Are Meat Substitutes Vegan?
Plant-based meat is not automatically vegan. Many veggie burgers and chicken substitutes still bind with egg whites or add dairy cheese. Here is which meat substitutes are fully vegan and which ones to read the label on.
9 meat substitutes checked
1 officially certified
5
Vegan
4
Depend
0
Not vegan
| Product | Verdict | Certified | Watch for | The catch | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Is Beyond Meat vegan? | Vegan | Not certified | Clean | There is no real catch. The only ingredient that raises eyebrows is potassium lactate (a preservative), which can theoretically come from dairy in other brands, but Beyond Meat sources theirs from plant fermentation. Their natural flavors are also confirmed plant-derived by the company directly. |
 | Is Boca Veggie Burgers vegan? | It Depends | Not certified | Dairy (All American flavor) | The All American flavor is the problem: it contains real cheddar cheese and milk-based cheese powder. Every other current Boca product is vegan-labeled, but that one slip is enough to make the whole brand a "check the label" situation. |
 | Is Dr. Praeger's vegan? | It Depends | Not certified | Egg, fish or dairy (some lines) | Egg whites appear in the Littles (Spinach, Broccoli, Sweet Potato), veggie cakes, and pancakes, making those vegetarian-only. The brand also produces a full seafood line, real-cheese products like the Grillhouse Cheddar Burger and Pizza Stars (both launched 2025), and breakfast bowls with eggs and cheese, none of which are vegan. |
 | Is Gardein vegan? | Vegan | Not certified | None (Conagra parent co.) | Gardein is owned by Conagra Brands, one of the largest conventional meat companies in the United States. The products themselves are vegan, but ethically-minded vegans sometimes avoid the brand because purchasing it financially supports a corporation with large-scale animal agriculture operations across its other brands. |
 | Is Impossible Foods (plant-based meat) vegan? | Vegan | Not certified | Historical animal testing | Heme (soy leghemoglobin) was tested on rats before FDA approval in 2018. The ingredient itself is 100% plant-derived and Impossible Foods states it no longer conducts animal testing, but strict vegans who consider historical testing history disqualifying may want to look elsewhere. |
 | Is Lightlife vegan? | Vegan | Certified | Clean | — |
 | Is MorningStar Farms vegan? | It Depends | Not certified | Egg + Dairy | In 2019 the brand publicly pledged to go 100% vegan by 2021. That deadline passed and was quietly abandoned. As of 2025-2026, flagship products like the Grillers Original Veggie Burgers and Veggie Bacon Strips still list egg whites and calcium caseinate (milk) in their ingredients. The brand now says "most" of its products are vegan, which is marketing language, not a vegan certification. |
 | Is Quorn (Mycoprotein Products) vegan? | It Depends | Not certified | Egg (most standard products) | Most standard Quorn products use free-range egg white as a binding agent in the mycoprotein base, making them vegetarian but not vegan. Only products explicitly labeled "Vegan" on the pack are free of egg and dairy. |
 | Is Tofurky vegan? | Vegan | Not certified | Clean | No meaningful catch. The calcium lactate listed in some products comes from beet fermentation, not dairy, and the natural flavors used are plant-derived. The brand is entirely vegan by design. |
Every verdict is checked against the current product label. See how we verify, or browse the full Is It Vegan? database.