Looking for Buffalo Wild Wings vegetarian options? You can eat here without meat, but the list is short. There’s one big catch you need to know first. BWW is a wings-and-sports-bar chain built around chicken. It has exactly one real meatless entrée, plus a few sides and customizable picks. The dealbreaker hiding behind almost everything fried: the restaurant cooks in beef tallow. For more meat-free restaurant guides like this one, check out What’s Vegetarian.
A Quick Look at Buffalo Wild Wings
Buffalo Wild Wings opened its first location on November 8, 1982, in Columbus, Ohio, near the Ohio State University campus. Founders Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery had met in Kent, Ohio. They couldn’t find Buffalo-style wings anywhere nearby, so they made their own. They first called it “Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck” — you’ll still see the old BW3 nickname. The “Weck” nods to the Buffalo beef-on-weck sandwich.
Today the chain runs more than 1,300 locations across all 50 states, a figure cited as of 2025. It’s owned by Inspire Brands, the Sandy Springs, Georgia company formed in February 2018. Private-equity firm Roark Capital backs it. Inspire also owns Arby’s, Sonic, Dunkin’, Baskin-Robbins, and Jimmy John’s, so BWW sits inside a big portfolio. None of that changes the core menu, though. It’s still all about chicken wings.
Buffalo Wild Wings Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Here’s the conservative rundown of the menu items that work. The table marks an item vegan only when cross-checked guides confirm no meat, dairy, or egg. It treats anything cooked in the shared fryer as off-limits because of the beef tallow. When a column shows a warning, that means “ask your location or check the allergen guide first.”
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Southwestern Black Bean Burger (no fried side) | ✅ | ⚠️ (order no cheese, no ranch) |
| Garden Side Salad (no croutons) | ✅ | ⚠️ (no cheese, vegan dressing) |
| Carrots & Celery Sticks | ✅ | ✅ (skip ranch/bleu cheese dip) |
| Guacamole / Salsa / Pico de Gallo | ✅ | ✅ (chips are fried in beef tallow) |
| Mandarin Oranges | ✅ | ✅ |
| White Rice (select locations) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Everything Pretzel Knots | ✅ | ❌ (likely contains egg) |
| Cauliflower Wings, baked not fried | ⚠️ (verify locally) | ⚠️ (baked + no ranch only) |
| French Fries / Tots / Wedges | ❌ (beef tallow fryer) | ❌ |
| Tortilla Chips / Fried Pickles | ❌ (beef tallow fryer) | ❌ |
| Cauliflower Wings (default, fried) | ❌ (beef tallow fryer) | ❌ |
| Caesar Salad / Caesar Dressing | ❌ (contains anchovy) | ❌ |
The Beef Tallow Fryer: The Catch That Changes Everything
This is the single most important thing to understand before you order. BWW’s official Allergen & Preparation Guide states plainly that “beef tallow is used to fry products.” Some guides call it beef shortening, which is the same thing. That covers French fries, tots, potato wedges, tortilla chips, fried pickles, and the standard fried cauliflower wings. They all cook in rendered beef fat, which is an animal product. The food itself might be plant-based, but it comes out of the fryer no longer vegetarian.
The same guide confirms BWW uses shared fryers, so there’s also potential cross-contamination between fried foods. It notes that bone-in, boneless, and cauliflower wings are “fried then sauced or seasoned in the same bowls.” That means the saucing bowls touch chicken too. One more thing worth knowing: some sites list fries and tots as “dairy-free vegan,” but those guides only track dairy. Beef tallow has no milk, so it’s technically dairy-free while being very much not vegetarian. For this site, treat every fried item as off the table.
The Black Bean Burger and Other Real Picks
The Southwestern Black Bean Burger is the one genuine vegetarian entrée on the menu, and your only real main dish. It’s your best bet by a wide margin. It’s a black bean patty served on a bun with toppings like lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and guacamole. (Guides cite a Morningstar-style patty, but that brand detail is third-party-sourced, not confirmed by BWW.) As built with cheese, it’s vegetarian. Just swap the fries for a non-fried side so you don’t undo it all.
Beyond the burger, your reliable choices are sides and add-ons. Carrot and celery sticks, guacamole, salsa, and pico de gallo are all fine. So are mandarin oranges, plus white rice if your location carries it (it’s a select-location item). A few guides suggest the grilled chicken wrap with no chicken and no cheese, loaded with extra veggies. That works if you don’t mind building your own. The garden side salad rounds things out, as long as you skip the croutons, which some sources flag for sourcing.
Sauces and Dry Rubs: What’s Safe
BWW’s sauce lineup is huge. The dairy and egg splits below come from cross-checked third-party guides, since the official PDF marks allergens in a grid that doesn’t extract cleanly. Use these on your black bean burger or baked cauliflower, not on chicken wings. Vegan-friendly sauces include Asian Zing, Blazin’ Knockout, Caribbean Jerk, Golden Fire, Jammin’ Jalapeño, Mango Habanero, Nashville Hot, Sweet BBQ, Teriyaki, Wild, and Hot. On the dry-rub seasoning side, Chipotle BBQ, Desert Heat, Lemon Pepper Dry Rub, Salt & Vinegar, and Buffalo Dry Rub are clean.
Now the ones to avoid. The classic Original Buffalo, Parmesan Garlic, Thai Curry, and Lemon Pepper sauce all contain milk. So do the Ranch, Bleu Cheese, and Southwestern Ranch dressings. Medium, Mild, Spicy Garlic, B-Dubs sauce, and Honey Mustard are flagged as containing egg, so they’re vegetarian but not vegan. Anything with “honey” in the name (Honey BBQ, Honey Garlic) isn’t vegan either. And the big one for vegetarians: Caesar Dressing contains anchovy, confirmed directly in the official guide. Skip all Caesar salads and dressings entirely.
What’s Vegan at Buffalo Wild Wings?
Vegan options at Buffalo Wild Wings are thin, but they exist. Your best vegan order is the Southwestern Black Bean Burger with no cheese and no ranch. Multiple guides note the patty and bun were reformulated in 2021. They no longer list egg or dairy in the allergen guide, which makes this the standout vegan pick. Pair it with a non-fried side, since the fries are out. A garden side salad works too: no cheese, no croutons, and a vegan dressing. White Wine Vinaigrette and Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette are both listed dairy-free, though availability varies.
Want something closer to actual wings? Ask for Asian Zing cauliflower wings baked instead of fried, with no ranch. This only works at locations willing to bake them, and it takes around 20 minutes, so call ahead. The default cauliflower wing is deep-fried in beef tallow, so the baked request isn’t optional — it’s the whole point. Round out a vegan meal with carrot and celery sticks (skip the dairy dips), guacamole, salsa, pico, mandarin oranges, and white rice where available. For drinks, fountain sodas and other soft drinks, lemonade, coffee, tea, and water are all vegan.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
BWW is upfront that it makes no health claims about its menu. The official Allergen & Preparation Guide states that “no items are certified gluten-free, vegetarian or vegan.” Anyone with a strict requirement or a serious allergy should read that guide, check the ingredients and nutrition information, and talk to staff before ordering. If you’re gluten-free, the shared-fryer problem hits you too. The guide warns that shared fryers create “the potential for allergen and gluten cross-contact between fried foods,” so there’s a real cross-contamination risk.
A few ingredient notes stay genuinely uncertain, so I’d verify them in person. The rennet source for BWW’s cheeses isn’t specified in company materials. Strict vegetarians who avoid animal rennet should check locally. Guides list the black bean burger bun as free of milk and egg. Still, at least one dietitian recommends confirming the bun with your server, since it can vary by location. And whether the Thai Curry sauce contains any fish sauce isn’t confirmed either way in the sources reviewed. Treat that as unverified rather than safe. When in doubt, ask for the current allergen sheet at the restaurant.
Tips for Vegetarians at Buffalo Wild Wings
- Lead with the black bean burger. It’s the only real entrée, so order it with a non-fried side for a full meal.
- Never order the fries, tots, wedges, chips, or fried pickles. They all cook in beef tallow, even though they look meat-free.
- Ask for cauliflower wings baked, not fried. Call ahead, since not every location will do it and it adds about 20 minutes.
- Skip anything Caesar. The dressing contains anchovy, which the official guide confirms in print.
- For vegan ordering, say “no cheese, no ranch” on the burger. Pick a vinaigrette dressing on the salad instead of a creamy one.
- Use the dairy- and egg-free sauces (Asian Zing, Teriyaki, Sweet BBQ, the dry rubs) on your burger or baked cauliflower, never on chicken wings.
- Treat the Everything Pretzel Knots as vegetarian but likely egg-containing. Ask for the current allergen sheet if vegan status matters to you.
Buffalo Wild Wings vegetarian options: frequently asked questions
Conclusion
You can eat vegetarian at Buffalo Wild Wings, but you have to order around the beef tallow fryer. That one fact shrinks the menu fast. Build your meal around the Southwestern Black Bean Burger, lean on the veggie sticks and fresh dips, and steer clear of anything fried or Caesar. Vegans can do well with the burger ordered plain plus baked cauliflower at the right location. When something’s unclear, ask for the current allergen sheet, since BWW certifies nothing as vegetarian or vegan.
Want more help navigating menus like this? Start with our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants, then browse all our restaurant guides for chain-by-chain breakdowns. If you’re in a wings-and-bar mood, you might also like our takes on Hooters and Applebee’s.
