New Vegan Options Debut at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Plant-based guests at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter have found the available vegan options during their visits to be less than magical. But now, the Universal Orlando Resort just launched four new plant-based menu items at select restaurants and food stands around the theme park.

Beneath the massive wizarding school, guests will be able to find multiple vegan-labeled menu items throughout the Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley areas. The restaurant The Leaky Cauldron will feature two vegan menu items including a Shephard’s Pasty Pie featuring meatless beef crumbles within a veggie stew hand pie served with apple beet salad, creamy stone-ground mustard, and potato wedges; and an Irish Stew filled with potatoes and vegan beef. The stew will be served with rustic bread and cucumber, radish, and tomato side salad.

In Hogsmeade, guests can find a vegan Mushroom Pie Platter at The Three Broomsticks. The platter features a mushroom and stewed jackfruit pie alongside a tomato and cucumber side salad coated in a lemon-thyme vinaigrette. Outside of The Three Broomsticks, people can head to The Magic Neep to grab a handheld Shepherd’s Pasty Pie with a flaky, savory pie crust that’s stuffed with beef crumbles and a vegetable stew.

“For years, Harry Potter fans, Universal Orlando Vegans group members, and The Protego Foundation have been asking for vegan options inside the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks,” President of The Protego Foundation – a Harry Potter-themed animal-rights group – Tylor Starr told VegNews. “While The Protego Foundation will continue pushing for vegan Butterbeer through our VeganButterbeer.com petition, we are taking a second to celebrate this groundbreaking moment to indulge in magical treats that are better for the planet, our health, and the magical creatures we share this planet with.”

Founded in 2015 by a coalition of Harry Potter fans, the Protego Foundation aims to empower fans to fight for animal rights, promoting plant-based policies and developments in everything related to The Wizarding World. In 2018, the organization launched a campaign that demanded Universal Studios make the theme park’s acclaimed Butterbeer – the butterscotch-flavored drink featured in the novels and movies – vegan. The petition gained above 7,700 signatures.

Universal Studios has yet to address this petition within the United States, but in 2020, the film studio company released a bottled vegan Butterbeer in the United Kingdom. Since then, Warner Bros. launched the bottle vegan Butterbeer Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, The Making of Harry Potter, and the Platform 9 ¾ Shops at King’s Cross Station in London, along with Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The bottled vegan version is also available for online purchase.

Right next door, Disney World's vegan development is way ahead of the curve. Since 2019, the "Most Magical Place on Earth" has accelerated its plant-based campaign to provide all guests with healthy, delicious vegan options at all five theme parks. Now, Disney World Features more than 400 vegan options, featuring everything from Impossible Chili Burgers to specialty fish-free sushi.

"At the end of the day our goal was to ensure that our guests, whether they were living a vegan lifestyle, looking to eat a little bit less meat, or wanting to try new and different things, would be able to find fun and flavorful plant-based menu items across our parks and resorts," Registered Dietician from Walt Disney’s Health and Wellness Department Cheryl Dolven told Yahoo Life. "We didn't just want it to offer a few basic things — we really wanted those plant-based options to be plentiful and an integrated part of our guest experience."

To explore the vast options at Disney World, check out The Beet's guide to eating vegan at Disney World.

Fast-food restaurants have finally got the memo that their customer base isn’t just coming through for a burger, fried chicken, or a beef taco. Many now have plant-based foods and are coming up with creative, delicious ways to get more greens on the menu. Here are the 6 best fast-food chains with plant-based options on the menu.

Turns out there’s a lot more to rely on than a salad if you’re eating plant-based. Burger King has the Impossible Whopper featuring a meatless patty as well as a few secretly vegan options such as the French Toast Sticks and Hashbrowns.

Known for its mini square-shaped sliders, this hamburger chain jumped on the plant-based bandwagon at some participating locations. You can find an Impossible Slider on some White Castle menus.

This was the first national Mexican fast-food chain to offer Beyond Meat at the company’s 580 restaurants across the country. Del Taco has the Beyond Avocado Taco on the menu along with the Epic Beyond Original Mex Burrito and Avocado Veggie Bowl.

Another brand synonymous with beef burgers, Carl’s Jr. offers several plant-based options for veggie and plant lover such as Beyond Famous Star Burger and Guacamole Thickburger.

This fast-food restaurant may have been one of the first you frequented while transitioning to plant-based eating. That’s because Taco Bell has eight million vegetarian combinations and sells 350 million vegetarian items a year through menu substitutions or ordering off their vegetarian menu. In fact, they were the first quick-service restaurant to offer American Vegetarian Association (AVA) certified food options.

From the time it started offering breakfast sandwiches in 2006, the coffee conglomerate became a competitor in the fast-food space. You can get your favorite hot and cold beverages made with almond, coconut or oat milk but there are also plant-based food options available such as the Baja Black Bean Veggie Wrap, bagel with vegan cream cheese and Impossible Breakfast Sandwich.