Subway is one of the best and most well-known sandwich stores with over 50 years of fascinating history.
These days it is grown to become one of the largest chains in the world, and no matter where you find yourself, you will never be too far from a Subway branch.
Not only is Subway ultra-accessible, but vegans will be shocked by how many vegan-friendly ingredients make it the ideal place for a tailor-made vegan treat.
If you are wondering which Subway essentials are vegan, we will list them further on, along with the best Subway vegan options to try.
So, before we get down to our healthy vegan recommendations, here is a mini story of Subway for anyone unfamiliar with the sandwich store.
What is Subway?
Subway has been around for a long time – 50 years to be precise, and even if you have never visited a Subway store, you have most likely passed by at some point.
The first store was opened in Connecticut in 1965 and was initially a last-minute project that a college student established to raise tuition funds for his education; little did he know that this move would change the way we see fast food joints today.
Dr. Buck first had the idea to sell submarine sandwiches and convinced a young Fred DeLuca to open up the first shop, which changed the young guy's life – and the lives of many American food lovers at the time.
Although the goal was to open 32 locations within ten years, they ended up with just 16 branches by 1974, forcing them to launch their Subway brand as a franchise, boosting the company's success.
What started as a small business, with an initial investment of $1000 by Dr. Peter Buck – a nuclear scientist- continued to be the world's largest submarine sandwich chain, with a whopping 44,000 branches and counting, 22,000 of which are in the USA alone.
Many people do not know, but the original name for Subway was Petes Super Submarines, which was then shortened to Subway three years before they began their franchise.
These are the countries that have Subway stores.
While many fast-food chains tend to have unhealthy food options as cheap alternatives, Subway has changed how we see fast food. It offers some of the freshest and healthiest ingredients, including a variety of freshly baked bread – many of which are vegan friendly.
So, if you are yet to visit Subway or are a die-hard Subway fan looking for vegan options, stick around, and we will unveil some of the best Subway vegan menu items for 2022, which cannot be overlooked.
The Best Subway Vegan Options
If you were under the impression that Subway vegan options didn't exist, then you would be mistaken because there are a variety of healthy vegan meals you can choose from and create from scratch.
If you didn't know already, Subway has a host of vegan ingredients to choose from, some of which are not so vegan-friendly (which we will get to a little later on), but once you know about these mouthwatering bites,,, you won't look back.
So let us look at the best Subway vegan options to try in 2022, in order of most healthy.
1. Veggie Delite Sub
This classic subway sandwich, known as a sub, is vegan and contains lettuce, tomatoes, baby spinach, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and red onions, combined with their delicious multigrain bread also vegan.
This is the healthiest subway sandwich you can find at Subway and contains just 2% fat while providing valuable nutrition from all the fresh ingredients listed.
While many believe that the Veggie Patty is made up of just veggies, it contains dairy; therefore, the Veggie Delite is always an excellent refreshing vegan option.
2. Veggie Delite Wrap
This is a delicious option for those who would rather have something a little lighter than a sandwich but still feel fulfilled and satisfied.
The Veggie Delite wrap contains double the number of veggies, including cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, baby spinach, and red onions, all wrapped in a vegan-friendly wrap.
Choose from these Subway vegan-friendly wraps available at most locations.
- tomato basil
- Spinach
- Harvest
- Habanero
- Wheat
3. Veggie Delite Salad
The Veggie Delite Salad is an excellent option if you are vegan and gluten-free.
Therefore, you can cut out the bread or the wrap and go for a colorful salad filled with all the best ingredients you would find in the classic sandwich.
This crips salad is a delicious option filled with all your favorite veggies and topped with a sauce of your choice.
Vegan sauce options at Subway include:
- yellow mustard
- deli brown mustard
- mustard seed spread
- subway vinaigrette
- sweet onion
- fat-free Italian
4.Tailor-made Vegan Sub/Wrap
One of the highlights of Subway is that you can tailor-make your sandwich, so if you don't see what you like or prefer to add or leave out ingredients, it can be done simply and easily at any store.
Beforehand, knowing which elements are vegan is worth it, so you can make your snack vegan friendly and super tasty.
Subway vegan options include:
- Bread: 9-grain wheat, hearty Italian, roasted garlic, and sourdough.
- Vegan-friendly wrap: Tomato basil, spinach, harvest, habanero, and wheat.
- Veggies: Lettuce, tomato, green peppers, red onions, cucumbers, spinach, olives, pickles, and jalapeños.
- Vegan Sauces: Yellow mustard, deli brown mustard, mustard seed spread, oil, vinegar, subway vinaigrette, sweet onion, and fat-free Italian.
- Vegan Side: While the Subway cookies are not vegan, there are plenty of other sides to make your meal vegans friendly such as applesauce, Lay's classic potato chips, oven-baked Lay's, or SunChips Original.
5: Beyond Meatball Sub (minus the cheese)
This Subway vegan option is excellent if you are craving something hearty and satisfying.
Yet, this option is only available in specific locations, so best to check their website to find out beforehand.
The classic comes with melted cheese, but if you omit the cheese, this beyond meatball sub is a tasty vegan option without the saturated fat of regular meatballs.
This creation can be added to any vegan bread of your choice, and the meatballs and marinara sauce contain all vegan ingredients, including:
- Beyond Meatballs: water, pea protein isolate, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, rice protein, mung bean protein, methylcellulose, potato starch, natural flavors, yeast extract, herbs and spices (garlic, onion, basil, parsley, black pepper, oregano, rosemary, thyme, marjoram), apple extract, salt, vinegar, potassium chloride, lemon juice concentrate, sunflower lecithin, beet juice extract, pomegranate fruit powder, enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine, mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, salt, soybean oil, yeast)
- Marinara Sauce: Tomato, garlic, onion, basil, olive oil, tomato paste, minced garlic, black pepper
Things to know
On the topic of Subway vegan options, it is worth noting that there are quite a few ingredients that are not vegan, some of which may not be so obvious, so let us give you a quick rundown.
As well as this, there are some other things which may be good to know.
- The Veggie Patty is not vegan, as it contains milk and eggs, so even though it may seem vegan, it is classed as just vegetarian.
- The Subway cookies are not vegan as they are all made with milk and eggs. Unfortunately, we are yet to see vegan cookies on the Subway menu.
- Any of the bread that has cheese in the name is not vegan, as they contain real cheese and no vegan cheese option is available yet at Subway.
- The 9-grain honey oat bread is not vegan.
- If you are worried about cross-contamination, don't be afraid to ask your server to change gloves before your Subway vegan order is prepared. They won't mind!
- A host of vegan-friendly drinks are available at Subway, including Vitamin Water, Orange Juice, Lemonade, Sprite, Regular Water, and Regular Coffee.
- It is worth knowing that if you are unsure about any of the Subway ingredients being vegan, don't hesitate to ask your server to clarify.
- Always get a footlong – no one regrets getting a footlong; if you don't eat it all, save it for later!
Final Thoughts
Now that you know there are a few healthy Subway vegan options available to choose from, you can look forward to creating your tailor-made on-the-go bite next time you pass by Subway with hunger pangs.
Subway has gone from strength to strength in terms of success, but we are hopeful that its menu will evolve to include even more vegan subs, melts, wraps, non-bread bowls, salads, and even vegan cookies.
Subway is an excellent choice for affordable, accessible food that is healthy and, better still, can be found just about everywhere, so we can only imagine that when their vegan menu options expand, they will be inundated with vegans looking for their following yummy sub.
With almost 22,000 Subway locations scattered throughout the USA alone, you will have many opportunities to try one of these tasty Subway vegan options sooner than you think. Find a Subway store here.