What’s Vegetarian at Del Taco?

Del Taco vegetarian options are easy to find, and there are more of them than at most fast-food chains. Del Taco is a Mexican fast-food chain, and unlike a burger or fried-chicken spot, it’s built on beans, rice, cheese, and veggies — so there are real meatless mains here, not just sides. This guide covers every vegetarian and vegan pick at Del Taco in 2026, the dairy and egg that hide in the sauces, the discontinued Beyond Meat program a lot of older guides still list, and the smart way to order around all of it for vegetarians and vegans.

A Quick Look at Del Taco

Del Taco opened on September 16, 1964, in Yermo, California, a small town east of Barstow, where Ed Hackbarth and David Jameson launched it as “Casa Del Taco.” Hackbarth had worked for Taco Bell founder Glen Bell before striking out on his own, and the menu leaned on Mexican-American staples — tacos, burritos, beans, and rice. The chain’s headquarters today sits in Lake Forest, California.

Ownership has changed hands recently, so a lot of older articles are out of date. Jack in the Box bought Del Taco in 2022, then sold it to Yadav Enterprises in a deal announced on October 16, 2025, and finalized December 22, 2025. If you read that Jack in the Box owns Del Taco, that’s no longer true — Yadav Enterprises is the current parent. As of 2026 the chain runs roughly 595 restaurants across about 18 states, including California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, and Washington. Because the whole menu is built on beans, rice, and veggies, vegetarians here get genuine mains, not just a side of fries.

Del Taco Vegetarian Options: What to Order

Del Taco Vegetarian and Vegan Options at a Glance

Vegetarian Burritos and Tacos at Del Taco

This is where Del Taco earns its keep for meat-free diners. Unlike most fast-food chains, the burritos and tacos here include real vegetarian mains you can order as-is:

• Bean & Cheese Burrito: Refried beans and cheese in a flour tortilla. Vegetarian as-is. The beans are lard-free and the cheese uses microbial rennet, so this is a clean lacto-vegetarian pick straight off the menu.
• 8 Layer Veggie Burrito: Beans, rice, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, and guac wrapped up. Vegetarian as-is, and it goes fully vegan if you ask for no cheese and no sour cream. One of the most loaded meat-free options on the board.
• Bean Burrito / Bean & Rice Burrito: Order it without cheese and it’s vegan. Add fresh guacamole or avocado and this becomes the most filling fully-vegan main at Del Taco.
• The Del Taco (soft or crunchy): Order it with no meat and you get a vegetarian taco with cheese. Drop the cheese and sour cream, add beans and avocado, and it’s vegan.
• Cheddar Quesadilla: Just cheese and tortilla. Vegetarian as-is, not vegan.
• CrunchTada Tostada: A flat crispy shell layered with beans, cheese, and veggies. Vegetarian as-is, vegan without the cheese.

Vegetarian Sides and Add-Ons at Del Taco

The sides and add-ons round out a meal, and several are vegan with no changes at all:

• Crinkle Cut Fries: One of only two items Del Taco officially labels vegan. The catch is the fryer — the chain’s own site says its restaurants use the same frying oil for items that could contain meat, so the fries are vegan by recipe but not cooked in a dedicated fryer.
• Hashbrown Sticks (5 pc): The other officially labeled vegan item, served at breakfast. Same shared-fryer caveat as the fries.
• Chips & Guacamole: Fresh house-made guacamole with tortilla chips. Fully vegan and the easiest way to add flavor and fat to a bean-and-rice order.
• Pinto / Refried Beans: Confirmed lard-free and vegan — the beans are cooked with seasonings and vegetable oil, no animal fat. They’re the backbone of nearly every meat-free order here.
• Cilantro Lime Rice: Listed vegan, though availability can vary by region. Pair it with beans and guac for a quick build-your-own bowl.
• Bean & Cheese Cup: Vegetarian as-is; vegan if you skip the cheese. A cheap, filling add-on.
• Mini Cinnamon Churros, Caramel Cheesecake Bites, and Shakes: Vegetarian desserts, but all contain dairy, so none are vegan.

Build-Your-Own Vegetarian Bowl or Salad at Del Taco

If nothing on the standard menu fits, building your own order is the move at Del Taco. The Signature Taco Salad works well: ask for no meat, sub in beans, skip the cheese and sour cream, and load up the veggies and guacamole for a vegan salad. One heads-up — the salad shell or bowl is fried, so it carries the same shared-oil caveat as the fries.

You can also assemble a bowl from the parts: beans, cilantro lime rice, lettuce, tomato, pico de gallo, and guacamole. Flour and corn tortillas are both vegan here — made with vegetable shortening, no lard and no dairy — so you can wrap that filling into a burrito or order it open. For heat, the vegan-safe salsas and sauces are green sauce, red sauce, taco sauce, salsa casera, cilantro sauce, pico de gallo, and California chili sauce, plus the Mild, Del Inferno, and Del Scorcho hot sauces.

What’s Vegan at Del Taco?

Vegan ordering at Del Taco is genuinely workable, which sets it apart from most fast food. Only two items carry the chain’s formal vegan label — Crinkle Cut Fries and Hashbrown Sticks — but the bean-and-veggie base opens up a lot more with simple swaps. The best fully-vegan main is the Bean & Rice Burrito with no cheese plus fresh guacamole or avocado. Right behind it: the 8 Layer Veggie Burrito with no cheese and no sour cream, a build-your-own Del Taco or Taco Salad with beans subbed for meat, and a side of fries or hashbrown sticks with chips and guac. The refried beans, pinto beans, guacamole, cilantro lime rice, and both tortillas are all vegan, so the building blocks are there.

The dairy and egg hide in the sauces, and that’s the real trap. The Secret Sauce and Chipotle Sauce both contain egg yolk and buttermilk, so they’re not even vegetarian-clean for egg-free diners — they’re definitely not vegan. Burger Sauce and Ranch Sauce contain milk. Sour cream, shredded and nacho cheese, and queso are obvious dairy. There’s a bigger catch worth knowing: the Grill seasoning contains milk, and stores aren’t instructed to leave it off dairy-free orders, so vegans and the dairy-allergic should ask for a clean grill area or no grill seasoning. One more note — the 2019 Beyond Meat program is gone, so there’s no branded plant-based protein on the menu anymore. Vegans build meals from beans and veggies, not a meat substitute.

Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies

Del Taco publishes an official Allergen Guide PDF and a Vegetarian/Vegan menu filter on deltaco.com. A few notes that matter most to vegetarians and vegans:

• Shared fryer (the big one): Del Taco’s official site states its restaurants use the same frying oil to prepare menu items that could contain meat. So the fries and hashbrown sticks are vegan by recipe but aren’t cooked in a dedicated vegan fryer. Strict vegans should know this, and dairy-free guests should note possible milk cross-contact too.
• Cheese and rennet: Del Taco’s cheese uses microbial rennet, not animal-derived rennet, so cheese items are vegetarian-safe — just not vegan.
• Grill seasoning contains milk: This is an easy one to miss. The grill seasoning has dairy and stores aren’t told to omit it on dairy-free orders. If you’re avoiding milk, ask for no grill seasoning or a clean grill area.
• Egg in sauces: Secret Sauce and Chipotle Sauce both contain egg yolk, and the Breakfast Burrito contains egg. Egg-free diners should skip those.
• General cross-contact: Del Taco’s own disclaimer notes that all vegetarian ingredients may possibly come into contact with meat ingredients. If you need a strict meat-free or allergen-free meal, check the allergen guide and confirm prep with your location.
• Gluten and other allergens: Flour tortillas contain wheat; corn tortillas and the rice-and-bean items are your cleaner picks. For anything critical, the official Allergen Guide PDF on deltaco.com is the tiebreaker.

Tips for Vegetarians at Del Taco

• Order the Bean & Rice Burrito or 8 Layer Veggie Burrito. These are your two strongest vegetarian mains, and both go vegan with simple swaps. Add guac to round it out.
• Say “no meat” on tacos and salads. The Del Taco and the Signature Taco Salad become vegetarian when you drop the meat and sub in beans.
• Skip the Secret Sauce and Chipotle Sauce. Both contain egg and buttermilk. Reach for green sauce, red sauce, salsa casera, or one of the hot sauces instead — those are vegan-safe.
• Ask about the grill seasoning if you’re vegan or dairy-free. It contains milk and isn’t left off by default. Request no grill seasoning or a clean grill area.
• Lean on the beans and guac. The refried and pinto beans are lard-free and vegan, and the guacamole is fresh and fully vegan — together they make almost any order more filling.
• Don’t expect Beyond Meat. The 2019 Beyond Taco line is discontinued. If an older guide sends you in asking for a Beyond Taco or Epic Beyond Burrito, those are gone — order beans instead.
• Confirm at your location. Recipes and availability drift between franchisees, and items like Cilantro Lime Rice aren’t on every regional menu. For anything critical, check Del Taco’s allergen guide and ask the staff.

That’s the full rundown of Del Taco vegetarian options. Bookmark this guide so you always know what to order, and check our other restaurant guides for more meatless picks at Mexican and fast-food chains.

Del Taco vegetarian options: frequently asked questions

Conclusion: Eating Vegetarian at Del Taco

Del Taco is one of the easier fast-food chains for meat-free eaters, because the menu runs on beans, rice, cheese, and veggies instead of treating vegetarians as an afterthought. Stick with the 8 Layer Veggie Burrito, a Bean & Rice Burrito, or a build-your-own taco or salad with beans, add guacamole, and you’ll eat well — just skip the egg-and-dairy sauces, watch the grill seasoning if you’re vegan, and don’t go in expecting Beyond Meat. For more chain-by-chain breakdowns, see our master guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants or browse the full Restaurants archive. If Del Taco isn’t your spot, our guides for Taco Bell and Chipotle cover similar Mexican-fast-food territory.

Eric

Eric Rosenberg is a mostly vegetarian financial writer, speaker, and consultant based in Ventura, California. He is an expert in banking, credit cards, investing, cryptocurrency, insurance, real estate, business finance, and financial fraud and security. His work has appeared in many online publications, including Time, USA Today, Forbes, Business Insider, Nerdwallet, Investopedia, and U.S. News & World Report. Connect with him and learn more at EricRosenberg.com.

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