Looking for Just Salad vegetarian options? You’ve got more than a build-your-own bowl here. Just Salad runs a fully labeled vegetarian-and-vegan menu with a dedicated vegan wrap, a vegan feta, and a plant-based Impossible protein, so a vegetarian can eat well without doing math on every ingredient. Here’s exactly what to order and what to skip.
A Quick Look at Just Salad
Nick Kenner and Rob Crespi opened the first Just Salad in Midtown Manhattan in 2006. The chain has grown to over 100 locations across seven states plus Washington, D.C., with the heaviest concentration in the Northeast and a growing presence in Florida and Chicago. Panda Restaurant Group (the company behind Panda Express) has invested in Just Salad twice, in 2016 and 2021, and in February 2025 the chain raised $200 million from Wellington Management, D1 Capital Partners, Neuberger Berman, and Stripes at a $1 billion valuation. It’s still founder-led and privately held.
Just Salad’s signature is MyBowl, a reusable bowl program that launched with the first store in 2006. Buy a MyBowl once, bring it back on every visit, and you get a free topping each time. The company says the program keeps about 40 tons of bowl waste out of landfills a year. Just Salad also became a B Corporation in 2023 and was the first restaurant chain to print carbon footprint labels on its menu, back in 2020.
Just Salad Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Just Salad publishes an official allergen and ingredient chart that tags every ingredient, dressing, and dish as vegetarian, vegan, or neither. That makes this one of the easier fast-casual menus to navigate. Here’s the rundown on the items that come up most in a build-your-own bowl or salad.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Organic Sesame Tofu | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Impossible Chicken (plant-based) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Violife Vegan Feta | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Cage-Free Jammy Egg | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (egg) |
| Cotija, Feta, Goat, Parmesan, Cheddar | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
| Vegan Chipotle Wrap | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Earth Bowl | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Crunchy Avo Toast (vegan feta, avocado mash) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Organic Lentil + Chickpea Soup | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Buttermilk, Buffalo, and Poblano Ranch | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy, egg) |
| Creamy Caesar dressing | ❌ No (fish) | ❌ No |
| Oven Crispy, Braised, or Roasted Chicken | ❌ No (meat) | ❌ No |
Build-Your-Own: Vegan Proteins, Cheese, and Toppings
The build-your-own line is where Just Salad’s vegetarian options really open up. Two proteins are fully vegan: Organic Sesame Tofu and Impossible Chicken, a plant-based shredded “chicken” made from soy. For cheese, Violife Vegan Feta is dairy-free and carries no allergen flags on the official chart beyond soy. Every other cheese on the line, Cotija, Feta, Goat, Parmesan, and Sharp White Cheddar, is vegetarian but not vegan. Nearly the entire produce line (greens, beets, carrots, chickpeas, roasted corn, quinoa, edamame, sweet potatoes, black lentils) is vegan by default. The one exception worth knowing: Garlic Butter Croutons contain real dairy butter, so they’re vegetarian only.
Dressings: More Vegan Than Not
Most of Just Salad’s dressings are vegan, which is unusual for a fast-casual chain. Balsamic Vinaigrette, Chipotle Vinaigrette, Lemon Basil Vinaigrette, Miso Ginger Vinaigrette, Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette, and Thai Peanut are all vegan, along with the straight oils, vinegars, and citrus. Buttermilk Ranch, Spicy Buffalo Ranch, Smoky Poblano Ranch, and Yogurt Cucumber all contain dairy and egg, so they’re vegetarian but not vegan. Honey Mustard Vinaigrette is vegetarian only because of the honey. Skip the Creamy Caesar if you’re vegetarian at all: Just Salad’s official chart flags it for fish, egg, and dairy, so it’s not even lacto-ovo vegetarian.
Salads, Warm Bowls, and Market Plates
Most of the named salads and warm bowls default to chicken. Tokyo Supergreens is the one worth calling out. It’s built for a tofu swap. Ask for Tokyo Supergreens with tofu instead of chicken and you get real sesame ginger flavor with no meat.
The Chicken Fajita Bowl, Cilantro Lime Chicken bowl, and Warm Chicken + Goat Cheese bowl all default to chicken too. Want the same flavors meatless? Ask the kitchen to swap in tofu or Impossible Chicken. The newer Market Plates line works the same way. The seasonal Gochujang Chicken Market Plate is the current example, chicken by default, vegetarian on request. Just Salad is a build-your-own chain. Swapping the protein and skipping the dairy cheese on any named dish is standard, not a special request.
Plant-Based Smoothies
All four smoothies on the menu, Almond Berry Blast, Strawberry Banana, PB Protein, and Detox Cleanse, are vegan by default on Just Salad’s official allergen chart. None use a dairy base, so they’re a safe grab-and-go option if you want something plant-based that isn’t a salad or a bowl.
What’s Vegan at Just Salad?
The Earth Bowl is Just Salad’s standing vegan bowl, built on greens, black lentils, roasted sweet potatoes, and a vegan dressing, no cheese swap needed. The Vegan Chipotle Wrap is the only fully vegan wrap on the menu, wrapped in a flour tortilla with brown rice, kale, and Impossible Chicken. The Crunchy Avo Toast comes vegan as built, with avocado mash, Violife vegan feta, crispy onions, and spiced pumpkin seeds. If you build your own, stack Organic Sesame Tofu or Impossible Chicken with any vegan dressing and you’re covered. One bowl worth a caveat: the Impossible Chipotle Cowboy salad uses Impossible Chicken, which is vegan, but comes topped with cotija cheese by default, so ask for it without the cheese if you want a fully plant-based bowl.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
- The Creamy Caesar dressing contains fish (anchovy), egg, and dairy. It’s not vegetarian, not just non-vegan, so double-check before you order a Chicken Caesar-style build without meat.
- Garlic Butter Croutons and the Batard Bread both contain gluten and dairy.
- Honey Mustard Vinaigrette isn’t vegan because it’s made with honey, even though it contains no dairy or egg.
- The Crunchy Tortilla topping, Crunchy Wonton Strips, and HERO Wraps all contain gluten, so ask for a lettuce base if you’re avoiding it.
- Thai Peanut dressing contains tree nuts, soy, and sesame, worth flagging if you have a nut allergy.
- Toppings and preparation can vary slightly by location. If an allergy is serious, ask staff to check the in-store allergen binder rather than relying on the app description alone.
Tips for Vegetarians at Just Salad
- Order the Earth Bowl or the Vegan Chipotle Wrap if you want a fully built vegan option without customizing anything.
- Build your own with Organic Sesame Tofu or Impossible Chicken as the protein, either one works vegan.
- Stick to vinaigrettes over creamy dressings if you’re avoiding dairy and egg. Most vinaigrettes here are vegan by default.
- Skip the Creamy Caesar entirely if you eat vegetarian. It’s the one dressing on the menu with fish in it.
- Ask for Violife Vegan Feta instead of a dairy cheese if you want the salty, tangy bite without the dairy.
- Bring a MyBowl if you’re a regular. It’s not a dietary perk, but it’s the one thing that makes Just Salad’s model different from every other salad chain, and you get a free topping for using it.
Conclusion
Just Salad makes vegetarian eating close to effortless. The official allergen chart spells out exactly what’s vegetarian and what’s vegan, the build-your-own line has two solid vegan proteins, and dishes like the Earth Bowl and the Vegan Chipotle Wrap need zero substitutions. The one thing to remember is the Creamy Caesar, skip it if you eat vegetarian. For more on eating out without meat, see our full guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants, browse more restaurant guides, or check out what’s vegetarian at Sweetgreen, CAVA, or Mendocino Farms.
