Here’s Every Vegan Option at P.F. Chang’s

I love eating at Asian restaurants as a vegan. Typically, I end up stuffing myself with a big plate rice, veggies, tofu, and delicious sauce. But what are the options when it comes to P.F. Chang’s specifically?

Here are the vegan options at P.F. Chang’s:

• Chili Garlic Green Beans
• Buddha’s Feast
• Stir-Fried Eggplant
• Thai Harvest Curry
• Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps
• Steamed Rice (White or Brown)
• Wok-Seared Spinach and Garlic
• Steamed Snap Peas
• Steamed Carrots
• Steamed Broccoli
• Fruit Cup
• Sauces
• Beverages

Below, I’ll share more details and also answer questions about P.F. Chang’s Crispy Green Beans, fried rice, edamame, teriyaki sauce, and more tricky issues. I’ll end with a whole-food plant-based (WFPB) menu for P.F. Chang’s, too!

P.F. Chang’s Vegan Menu

P.F. Chang’s has stated in a Tweet, “we don’t claim any of our dishes vegan, due to varying definitions.” Fair enough, but below is a practical guide to what most people would consider vegan.

I’ve compiled this guide from the best available nutrition and allergen information, especially from P.F. Chang’s website. That said, ingredients may change, and you may want to confirm these items as vegan at your specific location.

1. Chili Garlic Green Beans

Start things off with these Chili Garlic Green Beans, seasoned with “Fiery red chili sauce, fresh garlic and Sichuan preserves.” Fully vegan, no butter or animal fat in the cooking process.

Another menu item that

Note: The Crispy Green Beans, however, are not vegan due to containing egg.

2. Sichuan-Style Asparagus

If green beans aren’t your thing, you can also get that good red chili and garlic flavor with some asparagus and onions in this side dish!

Contains “Red chili paste, garlic, Sichuan preserves, sliced onion.” No animal products.

3. Buddha’s Feast

This is what I get when I go to P.F. Chang’s. It’s basically a bowl of tofu and vegetables, with savory sauce—what’s not to like? Add some rice if you want to fill out the meal.

The specific ingredients include: “Five-spice tofu, savory sauce, asparagus, shiitakes, broccoli, carrots.” (source)

You can get the Buddha’s feast stir-fried or steamed. Although the steamed option may be healthier (and my personal choice), both are vegan.

The kid’s version of this dish, “Baby Buddha’s Feast,” is also vegan.

4. Stir-Fried Eggplant

This creative dish uses eggplant as the centerpiece, rather than tofu or meat. The ingredients are vegan, including “Chinese eggplant, sweet chili soy glaze, green onion, garlic.”

Another great dish you can potentially fill up on, particularly if you want something sweet.

5. Thai Harvest Curry

Debuting in 2017, this Thai curry has five-spice tofu, rustic vegetables, butternut squash, Asian mushrooms, and red curry, topped with fresno peppers.

This curry is quite packed with veggies—it’s not just a bowl of curry sauce with tofu chunks in it.

6. Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps

P.F. Chang’s vegetarian lettuce wraps have a “secret family recipe,” but definitely appear to be vegan. They have no animal allergens listed, and larger media outlets like PETA have touted them as vegan.

From what I can tell, it’s like a vegan taco—but wrapped in lettuce instead of a tortilla. Another good option to actually fill up on.

7. Steamed Rice (White or Brown)

Take note: The fried rice is not vegan, as it contains egg, milk, and shellfish.

8. Salads and Greens

If you’re looking for greens, you might go for the very simple Wok-Seared Spinach and Garlic. It’s just fresh spinach leaves with chopped up garlic, prepared in a wok.

Typically, you can get a vegan salad anywhere, but you often have to ask for some customizations. As far as I can tell, this is the case at P.F. Chang’s, too.

Both the Mandarin Crunch Salad and the Asian Caesar Salad come standard with some milk, egg, and shellfish in them. So be sure to ask for vegan modifications to those salads, if getting them at all.

9. More Veggies and Fruit

If the veggie-loaded dishes above don’t appeal to you, check out these other veggie and fruit options you can order separately from the Kids’ Menu:

• Steamed Snap Peas
• Steamed Carrots
• Steamed Broccoli
• Fruit Cup

I always like getting a fruit cup at restaurants. Even though it’s usually over-priced, it’s a nice, simple addition of healthy calories. Not to mention, the vitamin C from the fruit will help you absorb iron from the rest of your meal! (source)

It’s also likely that the edamame at P.F. Chang’s is vegan, as edamame typically is. But for some reason, their allergen menu says it contains eggs. This may have been an error, but I would ask at your own location.

10. Sauces, Toppings, and Extras

Unfortunately, the allergen guide on the P.F. Chang’s website does not include information on their sauces. P.F. Chang’s did not respond to my inquiry on this matter, either.

These sauces should be safely vegan:

• Soy Sauce
• Gluten-free Soy Sauce
• Chili Paste
• Hot Mustard

11. Beverages

P.F. Chang’s has a ton of beverage options, pretty much all of which are vegan. To start, here are some interesting drinks unique to P.F. Chang’s:

• Chang’s Coconut Cooler (contains coconute milk, not cow’s milk)
• Pomegranate Lemonade
• House-Made Ginger Beer
• Strawberry Cucumber Limeade
• Peach Boba Breeze

Here are the soft drinks, bottled drinks, and teas they serve:

• Coke
• Diet Coke
• Sprite
• Pibb Xtra
• Barq’s Root Beer
• Vitamin Water XXX Zero
• Odwalla Lemonade
• Odwalla Strawberry Lemonade
• Freshly Brewed Black Iced Tea
• Freshly Brewed Mango Iced Tea
• Fiji Water
• San Pellegrino

You can also get wine or beer to go. I always recommend using Barnivore.com to look up whether specific alcoholic drinks are vegan.

Some wines especially use non-vegan fining agents like chitosan, which I address a bit in this post. But many, many alcoholic drinks are fully vegan.

But What About…

Some of the following menu items may appear to be vegan, but they each contain animal products according to the allergen menu on PF. Chang’s website:

• Vegetable Spring Rolls contain milk, egg, and shellfish.
• Kung Pao Brussel Sprouts contain milk, egg, fish, and shellfish.
• Singapore Street Noodles contains milk, egg, fish, and shellfish.
• Spicy Miso Ramen contains milk, egg, and shellfish
• Banana Spring Rolls (dessert) contain milk, egg, and shellfish.
• California Rolls contain imitation crab meat (kani kama) that is not vegan.

As mentioned above, the edamame is also listed as containing egg, although I really question this.

Are P.F. Chang’s Crispy Green Beans Vegan?

P.F. Chang’s Crispy Green Beans are not vegan. According to P.F. Chang’s website, they contain egg and shellfish.

It’s too bad, too, because I’ve seen some other restaurants pull off battered vegetables and make them fully vegan. Whataburger has vegan tempura green beans, for example.

Is P.F. Chang’s Fried Rice Vegan?

P.F. Chang’s fried rice is not vegan. According to P.F. Chang’s website, it contains milk, egg, and shellfish.

Luckily, you can get steamed white rice or steamed brown rice and still fill out your dish in fully vegan fashion.

Is P.F. Chang’s Teriyaki Sauce Vegan?

P.F. Chang’s Teriyaki Sauce is vegan, as it contains no honey or other animal ingredients. Here is the full list of ingredients for P.F. Chang’s teriyaki sauce, which they also sell in bottled form:

INGREDIENTS: SOY SAUCE (WATER, WHEAT, SOYBEANS, SALT, ETHYL ALCOHOL), WATER, BROWN SUGAR, PINEAPPLE JUICE CONCENTRATE, SUGAR, CORN STARCH, WHITE WINE, SAKE WINE (WINE, SALT), LESS THAN 2% OF: GINGER PUREE, GARLIC, DISTILLED VINEGAR, LOCUST BEAN GUM, GINGER, CANOLA OIL, NATURAL FLAVOR, CHILI PASTE (RED CHILI PEPPERS, DISTILLED VINEGAR, SALT, XANTHAN GUM), SALT.

Whole-Food Plant-Based Options

What if you want to avoid processed oil, flour, and sugar, too, not just animal products? Are there any whole-food plant-based (WFPB) options at P.F. Chang’s?

Here are the clear-cut WFPB options I see at P.F. Chang’s:

• Steamed Brown Rice
• Steamed Snap Peas
• Steamed Carrots
• Steamed Broccoli
• Fruit Cup

These dishes may also be WFPB, but I can’t confirm without an ingredients list:

• Buddha’s Feast (Steamed): This dish looks like it could be made without oil or sugar, but you’ll want to ask to make sure.
• Thai Harvest Curry: I’m assuming there’s some oil in the curry or tofu preparation, but it’s not listed on the website, so you could ask.
• Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps: This is not likely to be oil- and sugar-free, but it’s possible and could be worth asking. It’s loaded with veggies.
• Chili Garlic Green Beans: Not sure if these contain oil, but worth asking.
• Wok-Seared Spinach and Garlic: No oil is listed on the website, but I imagine it may be used in the wok preparation, so I would ask.
• Edamame: As noted above, the allergen menu says it has eggs. Otherwise, I would expect it to be WFPB, just with some salt.

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