If you live on the West Coast, driving to Jack in the Box at 2 AM was probably one of your favorite pastimes before you turned vegan. After all, it’s one of the few establishments with a drive-through that’s open 24 hours.
However, now that you’ve switched to veganism, you may be wondering if there's anything vegan in a place like Jack in the Box. Spoiler alert: there are Jack in the Box vegan options, but it’s not a lot.
What is Jack in the Box?
Jack in the Box is most famous for its quirky assortment of menu items. Aside from all-American burgers, shakes, and fries, Jack in the Box’s menu also carries ethnic options like the Mexican Jack in the Box tacos, Chinese Jack in the Box egg rolls, and Japanese chicken teriyaki bowl.
Jack in the Box was quite the innovator, choosing to become a fast-food chain focused on drive-through service. The founder, Robert Oscar Peterson, found that the intercom system contributed to a much faster service than the traditional drive-through window and allowed two to three orders to be fixed simultaneously. Over time, people dubbed the place a “modern food machine.”
Today, there are more than 2,000 Jack in the Box locations in 21 states all over the country.
Vegan Options You Should Try
Entrees
Jack’s Teriyaki Bowl
Jack’s Teriyaki Bowl is not vegan right off the bat, but some tweaking can be made to make this entree vegan-friendly. Request the staff to remove the chicken and add extra veggies and teriyaki sauce. What you’ll have is a hearty teriyaki bowl brimming with fluffy white rice, extra broccoli, and extra carrots, swimming in yummy, sticky teriyaki sauce.
We also found that Jack in the Box is more than happy to accommodate vegan clients!
Vegan Chicken Sandwich
This just in -- Jack in the Box is launching their very own Vegan Chicken Sandwich! This vegan burger, aptly called Jack’s Unchicken, will be available in select Jack in the Box locations, including California and Nevada, until December 2021. [1]
If you find that this veggie sandwich is available in a Jack’s location near you, we highly encourage you to check it out! We’re thinking of getting these with Jack’s barbecue sauce!
We've got this flavorful grilled eggplant sandwich recipe for you to try here!
Sides
French Fries
Are Jack in the Box fries vegan? Yes! These are made with 100 percent fresh potatoes, flavored with plant-based seasoning, and deep-fried in canola blend frying oil.
The fast-food restaurant also carries vegan-approved seasoned Curly Fries, made with corn meal. We love ordering these with Jack’s vegan barbecue dipping sauce (made from water, tomato paste, and corn syrup, among other ingredients).
Potato Wedges
Just like the french fries, the Potato Wedges at Jack in the Box are also vegan friendly. These plain potato wedges are thick-cut warm, fluffy potatoes encased in a thin, crispy outer shell.
Hash Browns
Hash Browns are a classic breakfast staple, and at Jack in the Box, these fried potatoes are vegan-friendly.
Since the french fries, potato wedges, and hash browns are vegan, we safely conclude that all of Jack’s fried potato products are completely vegan-friendly! On the other hand, Jack in the Box churros and Jack in the Box onion rings are not vegan.
Salads
Southwest Chicken Salad
You’ll get plenty of creamy corn flavor with the Southwest Salad. This side salad option contains grape tomatoes, roasted corn, spicy corn sticks, black beans, shredded cheddar cheese, chicken, and a blend of romaine and iceberg lettuce, drizzled with creamy southwest dressing. Skip the cheese, chicken, and dressing to turn this into a vegan dish. You can also make your own chopped Southwest salad.
Grilled Chicken Salad
The Grilled Chicken Salad is made with a bed of fresh iceberg and romaine lettuce, topped with tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, grilled chicken, cheese, and croutons, with a trickle of low-fat balsamic dressing. Minor modifications are needed to make this side salad vegan -- just ask the staff not to include the chicken, cheese, and croutons.
Chicken Club Salad
The Club Salad at Jack in the Box is fairly easy to make vegan. When ordering this side salad, ask the staff to omit the bacon, chicken, cheddar cheese, and croutons and hold off on the creamy ranch dressing. What you’ll have left is grape tomatoes and cucumber atop a bed of lettuce. Substitute the side salad dressing for the low-fat balsamic vinaigrette.
Also Read:
Sauces & Salad Dressings
Here is all the Jack in the Box vegan sauces and condiments that you can drizzle over your salad and dip your fries into:
- Sweet n’ sour dipping sauce
- Teriyaki dipping sauce
- Ketchup
- Soy sauce
- Frank’s Red-Hot Buffalo dipping sauce
- Barbecue dipping sauce
- Low-fat balsamic vinaigrette dressing
- Fire-roasted salsa
- Taco sauce
Drinks/Beverages
And lastly, you’ll need something to wash that food down with. Most of the drinks at Jack in the Box are vegan drinks, so you’ll get your picking!
- Coca-cola
- Diet Coke
- Sprite
- Diet Dr. Pepper
- Hi-C Fruit Punch
- Minute Maid orange and apple juice
- Classic blend tea
FAQs
Unfortunately, no, Jack in the Box does not carry vegan burgers as of writing. We’re excited to see what they have in store for us in the future, though!
No, the tacos in Jack in the Box are not vegan. Plenty of milk-based ingredients are present in this menu item. The taco shell itself is made with milk, while the meat filling is made with the natural flavors of beef and chicken, Worcestershire sauce, and textured vegetable protein (chili pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, soy flour, defatted soy grits, corn maltodextrin, modified corn starch, and bleached enriched wheat flour).
Yes. The Curly Fries at Jack in the Box is 100 percent vegan! These are made with real potatoes and deep-fried to a curly, crispy perfection using high-quality vegetable oil.
Unfortunately, no -- Jack in the Box has yet to offer vegan options for dessert. Are Jack in the Box churros vegan? No, they’re also not. The place does offer vegan grape jelly, strawberry jam, and pancake syrup, but these don’t go with anything else.
Key Takeaways
And these are all the vegan options for you at Jack in the Box! We may just be limited to a few salad options and the teriyaki rice bowl, but if you ask us, that’s more than enough to keep us satiated until our next meal. We hope that the veggie burger gets to a location near us soon!
Reference:
- https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/jack-in-the-box-unchicken-sandwich-plant-based-2020
About Author
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
Did you make this recipe? Leave a reply below!