I’d never have an issue eating at Noodles & Company as a vegan, as they have plenty of pasta/noodle options to choose from, as well as some pretty decent sides, and of course some vegan bread and other goodies we’ll cover below.
Table of Contents
The only real downsides to Noodles & Company for a Vegan is that they lack a “real” vegan meat-replacement, however at least in my opinion it’s not something essential to have, especially when they have tofu as an option, which I may like even better than a lot of meat replacements.
Noodles & Company Vegan Pasta Dishes:
- Cauliflower Rigatoni Fresca with Shrimp (No Shrimp or Parmesan Cheese)
- Grilled Orange Chicken Lo Mein – (Exclude the chicken and replace it with seasoned tofu)
- Gluten-Sensitive Pipette Zucchini Rosa with Grilled Chicken (No Chicken, no cream, or cheese)
- Spaghetti & Meatballs (No Meatballs or Cheese)
- Japanese Pan-Fried Noodles
- Spicy Peanut Pan-Fried Noodles
- Spicy Korean Beef Noodles (No Steak)
- Penne Rosa – (No Penne Rosa Cream Sauce and Parmesan Cheese)
- Cauliflower Rigatoni Rosa (No Penne Rosa Cream Sauce and Parmesan Cheese)
Keep in mind that you can add any of their vegetable-toppings to your noodle-dish for free, or some tasty seasoned organic tofu. You can also build-your-own pasta dish with the options listed below.
Build-Your-Own Vegan Pasta:
- Choose Your Noodles – Elbow Noodles, Fusilli (Rotini), Zucchetti (Zucchini Noodles), Spaghetti Noodles, Penne Noodles, Rice Noodle, or Cavatappi (Macaroni) Noodles.
- Choose Your Sauce – Japanese Pan Noodle Sauce, Spicy Korean Sauce, Pasta Fresca Sauce, Adobo Sauce (no cream), Penne Rosa Sauce (no cream), Marinara Sauce, or Thai Curry Sauce
- Choose Your Toppings – Green onions, Spinach, Snap peas, Broccoli, Cucumber, Pineapple, Bean sprouts, Mushrooms, Avocado (bleh!), Red onion, or Organic tofu chunks.
Vegan Salad Options at Noodles and Company:
- The Med Salad w/Chicken (No Med Salad Dressing, No Feta, No Chicken)
- Chicken Veracruz Salad (No Bacon, Chicken, or Jalapeno Ranch Dressing)
- Caesar Salad w/ Chicken (No Chicken, Caesar Dressing, No Croutons, No Cheese)
- Tossed-Greens Big-Salad
- Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Mexican Street Corn Salad (No Grilled Chicken and Feta Cheese)
- Asian Apple Citrus Salad – (No Grilled Chicken)
The Salad Options aren’t the most impressive, particularly that they only have a single vegan dressing at most locations (Balsamic Vinaigrette), however when you opt for the build-your-own salad you can make a far better salad than one of the above-mentioned options. Here’s how you do it.
Build-Your-Own Vegan Salad:
- Choose Your Base – Mixed Salad Greens or Romaine Lettuce
- Choose Your Toppings – Green onions, Spinach, Snap peas, Broccoli, Cucumber, Pineapple, Bean sprouts, Mushrooms, Avocado (bleh!), Red onion, or Organic tofu chunks.
- Choose Your Dressing – Balsamic Vinaigrette, Soy sauce, or Lemon/Lime Juice (not all locations).
Vegan Side Dishes at Noodles and Company:
- Caesar Side Salad (No Croutons, Cheese, or Caesar Salad Dressing)
- Tossed-Greens Side-Salad (With Balsamic Vinaigrette)
- Applesauce
- Baguette
A sneaky pro-tip is that you can get avocado from the salad-options and smear it on a baguette to get yourself an Avocado Sandwich if you’re looking for something other than pasta or salad. You literally can never go wrong with Avocado and Bread. Anywhere.
Vegan Desserts at Noodles and Company:
- None
Unfortunately, Noodles & Company doesn’t really serve Desserts at all, yet alone vegan-friendly desserts, but It is quite common. You can always buy some candy from a convenience store before or after for your sweet tooth though.
Anything else Vegan at Noodles and Company?
Nope! — That’s all the Vegan-friendly food options at Noodles and Company currently though; I’d argue it’s a pretty good variety of things for us vegans to eat. It always could be better, but hey, can you really complain when you have many types of pasta, some salad, and bread to eat?
I guess they really should add another vegan-friendly salad dressing like a fruity vinaigrette or something, but that’s really the only thing I could gripe about regarding Noodles and Company.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Noodles and Company have vegan options?
Yes, I would say Vegan options at Noodles and Co are quite good. There are plenty of menu items that you can order without any modification. In addition to this, there are many-many items that could become vegan-friendly if you exclude some ingredients.
Is Noodles and Company pesto vegan?
Unfortunately, It isn’t, since it contains dairy products and they couldn’t leave them out.
