McDonald's Offers a Vegan Happy Meal in Sweden
It’s official: Sweden is getting another vegan meal from McDonald’s. Following the announcement in December 2017 that McDonald’s would make the appropriately named “McVegan” burger a permanent menu item in both Sweden and Finland, the latest addition is the McFalafel, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Launched this week, the falafel bites are made with chickpeas, parsley, garlic, and cumin, according to Brand Eating, and sound like the veggie-friendly answer to your McNugget cravings.
Pick from two dipping sauces (an herby yogurt or a vegan pepper-flavored sauce), and indulge in them on their own. Otherwise, you can upgrade the McFalafel into an equally vegan-approved Happy Meal. Brand Eating wrote that the combo includes four McFalafel bites, your choice of side (fries, apples, or carrots) and standard choice of drink. There’s no word yet on if McDonald’s has any expansion plans in store for the McFalafel, but the chain also recently added a vegetarian Happy Meal option in the U.K., so it could be likely. The latter is a veggie wrap (a breaded vegetarian goujon replaces the meat), which became available on January 3, according to the Evening Standard. (If this gives you an excuse to head to Europe and enjoy all the veg-friendly fast food the continent has to offer, by all means).
No plans to travel abroad in the near future? Fear not—both Carl’s Jr. and White Castle offer meat-free burgers on their menus. White Castle made the OG move to serve vegan Impossible Sliders at all of its locations nationwide in September 2018 (for what it’s worth, we tried them and they’re a “near flawless” substitute); Carl’s Jr. announced in early January that it was temporarily adding the “Beyond Famous Star” Beyond Meat burger to its menu at around 1,100 locations. It’s vegetarian, not vegan, thanks to a slathering of melted American cheese, mayo, and “special sauce,” and it's now available "through spring time," according to the Carl's Jr. team. However, a step in the meat-free direction is still a significant step, and we’re sure this is just the beginning of the meatless movement in 2019.