Applebee’s vegetarian options center on one real meatless main — the Impossible Burger — plus a set of build-your-own bowls, salads, and sides you order with a few swaps. This is a full-service American grill and bar, so it’s more flexible than a steakhouse, but Applebee’s says outright that none of its vegan items work without modifications. This guide lays out exactly what’s vegetarian, what’s vegan with the right tweaks, and the catches worth knowing before you order. For more chains like this one, start with our guide to what’s vegetarian at popular restaurants.
A Quick Look at Applebee’s
Applebee’s opened in 1980 in Decatur, Georgia, founded by Bill and T.J. Palmer under the original name “T.J. Applebee’s Rx for Edibles & Elixirs.” The concept was neighborhood-friendly casual dining, and that’s still the pitch decades later: a full-service grill and bar rather than a fast-food counter, which is part of why there’s actually a meatless main to talk about here.
Today the chain is owned by Dine Brands Global, Inc., the parent company headquartered in California that also owns IHOP. IHOP’s parent acquired Applebee’s back in 2007, and the holding company took the Dine Brands name in early 2018. As of March 2025, Applebee’s runs roughly 1,600 US restaurants, down from a system-wide peak near 1,787 in 2019, so there’s a good chance one is close by.
Applebee’s Vegetarian Options: What to Order
The short version: the Impossible Burger is the anchor, and almost everything else meat-free is a bowl, salad, or side you customize. Applebee’s even publishes its own Vegan and Vegetarian Menu Guide, and it’s upfront that every vegan order needs at least one modification — there’s no item you can order exactly as listed. Here’s how the core menu sorts out for vegetarians and vegans.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Impossible Burger (no cheese) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* |
| Southwest Bowl (no chicken, vegan dressing) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* |
| Tex-Mex Bowl (no shrimp, vegan dressing) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* |
| Strawberry Balsamic Salad (no chicken) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* |
| House Salad (no cheese/croutons, vegan dressing) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* |
| Brew Pub Pretzels with beer cheese / honey mustard | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Chips with guacamole or chipotle-lime salsa | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* |
| Basket fries / waffle fries | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Shared fryer |
| Baked potato (no butter/sour cream) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* |
| Steamed broccoli (no butter) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Ask |
| Kids’ Pasta with Marinara (no cheese) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* |
| Fruit smoothies | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
| Sizzlin’ Apple Pie with ice cream/caramel | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
*Vegan only with the modifications noted, and subject to the shared-fryer and butter caveats below. Applebee’s rotates limited-time items, so the exact names can shift — check the current allergen guide or ask your location if a specific dish is the reason you’re going.
The Impossible Burger and Bowls
The Impossible Burger is the one branded plant-based protein on the menu, and it’s the closest thing Applebee’s has to a true meatless main. Order it with no cheese to keep it vegan. It comes on the brioche bun or in a lettuce cup, and at most locations you can sub the Impossible patty into salads and bowls if you want the protein without the sandwich. One note for allergies: the Impossible patty contains coconut oil.
The bowls are the other workhorse. The Southwest Bowl (the “Southwest Irresist-A-Bowl”) and the Tex-Mex Shrimp Bowl share the same plant-based base — cilantro rice, pico de gallo, black bean and corn salsa, guacamole, and greens. Order either one without its meat or shrimp and pair it with a vegan dressing, and you’ve got a filling bowl. The Strawberry Balsamic salad works the same way: drop the chicken, skip the breadstick or ask for no garlic butter, and add an Impossible patty if you want more staying power.
Vegetarian Appetizers and Sides
For appetizers, the Brew Pub Pretzels are the easy vegetarian pick — giant soft pretzel sticks with beer cheese dip and honey mustard. Both dips are fine for vegetarians; neither is vegan, since the honey mustard contains honey and the beer cheese is dairy. Chips with guacamole or chipotle-lime salsa are another safe order. Skip the white queso dip if you’re avoiding dairy.
On the sides menu, you’ve got basket fries, waffle fries, a baked potato, crispy red potatoes, steamed broccoli, grilled onions, guacamole, and applesauce. Most are vegetarian as listed. To keep the potatoes and broccoli vegan, ask for no butter and no sour cream — they’re added by default. The House Salad is vegetarian with cheese and croutons; for a vegan version, hold the cheese, croutons, and breadstick and pick one of the vegan dressings below.
Vegetarian Dressings, Sauces, and Drinks
Most of Applebee’s dressings contain egg, so the dressing is where a lot of vegan orders quietly go wrong. The ones Applebee’s lists as vegan are Fat-Free Italian, Lemon Olive Oil Vinaigrette, and Champagne Vinaigrette, plus sauce-style options like Balsamic Glaze, Chimichurri, Black Bean–Corn Salsa, marinara, guacamole, and chipotle-lime salsa. Default ranch and Caesar are out for vegans because of egg and dairy.
Drinks are simpler. Fountain sodas, coffee, tea, juices, lemonades, and sparkling water are all vegan. The fruit smoothies are the exception — they’re made with dairy, so they’re vegetarian but not vegan. If you want a cold drink and you’re strict, stick with the lemonades or sparkling water.
What’s Vegan at Applebee’s?
Vegan ordering at Applebee’s is doable, but it always means customizing — the chain says flat out that no vegan item works with zero modifications. Your best mains are the Impossible Burger with no cheese (on the bun or in a lettuce cup) and the Southwest or Tex-Mex bowls ordered without the meat or shrimp and paired with a vegan dressing. The Kids’ Pasta with Marinara, ordered with no cheese, is another quiet vegan option per Applebee’s own guide. Round things out with fries, a plain baked potato, grilled onions, guacamole, applesauce, or a House Salad built without cheese or croutons.
What to avoid as a vegan: all cheese, white queso, sour cream, the honey mustard, the butter and garlic butter, the smoothies, and any egg-based dressing. Two items deserve a closer look. The Brew Pub pretzels show up on outside vegan lists, but Applebee’s own guide notes the pretzel dough contains egg — so even “no dip” pretzels may not be fully vegan, and it’s worth verifying at your location. The brioche bun is the other one. Applebee’s own guide lists it as dairy-free, brushed with a non-dairy butter alternative, and that matches what PETA and Veggl report. One secondary blog claims it has milk and eggs, which conflicts with the official guide, so treat the bun as vegan-but-verify: ask your server to confirm, and request a lettuce cup if you want to be certain.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
The single biggest thing to know is the shared fryer. Applebee’s states it can’t guarantee any menu item is completely free of allergens or animal products because of shared cooking and prep areas, including common fryer oil. The fries, waffle fries, and pretzels share that oil with meat and seafood items, so strict vegans should know the fries aren’t cooked in a dedicated fryer. Cross-contact on shared surfaces is possible across the menu, too.
A couple of other things to watch. Butter is added to the broccoli and baked potatoes by default, and at least one diner has reported that some locations pre-butter the broccoli before service — so “no butter” can’t always be honored. Egg turns up in most dressings and in the pretzel dough, dairy is in the cheeses, queso, and sour cream, and honey is in the honey mustard. There’s no certified gluten-free or dedicated vegan line here, so for anything strict, pull up Applebee’s published allergen guide or ask your server before you order.
Tips for Vegetarians at Applebee’s
- Make the Impossible Burger your default main, and order it with no cheese if you want it vegan.
- Turn the Southwest or Tex-Mex bowl meatless by holding the chicken or shrimp and adding a vegan dressing.
- Going vegan? Skip the cheese, queso, sour cream, butter, honey mustard, and any creamy dressing.
- Choose a vegan dressing on purpose — Fat-Free Italian, Lemon Olive Oil Vinaigrette, or Champagne Vinaigrette — since most others contain egg.
- Know the fries share a fryer with meat and seafood; if that’s a dealbreaker, pick a baked potato instead.
- Ask for no butter on the broccoli and potato, and confirm it was honored, since some locations pre-butter.
- Pull up Applebee’s Vegan and Vegetarian Menu Guide or ask your server, especially for limited-time items that rotate.
Applebee’s vegetarian options: frequently asked questions
Conclusion
Applebee’s vegetarian options reward a little customizing. There’s one true meatless main in the Impossible Burger, a couple of bowls and salads that go meat-free with simple swaps, and a solid bench of sides — just plan around the shared fryer and the default butter and cheese if you’re vegan. Order off the chain’s own Vegan and Vegetarian Menu Guide, ask your server to confirm anything strict, and you’ll eat well. For more chains, see our complete guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants, browse the full restaurant guides, or compare other grill-and-bar spots like Chili’s and TGI Fridays.
