Looking for Royal Farms vegetarian options? You can eat well here, but you have to know where to look. This Baltimore-born convenience chain built its name on fried chicken. The vegetarian picks sit quietly alongside it: a build-your-own sub, deli-style sides, and a straightforward egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. Check the whatsvegetarian.com homepage for what about the vegetarians at other chains, and read on for exactly what to order at Royal Farms and what to skip.
A Quick Look at Royal Farms
Royal Farms traces back to 1918, when Maynard C. Kemp and his brothers founded Cloverland Farms Dairy to deliver milk around Baltimore. In 1959, the dairy opened its first neighborhood “milk store,” called White Jug, also in Baltimore. In 1968, Cloverland Farms Dairy merged with Royal Dunloggin Dairy and the stores took the name Royal Farms. The chain is still privately held by the Kemp family through parent company Two Farms, Inc., with third-generation family member John Kemp now serving as president and CEO. The company has grown to nearly 300 stores across Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina, with its first North Carolina location opening in early 2023. Fast, made-to-order prepared food and hand-breaded fried chicken built the reputation, which is exactly why the vegetarian options take a bit more digging to find.
Royal Farms Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Royal Farms doesn’t publish a dedicated vegetarian menu, so the safest approach is to build your own sub or stick to the sides. Here’s how the main menu breaks down, checked against the official December 2022 Royal Farms menu and the allergens page at royalfarms.com.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Build Your Own Vegetarian sub (no meat, choice of cheese and toppings) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (skip cheese and mayo) |
| Egg & Cheese breakfast sandwich (croissant or biscuit) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (egg, cheese) |
| Home Style Macaroni Salad | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (egg, dairy) |
| Creamy Shredded Cole Slaw | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (mayo may contain egg) |
| Tri-Color Twist Pasta Salad | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (dressing not confirmed dairy-free) |
| Fruit Cup | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Potato Chips | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (varies by flavor) |
| Hash Brown | ⚠️ Check (fryer status not posted) | ⚠️ Check |
| Hand-Cut Western Fries | ❌ No (cooked in the same oil as the fried chicken) | ❌ No |
| Assorted Royal Farms Cakes | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (egg, dairy) |
| RoFo brand coffee, black | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Fried chicken, chicken sliders, hand-pulled chicken sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs | ❌ No | ❌ No |
The one real find on the Royal Farms menu is the Build Your Own Vegetarian sub, listed right on the official menu alongside the meat subs. Order it with a sub roll, your choice of cheese, and whatever vegetables and condiments the store has on the line, and you’ve got a legitimate lunch that isn’t just a side dish.
Order anything else at Royal Farms and there’s a good chance it’s chicken. The World Famous Chicken line comes Classic, Spicy, Atomic, Buffalo Chicken, or Chesapeake, sold as 2-Piece, 3-Piece, and 4-Piece meals, Chicken Tender Classic or Spicy meals, and family multi packs that run up to 50 pieces. Breakfast leans the same way, with a Bacon Egg & Cheese, Sausage Egg & Cheese, Ham Egg & Cheese, and Waffle Breakfast Sandwich served daily on a croissant or cheese biscuit next to the vegetarian version. The prepared-food case also stocks Fresh Made World Famous Homestyle, Crunchy, and Spicy Crunchy chicken salad. Hand-pulled chicken sandwiches, chicken wraps, Chicken Sliders, and Hamburger or Cheeseburger Sliders round out a menu built almost entirely around the fryer, with a full lineup of Honey Mustard, BBQ, Ranch, Buffalo, and Chesapeake dipping sauces alongside the other beverages and sides on offer. None of that touches the vegetarian order above.
Sides and Salads
The deli case is where Royal Farms quietly works for vegetarians. Home Style Macaroni Salad, Creamy Shredded Cole Slaw, and Tri-Color Twist Pasta Salad are all meat-free and sold by the pint or as a side with a sandwich. A Fruit Cup is the easiest vegan grab in the store. The Hand-Cut Western Fries don’t make the list: Royal Farms says on its own site that they’re “pressure cooked in the same oil as our world famous chicken,” so they’re not vegetarian no matter how they look.
Subs and Sandwiches
The Fresh Subs and Sandwiches menu lists a “Build Your Own Vegetarian” option next to the Turkey Breast, Ham and Cheese, and chicken subs. Ask for it on a sub roll or as a sandwich, pick a cheese (Yellow American, Provolone, or Pepper Jack), and load it up with lettuce, tomato, onion, and whatever else the store stocks. That’s the closest thing Royal Farms has to a real vegetarian entree. It isn’t hidden either, it’s printed right on the menu board.
Breakfast
Breakfast is the easiest meal to order meat-free at Royal Farms. The Egg & Cheese sandwich comes on a croissant or biscuit with a choice of Yellow American, Provolone, or Pepper Jack cheese. No substitutions needed, since it’s already built without meat. That’s a rare thing here, one of the few Royal Farms items that’s vegetarian by default rather than by request.
Desserts and Grab-and-Go
The register sells assorted in-house Royal Farms cakes and cookies, along with Krispy Kreme donuts at some locations. These are vegetarian but contain eggs and dairy, so they’re not vegan. Packaged chips, candy, and grab-and-go cooler items follow the same rule as any convenience store for a fast snack. Check the label. Ingredients vary by brand and flavor, and some snack lines use gelatin or animal-derived flavoring that isn’t obvious from the name.
What’s Vegan at Royal Farms?
There’s no advertised vegan menu at Royal Farms, and no confirmed vegan entree either. Black RoFo coffee and a Fruit Cup are the safest vegan bets. Potato chips are vegan for some flavors but not others, so check the bag. Even the fries are off-limits for strict vegans, since Royal Farms confirms they’re fried in the same oil as the chicken. Treat a Royal Farms stop as a fuel-and-snack break if you’re vegan, not a meal stop.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
The official allergens page says Royal Farms kitchens process products containing dairy, eggs, fish, tree nuts, soy, wheat, gluten, and sesame seeds. Foods may be exposed to these allergens from shared production equipment and food contact surfaces. That’s a general cross-contact warning, not an item-by-item breakdown. Ask the store directly before ordering if you have a serious allergy. The clearest vegetarian-specific catch is the fryer: the Hand-Cut Western Fries share oil with the fried chicken, and hash brown frying isn’t documented on the official site, so don’t assume either is meat-free without asking. Dressings for the salads aren’t confirmed egg-free either, so treat cole slaw and pasta salad as vegetarian but not automatically vegan.
Tips for Vegetarians at Royal Farms
- Order the Build Your Own Vegetarian sub off the printed menu, it’s a real entree, not an afterthought.
- Skip the Hand-Cut Western Fries. Royal Farms confirms they’re cooked in the same oil as the fried chicken.
- Ask before ordering hash browns if you’re strict about shared fryers, since that isn’t posted online.
- Grab Home Style Macaroni Salad, Cole Slaw, or Pasta Salad for a quick vegetarian side with your sub.
- Get the Egg & Cheese on a croissant for a fast, reliably meat-free breakfast.
- Stick to a Fruit Cup or black RoFo coffee if you’re vegan, they’re the safest confirmed picks in the store.
- Check packaged snack labels at the register, ingredients vary by brand even within the same candy aisle.
Conclusion
Royal Farms vegetarian options aren’t the reason most people stop here, but they’re real if you know to ask for them. Ask for the Build Your Own Vegetarian sub, grab a deli side, or keep it simple with an Egg and Cheese sandwich at breakfast. Skip the fries, since they share fryer oil with the chicken. For more on eating meat-free at chains like this one, see our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants and browse the full restaurant guide list. Check our guides to 7-Eleven, Sheetz, and Wawa for more Mid-Atlantic convenience-store options along the way.
