Dunkin' Vs Starbucks: Who Offers The Most Vegan Options?

Vegan options have grown exponentially, and finding something to eat from the drive-thru menu has gotten much easier. But there's still a ways to go — particularly at America's popular coffee shop chains. Dunkin' and Starbucks have both long offered plant based milk options, opening their drink menus up to many different diets and allergens. But when it comes to syrups and shots, vegan customers are restricted in what kinds of flavors and customizations they can make no matter where they go. And, as it pertains to the food, the answer to which has the most options doesn't necessarily reflect which you'll find the most convenient. 

Both Dunkin' and Starbucks have plant based milks on their menus, including almond, oat, and coconut. Starbucks comes out ahead of Dunkin' with the inclusion of soy milk and the addition of non-dairy sweet creams and oat-based cold foams. They both also offer a selection of clear syrups that are vegan, along with a selection of thicker cream-based sauces that are (usually) not. Still, when it comes to drinks, Starbucks is the clear winner for vegans, but the food tells a different story. 

While Starbucks might offer more food options, the majority of them are more like snacks. Dunkin', on the other hand, has a wider selection of vegan-friendly hot food options. So while Starbucks might have the overall most vegan options between the two, where you choose to frequent will depend on how hungry you are and what you're craving.

Despite having plenty of vegan options overseas — including dairy-free whipped cream, a variety of Beyond and Impossible meat sandwiches, and pastry items like vegan banana bread and tiramisu cake — Starbucks' USA menus are pretty limited. But you wouldn't think that if you just looked at the numbers. Yes, Starbucks might have more plant-based milk alternatives than Dunkin', and it might also have more food items, but most of those food items are really snacks at best.

Aside from the plain and everything bagels and the steel cut oatmeal, vegan friendly items at Starbucks include things like bagged popcorn and chips, dried fruit, granola bars, nuts, peanut butter cups, and pureed fruit packets (aka baby food). The Impossible breakfast sandwich isn't even vegan as it includes a real egg and cheese, and you can't customize it to be either. So while they might have something to hold you over until your next meal, most of Starbucks' vegan food items hardly constitute a meal.

On the bright side, you will have plenty of drink options. Paired with your choice of plant-based milk and any one of the dairy free syrups (or the dairy free mocha sauce and strawberry puree), you can get creative with your vegan drink orders at Starbucks. The catch being, you won't have much to pair with when you're hungry.

Food is more than just a numbers game, and the difference between the amount of vegan options available from Dunkin' versus Starbucks is a good example of that. What Dunkin' doesn't offer in vegan grab-and-go options or snacks (and its lack of soy milk, plant-based cold foams or sweet creams) it makes up for in both the variety of food options on its menu and their satiation potential. Compared to Starbucks' vegan food offerings of bagels and oatmeal (which it also has), Dunkin' adds on to its hot, vegan friendly breakfast options with the inclusion of warm hash browns and avocado toast.

Not to mention, Dunkin also offers vegan english muffins and four vegan bagel flavors compared to Starbucks' two — and since the addition of avocado toast to its menu in 2021, you can also get bagels with avocado spread instead of cream cheese. Unlike Starbucks', whose avocado spread ranked last in our taste tester's ranking of 13 vegan friendly items, Dunkin' doesn't season its avocado spread like guacamole, so in the end, it ends up tasting much more complementary on your bagel. Dunkin' might not have as many vegan options as Starbucks, but what it does have will leave you much more satisfied.