Here’s Every Vegan Option at Einstein Bros Bagels

I never had bagels until adulthood. I know—it’s tragic. But in the past 14 years as a vegan, I’ve discovered the world of bagels. Within that world, Einstein Bros is one of the bagel shops I keep finding everywhere. And I’ve also found they have plenty for us vegans.

Vegan options at Einstein Bros include these bagels:

• Avocado Toast
• Apple Cinnamon
• Blueberry
• Chocolate Chip
• French Toast
• Pretzel
• Plain
• Everything
• Sesame Seed
• Cinnamon Raisin
• Cranberry
• Poppy Seed
• Onion
• Garlic
• Pumpernickel
• Sourdough

Einstein Bros also has vegan options like the Avocado Veg Out sandwich (if you swap out the schmear), the vegetarian chile, and even the Cinnamon Twist desserts.

Keep reading for the full list of vegan options, including sides, spreads, and beverages. I’ll also cover a few bagels that sound like they would be vegan, but actually aren’t!

Einstein Bros Vegan Menu

As a vegan, I was a little frustrated by the Einstein Bros website. The menu page says that the symbol “VG” is used for vegan options…. but I could find nothing on the website labeled “VG.”

Many bagels are only labeled as “DF” for dairy-free on their website, but when you read the ingredients, they are in fact vegan.

Maybe they are hesitant to claim their bagels are vegan due to iffy ingredients like sugar.

Anyway, I went through all the ingredients lists and nutrition facts sheet to confirm which ones are actually vegan. Here are the results!

Gourmet Bagels

These bagels are loaded up and pretty extravagant. Here are the vegan ones from this category:

• Avocado Toast
• Apple Cinnamon

Would be vegan if it wasn’t for the honey: Power Protein

Signature Bagels

I was excited about a couple of these! Here are the vegan signature bagels:

• Blueberry
• Chocolate Chip (doesn’t contain dairy)
• French Toast (doesn’t contain egg)
• Pretzel

Warning: The Cinnamon Sugar bagel contains dairy.

Classic Bagels

These classic bagel options are vegan:

• Plain
• Everything
• Sesame Seed
• Cinnamon Raisin
• Cranberry
• Poppy Seed
• Onion
• Garlic
• Pumpernickel
• Sourdough

Would be vegan if it wasn’t for the honey: Ancient Grain and Honey Whole Wheat.

Thintastic Bagels

These are thinner and lower in calories compared to the classic bagels. Here are the vegan ones:

• Plain Thin
• Whole Wheat Thin

Would be vegan if it wasn’t for the honey: Ancient Grain Thin and Honey Whole Wheat Thin.

Specialty Bread

These vegan specialty breads can be used at most Einstein Bagels locations, too:

• Potato Roll
• Tortilla

Shmears, Spreads, and Sauces

Most of the “Schmears” at Einstein Bros are made of milk and are not vegan. However, they have recently added vegan cream-cheese Schmear at most locations. (source)

There are also other options for spreads and sauces to add to your bagels:

• Vegan Cream-Cheese Schmear
• Hummus
• Natural Peanut Butter
• Natural Strawberry Jelly
• Peanut Butter and Jelly
• Mustard (Spicy Brown Deli)
• Chipotle Salsa
• Salsa Verde

Note: The Roasted Tomato Spread and the Basil Pesto both contain dairy.

Veggies

You can add these veggies to your bagel, too:

• Arugula
• Avocado
• Capers
• Cucumber
• Leaf Lettuce
• Pickle Spear
• Red Onion
• Spinach
• Tomato

Note: The granola and the sauteed mushrooms both contain dairy.

Sandwich

The Avocado Veg Out sandwich on the lunch menu is vegetarian. It does contain milk, but it can be made vegan by requesting it without the “Garden Veggie Shmear.” You can potentially ask them to replace it with hummus or the vegan cream-cheese Shmear (if available).

Sides

• Barbeque Kettle Chips
• Original Kettle Chips
• Fruit Cup

Soup

Yes, there’s even a vegan soup option!

• Vegetarian Chile Soup

Sweets / Dessert

And there’s vegan dessert at many locations, too!

• Cinnamon Twist
• Cinnamon Twist Poppers
• Fruit Cup

Beverages

• Coffee
• Cold Brew
• Hot Tea
• Iced Tea

Are the Twice-Baked Hash Browns Vegan?

The Twice-Baked Hash Brown at Einstein Bros is not vegan, as it contains cheese. This is disappointing because hash browns can easily be made vegan, and it’d be another option for us vegans.

Whole-Food Plant-Based Options

I like to include this section in all my vegan guides to restaurants. Besides just “vegan” food, I like to look at the menu and ask the question: What can you eat there that’s really healthy? What if you’re on a whole-food plant-based diet, without processed food?

In that case, I’d probably go for the Whole Wheat Thin bagel. That’s probably more of a “whole grain” than the other bagels. Then you actually have a decent number of options for what to add to it:

• Natural peanut butter
• Avocado (avocado-toast style)
• Chipotle Salsa
• Salsa Verde
• All kinds of veggies
• Hummus (probably contains some oil, but still healthy)

You could also get the fruit cup, and potentially the vegetarian chili, too. (I’m not sure if the chile contains any sugar or oil, but it’s probably not a lot.)

Two More Recommendations for Your Plant-Based Journey

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