Sonic Drive-In is not a fast-food establishment that is expected to have very many vegan options, but they do in fact have a few options to choose from. Read on for a full breakdown of all the vegan-friendly options on Sonic’s menu in 2022.
Ingredients and allergen information were gathered from Sonic’s allergen guide and from interviews with Sonic employees and managers.
Fries
Sonic Drive-In’s french fries are vegan!* These would also go great with one of Sonic’s many sauces.
*According to a Sonic Drive-In employee, fries and tots are cooked in a separate fryer from the meat. This is a rule across the company, so should not be an issue but it would be best to verify with your local Sonic location if this is a concern for you.
Tater Tots
The last of Sonic’s fried vegan delights are Tater Tots.* Once again, these would go great with any of Sonic’s vegan sauces.
*According to a Sonic Drive-In employee, fries and tots are cooked in a separate fryer from the meat. This is a rule across the company, so should not be an issue but it would be best to verify with your local Sonic location if this is a concern for you.
Soft Pretzel Twist
Sonic’s Soft Pretzel Twist is vegan, but as listed on the menu comes with butter on top and cheese sauce it on the side – both of which are NOT vegan. Therefore, the Pretzel Twist needs to be ordered without butter to make it vegan friendly. Additionally, the cheese sauce can be switched out for mustard, marinara, or any of the other vegan friendly sauces of your liking.
Build Your Own Sandwich
The final vegan food option at sonic is a build-your-own sandwich. While this is not on the menu, the Sonic staff should be happy to create a sandwich to your liking. All of the Sonic bread products are sourced from local bakeries so ingredients change location to location. Both the hamburger and hot dog buns are almost always vegan friendly, but its best to check to be sure.
Breads
- Bagel (Not available at all locations)
- Hamburger Bun (May contain milk or egg at certain locations)
- Hot Dog Bun (May contain milk or egg at certain locations)
- Philly Roll (Not available at all locations)
- Tortilla (May contain milk or egg at certain locations)
Condiments
- Asian Sweet Chili Wing Sauce
- Hickory BBQ (May contain honey)
- Ketchup
- Mustard
Toppings
- Avocado
- Dill Pickle Chips
- Dill Pickle Spears
- Hatch Green Chilies
- Jalapenos
- Lettuce
- Diced Onion
- Sauerkraut
- Sport Peppers
- Sweet Pickle Relish
- Tomato
Sauces
Sonic has some great vegan friendly dipping sauces for your fries or pretzel. These sauces include the following:
Condiment Packets
- BBQ Sauce
- Grape Jelly
- Ketchup
- Marinara
- Mustard
- Salsa de Sonic
- Strawberry Jam
- Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Sweet Relish
Drinks
The star of the show at Sonic may as well be the drink options, specifically their slushes. Almost all of the their slush flavors are vegan friendly as are their Lemonade and Limeade slush bases. They also have a variety of soft drinks that are vegan as well. A full list of all drink options is below.
Frozen
- Lemonade Slush
- Limeade Slush
- Plain Slush Base (Add flavor from syrup options)
Flavor Syrups
- Blackberry
- Blue Coconut
- Blue Raspberry
- Cherry
- Diet Cherry
- French Vanilla
- Grape
- Mango
- Peach
- Raspberry
Other Drinks
- Barq’s Root Beer
- Coca-Cola
- Coca-Cola Zero Sugar
- Diet Coke
- Diet Dr. Pepper
- Dr. Pepper
- Fanta Orange
- Fresh Brewed Sweet Tea
- Fresh Brewed Unsweet Tea
- Green Mountain Coffee Roasters’ Hot Coffee
- Green Tea (Diet)
- Green Tea (Sweet)
- Hi-C Fruit Punch
- Lemonade
- Mello Yello
- Minute Maid Apple Juice Box
- Minute Maid Orange Juice
- Powerade
- Sonic Wave Bottled Water
- Sprite
- Sprite Zero
Onion Rings (Updated 2021)
Lets start this list off with a bang: Sonic’s onion rings are vegan!* Onion rings almost always have milk in them. Heck, even the frozen varieties have milk in them so finding that Sonic’s onion rings are vegan is a real win. Pair these fried circles of deliciousness with one of the many vegan Sonic sauces.
*It should be noted that these onion rings are likely cooked in the same fryer as Sonic’s fried meat options so if you are concerned about cross contamination then these should be avoided.
Unfortunately, it has been brought to our attention by multiple independent Sonic managers and employees that the onion rings are NOT vegan. They informed us that the onion rings are battered in the vanilla soft serve mix which is listed as containing diary on the Sonic allergen guide even though the allergen guide also states that the onion rings do not contain diary. We have contacted Sonic’s customer support multiple times about this topic and have received no response. Until we hear otherwise, please assume that the Sonic onion rings are NOT vegan friendly.
Other Options
Summary
As with many fast food establishments, Sonic has VERY limited food options for vegans. However, Sonic’s vegan onion rings and slushes are definitely worth the stop for an afternoon snack or refreshment. Other fast food establishments have better vegan options if you’re trying to make a full meal.
If you liked this article, take a look at at our other “Eating Out” vegan guides here.
