Looking for Caribou Coffee vegetarian options? You’re in luck, because almost nothing on the menu has meat in it. The catch is dairy. Caribou builds its oatmeal, parfaits, and premade sandwiches with milk, so the real job is sorting vegetarian from vegan. We did that sorting for you over at what about the vegetarians, so you know what to order and what to skip before you reach the counter.
A Quick Look at Caribou Coffee
Caribou Coffee opened on December 14, 1992, in Edina, Minnesota. John Puckett and his wife Kim started it, and the name came from the caribou they watched on an Alaska hike before they ever brewed a pot. The chain grew into one of the country’s largest coffeehouse operators, long ranked second only to Starbucks among company-owned gourmet coffeehouses.
Ownership changed hands more than once. Caribou went public on the NASDAQ in 2005, then JAB Holding Company bought it for $340 million in December 2012 and took it private. In August 2021, JAB folded Caribou into Panera Brands alongside Panera Bread and Einstein Bros. Bagels. Today the chain runs around 485 coffeehouses in the U.S. and more than 800 worldwide, most of them in its home state of Minnesota.
Caribou Coffee Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Here’s the quick map of Caribou Coffee vegetarian options. The table marks what’s vegetarian, what’s vegan, and where dairy or honey sneaks in. When something depends on the day’s supplier or your barista, we marked it Check so you can ask.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Plain or Everything Bagel (no spread) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (dairy varies by batch) |
| Asiago Bagel | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cheese) |
| Blueberry Bagel | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
| Just Egg, Roasted Tomato & Pesto Flatbread | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (plant-based) |
| Oatmeal and yogurt parfaits | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (made with milk) |
| Community Snacks Kettle Chips (Sea Salt, All Mixed Up) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Honey BBQ Kettle Chips | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (honey) |
| Fresh fruit | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Brewed coffee, espresso, Americano, cold press | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (black or with plant milk) |
| Latte, cappuccino, chai with oat/almond/coconut milk | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Mocha, white mocha, Turtle Mocha, caramel drinks | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (chocolate, caramel, malt have dairy) |
| Whipped cream topping | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
Vegetarian Bagels and Bakery at Caribou Coffee
Caribou’s food case leans bakery, and most of it is vegetarian. Bagels are the anchor. The Plain and Everything bagels carry no meat, and many vegan guides list them as vegan by default. One catch: some dairy-free guides flag possible dairy baked into the bagel itself, so if you’re strict, ask the barista to check that day’s batch. The Asiago bagel is baked with cheese, which makes it vegetarian but not vegan. The Blueberry bagel has dairy too.
Spreads are the thin spot. Caribou doesn’t stock a vegan cream cheese right now, so a dairy-free bagel means going plain or asking whether your location carries peanut butter and strawberry jam. Some do. Cookies, muffins, and the rest of the baked goods are vegetarian, but they’re built on butter, eggs, and milk. Treat them as vegetarian, not vegan.
Vegetarian Drinks at Caribou Coffee
The drink menu is where Caribou Coffee vegetarian options really open up. Black coffee, espresso, Americanos, and cold press are vegetarian and vegan as poured. The bigger news is the milk. Caribou pours oat milk, almond milk, and coconut milk, and it doesn’t charge extra for the swap at its U.S. locations. So a hot latte, an iced cappuccino, a chai, or the Iced Oatmilk Crafted Press with oatmilk cold foam all go vegan with one word to the barista.
The blended and iced beverages give you more vegan options. A Caribou Cooler blended with oat milk, the coconut-milk fruit shakers, and hot or iced teas like the Raspberry Hibiscus green tea all work without dairy. A shot of vanilla keeps a plant-based drink simple. During the holidays, the seasonal oat nog is a dairy-free way to get the eggnog flavor.
Watch the add-ins. Caribou’s dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, pumpkin, and regular caramel sauces all contain milk, and so does the malt powder. That puts mochas, white mochas, the Turtle Mocha, and caramel drinks in vegetarian-but-not-vegan territory. Whipped cream is dairy too, so ask for cold foam made with plant milk instead.
Breakfast and Flatbreads at Caribou Coffee
Hot food is where dairy gets harder to dodge. Caribou makes its oatmeal and parfaits ahead of time with milk, and you can’t order them without it. The premade breakfast sandwiches are the same story, built with cheese and egg you can’t strip out at the counter.
The bright spot is the Just Egg, Roasted Tomato & Pesto Flatbread. Caribou builds it with JUST Egg, a mung-bean egg, plus vegan pesto cream and vegan smoked provolone, and the brand calls it its first fully vegan food item. If you want something warm and savory that isn’t a bagel, that’s the one to order.
What’s Vegan at Caribou Coffee?
You can eat and drink vegan at Caribou as long as you steer around the dairy. The vegan list is short but real:
- Just Egg, Roasted Tomato & Pesto Flatbread
- Plain or Everything bagel (ask about same-day dairy if you’re strict)
- Fresh fruit
- Community Snacks kettle chips in Sea Salt and All Mixed Up
- Any espresso or brewed coffee drink with oat, almond, or coconut milk
- Iced teas and the coconut-milk fruit shakers
Skip the chocolate and caramel sauces, the malt, whipped cream, oatmeal, parfaits, and the Honey BBQ chips.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
A few things worth knowing before you order:
- Dairy hides in the sauces. Dark, milk, and white chocolate, pumpkin, and caramel sauces all contain milk, and so does the malt powder.
- Oatmeal, parfaits, and premade sandwiches are made with dairy and can’t be ordered without it.
- There’s no vegan cream cheese, so a dairy-free bagel goes plain or with jam.
- Honey shows up in the Honey BBQ kettle chips, which rules them out for vegans who avoid it.
- Bagel ingredients can vary by supplier, so vegans who want certainty should ask the barista to check the day’s batch.
- Everything is made in a shared space, so cross-contact with dairy is always possible. Tell the staff if your needs are medical, not preference.
Tips for Vegetarians at Caribou Coffee
- Default to plant milk. Oat, almond, and coconut are free, so there’s no reason to pay a dairy tax on a latte.
- Order drinks black or build them yourself. A brewed coffee or Americano is the safest vegan bet on the board.
- Treat bakery items as vegetarian, not vegan. Butter and eggs are standard in them.
- Want hot and vegan? The Just Egg flatbread is the one warm item that fits.
- Read the sauce list. Mochas and caramel drinks look vegan but aren’t.
- Keep the Sea Salt kettle chips in mind. They travel well when nothing else fits.
Conclusion
Caribou Coffee is an easy stop for vegetarians and a workable one for vegans who know the dairy traps. Order your drink with oat, almond, or coconut milk, reach for the Just Egg flatbread when you want real food, and treat the bakery case as vegetarian rather than vegan. For more on ordering out without the meat, see our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants and the full restaurant guides. If you like a coffeehouse run, check what’s vegetarian at Starbucks, Dunkin’, and Panera Bread.
