What’s Vegetarian at Smashburger? (Updated for 2026)

Smashburger vegetarian options come down to two meatless patties and a short list of toppings, and the meat-eaters you’re dining with won’t even notice you’re skipping the beef. The chain builds its menu around smashed burgers, but it carries a black-bean patty plus a 100% jackfruit plant-based patty, so you have a real main, not just a side salad. The catch is hidden animal ingredients that trip up a lot of diners, and we’ll walk through every one. For more meatless restaurant guides, browse the rest of What’s Vegetarian.

A Quick Look at Smashburger

Smashburger started in Denver, Colorado, in 2007, founded by Rick Schaden and Tom Ryan with backing from private-equity firm Consumer Capital Partners. The name comes from the cooking method: a ball of beef gets smashed onto a hot griddle so it builds a seared, crusty edge. The company is still headquartered in Denver, and the smashed style is the whole identity of the brand.

The chain is now wholly owned by Jollibee Foods Corporation, the largest restaurant company in the Philippines. Jollibee bought 40% of Smashburger in October 2015, raised its stake to 85% in February 2018, then took full 100% ownership in December 2018. Today there are roughly 220 U.S. locations and about 227 worldwide, spread across about 35 states plus Washington, D.C., with international units in Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Saudi Arabia, and the UK.

Smashburger Vegetarian Options: What to Order

Here’s the quick-reference grid for the Smashburger vegetarian options worth knowing. We’ve marked items vegan only where a source confirms it, and flagged everything fried because of one big hidden ingredient covered further down. When in doubt, treat anything cooked on the grill or in the fryer as a question for your specific location.

The Meatless Burgers

Smashburger gives you two meatless patties, and they’re built differently. The Black Bean Smash, also sold as the Veggie Smash, is the chain’s house black-bean patty. Smashburger’s own site describes it as “made with black beans… no meat required,” then adds a direct disclaimer: it contains egg and cheese and “may not be suitable for all meatless diets.” So it’s solidly vegetarian, but the egg and dairy are baked into the patty itself, not just the toppings. You can build it on the Classic, Multi-Grain, or Spicy Chipotle bun.

The lighter option is the Jack & Annie’s jackfruit patty, made from 100% jackfruit. It started as a test in three states in 2023, then rolled out nationwide as a permanent menu item on February 14, 2024, according to PR Newswire and the trade press. The patty is formulated to be vegan. That doesn’t make the assembled burger vegan, though, which trips up a lot of people. We’ll get into exactly why in the vegan section.

One honest caveat: we couldn’t confirm from a single live menu source that every location still carries the jackfruit patty in 2026, even though references through early 2026 still list it and we found no discontinuation notice. If it’s a make-or-break for your trip, call ahead.

Sides, Salads, and Toppings

This is where Smashburger gets tricky, so read carefully before you add a side. The fries are the trap. Every fried item here is cooked in beef tallow, which is beef fat. That covers regular fries, sweet-potato fries, tots, crispy Brussels sprouts, and haystack onions. None of them are vegetarian, full stop. Haystack onions also contain egg and dairy on top of the beef-fat fry. A vegetarian can absolutely eat the burger, but you’ll want to skip every fried side.

Your safer sides are the salads and fresh toppings. The side garden salad is vegetarian as served and becomes vegan if you drop the cheese. For toppings, you’re clear with lettuce, tomato, raw red onion, pickles, fresh jalapeños, and smashed avocado. Two toppings look vegetarian but aren’t vegan: grilled onions and sautéed crimini mushrooms are both cooked with pasteurized cream, so they’re fine for vegetarians and off-limits for vegans.

• Vegetarian-safe sides: side garden salad, fresh veggie toppings
• Skip if vegetarian: fries, sweet-potato fries, tots, crispy Brussels sprouts, haystack onions (all beef tallow)
• Vegetarian but not vegan: grilled onions, sautéed crimini mushrooms (cream)

What’s Vegan at Smashburger?

The fully-vegan menu here is thin, and that’s the honest answer. Realistically, a strict vegan can order the Jack & Annie’s jackfruit patty with no bun or as a lettuce wrap, topped with lettuce, tomato, raw onion, pickles, jalapeños, and smashed avocado. Add a side salad with no cheese, and finish with vegan condiments: Go Dairy Free lists ketchup, yellow mustard, and BBQ sauce as the three vegan sauces. That’s the whole vegan build.

Why no bun? Because the patty is vegan but the burger isn’t. Vegconomist’s headline on the jackfruit launch literally reads that Smashburger “serves them in non-vegan buns.” There’s no vegan bun on the menu, every bun is either dairy-containing or butter-toasted, and the patties are grilled in butter on a shared griddle. So a vegan order means going bunless and accepting shared-grill cross-contact. There’s also no dairy-free shake right now; the non-dairy Eclipse shakes added in June 2022 have been discontinued, with no replacement chain-wide. Smashburger is one of the least vegan-friendly burger chains out there, and it’s fair to set expectations accordingly.

Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies

The hidden animal ingredients matter more here than at most chains, so know the four big ones: beef tallow in the fryer, butter on the grill and buns, egg in the black-bean patty and the mayo-based sauces, and dairy in cheese, ranch, and the cream-cooked onions and mushrooms. The mayo family to avoid for egg includes Mayo, Chipotle Mayo, Truffle Mayo, Remoulade, and Smash Sauce. Ranch contains milk.

For gluten-free diners, Smashburger offers an Udi’s gluten-free bun, but heads up: that bun contains both dairy and egg, so it doesn’t work for a gluten-free vegan. Cross-contact is also unavoidable here. Everything is prepared on shared equipment, including a shared grill, shared fryer, and shared shake station. VeggL quotes the chain saying it has “no plans to have another cooking option” that isn’t in butter and isn’t cross-contaminated with animal items. If you have a severe allergy, check the official Smashburger allergen guide and talk to your location before ordering. Source guides also disagree slightly on which buns list milk as an ingredient, but all of them agree no bun is vegan as served.

Tips for Vegetarians at Smashburger

• Pick your patty by goal. The Black Bean Smash is the heartier meatless main; the Jack & Annie’s jackfruit patty is the lighter, plant-forward pick.
• Skip every fried side. Fries, tots, sweet-potato fries, Brussels sprouts, and haystack onions are all fried in beef tallow, so they’re not vegetarian.
• Default to the side salad. It’s the reliable vegetarian side, and it goes vegan when you hold the cheese.
• Load up on fresh toppings. Lettuce, tomato, raw onion, pickles, jalapeños, and avocado are all fair game.
• Watch the cooked veggies. Grilled onions and sautéed mushrooms are vegetarian but contain cream, so they’re out for vegans.
• Choose sauces carefully. Ketchup, mustard, and BBQ are your safest bets; the mayo-based sauces all contain egg.
• Call ahead for the jackfruit patty. It’s a permanent national item, but we couldn’t verify carriage at every 2026 location.

Smashburger vegetarian options: frequently asked questions

Conclusion

Vegetarians do fine at Smashburger as long as you know the rules. The Black Bean Smash is a solid meatless main, the Jack & Annie’s jackfruit patty is the lighter pick, and the side salad rounds out the plate, just avoid every fried side and the cream-cooked toppings. Vegans have a much shorter path: a bunless jackfruit patty with veggie toppings and a no-cheese salad, plus the understanding that cross-contact comes with the territory. For more on ordering meatless when you eat out, see our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants, and browse every chain we’ve covered in the restaurants category. Since Jollibee owns Smashburger, you might also like our guide to vegetarian options at Jollibee, or if you’re after another buffet-style stop, check out what’s vegetarian at Golden Corral.

Eric

Eric Rosenberg is a mostly vegetarian financial writer, speaker, and consultant based in Ventura, California. He is an expert in banking, credit cards, investing, cryptocurrency, insurance, real estate, business finance, and financial fraud and security. His work has appeared in many online publications, including Time, USA Today, Forbes, Business Insider, Nerdwallet, Investopedia, and U.S. News & World Report. Connect with him and learn more at EricRosenberg.com.

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