Looking for Freddy’s vegetarian options? Your best bets are the black bean veggie burger, Freddy’s fries, fried cheese curds, and a vanilla custard concrete for dessert. Freddy’s is built around steakburgers and Vienna Beef hot dogs, so the meatless list is short. But it still covers a full meal plus one of the better frozen custard menus in fast food. Below you’ll find what’s safe to order, what to skip, and what to ask the staff. New to the site? We built it to answer one question at every all-meat menu: what about the vegetarians?
A Quick Look at Freddy’s
Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers opened on August 26, 2002 in Wichita, Kansas. Bill Simon, Randy Simon, and Scott Redler started it and named it after Bill and Randy’s father, Freddy Simon, a World War II veteran. The look is 1950s diner: thin steakburgers smashed on the griddle, shoestring fries, and frozen custard churned fresh.
The chain grew fast through franchising. Thompson Street Capital Partners bought it in 2021, and the Rhône Group closed its purchase in September 2025. At that point Freddy’s had 560 restaurants across 37 states, and Wikipedia puts system-wide sales near $925 million as of September 2024. So there’s probably one near you, but Freddy’s says recipes can vary by region, which matters for a couple of items below.
Freddy’s Vegetarian Options: What to Order
The short answer on Freddy’s vegetarian options: one real meatless entree, a handful of fried and fresh sides, and a long dessert list. Freddy’s lists a black bean veggie burger you can build into a full sandwich, and the frozen custard counter is almost entirely lacto-ovo vegetarian. The table below is conservative. When an item is fried in shared oil or its recipe varies by location, we mark it ⚠️ Check so you can confirm before you order.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Veggie Burger (black bean patty) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (Freddy’s chart lists egg in the patty) |
| Freddy’s Fries | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (same fryer as chicken strips and onion rings) |
| Freddy’s Tots | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (shared fryer) |
| Fried Cheese Curds | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
| Cheese Fries | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
| Onion Rings | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (contain milk/whey) |
| Freddy’s Kettle Cooked Potato Chips | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (no milk or egg listed) |
| Veggie Burger Bowl (no bun) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (patty contains egg) |
| Applesauce | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Vanilla / Chocolate Frozen Custard | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (egg, milk) |
| Concretes, Sundaes, Shakes & Malts | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy, check candy mix-ins) |
| Chili Cheese Fries | ❌ No (beef chili) | ❌ No |
| Steakburgers, Hot Dogs, Chicken | ❌ No (meat) | ❌ No |
| Pepsi drinks, MUG Root Beer, Luzianne Iced Tea, Pink Lemonade | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Freddy’s Bevies (custard cream sodas) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (custard) |
The Veggie Burger and Sandwiches
The black bean veggie burger is the one true entree for vegetarians at Freddy’s. It comes on a bun with cheese, Thousand Island dressing, onion, lettuce, and tomato. Freddy’s lets you make any sandwich a lettuce wrap, which is the easiest change to the order. Prefer a fork? The Veggie Burger Bowl serves the same patty without the bun. For the bowl, the Honey Mustard dressing lists no egg or milk, while the Buttermilk Ranch dressing has both. Make it a combo with fries and a drink. Add Swiss or jalapeños if you like, or skip the cheese to cut the dairy. Every other sandwich on the menu is beef, a Vienna Beef hot dog, or crispy or grilled chicken.
Two things to know before ordering. The patty is cooked on the same grill as the steakburgers, grilled chicken, and hot dogs, and Freddy’s says so in its own allergen notes. And Freddy’s allergen chart lists egg in the patty itself, even with the bun removed. That keeps it vegetarian but rules it out for vegans. PETA has reported a switch to a vegan patty, but the official chart hasn’t caught up, so ask your location which patty it’s using. Recipes can differ between locations.
One trap worth naming: the “Grilled Cheese Steakburger” sounds meatless, but it’s a steakburger, so this hamburger contains beef. The Jalapeño Pepper Jack is a steakburger too. Stick with the black bean burger when ordering. For sauces, Freddy’s Famous Fry Sauce, the Jalapeño Fry Sauce, and Hickory BBQ sauce are on the table. Both fry sauces contain egg, so they’re vegetarian but not vegan. The BBQ sauce lists no egg or milk.
Freddy’s Fries, Cheese Curds, and Sides
The sides are where Freddy’s vegetarian options open up. Freddy’s thin shoestring fries are potatoes seasoned with Freddy’s fry seasoning, so the fries themselves contain no meat. The catch is the fryer. Freddy’s says all of its fried items are cooked in the same highly refined soybean oil, and the fries share a fryer with the chicken strips and onion rings. That means cross-contamination with meat is possible. If a shared fryer rules an item out for you, the fries go with it.
Fried cheese curds are the side most people come back for. They’re battered and deep-fried, and Freddy’s chart lists egg and wheat in them as well as milk. Cheese fries pile cheese onto the fries. Onion rings are vegetarian but contain milk, so they aren’t vegan. Freddy’s Tots and the kettle cooked potato chips round out the starch options, and the applesauce is a vegan side. Skip the chili cheese fries, since Freddy’s chili is made with beef.
Frozen Custard, Concretes, and Shakes
The best part of eating vegetarian at Freddy’s is dessert. The frozen custard is made with eggs and milk, which makes it lacto-ovo vegetarian and not vegan, but the meatless choices here are wide open. Start with the vanilla or chocolate flavor in a cup, a cake cone, or a waffle cone.
From there, build a concrete, Freddy’s thick blend of custard and mix-ins. Cookie dough, Oreo, Reese’s, brownie, Heath toffee, cherry, and hot caramel are all vegetarian toppings. Sundaes, shakes, and malts follow the same rule. Gelatin is the thing to watch. Gummy worms and marshmallow are the candies most often made with it, and Freddy’s chart doesn’t say either way, so ask before you add them. Stick to chocolate, peanut butter, cookie, and fruit mix-ins and you’re set.
Freddy’s Drinks and Beverages
Every fountain drink on the Freddy’s menu is vegetarian, and most are dairy-free and vegan. Freddy’s pours Pepsi products, including Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Wild Cherry, plus MUG Root Beer, Luzianne iced tea (sweet or unsweet), Tropicana Pink Lemonade, and cold brew coffee. None of those list milk or egg on Freddy’s allergen chart.
Freddy’s Bevies are the exception for vegans. They’re custard cream sodas, and Freddy’s chart lists egg and milk in every flavor. For vegetarians they’re a fun swap for a shake. Malts also contain wheat from the malt syrup, which matters if you’re avoiding gluten.
What’s Vegan at Freddy’s?
Vegan options at Freddy’s are thin, and right now there’s no vegan entree. Every custard, concrete, shake, and sundae is out, since Freddy’s has no dairy-free custard. The veggie burger is out too, because Freddy’s allergen chart lists egg in the black bean patty. If PETA’s report of a vegan patty has reached your location, staff can tell you. Ask before you order.
Without the burger, vegan diners are looking at fries and tots (shared fryer caveat included), applesauce, kettle cooked potato chips, ketchup, mustard, and a soft drink. That’s a snack, not a feast. If you eat dairy and eggs, Freddy’s gets much more generous.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
A few allergen and ingredient notes shape what’s actually safe here:
- Shared fryer: every fried item cooks in the same soybean oil, and Freddy’s says the fries share a fryer with chicken strips and onion rings. No meat is in the fries, tots, or cheese curds, but strict vegetarians who avoid cross-contact should know.
- Shared grill: the black bean patty is cooked on the same grill as the steakburgers, grilled chicken, and hot dogs.
- Dairy and egg: all frozen custard contains eggs and milk. The veggie patty, both fry sauces, Thousand Island, and the cheese curd batter contain egg. Cheese curds, cheese fries, and onion rings contain milk.
- Gluten: the buns, onion rings, cheese curds, malts, and many concrete mix-ins contain wheat. The veggie patty itself also lists wheat, so a lettuce wrap doesn’t make it gluten-free.
- Gelatin: Freddy’s chart doesn’t flag gelatin. Ask about gummy worms and marshmallow before you add them.
- Cheese rennet: Freddy’s doesn’t say what rennet its cheese uses. If animal rennet is a hard line for you, ask the store or skip the cheese.
Freddy’s publishes full allergen and ingredients information for its menu items in a nutrition and allergen chart, and it notes that none of its products are certified vegetarian. Freddy’s also says it cannot guarantee any menu item is free of the major allergens, since its kitchens handle all of them. When a recipe varies by region, that chart and a quick question at the counter are your most reliable sources.
Tips for Vegetarians at Freddy’s
- Make the black bean veggie burger your entree, with cheese and the toppings you want.
- Want it lighter? Make it a lettuce wrap or order the Veggie Burger Bowl.
- Vegan? Skip the patty, since Freddy’s chart lists egg. Ask if your location has switched recipes.
- If a shared fryer is a dealbreaker, skip the fries, tots, and cheese curds and lean on the custard.
- Make dessert the centerpiece. A vanilla concrete with cookie dough or Oreo is the standout vegetarian order.
- Pass on the chili cheese fries and the Grilled Cheese Steakburger. Both contain beef.
- Ask about gelatin before adding gummy worms or marshmallow to a concrete.
Conclusion
Freddy’s isn’t a vegetarian destination, but it’s far from a dead end. The black bean veggie burger gives you a proper entree, the fried sides are tasty if a shared fryer doesn’t bother you, and the frozen custard turns dessert into the main event. Order the veggie burger, add cheese curds, and finish with a concrete. That’s a full vegetarian meal at a steakburger chain.
Planning more meals out? Start with our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants, then browse all our restaurant guides. For chains much like Freddy’s, see what’s vegetarian at Culver’s, Dairy Queen, and Steak ‘n Shake.
