What makes Starbucks special is not only the fact that its menu is seemingly endless, but also the fact that there are exponentially more ways to tweak, modify, and add to each and every item – giving us the power to truly perfect our order.
And that’s good news for all of us, whether we’ve got dietary restrictions or we’re just super particular about our morning coffee. If you’re vegan, the good news is that Starbucks has some already-vegan items on its long menu that make great options for both food and drink. And the better news? With non-dairy milk options, sauces, syrups, and drizzles, you can make just about any menu item vegan. Here’s the ultimate guide to eating vegan at your favorite coffee chain!
Vegan food available on the Starbucks menu
Most of the breakfast and lunch items at Starbucks contain either eggs or meat, and sadly the sweets and pastries you see in the window aren’t vegan-friendly – BUT, while the food on the menu is harder to modify because it’s mostly pre-made, there are still several solid vegan options available at Starbucks that you can order for a quick bite.
Here are the vegan items on Starbucks’s current menu, along with some of the most popular vegan snacks and treats they carry that you’ll typically find in most storefronts.
| Vegan Breakfast Items |
| Bagels -Plain, Sprouted Grain, Everything, Cinnamon Raisin Rolled & Steel Cut Oatmeal -Classic, Hearty Blueberry Strawberry Overnight Grains |
| Vegan Lunch Items |
| Avocado Spread |
| Vegan Snacks |
| Fruit That’s It Fruit Bars Hippeas White Cheddar Chickpea Puffs Kettle Potato Chips Starbucks Potato Chips Pop! Sunflower Oil & Sea Salt Popcorn Peter Rabbit Organic Fruit Pouches Squirrel Brand Mixed Nuts Justin’s Nut Butters Justin’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups |
Starbucks hot and cold drinks that are vegan as is
Moving on to the many, many drinks at Starbucks: let’s start with the basics. Whether hot, cold, caffeinated, or caffeine-free, essentially any Starbucks drink in its basic form – meaning it’s served without milk or any other added ingredients – is a vegan option.
That means that brewed coffee, espresso, americanos, iced coffee, cold brew, hot teas (with the exception of one variety of honey tea), iced teas, lemonades, and apple juice are all safe to order on their own. Only when you start seeing words like “latte”, “misto”, “cappuccino”, “cold foam”, and “macchiato” do you need to consider what comes in the drink and begin to make vegan swaps.
Here’s a definitive list of all go-to hot and cold drinks that you’ll regularly find on the Starbucks menu, which are vegan when ordered on their own.
| Vegan Hot Drinks | Varieties |
| Brewed Coffee | Featured Blonde Roast, Featured Dark Roast, Medium-Roast Pike Place, Decaf Pike Place, Veranda Blends, Caffé Verona Blends, Clover® Starbucks Reserve® Blends |
| Caffè Americano | |
| Espresso | |
| Chai Tea | |
| Black Tea | Earl Grey, Royal English Breakfast |
| Green Tea | Emperor’s Clouds & Mist, Jade Citrus Mint* |
| Herbal Tea | Mint Majesty, Peach Tranquility* |
| Steamed Apple Juice | |
| Vegan Cold Drinks | Varieties |
| Iced Coffee | |
| Cold Brew + Nitro Cold Brew | |
| Iced Caffè Americano | |
| Iced Espresso | |
| Lemonade | |
| Iced Black Tea | Black Tea, Black Tea Lemonade |
| Iced Green Tea | Green Tea, Green Tea Lemonade, Peach Green Tea, Peach Green Tea Lemonade, Matcha Lemonade |
| Iced Herbal Tea | Passion Tango, Passion Tango Lemonade |
Starbucks specialty drinks that are vegan as is
Expanding outside the world of basic coffees and teas, Starbucks is certainly known for its specialty drinks – like their flavored lattes, decadent macchiatos, creamy Frappuccinos, and signature fruity iced beverages.
If you’re vegan, there are several specialty drink options on the Starbucks menu that you can order as is! These are mostly drinks that are naturally made with non-dairy milks or syrups, so they don’t require any substitutions; Starbucks Refreshers™ are also all vegan by nature because they are made with a blend of fruit and either coconut milk or no milk at all.
You may notice that we haven’t mentioned the famed Pumpkin Spice Latte – unfortunately, the sauces and syrups used in all of Starbucks seasonal pumpkin-flavored drinks contain dairy. Below are specialty drinks currently on the menu that are vegan as is (just remember that some of these are seasonal or rotational).
| Vegan Specialty Drinks | Notes |
| Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte* (Hot or Iced) | |
| Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Frappuccino* | Order with no whipped cream |
| Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Creme Frappuccino* | Order with no whipped cream |
| Iced Hazelnut Oatmilk Shaken Espresso* | |
| Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso | |
| Oleato Caffe Latte with Oatmilk* | |
| All Starbucks Refreshers™ | Current Varieties: Dragon Drink Mango Dragonfruit Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Paradise Drink Strawberry Acai Strawberry Acai Lemonade Pineapple Passionfruit Pineapple Passionfruit Lemonade Pink Drink |
| Blended Strawberry Lemonade |
How to modify any item to be vegan
If there are other menu items you have your eye on that aren’t vegan-friendly, the great thing about Starbucks is that it’s usually pretty easy to modify a drink and either remove or substitute the dairy or animal product.
For any drinks that contain milk – whether it’s a latte, a mocha, a frappuccino, a flat white, or a hot chocolate – it’s simply a matter of subbing in one of Starbucks’s non-dairy milk options. The alternative milks available at Starbucks are:
- Soy milk
- Coconut milk
- Almond milk
- Oat milk
All of these are vegan options that can be swapped out for dairy milk in essentially any drink order.
Just keep in mind that for any drinks that come with whipped cream, you’ll have to remove it for now. Starbucks is testing a vegan whipped cream made from lentils, but it’s not widely available in the US yet.
As far as modifying the more complicated orders that might contain various syrups or sauces, like the caramel macchiato or cinnamon dolce latte, the key is knowing which add-ins you’ll need to remove and which are vegan-friendly so that you can swap them in. For example, while Starbucks caramel sauce is not vegan, their caramel syrup is – so that can be a great substitute in their caramel-based drinks.
Luckily, there are plenty of sweeteners, syrups, mix-ins, and toppings at Starbucks that are vegan friendly; once you’re familiar with them, you can easily modify any drink and mix and match with vegan-safe alternatives to your heart’s content. Here’s a cheat sheet to help you create your next delicious vegan Starbucks order.
| Vegan Sweeteners |
| Sugar Sugar In The Raw Splenda Stevia In The Raw Classic Syrup Liquid Cane Sugar |
| Vegan Syrups |
| Almond Vanilla (Regular + Sugar-Free) Brown Sugar Caramel (Regular + Sugar-Free) Cinnamon Dolce Hazelnut Peppermint Raspberry Sugar Cookie* Toasted Vanilla Toffee Nut Gingerbread* Macadamia Mocha Peach Coffee Frappuccino Crème Frappuccino |
| Vegan Sauces |
| Mocha Sauce Strawberry Purée Sauce |
| Vegan Powders |
| Vanilla Powder Chocolate Malt Powder Matcha Tea Blend Cocoa Powder |
| Vegan Toppings |
| Caramel Sugar Cookie Crumble Freeze-Dried Fruit Praline Pieces* |
No, the Pumpkin Spice Sauce used in the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte contains dairy, so this drink is not vegan. Unfortunately there is not another pumpkin-flavored vegan substitute. There is a vegan version of this flavoring used in the UK to make PSLs vegan, but it’s not yet available in US Starbucks locations.
No, the Impossible Breakfast Sandwich is not vegan. While the Impossible Sausage Patty itself is plant-based, the sandwich includes both egg and cheese, so it’s not vegan-friendly unless you modify the order.
Unfortunately Starbucks doesn’t currently have any pastries that are vegan – all of these items contain either milk, eggs, or butter.
Starbucks offers soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, and oat milk. All of these milk alternatives are vegan and dairy free, and can be substituted into any drink order.
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