Looking for Chili’s vegetarian options? Here’s the full list, plus what to skip if you’re avoiding meat or going fully plant-based. Chili’s is a Tex-Mex burger chain at heart, so you won’t find a huge meatless section, but you can still build a real entree around the house Black Bean Patty, a veggie fajita, or a loaded bowl. For more meat-free dining guides across the country, start at What’s Vegetarian.
A Quick Look at Chili’s
Chili’s Grill & Bar opened on March 13, 1975, when founder Larry Lavine converted an old postal station on Greenville Avenue in the Vickery Meadows area of Dallas, Texas, into a burger joint. The brand grew fast, and by 1983 it caught the eye of restaurant veteran Norman E. Brinker, who acquired the chain when it had just 23 locations. That deal eventually gave the company its name today: Brinker International, traded on the NYSE under the ticker EAT.
Brinker has grown the footprint considerably since those early Dallas days. As of September 24, 2025, the company operated 1,630 restaurants across both Chili’s and its sister brand Maggiano’s Little Italy, split between 1,161 company-owned and 469 franchised locations. The vast majority of those are Chili’s, spread across the U.S., 27 other countries, and two U.S. territories, which makes it one of the largest casual-dining chains in America. You’ll find one in most decent-sized towns, so knowing what to order ahead of time saves you from scanning the menu under pressure.
Chili’s Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Here’s the quick reference for Chili’s vegetarian options. The table below marks what’s vegetarian and what’s vegan based on Chili’s own allergen and vegetarian/vegan matrix plus current 2025–2026 dining guides. A checkmark means yes as commonly served, a warning sign means it works only with a modification or carries a shared-fryer caveat, and an X means no. When in doubt, pull up the allergen guide on Chili’s site or ask your server, since recipes shift by region and over time.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Black Bean Patty | ✅ | ✅ |
| Black Bean & Veggie Fajitas | ✅ | ⚠️ (no butter, sour cream, cheese) |
| Oldtimer Burger w/ Black Bean Patty | ✅ | ⚠️ (no cheese, bun no butter) |
| Chipotle Fresh Mex Bowl | ✅ | ⚠️ (no meat/cheese/pesto/ranch) |
| House Side Salad | ✅ | ⚠️ (no cheese/croutons, balsamic) |
| Bottomless Chips & Salsa | ✅ | ⚠️ (shared fryer) |
| Fresh Guacamole & Chips | ✅ | ⚠️ (shared fryer) |
| Fried Pickles | ✅ | ⚠️ (no ranch; shared fryer) |
| Awesome Blossom Petals | ✅ | ❌ |
| Crispy Cheddar Bites | ✅ | ❌ |
| Skillet Queso & Chips | ✅ | ❌ |
| White Spinach Queso & Chips | ✅ | ❌ |
| Black Beans (side) | ✅ | ⚠️ (lard varies; ask) |
| Mexican Rice & Beans | ✅ | ⚠️ (ask about prep) |
| French Fries | ✅ | ⚠️ (shared fryer) |
| Steamed Broccoli | ✅ | ✅ |
| Roasted Asparagus | ✅ | ✅ |
| Sweet Corn on the Cob (no butter) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Roasted Street Corn | ✅ | ❌ (contains dairy) |
| Mandarin Oranges | ✅ | ✅ |
| Avocado Slices (add-on) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Flour & Corn Tortillas | ✅ | ✅ |
Burgers and Sandwiches
The Black Bean Patty is the workhorse here. It’s Chili’s only dedicated meatless protein, a house-made bean-based patty rather than a branded faux-meat like Beyond or Impossible, which Chili’s doesn’t currently carry. You can swap it into the standard burgers, and that’s how most vegetarians and vegans get a full meal.
- Oldtimer Burger — sub the Black Bean Patty for the beef. Vegetarian as-is with cheese; for vegan, drop the cheese and ask for the bun toasted without butter.
- Double Oldtimer — same build with two black bean patties if you want more protein. No cheese for vegan.
- Alex’s Santa Fe Burger (Veggie Santa Fe) — black bean patty version. Skip the cheese and the Santa Fe sauce to keep it vegan, since that sauce contains dairy.
One bun note worth repeating: PETA and World of Vegan both flag that some Chili’s locations toast buns in butter. If you’re vegan, say “no butter on the bun” when you order, every time.
Fajitas, Bowls, and Entrees
Fajitas are your best shot at a sit-down meal that feels like dinner. Order any fajita and substitute the Black Bean Patty, or go straight for the Black Bean & Veggie Fajitas. They come with rice, black beans, tortillas, pico, and salsa. To keep it vegan, ask them to hold the chipotle or garlic butter, the sour cream, and the cheese. One catch: the fajita veggies may be brushed or sprayed with butter at some spots, so godairyfree’s advice is simple, always ask.
The Black Bean & Veggie Fajitas are the closest thing Chili’s offers to a built-for-vegetarians entree, and they’re worth knowing well. The plate arrives sizzling with sauteed onions and bell peppers over the bean patty, and the kit on the side gives you warm tortillas, pico de gallo, salsa, and a scoop of black beans. You assemble it yourself, which is exactly what makes it easy to keep vegan: skip the cheese and sour cream that come on the garnish plate, and you’ve still got a full taco-style meal. Ask for extra pico or guacamole if you want more on each tortilla. The fajitas also reheat well as leftovers, so this is a solid pick if you tend to box half your meal.
The Chipotle Fresh Mex Bowl also works with a few swaps. Order it with no meat, no cheese, no chipotle pesto, and no ranch, then add black beans for substance. That gives you a rice-and-bean bowl with the toppings that are already plant-based. Built that way, it’s rice, black beans, corn, pico, and fresh greens, and you can add avocado or guacamole for healthy fat. It’s also one of the few items where you’re not fighting butter or a shared fryer, which makes it the safest bet for strict vegans who don’t want to interrogate the kitchen.
Worth knowing if you order ahead: Chili’s leans hard on its To-Go and delivery business, and Brinker has invested in digital ordering for years. The upside for you is that the online ordering screen lists modifications clearly, so you can drop cheese, hold butter, and add black beans without explaining yourself to a server during a rush. If a location’s app shows the allergen filter, use it to confirm the Black Bean Patty build before you check out.
Salads, Sides, and Appetizers
For lighter picks, the House Side Salad is vegetarian with cheese and croutons. Make it vegan by dropping both and choosing the Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette, which is a confirmed vegan dressing.
The sides menu is where vegans have the easiest time. Steamed broccoli, roasted asparagus, plain sweet corn on the cob with no butter, mandarin oranges, and avocado slices are all vegan as served. Black beans and Mexican rice and beans are vegetarian, but godairyfree notes black beans are reportedly cooked in lard at some locations, so ask before you assume they’re vegan. On appetizers, the chips and salsa, fresh guacamole, and fried pickles without ranch are all marked vegan on the matrix, but they run through a shared fryer (more on that below). The cheese-forward apps like Skillet Queso and White Spinach Queso are vegetarian but never vegan.
A couple more vegetarian picks are easy to miss. The Triple Dipper lets you build an appetizer plate from individual items, and Fried Mozzarella and Crispy Cheddar Bites are both meat-free (vegetarian, not vegan, since they’re breaded cheese). The Bottomless Tostada Chips and Salsa are the safest shareable app for the whole table, and you can customize most plates to drop any meat. If you’re feeding kids, the kids’ menu has Chili’s vegetarian options too: the Cheese Quesadilla, Macaroni and Cheese, and Cheese Pizza are all meatless, though none are vegan.
What’s Vegan at Chili’s?
Plenty is vegan at Chili’s once you know the swaps. The cleanest vegan picks straight off the matrix are avocado slices, black beans, Mexican rice and beans, roasted asparagus, steamed broccoli, plain sweet corn (no butter), mandarin oranges, and both the flour and all-natural corn tortillas. For a full meal, the customized Oldtimer or Veggie Santa Fe burger with the Black Bean Patty and no cheese, or the bean fajitas without butter and dairy, are your anchors. Vegan sauces include Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette, fresh guacamole, salsa and pico de gallo, House BBQ Sauce, Sweet Chili Zing, and Mango Habanero. To drink, Coca-Cola products, lemonades, teas, coffee, an Arnold Palmer, and water are all fine.
Now the things to order off. Dairy hides in the sautéed and mushroom items, Roasted Street Corn, Nashville Hot sauce, all the ranch sauces, queso, Santa Fe sauce, and the fajita chipotle or garlic butter, so call those out. The Buffalo sauce contains fish per godairyfree, which keeps vegans away from anything buffalo. One more honest flag on the Black Bean Patty itself: current 2025–2026 guides from godairyfree, veggl, World of Vegan, and PETA all report Chili’s reformulated the patty to be dairy- and egg-free, and Chili’s own October 2025 dietitian-compiled index treats it as vegan. An older 2019 allergen PDF still circulating online lists it with milk and egg, which reflects the old recipe. Treat the patty as vegan based on the current guides, but confirm with your server, since formulations vary by region and date.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
The single biggest allergen issue at Chili’s is the shared fryer. Chili’s official matrix marks fried items with a “Cross Contact” flag and states that fried foods should not be eaten by people avoiding animal products or managing allergies, because the fryers are shared. The oil itself is 100% soybean oil, but it’s used for battered chicken and cheese items too. That caveat hits the chips, fries, fried pickles, and Awesome Blossom Petals. If cross-contact is a hard line for you, treat those as off-limits and lean on the steamed, roasted, and fresh sides instead.
Chili’s publishes a full Allergen/Vegetarian/Vegan Matrix using VT for vegetarian and VG for vegan, plus a separate Vegan & Vegetarian Menu Index that an in-house registered dietitian last updated in October 2025, reachable through the FAQ page on chilis.com. If you have specific allergies, pull that up before you go or ask the manager to confirm prep for your dish. Recipes and location practices change, so the allergen guide is the source of truth, not a blog table including this one.
Tips for Vegetarians at Chili’s
- Build around the Black Bean Patty. Sub it into any Oldtimer or Santa Fe burger for a real entree, or order the Black Bean & Veggie Fajitas for a sit-down meal.
- Say “no butter on the bun.” Some locations toast buns in butter, so spell it out if you’re vegan.
- Ask about the fajita veggies. They may be brushed or sprayed with butter. A quick question to your server settles it.
- Skip the shared-fryer items if cross-contact matters. Chips, fries, fried pickles, and blossom petals all share a fryer with chicken and cheese.
- Check the black beans for lard. They’re reportedly cooked in lard at some spots, so confirm before counting them as vegan.
- Choose Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette on salads and use guacamole, salsa, or House BBQ Sauce as vegan-safe toppings.
- Avoid the dairy traps: Roasted Street Corn, queso, ranch, Santa Fe sauce, and Nashville Hot all contain dairy, and Buffalo sauce contains fish.
Chili’s vegetarian options: frequently asked questions
Conclusion
Chili’s vegetarian options won’t overwhelm you, but you can absolutely eat well there. Anchor your meal with the Black Bean Patty in a burger or order the bean fajitas, round it out with vegan-friendly sides, and call out the butter, cheese, and shared-fryer details when you order. Vegetarians have it easy; vegans just need to ask a few questions and pull up the allergen guide first. For more on ordering meat-free when you’re out, see our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants and browse all our restaurant guides. If you’re in the mood for similar Tex-Mex or casual spots, check out our rundowns on Chipotle vegetarian options and Taco Bell vegetarian options.
