Looking for Dickey’s Barbecue Pit vegetarian options? The honest answer is that you can eat here, but you’ll be building a plate from the sides menu, not the smoker. Dickey’s is built around slow-smoked brisket, pulled pork, ham, turkey, and sausage, so the vegetarian short list comes down to a handful of sides, a build-your-own salad, and dessert. This guide covers exactly what to order, what to skip, and the one recipe question you should always ask before you sit down. If you’re wondering what about the vegetarians at any chain, that’s exactly what our homepage is built to answer.
A Quick Look at Dickey’s Barbecue Pit
Travis Dickey opened the first Dickey’s in 1941 behind a bar in Dallas, Texas, using money he’d saved while serving in World War I. His wife, known to regulars as “Miss Ollie,” ran the counter while Travis worked the pit out back. The early menu was simple: beef brisket, pit hams, a pot of barbecue beans, potato chips, and something cold to drink.
Travis’s sons, Roland Dickey Sr. and T.D. Dickey, took over the business in 1967, and the company didn’t start franchising until 1994. Growth took off from there. Roland Dickey Jr. ran Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. as it expanded from around 20 locations to more than 570 at its peak, then moved up to lead the parent company, Dickey’s Capital Group. Laura Rea Dickey now runs Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. day to day. The company says it’s family-owned with no private equity or outside investor stake.
The chain has pulled back some from that peak. Franchisees closed a wave of underperforming locations in 2024. By the end of that year, Dickey’s US system sales stood at $263.8 million, down 18% from $322 million the year before, according to Technomic data reported by Nation’s Restaurant News. That put the average location’s yearly sales around $620,000, down from $675,000. Location counts vary by source and month. Some 2024 figures list 385 to 386 US units, while a 2025 company release points toward 400-plus after a fresh round of openings. The ownership structure hasn’t changed either way. It’s still a Dickey family business.
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Skip the smoker and build your plate from the sides. Here’s how the Dickey’s Barbecue Pit vegetarian options break down at a glance, so you know what to order and what to ask about first.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Baked Beans, Barbecue Beans, Jalapeno Beans | ⚠️ Check (bacon/pork content not disclosed) | ⚠️ Check |
| Green Beans (plain) | ⚠️ Check (likely bacon-free, unconfirmed) | ⚠️ Check |
| Bacon and Onion Green Beans | ❌ No (bacon) | ❌ No |
| Mac and Cheese | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (milk, egg) |
| Baked Potato Casserole | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (milk) |
| Creamed Spinach (Asiago Cheese) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (milk) |
| Texas Sweet Corn | ✅ Yes (made with butter) | ❌ No |
| Fried Okra / Onion Tanglers | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (milk batter) |
| Coleslaw (Cole Slaw) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (egg-based dressing, no dairy) |
| Potato Salad | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (egg-based, no dairy) |
| Hand Cut Fries | ✅ Yes (no allergens listed) | ⚠️ Check (fryer oil, shared fryer unconfirmed) |
| BBQ Sauces (Original, Sweet, Spicy, Carolina, Texas Hot, Buffalo) | ✅ Yes (no fish allergen disclosed) | ✅ Yes (no honey disclosed) |
| Desserts (Pecan Pie, Chocolate Chunk Cookie, Blondie Brownie, Ice Cream) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (egg, milk) |
Beans and Greens: The One Thing to Ask About
Three separate bean sides show up on the menu: Baked Beans, Barbecue Beans, and Jalapeno Beans, plus a plain Green Beans side listed apart from the “Bacon and Onion Green Beans” version. Splitting them out this way is a decent sign the plain green beans skip the bacon. The official allergen guide only tracks standard allergens like milk, egg, wheat, and soy, not meat. So it can’t confirm whether any of the four bean and green sides are cooked with bacon, ham hock, or pork fat. Southern barbecue joints commonly cook beans this way, and it’s exactly the kind of detail an allergen chart won’t catch. Confirm with your local Dickey’s before you order beans, rather than assuming they’re meat-free just because nothing showed up on the allergen sheet.
Cheesy, Creamy Sides
This is where real vegetarian options show up. Baked Potato Casserole, Creamed Spinach with Asiago cheese, Mac and Cheese, and Texas Sweet Corn (made with butter) are all meat-free and dairy-based, so they’re vegetarian but not vegan. Fried Okra and Onion Tanglers are both breaded in a milk-based batter, also vegetarian, not vegan. One franchisee mentioned publicly that Hand Cut Fries run through a dedicated fryer while okra and onion tanglers share one. Treat that as a starting point for a question to your server, since it’s a single location’s comment, not an official Dickey’s policy that applies everywhere.
Salads, Slaw, and Potato Salad
Both Coleslaw and Potato Salad use an egg-based dressing with no dairy listed, so they’re vegetarian and, unusually for a mayo-based side, also vegan. A build-your-own salad may be available depending on your location. Order it without any meat, and double-check any dressing before it goes on, since recipes and availability can vary by franchise.
Desserts and Drinks
Pecan Pie, Chocolate Chunk Cookie, Blondie Brownie, Caramel Crunch Brownie, and Ice Cream are all vegetarian, built on egg and dairy. Two carry extra allergy flags worth knowing: Caramel Crunch Brownie contains peanuts, and Pecan Pie contains tree nuts. None of the desserts are vegan. Some customers mention a banana pudding or a seasonal cobbler. Neither appears in Dickey’s current official allergen documentation, so treat those as possibly regional, seasonal, or discontinued rather than assuming they’re on the menu at your location. Fountain soda, iced tea, and most standard drinks on the beverage side are vegan.
What’s Vegan at Dickey’s Barbecue Pit?
Vegan is thin at Dickey’s, and it’s worth saying so plainly instead of stretching the truth. Both Coleslaw and Potato Salad are vegan thanks to their egg-based, dairy-free dressings. Hand Cut Fries are vegan by ingredient, since no allergens are listed on the official chart. The fryer oil type and whether that fryer is shared with breaded or meat items aren’t disclosed anywhere, though, so call it a likely option rather than a confirmed one. No dairy, egg, fish, or honey shows up on the official ingredient information for the BBQ sauces, a genuinely good sign for a barbecue sauce. Beyond that, you’re looking at fountain drinks and tea. There’s no confirmed dedicated vegan entree or plate.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
- Bacon and pork fat in beans: not tracked as an allergen, so the official chart can’t confirm or rule it out. Check with the counter staff.
- Dairy: in Mac and Cheese, Baked Potato Casserole, Creamed Spinach, Texas Sweet Corn, Fried Okra, and Onion Tanglers.
- Egg: in Coleslaw and Potato Salad dressings, and in most desserts.
- Tree nuts and peanuts: Pecan Pie contains tree nuts, Caramel Crunch Brownie contains peanuts.
- Wheat and gluten: in Mac and Cheese, Fried Okra, Onion Tanglers, and Creamed Spinach.
- Cheese rennet and gelatin: Dickey’s hasn’t published whether its cheeses use animal or microbial rennet, or whether any dessert contains gelatin. Ask if that matters to you.
- Shared smoker and fryer surfaces: sides are prepared in a kitchen built around smoked meat, so cross-contact is possible even on items with no meat in the recipe.
Tips for Vegetarians at Dickey’s Barbecue Pit
- Ask about the beans before you order. Bacon and pork fat aren’t tracked on the allergen chart, so the only reliable answer comes from your local location.
- Build a full plate from sides: Mac and Cheese, Baked Potato Casserole, Creamed Spinach, Texas Sweet Corn, and Coleslaw or Potato Salad make a real meal without a single meat item.
- Choose plain Green Beans over the Bacon and Onion version, and still confirm it’s meat-free at your location.
- Order Hand Cut Fries if you want the closest thing to a vegan side, but ask whether they’re fried separately from breaded or meat items.
- Skip dessert if you’re strictly vegan. Every dessert on the current menu uses egg or dairy.
- Don’t assume a banana pudding or cobbler is available. Neither shows up in Dickey’s current official menu documentation.
- Call ahead if you’re catering a vegetarian group. Dickey’s is built for large orders, and a quick call lets the location confirm what’s actually meat-free that day.
Conclusion
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit vegetarian options exist, but they live entirely on the sides menu. The one honest gap is the beans, since bacon and pork fat aren’t something the official allergen chart tracks. Build your plate from Mac and Cheese, Baked Potato Casserole, Creamed Spinach, Texas Sweet Corn, and a Coleslaw or Potato Salad. Ask about the beans before you order them, and you can eat well here without touching the smoker. For more on eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants generally, or to browse every restaurant guide on the site, we’ve got you covered. Craving more Southern comfort food? Check out our guides to Golden Corral and Cracker Barrel, or see how another barbecue chain compares in our Famous Dave’s guide.
