Boston Market vegetarian options come down to one thing: the side dishes. Boston Market is a rotisserie-chicken chain, so there’s no meatless main course or plant-based entrée on the menu. You can still eat well here by building a plate from sides like mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, creamed spinach, and steamed vegetables. This guide walks through what’s safe, what hides animal ingredients, and how to order. For more meat-free restaurant rundowns, see the rest of What’s Vegetarian.
A Quick Look at Boston Market
Boston Market started in 1985 in Newton, Massachusetts, founded by Northeastern University grads Steven Kolow and Arthur Cores. It opened as “Boston Chicken” and took the “Boston Market” name in 1995. The chain changed hands several times over the decades. McDonald’s Corp. bought it in 2000 for around $173 million, sold it to Sun Capital Partners in 2007, and since 2020 it’s been owned by Engage Brands, LLC, a Rohan Group company controlled by Jignesh “Jay” Pandya.
Here’s the part that matters most before you plan a meal: there are very few Boston Markets left. The chain had roughly 300 locations at the start of 2023 and was down to about 16 by late 2024, after a wave of bankruptcies and 150-plus lawsuits over unpaid wages, rent, and suppliers. An exact 2026 store count is hard to pin down, so the honest framing is “roughly two dozen or fewer.” Most metro areas no longer have one. Call ahead or check the official locator before you drive over, because that tiny footprint shifts fast.
Boston Market Vegetarian Options: What to Order
The table below covers the sides and extras vegetarians eat at Boston Market. Most contain dairy or egg, so they’re vegetarian but not vegan. Items are marked vegan only when third-party guides consistently report them that way, and even then you’ll want to confirm the current recipe and prep at your location.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Mashed potatoes (no gravy) | ✅ | ❌ |
| Macaroni & cheese | ✅ | ❌ |
| Creamed spinach | ✅ | ❌ |
| Sweet potato casserole | ✅ | ❌ |
| Cornbread | ✅ | ❌ |
| Garlic dill new potatoes | ✅ | ❌ |
| Sweet corn | ✅ | ❌ |
| Cilantro lime rice (rice pilaf) | ✅ | ❌ |
| Fresh steamed vegetables (no butter) | ✅ | ⚠️ |
| Steamed broccoli (no butter) | ✅ | ⚠️ |
| Cinnamon apples | ✅ | ✅ |
| Plain garden/side salad | ✅ | ✅ |
| Cranberry walnut relish (seasonal) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Apple pie | ✅ | ⚠️ |
| Caesar side salad / dressing | ❌ | ❌ |
| Fresh vegetable stuffing | ⚠️ | ❌ |
| Gravy (poultry or beef) | ❌ | ❌ |
The Vegetarian Sides Worth Ordering
Sides are the whole game at Boston Market for vegetarians. Order two or three and you’ve got a plate. Just hold the gravy on anything starchy, because both the poultry and beef gravies are meat-based.
- Mashed potatoes — order them without gravy and they’re a solid vegetarian pick. They contain dairy, so they’re not vegan.
- Macaroni & cheese — a fan favorite, made with milk. The pasta is made with egg or egg whites, which matters if you avoid egg.
- Creamed spinach — rich with butter, cheese, and cream. Vegetarian, definitely not vegan.
- Sweet potato casserole — contains milk. Sweet and dessert-like, fine for vegetarians.
- Cornbread — made with egg and milk. Vegetarian, not vegan, and not egg-free.
- Garlic dill new potatoes and sweet corn — these look like plain vegetable sides, but both are tossed in a butter blend that contains whey. So they’re vegetarian but contain dairy.
- Cilantro lime rice — listed on older menus as rice pilaf. It contains milk.
- Fresh steamed vegetables — broccoli, carrots, and zucchini cooked with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Ask for no butter and this is your most vegan-friendly hot side.
- Cinnamon apples — a sweet, warm side that’s both vegetarian and reported vegan.
Salads, Desserts, and Drinks
The house or garden side salad works for vegetarians, but order it plain. The Caesar side salad and Caesar dressing contain anchovy, so skip those entirely. On the dessert side, apple pie, cornbread, and the cookie and cake offerings (like the chocolate chip cookie) are vegetarian, though most contain dairy and egg. The seasonal cranberry walnut relish is a nice vegetarian and vegan add when it’s available around the holidays.
Drinks are easy. Fountain sodas, lemonade, root beer, tea, Dasani water, and Honest Kids apple juice are all fine for vegetarians and vegans. For condiments, zesty barbecue sauce, ketchup, and mustard are plant-based, which helps when you’re dressing up a plate of sides.
Entrées: What’s Off the Menu
There’s no vegetarian entrée at Boston Market, full stop. The menu is built around rotisserie chicken, plus turkey, meatloaf, ham, and ribs. There’s no Beyond or Impossible item, no branded plant-based protein, and no official vegan menu. The chain’s build-your-own bowls and individual meals are designed to pair a meat with a couple of sides, so the meat-free workaround is to order that same format and ask the staff to leave the protein off. Your “main” here is really a combination of sides, or that no-meat bowl built from the options above. If you want an entrée-style meal, double up on mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable.
What’s Vegan at Boston Market?
Vegan eating at Boston Market is possible but narrow, and it’s all by-side-and-substitution. The short list of vegan picks: fresh steamed vegetables and steamed broccoli (request no butter), cinnamon apples, a plain salad with no cheese, croutons, or dressing, and the seasonal cranberry walnut relish. Apple pie is widely reported as vegan, since guides list the crust and filling without dairy or egg, but recipes change, so treat it as “reported vegan, confirm before you order.” For condiments and drinks, zesty barbecue sauce, ketchup, mustard, fountain sodas, lemonade, root beer, tea, water, and Honest Kids apple juice all work.
The big vegan trap is butter. Multiple guides warn that staff go heavy with the butter blend, and that blend contains whey. So the garlic dill potatoes and sweet corn are out for vegans, and steamed vegetables are only reliably vegan if you confirm an olive-oil-only prep. Skip anything creamy or cheesy: mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, creamed spinach, cornbread, mac and cheese, and cilantro lime rice all contain dairy. Your best vegan strategy is a build-your-own bowl of plain steamed vegetables plus a no-butter side, with cinnamon apples or relish on the side.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
If you’re managing an allergy or a stricter diet, confirm everything with the store. I couldn’t reach a live official Boston Market allergen guide for this writeup, so the dairy and egg details here come from third-party guides that cross-agree, plus What’s Vegetarian’s own reporting. Recipes and the tiny remaining store count both shift, which is one more reason to ask before you order.
- Dairy-free: Most hot sides contain dairy, including the butter-blend potatoes and corn. Lean on plain steamed vegetables (no butter), cinnamon apples, and a plain salad.
- Egg-free: The mac and cheese pasta is made with egg or egg whites, cornbread contains egg, and the stuffing contains egg yolk. Avoid these if you’re skipping egg.
- Gluten and cross-contact: There’s no published allergen statement I could verify confirming separation, so don’t assume any item is free of cross-contact. Boston Market is rotisserie and steam-table based rather than a fry house, so a shared-fryer warning likely doesn’t apply, but confirm with staff if it’s a serious concern.
- Lard, gelatin, fish sauce: I found no evidence these are used in the vegetarian sides. Dessert gelatin couldn’t be confirmed either way, so don’t assume desserts are gelatin-free without checking.
Tips for Vegetarians at Boston Market
- Build a plate from sides. With no meatless entrée, two or three sides make your meal. A build-your-own bowl is the most flexible route.
- Always say “no gravy.” Both the poultry and beef gravies are meat-based, so keep them off your mashed potatoes.
- Skip the Caesar salad. The Caesar dressing contains anchovy. Order the plain house or garden salad instead.
- Watch the butter blend. Garlic dill potatoes and sweet corn are tossed in a butter blend with whey. They’re fine for vegetarians but not vegan.
- Ask about egg if it matters. The mac and cheese pasta uses egg or egg whites, and cornbread and stuffing contain egg too.
- Treat the stuffing as a question mark. The “fresh vegetable stuffing” contains egg yolk and whey, and I couldn’t confirm whether it’s cooked with poultry stock. Verify before ordering; it’s not vegan regardless.
- Call ahead. With roughly two dozen or fewer locations left, check the locator and confirm hours and menu before you go.
Boston Market vegetarian options: frequently asked questions
Conclusion
You can eat vegetarian at Boston Market, but plan on a plate of sides rather than a main course. Hold the gravy, skip the Caesar salad, mind the butter blend, and you’ll do fine with mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, steamed vegetables, and cinnamon apples. Vegans have a shorter list, so lean on no-butter steamed vegetables and a plain salad. Just confirm details at your location, since recipes and the small number of stores both change. For more on eating out, see our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants and browse all our restaurant guides. You might also like our rundowns for KFC and Cracker Barrel.
