Looking for Culvers vegetarian options? You’ve got exactly one meatless burger, plus a short list of sides, salads, and frozen custard. The chain leans heavy on dairy and egg, and there’s no vegan entree at all. This guide covers what you can actually order, what to skip, and the cross-contact gotchas worth knowing before you pull up to the window. For more meat-free guides like this one, browse the rest of What’s Vegetarian.
A Quick Look at Culvers
Culver’s started in Sauk City, Wisconsin, where Craig Culver opened the first restaurant on July 18, 1984, alongside his parents George and Ruth and his then-wife Lea. The original concept built its name on two things: ButterBurgers and frozen custard. That Midwestern, dairy-forward identity still defines the menu today, which matters a lot when you’re eating meat-free here.
The business runs as Culver Franchising System, LLC, and the Culver family still holds majority ownership and operational control. In October 2017, they sold a minority stake to Roark Capital Group, an Atlanta private-equity firm, but the family kept the reins. Culver’s crossed 1,000 restaurants in 2025 and now operates more than 1,000 locations across about 26 states, so there’s a decent chance you’ll pass one on a road trip through the Midwest.
Culvers Vegetarian Options: What to Order
The table below sorts the main meat-free picks. A checkmark means yes, an X means no, and the warning sign means it depends or it’s unconfirmed. The vegan column stays conservative. An item only earns a vegan checkmark when the ingredient list backs it up. The fries are a special case: vegan by recipe, but they share a fryer with meat, so they carry a warning even though their own ingredients are clean.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Harvest Veggie Burger | ✅ | ❌ |
| Crinkle Cut Fries | ✅ | ⚠️ |
| Fried Cheese Curds | ✅ | ❌ |
| Onion Rings | ✅ | ❌ |
| Dinner Roll | ✅ | ✅ |
| Side Salad / Garden Fresco Salad | ✅ | ⚠️ |
| Steamed Broccoli (plain) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Mott’s Applesauce | ✅ | ✅ |
| Apple Slices | ✅ | ✅ |
| Frozen Custard (all forms) | ✅ | ❌ |
| Lemon Ice | ✅ | ✅ |
| Pretzel Bites (no cheese sauce) | ✅ | ⚠️ |
The One Meatless Burger: Harvest Veggie Burger
Culver’s sells a single meatless patty, called the Harvest Veggie Burger. It’s vegetarian, but it’s not vegan, and that’s by design. Per Culver’s official Quality Ingredient Guide, the patty is built from vegetables and grains: portabella mushrooms, roasted corn, chickpeas, spinach, roasted red and green bell peppers, barley, and wheatberries. What keeps it off the vegan list is the dairy and egg cooked right in. The ingredient list includes pasteurized milk, cheese culture, and eggs, and the allergen label reads “CONTAINS WHEAT, GLUTEN, MILK, EGGS.”
A couple of things to flag. The patty contains both milk and egg, so it’s a lacto-ovo item, not a dairy-only one. If you skip egg along with meat, this burger isn’t for you. The ingredients also list cheese culture and “Enzymes” without saying whether the rennet is microbial or animal-derived, so strict vegetarians who avoid animal rennet can’t confirm the cheese here. Because the patty already has dairy and egg baked in, it’s off the table for dairy-free and egg-free diners no matter which bun you pick. Recipes change, so check the current allergen guide at your location.
Sides, Curds, and Fries
The sides are where you’ll fill out a meat-free order, and they split cleanly into two groups. The fried sides, cheese curds and onion rings, are vegetarian crowd-pleasers but never vegan, since they’re breaded in wheat and, in the curds’ case, made of cheese. The fresh and plain sides, broccoli, applesauce, apple slices, and the dinner roll, are where vegans actually find something to eat. Here’s how the popular ones break down:
- Crinkle Cut Fries — no animal ingredients in the potato itself. Per Culver’s Quality Ingredient Guide the fries are potatoes, vegetable oil, modified food starch, rice flour, and seasonings, cooked in canola oil with no beef tallow. The catch is the shared fryer, covered below.
- Fried Cheese Curds — a Wisconsin staple, vegetarian, but breaded and dairy-heavy. They’re cheddar cheese curds in a wheat-based batter, so they’re not vegan and they carry milk and wheat allergens.
- Onion Rings — onions battered in bleached wheat flour and corn flour, then fried. Vegetarian, but the wheat batter and shared fryer keep them off the vegan list.
- Steamed Broccoli — order it plain with no butter and it’s vegan. Butter can be added by default at some stores, so specify.
- Dinner Roll — the standout vegan bread. Its label lists only “WHEAT, GLUTEN” with soybean oil, yeast, and high-fructose corn syrup, no butter, milk, or egg. Ask the store not to brush butter on it.
- Mott’s Applesauce and Apple Slices — both vegan and the easiest grab-and-go picks.
Salads and Frozen Custard
The Side Salad and Garden Fresco Salad both start vegetarian-friendly with mixed lettuce greens, cucumbers, and tomatoes. To make either one vegan, drop the chicken, the cheese, and the croutons, since the croutons contain whey. From there you can add craisins, apple slices, strawberries, or red onion. For dressing, Culver’s Vinaigrette, the raspberry vinaigrette, and the French dressings are vegan-friendly (availability varies by location), while you’ll want to skip the Signature Sauce and ranch, which contain egg and dairy.
Frozen custard is the heart of the Culver’s menu, and it’s all dairy. Cones, dishes, sundaes, Concrete Mixers, shakes, and malts are vegetarian but never vegan, since the custard is built on dairy and egg yolk. Most fruit and candy toppings on these desserts are fine for vegetarians, but the custard base itself rules out vegans. There’s no plant-based custard and no oat or soy milk option for it. The one frozen dessert vegans can have is the Lemon Ice, sometimes sold as Lemon Ice Cooler, whose base is sugar, corn syrup, water, and gums with lemonade. It shows up seasonally, so don’t count on it year-round.
What’s Vegan at Culvers?
Vegan options at Culver’s are thin, and it’s fair to set that expectation up front. There’s no vegan entree, no Beyond or Impossible patty, and no plant-based custard. What you can reliably order vegan: crinkle cut fries (with the shared-fryer caveat), the dinner roll, plain steamed broccoli, applesauce, apple slices, a modified side salad, and seasonal Lemon Ice. Pretzel Bites without the cheese sauce are widely listed as accidentally vegan, though the enzyme source isn’t verifiable, so call them “likely vegan.” On drinks, the fountain sodas, root beer, lemonade, apple juice, Powerade, and brewed coffee or tea are all fine.
What to avoid as a vegan: the veggie burger (dairy and egg in the patty), cheese curds, onion rings, all custard and shake drinks, croutons (whey), the Signature Sauce (egg and dairy), and any ranch or cheese sauce. If you’re vegan and want a real meal rather than a snack assembly, Culver’s is a tough stop, and you’re better off treating it as a fries-and-a-side situation.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
The single biggest allergen issue at Culver’s is the shared fryer. The fries are vegan by recipe, but they cook in the same oil as cheese curds, onion rings, chicken tenders, shrimp, and pork tenderloin. That means high cross-contact risk with dairy, egg, fish, and shellfish. If you have a serious allergy or you’re strict about cross-contamination, treat the fries as contaminated rather than clean.
Gluten is another watch point. The veggie burger, cheese curds, onion rings, dinner roll, croutons, and most breaded items all contain wheat and gluten. Naturally gluten-free meat-free picks are limited to things like plain steamed broccoli, applesauce, apple slices, and the salad greens (minus croutons). Because buns, butter brushing, and seasonal items vary by store, your safest move is to pull up Culver’s allergen guide or ask the staff at your specific location before ordering. Recipes and regional offerings change, so what’s listed online isn’t a guarantee at every restaurant.
Tips for Vegetarians at Culvers
- Order the Harvest Veggie Burger only if you eat both dairy and egg, since the patty contains both. Ask whether the cheese rennet is microbial if that matters to you.
- Ask for the dinner roll if you want a vegan bread option, and request it without butter brushed on top.
- Skip the Signature Sauce and any ranch or cheese sauce, since those contain egg and dairy. Stick to ketchup, mustard, marinara, malt vinegar, Frank’s RedHot, or BBQ.
- Build a vegan side salad by dropping the cheese, chicken, and croutons, then loading up on craisins, apple slices, strawberries, and red onion.
- Treat the fries as cross-contaminated if you have a dairy, egg, fish, or shellfish allergy, because they share oil with meat and cheese items.
- Grab applesauce, apple slices, or plain steamed broccoli when you want a side with no surprises.
- Pull up the official allergen guide on your phone or ask the crew before ordering, since buns, butter, and seasonal items vary by location.
Culvers vegetarian options: frequently asked questions
Conclusion
Culver’s gives vegetarians a workable, if short, menu: one cheese-laden veggie burger, fried curds, fries, salads, sides, and all the frozen custard you want. Vegans get a much thinner spread and no real entree, so set expectations before you go and lean on the fries, dinner roll, and modified salad. When in doubt, check the allergen guide and ask your location, since buns and seasonal items shift around. For more on ordering meat-free at chains like this, see our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants and browse all our restaurant guides. You might also like our breakdowns of In-N-Out vegetarian options and Five Guys vegetarian options.
