Looking for Bonchon vegetarian options? The short answer: a tofu bibimbap bowl, vegetable potstickers, a Signature Sesame Salad without a meat add-on, and a mozzarella corn dog. Bonchon built its menu around Korean fried chicken, with wings, drumsticks, and strips in soy garlic, spicy, or Korean BBQ flavor. That’s the kind of chain where the vegetarian question matters, and the answer takes a little navigating. Here’s the menu, the dishes that look meatless but aren’t, and what to order instead.
A Quick Look at Bonchon
Bonchon started in 2002 in Busan, South Korea, founded by Jinduk Seo. The chain made its name on double-fried spicy chicken wings and drumsticks brushed with sauce after cooking instead of before, a technique from Korean cuisine that keeps the skin crisp longer than typical American-style fried chicken. The soy garlic and spicy flavors became the two most popular choices, and the chain still leads with those today. Bonchon opened its first US restaurant in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and has kept growing. By September 2026 it had more than 150 US restaurants and about 500 worldwide across nine countries, Fast Casual reported.
Ownership has shifted along the way. Seoul-based private equity firm VIG Partners bought a 55 percent majority stake in December 2018, with the founding family keeping the rest. Bonchon moved its headquarters to Dallas, Texas, in 2021, and Suzie Tsai runs the US business as CEO. In August 2026, VIG Partners and the Seo family agreed to sell the chain to two buyers, and the deal closed that September. Serruya Private Equity now owns Bonchon in the Americas, and Minor Food owns it everywhere else.
Bonchon Vegetarian Options: What to Order
I checked every dish below against Bonchon’s online menu on October 26, 2026, and against its nutritional information page. Items may vary by location. Every crispy chicken order comes in one of five flavors: Soy Garlic, Spicy, Korean BBQ, Yangnyeom, or Classic Crunch. The flavor doesn’t change the vegetarian math, since the chicken is the issue, not the sauce. The table lists Bonchon vegetarian options by dish, with the vegan answer next to each.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Bibimbap (Tofu) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (scrambled egg) |
| House Fried Rice (Plain) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (eggs) |
| Potstickers (Vegetable) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (wrapper ingredients not published) |
| Mopo Corn Dog (mozzarella, not a hot dog) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (mozzarella) |
| Udon Noodle Soup (Plain) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (broth recipe not published) |
| Signature Sesame Salad (no protein add-on) | ⚠️ Check (stir-fried kimchi) | ❌ No (mozzarella) |
| Japchae (glass noodles) | ❌ No (comes with bulgogi) | ❌ No |
| Tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) | ❌ No (fish cakes) | ❌ No |
| Sotteok (rice cake skewer) | ❌ No (sausage) | ❌ No |
| Kimchi | ⚠️ Check (traditional recipes can use fish sauce) | ⚠️ Check |
| Edamame | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Steamed Rice | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Pickled Radish | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Fries (plain) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (ask about the fryer) |
| Sweet Potato Waffle Fries | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (ingredients not published) |
| Korean Cucumber Salad (cucumbers, onions, scallions, chili powder) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Seasoned Fries and Seasoned Fried Zucchini (garlic, parmesan, parsley) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (parmesan) |
| Fried Zucchini (plain) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (batter ingredients not published) |
| Onion Rings | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (batter ingredients not published) |
| Coleslaw | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (creamy dressing) |
| Korean Street Corn (Kewpie mayo, mozzarella) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Korean Donuts (sugar-cinnamon, sweet cream dip) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (cream dip) |
Rice, Noodles, and Bowls
The tofu bibimbap is the most filling vegetarian main on the menu. Bonchon lists the base as steamed rice, scrambled egg, lettuce, spinach, sautéed carrots, onions, and mushrooms, with a bibimbap sauce you mix in yourself. Choose the tofu version instead of the chicken or bulgogi. The scrambled egg is part of the base, so vegans should skip it.
Plain house fried rice is a second vegetarian main. Bonchon lists fried rice, eggs, red bell pepper, and onions with soy garlic sauce and sesame seeds, so the eggs rule it out for vegans. Order the plain version, not the chicken, bulgogi, or kimchi pork belly. Udon Noodle Soup comes Plain, with Fried Egg, or with Bulgogi, and the plain bowl is wheat noodles in a broth with mushrooms and scallions. Bonchon doesn’t name the broth base, so ask if that matters to you.
Three dishes look safer than they are. Japchae, the stir-fried glass noodle dish, comes with bulgogi at Bonchon. Other Korean restaurants often serve it meatless. Tteokbokki lists rice cakes, fish cakes, scallions, onions, mozzarella, and vegetable potstickers, so the fish cakes rule it out. Sotteok is a skewer of sausage and rice cake with Yangnyeom sauce. The rice cake is the only part that sounds meatless. Skip all three unless your location confirms a swap.
Starters and Fried Sides
Vegetable potstickers are the best appetizer for vegetarians. Bonchon sells potstickers as Pork or Vegetable and brushes them with soy garlic or spicy sauce. Bonchon doesn’t say whether they share a fryer with the chicken, so ask if that matters to you. The Mopo Corn Dog is worth calling out by name because it sounds like it has meat and doesn’t. Bonchon describes it as a mozzarella corn dog with crispy potato cubes, a choice of signature sauce or sugar-cinnamon coating, and a dipping sauce. It works as a shareable starter.
Plain fries get only a light salting. Seasoned fries add garlic, parmesan, and parsley, which makes them vegetarian but not vegan. Onion rings, plain fried zucchini, and seasoned fried zucchini are vegetarian too, but Bonchon doesn’t list the batter ingredients. Korean street corn is vegetarian: grilled corn with Kewpie mayo, mozzarella, Korean red chili flakes, and scallions. It pairs well with the salad.
Salads You Can Order Meatless
The Signature Sesame Salad is romaine, stir-fried kimchi, carrots, cabbage, red bell pepper, scallions, mozzarella, and sesame dressing. It has no meat as listed, so it works for vegetarians, as long as the kimchi doesn’t bother you. Cooks often make kimchi with fish sauce, and Bonchon doesn’t say which recipe it uses. The mozzarella keeps it from being vegan. Order it without a chicken, bulgogi, or salmon add-on. Bonchon’s July 2026 nutrition chart also lists a Sesame Ginger Salad, but the online menu no longer shows one. Ask your store before you count on it, and don’t assume it’s vegan.
Side Dishes
Edamame (steamed soybeans with salt), steamed white rice, and pickled radish (daikon in a sweet, sour brine) need no substitutions, and none lists an animal ingredient. Korean Cucumber Salad is sliced cucumbers, onions, scallions, and Korean red chili powder, so it’s vegan as Bonchon lists it. Coleslaw is cabbage and carrots in a creamy dressing, and Bonchon doesn’t name what’s in the dressing, so vegans should ask. Kimchi is the one side worth a second look. It’s fermented napa cabbage, and traditional recipes often use fish sauce or shrimp paste. Bonchon hasn’t published the recipe it uses in its US restaurants. If avoiding fish sauce matters to you, ask your local restaurant before you order it.
Desserts
Korean Donuts are the only dessert on the menu. Bonchon describes a donut coated in sugar-cinnamon and served with a sweet cream dipping sauce. The cream makes them not vegan, and there’s no meat in the description, so they’re fine for vegetarians.
What’s Vegan at Bonchon?
Bonchon doesn’t have a dedicated vegan menu and has no plant-based chicken or bulgogi substitute. The clearest vegan dishes are edamame, steamed rice, pickled radish, Korean Cucumber Salad, and plain fries. That plate is small but filling. Skip the bibimbap and the house fried rice, since both have egg. The vegetable potstickers are a grey area for vegans because of the shared fryer and the unpublished wrapper ingredients. Check the kimchi too, since even simple Korean side dishes can carry hidden fish or shrimp paste.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
Fried chicken is the whole point of the menu, and Bonchon doesn’t publish whether the vegetable potstickers, fries, onion rings, or zucchini share a fryer with it. If cross-contact with meat is a hard limit, call ahead and ask your store. Eggs show up in the bibimbap (scrambled), the fried rice, and the Kewpie mayo on the street corn. Dairy shows up in the Signature Sesame Salad, the Mopo Corn Dog, and the street corn (all mozzarella), plus the parmesan on seasoned fries. Soy is a base ingredient in most signature sauces, and sesame appears across the menu. Tell staff about soy, garlic, or sesame if you manage an allergy.
Tips for Vegetarians at Bonchon
- Order the tofu bibimbap if you want a filling standalone meal. It’s rice, scrambled egg, lettuce, spinach, carrots, onions, and mushrooms with tofu. Vegans should skip the egg.
- Order the Signature Sesame Salad with no meat add-on, and ask about the kimchi if fish sauce matters to you.
- Skip the japchae unless your location can leave out the bulgogi.
- Skip the tteokbokki. The fish cakes are part of the dish.
- Skip the Sotteok. It’s a sausage skewer with rice cakes.
- If you’re vegan, ask whether the fryer used for potstickers and fries also cooks chicken. Bonchon doesn’t publish the answer.
- Build a vegan plate from edamame, steamed rice, pickled radish, and plain fries.
- Call ahead if you want to confirm what’s in the kimchi at your specific store.
Conclusion
Bonchon vegetarian options exist, but they take some navigating on a menu built around fried chicken. If you want a complete meal, the tofu bibimbap is the closest thing, with vegetable potstickers, the Mopo Corn Dog, and edamame, steamed rice, or pickled radish alongside. Skip the japchae, tteokbokki, and Sotteok unless your location confirms a meat-free version. For more on eating meatless at restaurants generally, see our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants. Browse the full restaurant guide library for more chains, or check out what’s vegetarian at Panda Express, Pei Wei, and Wingstop for other Asian-inspired and fried-chicken-focused chains.
