As a popular donut chain, Krispy Kreme offers a variety of donut options for customers. However, finding vegan donuts can be tricky since many donuts contain dairy products like eggs and butter. For vegans or those avoiding dairy, knowing which donut flavors are dairy-free at Krispy Kreme is important.
What Makes a Donut Not Vegan?
Traditional donuts are not vegan because they contain non-vegan ingredients like:
- Eggs
- Milk
- Butter
- Honey
Eggs and dairy products like milk and butter come from animals. Honey is made by bees. So donuts containing any of these ingredients would not be vegan.
Most Krispy Kreme classic donuts contain eggs and dairy products like milk and butter in the donut batter and toppings. Even their glazes and fillings often have ingredients like milk and butter. So finding a vegan donut at Krispy Kreme requires checking carefully for these animal products.
Krispy Kreme Vegan Donut Options
While Krispy Kreme’s classic donuts are not vegan, they do offer some dairy-free options that can be customized to be completely vegan:
Original Glazed Doughnut
The original glazed doughnut may be dairy-free, but customers need to request it without the butter topping. The plain glazed doughnut contains:
- Enriched bleached wheat flour
- Sugar
- Soybean oil
- Glucose syrup
- Dextrose
- Water
- Yeast
- Modified Wheat Starch
- Soy Flour
- Salt
- Mono and Diglycerides
- Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate
- Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Propionate (preservatives)
- Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate
- Natural and artificial flavors
- Enriched Bleached Flour (niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid)
So the plain glazed doughnut is dairy-free and vegan as long as you order it without the butter topping.
Glazed Raspberry Filled Donut
The glazed raspberry filled donut may also be vegan if you request no butter on the glaze. The raspberry filling ingredients include:
- Sugar
- Water
- Raspberries
- Modified Corn Starch
- Natural Flavor
- Citric Acid
- Potassium Sorbate (Preservative)
- Sodium Citrate
- Red 40
So with no butter glaze, this could be an option for vegans looking for a jelly filled donut.
Cinnamon Sugar Donut
Ordering the cinnamon sugar donut with no butter in the topping should make this a vegan menu item. The cinnamon sugar blend contains:
- Enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid)
- Sugar
- Cinnamon
A plain cinnamon sugar donut without butter glaze can give vegans a tasty, classic donut experience.
Modifying Other Donuts to Be Vegan
While Krispy Kreme doesn’t have many specifically vegan donut varieties, some other flavors could potentially be modified to be vegan:
Glazed Chocolate Donut
Ordering a glazed chocolate donut without butter in the glaze makes this dessert dairy-free and vegan.
Glazed Blueberry Donut
Requesting no butter glaze allows vegans to enjoy the blueberry donut flavor.
Cake Donut
Ask for a cake donut without the standard milk glaze and it can be customized to be vegan.
Glazed Cruller
Order a glazed cruller without the usual butter topping to get this treat veganized.
Glazed Lemon Filled Donut
The lemon filling is likely vegan, so asking for no butter glaze should make this an option.
Vanilla Iced Custard Donut
See if you can substitute the dairy-based custard and glaze with a vegan vanilla sauce or glaze option.
Being creative and customizing standard menu items can expand the vegan Krispy Kreme choices.
Are Old Fashioned Cake Donuts Vegan?
Krispy Kreme’s old fashioned cake donuts contain milk and eggs, so they are not vegan. The ingredients in an old fashioned cake donut include:
- Enriched bleached wheat flour (flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid)
- Sugar
- Soybean oil
- Water
- Contains 2% or less: dextrose, whey, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda, monocalcium phosphate), milk, eggs, cornstarch, modified corn starch, rice flour, soy flour, salt, mono and diglycerides, natural and artificial flavor.
The milk and eggs make Krispy Kreme’s basic cake donuts non-vegan. But you may be able to customize a cake donut by asking them to substitute the dairy ingredients and avoid eggs.
Seasonal and Specialty Vegan Donuts
In addition to their classic donuts, Krispy Kreme introduces seasonal flavors and specialties throughout the year. Some recent options like their Valentine’s Day and Fourth of July donuts were not vegan. But these limited batches sometimes result in dairy-free finds.
Spring Donuts
Their springtime coconut cake and key lime kreme donuts may have been able to be customized to vegan by avoiding buttery glazes. When they bring these back, ask for them without butter topping.
Summer Donuts
Lemon glazed and blueberry cake donuts might be able to be made vegan. Inquire about getting them without milk-based glazes.
Fall Donuts
For fall, cinnamon roll and salted caramel cake donuts could potentially work for vegans with non-dairy customizations.
Winter Donuts
Gingerbread cake and sugar cookie dough donuts are recent winter options that may be modifiable to be vegan friendly.
Keeping up with the latest seasonal flavors and checking for dairy-free ingredients can reveal more vegan Krispy Kreme offerings.
Vegan Krispy Kreme Donut Holes
Along with their donuts, Krispy Kreme also sells smaller round donut holes. A few versions of their donut holes may be vegan:
- Original glazed donut holes – Ask for them without butter in the glaze
- Cinnamon sugar donut holes – Hold the butter on these as well
See if you can get traditional glazed and cinnamon sugar holes without milk and butter to make these snacks vegan too.
How to Order Vegan Donuts at Krispy Kreme
When you visit Krispy Kreme, here are some tips for ordering vegan donuts:
- Ask the staff for help identifying vegan options
- See if they have ingredient information available for the donuts
- Choose plain glazed, fruit filled, or cinnamon sugar donuts
- Request no butter or dairy-based glazes
- Ask if dairy ingredients can be left out of cake donuts
- Inquire about customizing specialty flavors to be vegan
With some creative customizations and ingredient swaps, several tasty vegan donut varieties are possible at Krispy Kreme. Being upfront with your vegan diet needs will help the staff recommend or create dairy-free options you’ll love.
Vegan Donuts at Other Chains
In addition to Krispy Kreme, a few other popular donut chains may offer vegan options:
Dunkin’ Donuts
While most Dunkin’ classics contain dairy, they have a few vegan choices:
- Glazed donut – Ask them to hold the butter
- Glazed chocolate – Request no butter
- Apple n’ Spice – No butter topping
And seasonally, they may have dairy-free jelly or coconut donuts.
Tim Hortons
Options at Tim Hortons can include:
- Original glazed – Ask for no butter
- Vanilla dip – Hold the dairy dip
- Chocolate dip – Request non-dairy chocolate sauce
- Blueberry dip – Substitute non-dairy berry dip
Their basic glazed and dip donuts may work for vegans with some adaptations.
Shipley Do-Nuts
Shipley offers classics like:
- Glazed donut rings
- Cinnamon rings
That should be vegan if you verify they don’t use butter in the glaze.
Checking with other favorite donut shops can uncover more hidden vegan gems when you ask about customizing.
Best Vegan Krispy Kreme Hacks
Some clever vegan Krispy Kreme fans have come up with their own hacks for enjoying dairy-free donuts. Here are a few popular suggestions:
- Add fruit: Customize a plain glazed donut by topping it with fresh fruit like raspberries or strawberries for extra flavor.
- Coconut bacon topping: For a savory spin, sprinkle coconut bacon on cinnamon sugar donut holes.
- Creative glazes: Use thick jam, cacao powder, or vegan maple icing to make alternative glazes.
- DIY fills: Inject store-bought vegan custard or jelly into your donut for a filled treat.
- Spice it up: Mix spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or pumpkin pie spice into plain glazed donuts.
With a little plant-based creativity, the possibilities for vegan Krispy Kreme customizations are endless.
Conclusion
Krispy Kreme may not have a huge vegan menu, but with some simple tips and hacks, plant-based customers can still enjoy tasty dairy-free donuts. Stick to basic glazed, fruit, and cinnamon sugar options and request them without buttery toppings. Seasonal specialties, custom orders, and creative add-ons can also yield delicious vegan Krispy Kreme donut treats.
