Does Krispy Kreme Have Vegan Donuts?

However, despite offering such a wide range, do they cater to everybody? Throughout this article, we’ll take a closer look at their range of baked goods and answer that burning question that everyone following a plant-based diet wants to know - Does Krispy Kreme have vegan donuts?

The Original Glazed™ Vegan Donut

Krispy Kreme offers one vegan donut in their entire selection - The Original Glazed™ Vegan Donut. This bespoke recipe was created to cater to those following a vegan lifestyle, and it features the same look and taste as the iconic Original Glazed™ Donut that was launched in 1937.

The Original Glazed™ Vegan Donut was released in February 2021 and, with any luck, this will be the first vegan option of an entire range moving forward. 

It is worth mentioning, however, that while The Original Glazed™ Vegan Donut doesn’t contain any animal byproducts, it is created in the same factory as all other Krispy Kreme donuts. This means that there is no guarantee that they are suitable for anybody that suffers from egg or milk allergies. 

Are all Krispy Kreme Donuts Suitable for Vegan?

In a word, no. The majority of Krispy Kreme donuts contain some form of animal-based ingredients including egg and dairy. However, with that being said, there is some debate around whether or not this applies to all donuts, or if the ingredients change from country to country. 

So, to really find out if there are any vegan-friendly Krispy Kreme donuts, we went through each of the ingredients listed on the Krispy Kreme website, including all varieties of mini donuts and donut holes. 

After taking on this intensive research, we found that every single donut (including mini varieties and donut holes) contains both milk and egg. This means that, with the exception of The Original Glazed™ Vegan Donut, Krispy Kreme offers no other vegan choices. 

Are Krispy Kreme Donuts Suitable for Vegetarians?

So, we know that there is only one vegan Krispy Kreme donut choice. But are they suitable for vegetarians? To answer this, we headed back over to Krispy Kreme’s nutritional information page, where we found the following animal-based ingredients used in the creation of their donuts:

• Egg whites
• Egg yolks
• Milk
• Butter
• Yogurt
• Whey
• Non-fat milk
• Non-fat whey

Since all of these ingredients are either derived from eggs or dairy, we can say that all Krispy Kreme donuts are a suitable option for anybody on a vegetarian diet. 

Vegan Donut Alternatives

Just because Krispy Kreme currently only offers one vegan option, it doesn’t mean that anybody following a plant-based diet has to miss out on a wider variety of delicious treats! 

There are loads of vegan donut shops all over the United States and, to help make finding one easier, Peta has listed some of the best here.

Does Krispy Kreme have coffee?

All Krispy Kreme bakeries offer a wide range of coffees and coffee-based drinks. Here’s a full list of every coffee drink they have on offer:

• Bold 1937 Brewed Coffee
• Original Glazed™ Coffee
• Classic Brewed Coffee
• Classic Decaf Brewed Coffee
• Cappuccino
• Caramel Latte
• Latte
• Vanilla Latte
• Mocha Latte
• Caramel Mocha Latte
• Hazelnut Latte
• Iced Caramel Latte
• Iced Caramel Mocha
• Iced Mocha
• Chocolate Iced Coffee
• Caramel Iced Coffee
• Iced Coffee
• Original Glazed™ Iced Coffee
• Iced Hazelnut Coffee
• Iced Hazelnut Latte
• Iced Latte
• Vanilla Iced Coffee
• Iced Vanilla Latte
• Frozen Vanilla Latte
• Frozen Original Glazed™ Latte
• Frozen Caramel Latte
• Frozen Mocha

You can also purchase Krispy Kreme’s own brand coffee pods and ground coffee in store, so you can recreate your very own Krispy Kreme coffee in the comfort of your own home. 

Additional Krispy Kreme FAQs

Why are Krispy Kreme donuts not vegan?

Aside from The Original Glazed™ Vegan Donut, all Krispy Kreme donuts, including mini donuts and donut holes, contain some form of animal byproduct. This isn’t exclusive to Krispy Kreme though, and there are many donut brands that, unfortunately, don’t offer any vegan options. The reason for this is because these ingredients are typically relied on for flavor and consistency. 

Are plain Krispy Kreme donuts vegan?

The Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Donut contains both dried milk powder and egg yolks, which means it is not suitable for vegans. However, The Original Glazed™ Vegan Donut is suitable for vegans. 

Does Krispy Kreme have eggless donuts?

All 45 varieties of Krispy Kreme donuts contain egg yolks amongst their ingredients. This means Krispy Kreme doesn’t offer any eggless donuts, and (apart from The Original Glazed™ Vegan Donut) none of the donuts in their entire range are suitable for vegans. And, while The Original Glazed™ Vegan Donut does not contain any egg yolk, it is still produced in the same factory as all other Krispy Kreme donuts. This means that there is no guarantee that they are suitable for anybody with an egg allergy. 

Does Krispy Kreme have any dairy-free donuts?

As well as containing egg yolk, all 45 varieties of Krispy Kreme donuts (including mini donuts and donut holes) contain dried milk powder amongst their ingredients. With this in mind, and with the exception of The Original Glazed™ Vegan Donut, Krispy Kreme does not have any dairy-free products, so they are not suitable for vegans.

What kind of oil does Krispy Kreme use?

Looking through Krispy Kreme’s nutritional information page, we can see that two of their most regularly used ingredients are palm oil and soybean oil. While neither of these contains animal-based ingredients, there are certain ethical issues that surround the use of palm oil 

Does Krispy Kreme use lard?

All of the ingredients used to make a Krispy Kreme donut, including the animal-based ones, are Kosher. Since lard is not a Kosher ingredient, it is not used in the creation of any of the 45 varieties of Krispy Kreme donuts. 

Are Krispy Kreme donuts nut-free?

The answer to this question comes in two parts! According to the ingredients list, none of the 45 varieties of Krispy Kreme donuts contain any nuts. However, Krispy Kreme’s own FAQs section states that both peanut and tree nut allergens are present in their stores. This is because some of their suppliers manufacture products with nuts. So, to put things as simply as possible, Krispy Kreme donuts do not contain nuts in their ingredients, but their stores are not nut-free. 

Are Krispy Kreme Donuts Halal?

At the time of writing, Krispy Kreme states the following: “All of our doughnuts are Halal suitable and we are working on obtaining certification”. Therefore, we can safely say that all Krispy Kreme Donuts are Halal.

Summary

Having looked extensively at each of the ingredients that make up all 45 varieties of Krispy Kreme donuts, we can say that, unfortunately, Krispy Kreme only offers one vegan option; The Original Glazed™ Vegan Donut.

However, as more and more people start following a plant-based diet, there will be more calls for a wider range of vegan donuts. And, since Krispy Kreme have led the way in baked goods for so long, it only makes sense that they will likely release more vegan options in the near future.