Complete Guide To Vegan Starbucks Drinks
These aren’t your boring everyday Starbucks drinks! (Although I’m sure you’d enjoy them every day as well.)
Many of your favorite Starbucks drinks can be made vegan with a few substitutions. While not every drink can be vegan (RIP pumpkin spice latte), there are plenty that can by changing to non-dairy milk and skipping the whipped cream.
Below I will show you the best vegan drinks at Starbucks including some from the Secret Menu. I will also show you how to create your very own personalized vegan Starbucks drink.
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- Complete Guide To Vegan Starbucks Drinks
- How To Create Your Own Vegan Starbucks Drink
- Best Starbucks Drinks With Almond Milk
- Best Starbucks Drinks With Coconut Milk
- Vegan Refreshers & Infusions
- 5 Best Starbucks Refreshers & Infusions From The Secret Menu
- Vegan Starbucks Frappuccinos
- Conclusion
- Ultimate Vegan Starbucks Drink Guide
How To Create Your Own Vegan Starbucks Drink
Below I’ll go over how to create a personalized vegan drink at Starbucks. Knowing which specific syrups and drink bases are vegan allows you to evaluate any of the new drinks they put out.
I found the ingredients information from the Starbucks website but they state:
We cannot guarantee that any of our products are free from allergens (including dairy, eggs, soy, tree nuts, wheat and others) as we use shared equipment to store, prepare and serve them.” Probably best to avoid if allergic.
If you have an allergy to dairy then it’s probably best to avoid Starbucks altogether since there’s the chance of contamination.
Vegan Dairy-Free Milk At Starbucks
The conversion to plant-based/vegan is even easier now that Starbucks carries non-dairy milk. Gone are the days when soy milk was the only option if you want a dairy-free beverage.
Starbucks has almond milk and coconut milk as well. I will mention that their soy and coconut milk contain carrageenan for those who are trying to avoid that additive.
For all of the drinks listed below, a substitution of soy, almond, or coconut milk can be done if asked to make it vegan/ dairy-free.
Does Starbucks have dairy-free whipped cream?
As of now, Starbucks does not have a dairy-free whipped cream so order your drink with no whip. Hopefully this changes in the near future.
Is Starbucks Hot Chocolate Vegan?
Yes, Starbucks hot chocolate is vegan as long as you order it with non-dairy milk (almond, coconut, or soy) and skip the whipped cream.
Dairy-free and Vegan Starbucks Syrups:
- Hazelnut Syrup
- Mocha Sauce
- Vanilla Syrup
- Classic Syrup
- Creme Frappuccino Syrup
- Caramel Syrup (not drizzle)
- Hazelnut Syrup
- Almond Syrup
Vegan Drink Bases:
- Drip coffee
- Espresso shots
- Nitro Cold Brew
- Iced Coffee
- Cold Brew
- Steamed Apple Juice
- Hot Chocolate
Non-Vegan Ingredients To Avoid:
- Cinnamon Dolce Topping (contains dairy)
- Caramel Drizzle Sauce (contains dairy)
- Java Chips (contains dairy)
- Whipped Cream (contains dairy)
- Protein Powder (found in smoothies, contains dairy)
- Cloud Foam (found in cloud macchiatos, contains egg)
- Pumpkin Spice anything (contains dairy)
- Chai Mix (contains honey)
- Carmel Brulee anything (contains dairy)
- White Mocha anything (contains dairy)
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Best Starbucks Drinks With Almond Milk
- Almond milk mocha with no whip
- Matcha green tea latte with almond milk
- Hazelnut latte with almond milk, no whip
- Cinnamon almond milk macchiato with no caramel drizzle or cinnamon dolce topping
Best Starbucks Drinks With Coconut Milk
- Iced matcha green tea latte with vanilla syrup and coconut milk
- Any Refresher or Infusion with coconut milk substituted
- Iced or hot coffee with coconut milk
Vegan Refreshers & Infusions
In the heat of the summer sometimes you want something to cool you off. Starbucks has been expanding and promoting its offerings of iced teas.
Frappuccinos are still popular but, admit it, they are calorie bombs. Basically a dessert shake.
Tip For Making Refreshers At Home: Pick up Instant Refreshers to always have them at home. These are the secret!
Every time I enter one of their stores it seems like they’re promoting a new Refresher or Infusion concoction.
Are Starbucks Refreshers and Infusions Vegan?
All of the Starbucks Refreshers and Infusions are vegan but skip adding any honey.
Refreshers are fruit juice with a Green Coffee Extract. Infusions are Teavana iced tea infused with fruit and sweetened.
Both are wonderful! Geared towards millennials with their picture-worthy appeal, they don’t cost you a huge amount of calories either.
5 Best Starbucks Refreshers & Infusions From The Secret Menu
Want something creamy without being a nuisance to your health goals?
The following drinks add coconut milk to a base of Infusion or Refresher. The end result is delicious!
1) The Pink Drink
Strawberry açaí refresher with berries and coconut milk instead of water.
This is getting a lot of notoriety with breastfeeding mammas for boosting milk supply due to the coconut milk and superfood açaí.
Does Starbucks Pink Drink Increase Milk Supply?
Possibly. Coconut is a galactagogue that is thought to increase breastmilk supply. The Starbucks pink drink contains a base of coconut milk.
Related: Other foods you can eat to increase breastmilk supply.
2) The Purple Drink
Passion iced tea, soy milk, vanilla syrup, and berries.
3) The Violet Drink
Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher base mixed with coconut milk.
4) The Ombre Pink Drink
Cool Lime Refresher, coconut milk, and a splash of Shaken Iced Passion Tango Tea.
5) Teavana Shaken Iced Piña Colada Tea Infusion
Shaken Iced Pineapple Black Tea Infusion and coconut milk.
Vegan Starbucks Frappuccinos
Make sure to order ALL these vegan frappuccinos without whipped cream and choose non-dairy milk. Also, make sure none of the non-vegan additives aren’t added.
- Cafe vanilla frappuccino
- Caramel frappuccino with no caramel drizzle
- Cinnamon dolce frappuccino with no cinnamon dolce topping
- Coffee frappuccino
- Espresso frappuccino
- Green tea creme frappuccino
- Midnight mint mocha frappuccino
- Salted caramel mocha frappuccino made with caramel syrup instead of caramel drizzle sauce
- Strawberries and creme frappucino
Conclusion
Once you know which sauces and coffee and tea flavorings are vegan, it’s easy to mix and match them to create a truly unique vegan Starbucks drink.
Starbucks is becoming more vegan-friendly as time goes on. As interest in vegan items grows, they add more to their menu.
Let me know what your favorite drink is in the comments below.
Plant-Based Diet & Vegan Lifestyle Expert
Stephanie is the founder of Plant Prosperous, a plant-based vegan living, and parenting blog. She has been eating a plant-based diet for over 24 years along with a B.S. in Biology & Environmental Science. She also has over 14 years of experience working in the environmental and conservation sectors. Stephanie is currently raising her son on a plant-based diet and hopes to help others who are wanting to do the same. You can read more about her here.
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Starbucks’ secret menu is full of thick, creamy, and in many instances, colorful Frappuccinos. Luckily, most of them can be made vegan with a few basic modifications. The first one is asking for non-dairy milk. Starbucks now carries three different ones: almond, soy, and coconut. In my opinion, soy and almond milk are better because they have a neutral flavor, but coconut works for certain drinks that would taste good with a hint of coconut.
Loved this article. I just tried a tall Blonde Latte with almond milk. It was really really delicious!!!!
New vegan here! We were doing a Starbucks order at work, and I almost panicked. Luckily, this article saved the day. Thanks!