Are French Fries Vegan?

French fries are basically just sliced potatoes deep-fried in vegetable oil, but depending on where you get your fries, they may or may not be vegan.

Fast-Food Fries

Many fast-food french fries are not vegan, such as McDonald’s fries and Checkers’ fries. The reason is because their fries contain beef fat and/or dairy. However, some FF chains do have vegan fries, like Burger King. You should also be aware that no matter what restaurant you’re at, there’s a good chance the french fries have been “cross contaminated,” which means they were fried in the same oil that non-vegan foods are also cooked in.

We have a very large index of vegan options at popular restaurants here. If you want to know if a particular fast-food chain has vegan fries, you can probably find them there.

Frozen Fries

Frozen fries are usually heavily processed, mixed with lots of other ingredients, and in some cases battered or coated. Most frozen french fries that you’ll find at the grocery store are not vegan because they typically contain whey and/or other animal ingredients, especially the ones that are battered. We suggest checking the ingredients label before you purchase any frozen fries – you’ll probably be surprised by just how many ingredients some of them have.

How to Make Your Own Vegan French Fries

Making your own french fries from scratch is easy, and once you get good at it, you’ll realize homemade fries are way better than frozen fries. You can get our homemade french fries recipe here.