Burger King UK’s Classic Veggie Burger Is Now Fully Vegan

On January 11, Burger King locations in the United Kingdom will introduce The Vegan Bean Burger. The new fully vegan option is a remake of the chain’s classic Veggie Bean Burger, minus the dairy-based cheese and egg-based mayonnaise. The Vegan Bean Burger features two veggie patties, topped with lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, and vegan mayonnaise, served on a sesame seed bun. The new vegan burger is a permanent addition to the menu and will retail for £4.59. 

A spokesperson for Burger King UK confirmed to VegNews that the bun does not contain animal products and procedures have been enacted to avoid cross-contamination on cooking surfaces. “There are new procedures in place to prepare vegan orders to avoid meat and dairy contact. Our staff have been specially trained to prepare the Vegan Bean Burger, a process that will involve using separate utensils to any of our non-vegan products. The Vegan patty will be placed in a dedicated colored pan and heated in a clean and sanitized microwave,” the spokesperson said. “The Vegan Society has recognized our efforts in our new processes and certified the new product as vegan. We advise that despite strict measures being implemented, the product may contain traces of dairy and egg, as the manufacturer also produces products containing these allergens.”

Vegan at Burger King 
While the fully vegan burger is a new addition on Burger King’s UK menu, the chain now offers burgers made with plant-based patties (which require some modification to be fully plant-based burgers) in a growing number of countries. In the United States, the chain has offered the Impossible Whopper (ordered plant-based without mayonnaise) since 2019, along with variations of it such as the Rebel Whopper in Brazil (which features a plant-based patty produced by Marfrig Global Foods SA—the world’s largest producer of animal-based hamburgers); the Rebel Whopper in Sweden (where the patty is made by an undisclosed European brand); and the Plant-Based Whopper in Japan (made with a patty by Australian vegan brand v2food).

Burger King recently partnered with Dutch brand The Vegetarian Butcher (which was acquired by Unilever in 2019) to add its plant-based products to its menu in 25 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Thus far, the partnership has resulted in the launch of the Whopper Vegetal in Mexico, the Plant-Based Whopper in China, and vegan chicken nuggets in Germany, with more to come.