Sprite)
In this article, we’re going to look at each option in more detail, and help elevate your experience at Jack in the Box, even though it lacks vegan options.
Every Vegan Option at Jack in the Box
Jack’s Teryaki Bowl
Jack’s Teriyaki Bowl is a combination of chicken, veggies, and rice. While it’s not a vegan dish, you can make it vegan by asking the folks at Jack in the Box to remove the chicken, and add extra vegetables.
The combination of rice and veggies topped with teriyaki sauce makes the dish quite delicious, even if you don’t have a protein like tofu or tempeh.
Side Salad (Without Croutons)
Most non-vegan restaurants usually have some greens that vegans can enjoy and Jack in the Box is not an exception, but if you want to have their side salad, you need to ask them to remove the croutons, as well as the Ranch Dressing, and replace it with a different dressing like Balsamic Vinaigrette.
The ingredients of their standard side salad are the following: Iceberg Lettuce, Romaine Lettuce, Cucumbers, Carrots, and Grape Tomatoes. Not the tastiest salad, but it’s still better than nothing.
Fries, Hashbrowns, Potato Wedges
If you love french fries, then Jack in the Box is the ideal spot. You can find regular french fries, potato wedges, and hashbrowns, all made with potatoes. Needless to say, these are vegan options.
Plus, you don’t have to eat them plain, you can also order dipping sauces like Ketchup, Barbecue Sauce, Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo, Sweet N’ Sour, and Teriyaki sauce, which are vegan-friendly.
Here’s a vegan Youtuber tasting Jack in the Box’s different varieties of potatoes:
Sauces
Jack in the Box has a couple of dipping sauces, many of which are vegan-friendly. These sauces include the following:
- Barbecue Dipping Sauce
- Ketchup
- Kikkoman Soy Sauce
- Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce
- Teriyaki Sauce (Regular and Dipping)
- Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Dipping Sauce
- French’s Mustard Packet
- Hot Taco Sauce Packet
- Sweet ‘N Sour Dipping Sauce
- Taco Sauce
Drinks
At Jack in the Box, you won’t find any specialty drinks as you’d find at Starbucks or Urth Caffe, but you can still find plenty of vegan drinks, including:
- Barq’s Root Beer
- Coca-Cola
- Coca-Cola Zero
- Dr. Pepper
- Fanta Orange
- Fanta Strawberry
- Gold Peak Classic Blend Tea
- Jumpin’ Jack’s Splash
- Mello Yello
- Minute Maid 100% Apple Juice
- Minute Maid Orange Juice
- Minute Maid Lemonade
- Powerade Mountain Blast
- Sprite
Related Questions
Are Jack In The Box Tacos Vegan?
It was once rumored online (Reddit) that Jack in the Box’s tacos contained veggie meat and not real beef, which leads us to the question — are Jack in the Box Tacos vegan?
The answer is no. While they contain textured vegetable protein (in the form of soy I believe), they still contain a little bit of beef and chicken. Here are the ingredients extracted directly from their website’s nutritional menu:
Beef, Chicken, Water, Textured Vegetable Protein (Soy Flour, Caramel Color), Defatted Soy Grits, Seasoning (Chili Pepper, Corn Maltodextrin, Spices, Bleached Enriched Wheat Flour [Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, and Folic Acid], Salt, Garlic Powder, Hydrolyzed Corn, Soy, and Wheat Proteins, Monosodium Glutamate, Onion Powder, Natural Flavors, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Succinic Acid), Salt, Tomato Paste, Worcestershire Sauce (Distilled Vinegar, Molasses, Corn Syrup, Water, Salt, Caramel Color, Garlic Powder, Sugar, Spices, Tamarind, Natural Flavor, Sulfiting Agent).
However, it’s worth mentioning that the Tortillas are vegan-friendly.
Doesn’t Jack In The Box Have a Veggie Sandwich?
The recent news suggest that Jack in the Box is currently testing a sandwich called the Unchicken Sandwich, which is essentially Jack in the Box’s first meatless option.
It was launched at test locations in Reno, NV and Monterey and Salinas, CA.
The sandwich is made with a patty produced by Tyson-owned Raised & Rooted brand, and it will also contain non-vegan mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato on a vegan bun.
However, since it’s currently being tested, it won’t be available across the country until much later.
Summary
Unfortunately, Jack in the Box doesn’t have that many vegan options outside their side salad, fries, and the Jack’s Teriyaki Bowl which can be made vegan if you remove the chicken.
However, that might change soon, since Jack in the Box is currently testing a meatless sandwich or the Unchicken Sandwich which is made with a vegan patty by Tyson’s Raised & Rooted brand.
This is really good news for the vegan community, especially when it comes from a restaurant that is so poor when it comes to vegan options. This just means that the demand is growing and non-vegan restaurants must adapt to that change, and they must do so at a very quick pace.
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