Does Popeyes Rice Have Pork In It (Is It Vegan)

Popeyes has a massively extensive, and massively popular, menu just packed to the brim with delicious food and side dishes. Whether you’re choosing to chow down on a set of chicken nuggets, a full chicken sandwich, or one of their many side dishes, you’ll likely leave with a smile on your face.

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However, as with visiting any fast food restaurant, visiting Popeyes can be quite a difficult experience for vegetarians and vegans. Many fast-food restaurants are meat-focused, and only have a very small selection of vegetarian options, and a smaller selection of vegan options, if any at all!

Luckily, customers of Popeyes are able to choose from a number of vegetarian and vegan options, such as the newly launched vegan burger. But are there any sides or larger menu items that were already vegan? And what ingredients do some Popeyes items include?

If you’re wondering whether to try out Popeye’s popular cajun rice, but aren’t sure whether it contains pork, or whether it is safe for vegan consumption, you’ve come to just the right place. Let’s take a look at exactly what this popular dish does contain.

Does Popeyes Rice Have Pork In It?

Yes. Popeyes rice does in fact have pork content. It actually has a very high content of pork. Aside from the rice, two of the key ingredients in the cajun rice are bacon and pork fat. This helps to give the dish the savory and satisfying flavor that makes it so popular across the United States.

Is Popeyes Rice Vegan?

Unfortunately, no. Popeyes rice is most certainly not vegan friendly, as it has a high content of pork within it. This high pork content also means that it isn’t even safe for vegetarians to eat.

It would be easy for a vegan or vegetarian to be led to believe that the rice has no pork whatsoever, as it is not included in the name.

Is Popeyes Rice Bad For You?

Not necessarily. In comparison to many dishes on the Popeyes menu, the rice is relatively more healthy, thanks to the many beans used to create it. The mixture of beans and rice makes the dish a great source of protein and nutrients.

However, as a fast-food menu item, Popeyes rice is naturally stuffed to the brim with preservatives, spices, and oils to taste. Popeyes rice also has lots of pork fat and bacon mixed in, which can lead to heart problems if eaten to excessive degrees.

If you want to enjoy Popeyes rice safely, you should enjoy it as a small part of a balanced diet, while being sure to exercise moderation while consuming it, so that you don’t eat too much and risk long-term health issues.

Is Popeyes Bad For You?

Definitely. Sadly, it is well-known that fast food establishments can be linked to ill health and excessive weight gain. Fast food is stuffed with preservatives and chemicals and is produced quickly, which means that it has very little nutritional value.

There are slightly healthier items on the Popeyes menu, but even they are far less healthy than dishes that are made fresh at other restaurants, so heading to Popeyes for a healthy meal is very counterproductive.

Are There Any Healthier Alternatives For Popeyes Rice?

Certainly. Simply making a quick internet search for healthy rice recipes can yield you plenty of recipes that can be followed to create low-fat rice recipes that are still packed with flavor.

You can even recreate Popeyes’ signature rice dish with far fewer preservatives and calories so that you can enjoy that signature flavor without having to feel incredibly guilty!

Is Popeyes Vegan or Vegetarian?

Many of Popeyes’ most popular dishes are centered entirely around meat. One of the restaurant’s most popular items is its range of chicken nuggets. It goes without saying that these definitely aren’t vegan.

Popeyes itself isn’t a vegan brand, but it does have some vegan-friendly options, such as the vegan burger, hash browns, or corn on the cob. However, if you order the corn on the cob, make sure to ask that it is made without butter, as they are served with butter as standard.

Popeyes has a few more vegetarian options than vegan options, such as coleslaw and mashed potatoes.

However, both vegetarians and vegans are truly left with very few options when it comes to menu items.

Most items that would usually be vegetarian or vegan-friendly, such as green beans, are cooked with animal fats to create different tastes, which makes them very much not vegan or vegetarian friendly.

Will Popeyes Introduce Vegan Options Into Their Menu?

Unfortunately, it is unclear, as of yet, whether Popeyes has any plans to expand their existing vegetarian and vegan menus to be more inclusive.

Many vegetarian customers have been calling for the company to offer vegetarian and vegan versions of popular dishes, which could easily be made by swapping out animal fats and oils with vegan options.

Let’s Wrap This Up

Sadly, Popeyes is not particularly friendly to varying diets, especially to those with vegetarian or vegan diets.

They offer very few menu items to people with such diets, and many dishes that could easily be made vegan or vegetarian are made with animal fats and non-vegan oils, which makes them totally unfeasible for those on such diets.

This definitely applies to the cajun rice, which contains bacon and pork fat. It would likely be easy to create a vegan version of this dish, but it has yet to happen.

To make matters slightly worse, there are also no clear plans to shake up the Popeyes menu to add more vegan and vegetarian options yet.

If you want to experience Popeyes food while still sticking to a vegetarian or vegan diet, you can opt to create similar dishes via the many online recipes that show you how to do just that!

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Popeyes Fry In Pork Lard?

Popeyes very often fry foods in lards, in order to achieve that iconic flavor that the restaurant chain is known for. Unfortunately, this means that most items on the menu, including fries, aren’t safe for vegan or vegetarian consumption.

It may be possible to ask for dishes to be fried in vegetarian or vegan oils instead, but it is slightly unlikely that many restaurants would honor it.

Is There Pork In Popeyes’ Sides?

Yes. There is often a high content of pork in many of Popeye’s popular side dishes. This helps to give the sides a tasty and iconic flavor, but this is entirely at the expense of vegetarian and vegan customers.

A few side dishes, such as mashed potatoes, and coleslaw, are vegan friendly, but this is a rather paltry amount of options. Many of Popeyes’ side dishes could be made with vegan options, made without animal lard or without any pork content.

Is Apple Pie From Popeyes Vegan?

Definitely not. Popeyes apple pies are made with milk as part of their ingredients. The milk will have been used to create the soft and moist pastry of the pie, hence why they are not recommended for vegan consumption.

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Jess Smith

Hi, my name is Jess Smith, and I love cooking in my spare time. Around three years ago, I decided to give up my day job as a teacher to pursue my passion for food. While I have enjoyed sharing tips and tricks on Social Media, I have decided to expand my horizons through this blog.

Through this blog I hope to help others learn the basics and more intricate details of cooking. I know from personal experience how frustrating it can be to cook a meal, only to realize you are missing one ingredient from your list. This is why I love to write articles chatting readers through some great substitutes that can be used in an emergency.

I hope you will find this blog useful, and that it will help you to develop your culinary skills, to help you cook up a storm!