Top Five Fast Food Chains for Vegetarian Meals

While it usually is not very healthy, fast food is sometimes just quicker and more convenient than making meals at home or going to a nice sit-down restaurant. But there's a problem for us lacto-ovo vegetarians: the menu. If you're a newer vegetarian, it will take some time to find a speedy restaurant that offers a good veggie meal. The first few times out, you may find yourself looking at the menu and realizing that all you can get are the fries (and in some cases even those are cooked in animal fat; when in doubt, ask an employee). But there is hope; depending on what sort of meal you're looking for, a number of major food chains have vegetarian options.

1. Subway. As far as major fast food company's go, Subway is possibly the most vegetarian friendly. With a few exceptions, most Subways allow patrons to pick and choose what veggies go on each sub, allowing for good variety and veggie supplementation without having to ask the server for a "special order." A simple Veggie Delite sandwich is healthy and hearty, and most locations also offer a Veggie Max (also called a Veggie Patty), which is delicious heated or toasted with provolone cheese, olives, green peppers, onions, parmesan cheese, and Subway's sweet onion sauce.

2. Fazoli's. Fazoli's has quite a few good vegetarian options. My favorite is the Fettuccini Alfredo combo meal, it comes with a delicious side salad and bread sticks.

3. Burger King. Yes, you read that correctly, Burger King has a vegetarian option on their menu! Most Burger Kings carry the BK Veggie, which is a Morningstar Veggie Patty, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, and mayo. You can turn this into a value meal by simply asking. The Veggie Patty's flavor goes well with barbeque in place of the ketchup. They don't have many other vegetarian options, but the great flavor of the BK Veggie warrants Burger King a spot on this top five list.

4. Rocky Rococo's. Cheese pizza and breadsticks always hit the spot, and quite a few Rocky Rococo's have impressive salad bars for those of us who are a bit more health conscious while eating out.

5. Taco Bell. At Taco Bell, Seven Layer Burritos are a favorite among other vegetarians I know; personally, I go for the Cheese Quesadilla. The value menu also offers some nice meat-free options: Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes, Nachos, and Cheese Rollups all top the list as cheap, quick, and tasty vegetarian-friendly options.

These top five fast food establishments offer some decent options. There are others, newer vegetarians will no doubt soon develop their own lists. However, these five offer a good, safe starting point. Generally speaking, anywhere selling sub sandwiches is a good bet: in addition to Subway, Jimmy Johns and Cousins Subs offer great veggie products. Also, breakfast menus offer more vegetarian options than evening menus, mainly because pancakes, biscuits, and eggs land on the morning menus of many fast food places. It still can be hard to find good options amid the array of meat menus, but the determined vegetarian will always find the green side of any menu.