16 Terrible Vegetarian And Vegan Fast Food Items That Simply Shouldn’t Exist
We love fast food, we adore vegetarian and vegan options making the world a kinder place. But sometimes, these two worlds collide, resulting in culinary catastrophes that are, frankly, an insult to both plants and protein.
Prepare yourselves, dear readers, for a journey into the abyss of regrettable veggie burgers and vegan nightmares – a countdown of 15 fast food travesties that should be banished from existence!
1. McDonald’s McPlant Burger
Dry, crumbly, and lacking flavor, this sad excuse for a burger falls apart faster than your New Year’s resolutions. The patty texture resembles cardboard that’s been left in the rain.
Even the special sauce can’t save this disappointing attempt at plant-based innovation. Skip it and make your own veggie burger at home.
2. Subway’s Veggie Delight Sandwich
Paying full sandwich price for a handful of wilted vegetables is highway robbery. This sad pile of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers lacks protein and substance.
Without cheese (for vegans), it’s basically an expensive salad between bread. The vegetables often look tired and past their prime.
3. Burger King’s Impossible Whopper
Cross-contamination alert! Cooked on the same grill as meat patties, this defeats the purpose for many vegetarians and vegans.
The smoky flavor comes across as artificial and overwhelming. Despite the hype, the texture feels rubbery and strange.
4. Taco Bell’s Bean Burrito Without Cheese
Removing cheese from this menu staple leaves you with a sad, mushy tortilla filled with refried beans and red sauce. The texture becomes uniformly gooey with nothing to break it up.
Often served lukewarm, it congeals into an unappetizing paste within minutes. The portion size feels skimpy.
5. KFC’s Beyond Fried Chicken
These plant-based nuggets somehow manage to be both dry and greasy simultaneously. The breading falls off at the slightest touch, creating a mess of crumbs everywhere.
The interior has a strange, spongy consistency unlike any chicken substitute should have. Despite the familiar KFC seasoning, something about the aftertaste feels artificial and lingering.
6. Dunkin’s Avocado Toast
Calling this overpriced, under-seasoned disaster “avocado toast” is an insult to brunch everywhere. The avocado spread comes pre-made and processed, lacking freshness and flavor.
The bread base is often stale or soggy from sitting in the display case. For the astronomical price, you could buy a whole avocado and loaf of artisan bread with money left over.
7. Wendy’s Plain Baked Potato
A plain potato might seem like a safe vegan option, but Wendy’s version is often undercooked in the center and overcooked on the outside. Without toppings, it’s just a sad spud wrapped in foil.
The size varies wildly from location to location. Sometimes you get a decent potato, other times it’s barely bigger than a golf ball.
8. Starbucks’ Impossible Breakfast Sandwich (Modified)
Ordering this without egg and cheese leaves you with a plant-based sausage patty on a dry English muffin. Baristas often look confused by the request, resulting in incorrect orders.
The modified sandwich costs nearly the same as the original despite missing half the ingredients. The sausage alone doesn’t justify the premium price.
9. Chipotle’s Sofritas Burrito
The shredded tofu sofritas swimming in watery sauce turns your burrito into a soggy mess. One bite and the tortilla splits open, dumping the contents all over your lap.
The spice level varies dramatically between locations. The tofu texture often feels mushy rather than having the satisfying chew of properly prepared tofu.
10. Pizza Hut’s Veggie Pizza Without Cheese
Removing cheese from a Pizza Hut veggie pizza leaves you with bland vegetables on ketchup-like sauce and doughy crust. The vegetables are sparse and often undercooked or burnt with no in-between.
Without cheese as a binder, toppings slide off with each bite. The crust becomes the main event, and it’s not a good headliner.
11. Panda Express’ Eggplant Tofu
Mushy eggplant chunks and tofu swimming in overly sweet sauce create a texturally confusing dish. The eggplant absorbs oil like a sponge, making each bite a greasy experience.
The tofu is often undercooked and bland at the center. Despite being one of few vegetarian options at Panda Express, it consistently disappoints with its unbalanced flavors and soggy vegetables.
12. Arby’s Side Salad
At a restaurant famous for meat, the side salad feels like an afterthought. Wilted iceberg lettuce, a single slice of tomato, and three cucumber pieces don’t make a meal.
The dressing packets are often expired or taste off. For the price, you’d expect at least a few more vegetables or some protein option.
13. White Castle’s Impossible Sliders
These mini disappointments manage to taste both burnt and undercooked simultaneously. The signature White Castle greasiness remains, but without the satisfaction of real meat.
The patties have a strange aftertaste that lingers long after eating. Size-wise, they’re tiny even by slider standards, making the high price point feel like robbery.
14. Dairy Queen’s Side Salad
Expecting a decent salad from an ice cream chain is perhaps asking too much. This pathetic bowl contains the palest lettuce imaginable, with a few carrot shreds for color.
The vegetables often taste like they’ve absorbed freezer odors. The tiny portion wouldn’t satisfy a rabbit, let alone a human.
15. Hardee’s Beyond Breakfast Sausage Biscuit (No Egg)
The plant-based sausage patty gets lost in the excessively dense, dry biscuit. Without egg, there’s nothing to add moisture to this crumbly mess.
The sausage itself has an odd, artificial maple flavor that clashes with the buttermilk biscuit. Often served lukewarm, the texture becomes increasingly unpleasant with each bite.
16. Carl’s Jr. Beyond BBQ Cheeseburger (No Cheese)
Removing cheese from this burger leaves you with a BBQ sauce-drenched mess that falls apart instantly. The sauce overwhelms any flavor from the Beyond patty, making it pointlessly plant-based.
The onion rings on top quickly become soggy from the excessive sauce. Without cheese to balance the sweetness, the whole thing tastes like a sugar bomb.
