Looking for Din Tai Fung vegetarian options? Good news: this Taiwanese dumpling chain runs one of the clearest vegan menus in the restaurant business, with dishes labeled right on the menu itself. Din Tai Fung built its name on hand-folded pork soup dumplings, but it also stocks a real vegan lineup: dumplings, buns, wontons, noodles, and a full page of garlic-sautéed vegetables. If you’re wondering what about the vegetarians can eat at every major chain, that’s exactly what this site covers. Here’s what to order at Din Tai Fung, and the few things worth watching for.
A Quick Look at Din Tai Fung
Din Tai Fung started in 1958 in Taipei, Taiwan, as a cooking oil shop. Founder Yang Bing-yi and his wife Lai Penmei sold oil until cheap tinned oil nearly killed the business in the early 1970s. They converted half the storefront into a dumpling counter to survive, and by 1972 it had grown into a full restaurant built around xiaolongbao, the soup dumplings the chain is now famous for worldwide.
The first US location opened in 2000 in Arcadia, California, run directly by the Yang family rather than a franchisee. The chain has since grown to 20 US restaurants across California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and New York, with Albert and Aaron Yang, grandsons of the founder, now running North American operations as co-CEOs. Din Tai Fung’s Hong Kong location has held a Michelin star since 2010.
What makes Din Tai Fung remarkable isn’t its size. It’s the sales. With only 20 US restaurants, the chain posted roughly $412 million in US revenue in 2024, about $27 million per location, the highest average unit volume of any restaurant chain in the country according to industry tracker Technomic. That’s nearly double the next-closest chain and puts a 20-unit dumpling house in the same sales league as chains running thousands of locations.
Din Tai Fung doesn’t advertise much. It doesn’t need to. The lines outside its restaurants regularly run over an hour, driven by word of mouth and a steady stream of social media videos of the dumpling-folding process. The company is leaning into that momentum: new locations are set for Scottsdale, Arizona in 2026 and Topanga in the San Fernando Valley in 2027, with executives telling local press they’re eyeing “every major city” as the chain pushes further into the East Coast and beyond its West Coast roots.
Din Tai Fung Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Din Tai Fung’s official allergen guide labels vegan items directly, so you don’t have to guess. Here’s a look at what’s meatless, straight from that guide and the current US menu.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Vegan Dumplings (bean curd, bok choy, shiitake, wood ear mushroom, jicama) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Vegan Buns | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Vegan Spicy Wontons | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Vegan Wonton Soup | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Vegan Noodles with Sesame Sauce (contains peanuts) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Vegan Noodles with Spicy Sauce | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Vegan Shanghai Rice Cakes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Vegetable & Mushroom Fried Rice | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (contains egg) |
| Vegetable Fried Noodles | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (contains egg) |
| Cucumber Salad / Seaweed & Bean Curd Salad | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Greens: string beans, broccoli, bok choy, spinach, cabbage, or kale with garlic | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Sticky Rice Shao Mai | ⚠️ Check (ask staff, filling not fully disclosed) | ⚠️ Check |
| Sweet Taro or Red Bean Xiao Long Bao / Buns | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Chocolate & Mochi Xiao Long Bao / Chocolate Buns | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (contains milk) |
Vegan Dumplings, Buns, and Wontons
Most chains bolt a single veggie option onto a meat-heavy menu. Din Tai Fung built a real one. The Vegan Dumplings use the same 18-fold technique as the famous pork xiao long bao, but the filling swaps in bean curd, baby bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, glass noodles, and jicama for texture. The Vegan Buns use a similar filling wrapped in soft steamed bread instead of a thin dumpling skin.
The Vegan Spicy Wontons and Vegan Wonton Soup use the same house spicy sauce and kombu broth as the regular menu, just without the pork. Both come with garlic and green onion on top, and the wonton soup uses spinach-juice dough for its dumpling wrappers.
Vegetable Sides and Greens
Din Tai Fung runs a full “Greens” section. String beans with garlic, broccoli with garlic, spinach with garlic, Taiwanese cabbage with garlic, and kale with garlic all show up on the menu, plus bok choy with scallion-infused oil. Every one of these is vegan as served. They’re simple. But they’re also the easiest way to round out a meal of dumplings into something that feels like real dinner, not just a plate of appetizers.
For something cold, the Cucumber Salad and Seaweed & Bean Curd Salad are both vegan. They’re a common way locals start a meal here. The Wood Ear Mushrooms in a Vinegar Dressing is a lesser-known vegan pick worth trying too. It’s a chilled, tangy side that plays well against the richer wok dishes.
Vegan Noodles and Rice
The Vegan Noodles with Sesame Sauce use JUST Egg, a mung bean-based egg substitute, mixed into spinach-infused noodles with sesame sauce and peanuts. That’s according to Din Tai Fung’s official menu. If you have a peanut allergy, skip this one. Go for the Vegan Noodles with Spicy Sauce instead, which doesn’t carry that allergen. The Vegan Shanghai Rice Cakes are another solid vegan carb option if you want something heartier than dumplings. And the Tofu Puff & Glass Noodle Soup rounds out the noodle soup side of the menu, for anyone who wants broth with their meal.
Everything in this section comes out of what Din Tai Fung’s own menu calls “From the Wok.” That’s the same stir-fry station behind the chain’s fried rice and noodle dishes for every other table in the room, vegan orders included.
Here’s the one to watch: the Vegetable & Mushroom Fried Rice and Vegetable Fried Noodles both list egg on Din Tai Fung’s official allergen guide, despite the “vegetable” name. They’re fine for lacto-ovo vegetarians but not vegan, so don’t assume “vegetable” means egg-free on this menu.
Vegan Desserts and Drinks
Din Tai Fung’s dessert menu leans vegan more than most restaurants ever do. Red Bean and Sweet Taro Xiao Long Bao apply the chain’s signature folding technique to a sweet filling. Think red bean paste or mashed taro instead of pork. Red Bean Buns, Sweet Taro Buns, and Sesame Buns are all vegan too. The Chocolate and Mochi Xiao Long Bao and the Chocolate Buns are the exceptions, since both contain milk.
On the drink side, boba, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and the iced green and black teas without a milk or cream add-in are all vegan. Milk teas, matcha milk tea, and the sea salt cream teas all contain dairy, so read the drink name carefully before you order if you’re keeping things fully plant-based.
What’s Vegan at Din Tai Fung?
Din Tai Fung’s vegan section is bigger than most full restaurants’ vegetarian sections. It covers dumplings, buns, wontons, wonton soup, two noodle dishes, rice cakes, a full page of garlic greens, two cold salads, and several desserts, including Red Bean and Sweet Taro Xiao Long Bao, Red Bean Buns, Sweet Taro Buns, and Sesame Buns. Taiwan has a large Buddhist population with a long vegetarian tradition, and that shows up in how seriously the chain treats its plant-based menu rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
Din Tai Fung’s kitchen uses shared equipment to store, prepare, and serve food, so the chain can’t guarantee any dish is completely free of a given allergen, even the vegan ones. A few specifics worth knowing before you order:
- Vegetable & Mushroom Fried Rice and Vegetable Fried Noodles both contain egg, so they’re vegetarian but not vegan.
- Vegan Noodles with Sesame Sauce contains peanuts, a common allergen worth flagging even though the dish is vegan.
- Nearly everything on the menu, vegan dishes included, lists soy, sesame, or wheat on the allergen guide, since soy sauce and wheat-based dumpling skins run through most of the kitchen.
- Milk teas and the Chocolate Xiao Long Bao and Chocolate Buns contain dairy, so they’re not vegan even though they’re meatless.
- Honey Lemonade is vegetarian but not vegan, since it contains honey.
- The Sticky Rice Shao Mai isn’t clearly labeled vegetarian or vegan on the public allergen guide. Ask your server before ordering it.
Tips for Vegetarians at Din Tai Fung
- Order straight from the items labeled “Vegan” on the menu. This isn’t a chain where you have to cobble a meal together from side dishes.
- Skip the regular xiao long bao and get the Vegan Dumplings instead. Same folding technique, same experience, no pork.
- Pair a garlic green vegetable side with Vegan Wonton Soup or Vegan Spicy Wontons for a full meal that isn’t just appetizers.
- If you eat egg, the Vegetable & Mushroom Fried Rice is a filling, cheap way to round out the table, just know it isn’t vegan.
- Ask about cross-contact if you’re dealing with a serious allergy. The kitchen shares woks, steamers, and prep space across the whole menu.
- Try the Sweet Taro or Red Bean Xiao Long Bao for dessert. They’re vegan and use the same dumpling craft as the savory version.
- Din Tai Fung doesn’t take reservations at most US locations and the wait can run over an hour. Plan around it, especially on weekends.
Conclusion
Din Tai Fung vegetarian options go well beyond the usual “hold the meat” approach. The chain built a real vegan menu, labeled it clearly, and applies the same craft to it as the dishes it’s famous for. Order from the vegan section, add a garlic vegetable side, and you’ll eat as well as anyone else at the table. For more on eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants, or to browse our full list of restaurant guides, we’ve got you covered. If you like Din Tai Fung’s approach to Asian food, check out what’s vegetarian at P.F. Chang’s, Pei Wei, and Bonchon.
